• Where an eligible Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or New Zealand citizen wishes to sponsor a Skilled relative to live and work in a designated area of  Australia for up to four years, Australia’s skilled migration programme offers a pathway through the Skilled Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) visa – this provisional visa provides a pathway to permanent residency through the Skilled Regional (subclass 887) visa after the provisional visa holder has resided for two years, including working full time for one year, in a designated area;
• The Temporary Work (Skilled)(subclass 457) visa programme enables migrants to include their family in their visa application;
• All permanent skilled visas enable migrants to include their family in their visa application;
• The points based permanent skilled visas provide extra points towards an application where a partner included in the visa application is able to demonstrate that they are skilled in their own right; and
• The Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) are both permanent skilled visas which allow for dependents approved under the Temporary Work (Skilled)(subclass 457) visa programme who are included in their family head’s application to be considered dependent for the purpose of the permanent application – this ensures family units may transition through to permanency without disadvantage.

In the provisional skilled visa programme, the Skilled Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) visa allows for skilled migrants to be sponsored for up to four years by an eligible relative in a regional area.  This provisional visa may then provide a pathway to permanent residency through visa holders being eligible to apply for the Skilled Regional (subclass 887) visa.  In addition, the Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) visa enables migrants to bring family members with them.

All permanent skilled visas within Australia’s skilled migration programme have provision for including  dependent family members as part of the visa application.  The points based skilled permanent visas (Skilled Independent (subclass 189) and Skilled Nominated (subclass 190)) allow for extra points to be awarded to applicants for these visa subclasses where a partner included in the visa application is able to demonstrate against visa criteria that they are skilled in their own right.  The permanent employer sponsored visas (Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187)) allow for dependents approved under the Temporary Work (Skilled)(subclass 457) visa programme who are included in their family head’s application to necessarily be considered dependent for the purpose of the permanent application to ensure family units may transition through to permanency without disadvantage.