RDA Central West has a very limited number of referral places available and will not be accepting applications under Stream 3b or offshore applications under Stream 3c until further notice.  This is due to the request from the Australian Government to prioritise on-shore applicants and the national border restrictions because of COVID-19.

 

This will be reviewed as travel and border restrictions change.

An applicant must have worked in their nominated, or closely related, occupation for the 12 months immediately preceding their application in regional NSW.

 

The employment must qualify as skilled employment under the Home Affairs points scheme, i.e. a minimum of 20 hours per week.

 

The employment does not need to be located in the region being applied to.

If you are currently living in regional NSW, but do not meet the 12 month minimum requirement outlined under Stream 1, you may be eligible to apply for NSW nomination under Stream 3 if you have a job offer or family ties.  However, preference will be being given to applicants applying under Stream 1 that meet the 12 month requirement.

If you cannot currently accept the job offer you wish to use to apply for nomination under Stream 3a, then the offer must explicitly state that the employer is prepared to hold the job open until you have been granted your subclass 491 visa and are able to legally work the required hours per week.

 

The genuineness of the job offer you provide with your application will be scrutinised during assessment.

As long as you lived in a designated regional area of NSW while completing your study and meet the other criteria for Stream 2, you can still apply even though you no longer live in NSW.

 

However, we ask that you make a genuine effort to relocate to the Central West region if you apply for a NSW nomination through RDA Central West.

No. Stream 3b is for offshore applicants only.

 

Although there is no designated timeframe that an applicant must be residing offshore when applying, an applicant must demonstrate they have genuinely established residency outside Australia when applying. Applicants residing in Australia who relocate offshore solely to meet this criteria will have their applications declined.

 

Please note that RDA Central West will not be accepting offshore applications under Stream 3b until further notice due to the national border restrictions currently in place.

No. The eligible skilled occupations for each region will be different, so it is important that you check that your occupation is currently being accepted for our region. This list is updated regularly and sometimes needs to be changed without notice. Your occupation must be on this list when you submit your application.

No. You can work in any occupation, once you have the visa.

The Department of Home Affairs determines which regions of Australia are eligible for the 491 visa. Eligible regions are published on the Home Affairs’ designated regional area postcodes website.

Yes, you can travel to anywhere in Australia or internationally.

 

Current COVID-19 restrictions, State and National border closures and quarantining requirements/costs should be researched and considered carefully.