Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme Visa (Subclass 187)

A nomination made under the RSMS Direct Entry stream cannot be approved by the department unless a regional certifying body has provided their advice in regard to the application. The prospective sponsor, an eligible Australian business in the regional area, must obtain advice from the relevant regional certifying body about the position they want to fill prior to approval of the nomination and the advice can be sent to DHA before or after the lodgement an employer nomination application. Regional certifying bodies are a diverse network of state and territory government agencies, local chambers of commerce, local government councils and regional development bodies. The advice provided by a regional certifying body is intended to ensure all RSMS Direct Entry stream nominations have been scrutinised by a third party who is familiar with local labour market conditions and who may be able to provide information on regional matters which the department may not be aware of. The regional certifying body assesses the nomination against the following criteria:

• there is a genuine need for a paid employee in a business operated by the employer that is actively and lawfully operating in a regional area of Australia
• the terms and conditions of employment are the same as those that would apply to an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident performing the same work in the same location
• the nominated position cannot be reasonably filled from the local labour market.

With the visa subclass 189 document, you can remain in Australia as long as you want besides working and/or studying here. The visa also allows you to enrol in Medicare, which is Australia’s public healthcare system. Programs such as Medicare are made to offer eligible residents access to certain healthcare services for a low cost or free.
If you are granted the visa, you would also be able to do the following:

• Sponsor your immediate family members to migrate to Australia;
• Travel from and to Australia for five years; and,
• Gain Australian citizenship by meeting the eligibility criteria.

As a person who is new to Australia, however, you may need to wait a little longer to access some Government benefits when on this visa.
It is a PR visa, meaning you can live in Australia on a permanent basis with it. The international travel facility that comes with the visa ends in five years, but it is possible to obtain a Resident Return Visa to enter Australia again after that period.

The employer must provide terms and conditions of employment that are no less favourable than those that would apply to an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident doing equivalent work in the same workplace. Terms and conditions include the nominated position's salary, hours of work and leave entitlements (among other things). The salary paid to an Australian worker under these terms and conditions of employment is known as the market salary rate. The employer must prove that it will pay its skilled worker the market salary rate. Depending on whether the employer has an Australian doing similar work, the employer can do this by:

• reporting the terms and conditions that apply to an Australian worker who is already employed in a similar job in a similar location in the workplace
• referring to an industrial award or enterprise agreement that outlines terms and conditions for Australians performing similar work in similar locations
• providing relevant data from reputable remuneration surveys
• providing evidence of the salaries of employees performing equivalent work in similar locations.

The visa applicant might be able to get this visa if s/he:

• has been nominated by an approved Australian employer in regional Australia (outside of the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong and Melbourne). If the nomination has been approved, the visa application should be lodged within six months for the date of nomination approval.
• is under the age of 50 at time of application lodgement, unless exempted
• has the required skills and qualifications for the nominated position at time of application lodgement – the applicant must hold any mandatory registration, license or professional membership, or must already been fully assessed as suitable by the relevant body.
• has appropriate English language skills at time of application lodgement for Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream or Direct Entry (DE) stream, as applicable, unless exempted
• meets the health and character requirements
• meets the requirements of the stream in which the application has been made.

1. Temporary residence transition stream The visa applicant might be able to get this visa under the Temporary Residence Transition stream if s/he meets the following criteria at the time of visa lodgement and provides documented evidence of the same:

• at least vocational English(unless exempted)
• has worked for two years in the nominated position with the nominating employer, while holding Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) as the primary visa holder
• has been nominated by the employer for a permanent position under this stream and the nomination has been approved
• satisfactory health and character requirements

Skill assessment is not required as the employee has already worked for the nominating employer for two years in Australia. 

2. Direct entry stream The visa applicant might be able to get this visa under the Direct Entry stream if one of the following applies to the applicant:

• has never, or only briefly, worked in Australia
• holds a Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) but does not qualify for the Temporary Residence Transition stream
• is applying directly from outside Australia.

At time of application lodgement, the applicant must provide evidence that s/he satisfies the following requirements:

• has at least competent English (unless exempted)
• meets the skills requirements, unless exempted. The skills requirements are:
  • if the applicant has not obtained a necessary Australian qualificatio suitable to the occupation, then s/he must obtain a valid skills assessment prior to the application. A skills assessment is only valid until the expiry date specified on the assessment, or for a period of three years from the assessment's date of issue, whichever occurs first.
  • if the applicant has obtained the necessary Australian qualificationrelevant to the occupation as listed in ANZSCO, then s/he must provide this as evidence towards meeting the skills requirement.

3. Agreement stream The applicant might be able to get this visa under the Agreement stream if s/he is being sponsored by an employer through a tailored and negotiated labour agreement. The employer can advise if such an agreement is in place for the industry or occupation. The applicant must meet the age, skills and English language requirements stated in the agreement.

The visa applicant can show that s/he possesses adequate English skills by providing the following evidence at the time of application:

• achieving the vocational or competent test scores in a specified English language test, for the Temporary Residence Transition stream or the Direct Entry stream respectively, that has been conducted within three years prior to the date of application lodgement
• holding a valid passport issued by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland and evidence of citizenship of that country.
•  Minimum score for English Language proficiency level across the various type of test
  
  

English Language Proficiency Level	Test component	IELTS	TOEFL iBT	PTE Academic	Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)*	OET
Vocational	All Modules	5.0 each	4 each in Listening and Reading; 14 each in Writing and Speaking	36 each	154 each	B each
Competent	All Modules	6.0 each	Minimum score in each band as follows: Listening-12, Reading – 13, Writing – 21 and Speaking -18	50 each	169 each	B each

The visa applicant must meet certain health requirements. The results of health examinations are generally valid for 12 months. The visa applicant must meet certain character requirements and provide a police certificate from each country s/he has lived in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years after s/he turned 16 years of age. Health and character requirements applies to the main applicant and all the dependent family members listed in the application, whether they are migrating or not.

The visa holder has to begin employment with the nominating employer within six months of:
first entry to Australia if s/he was granted this visa while residing outside of Australia; or
the visa being granted if s/he was granted this visa while residing in Australia.
The visa holder also needs to live in the regional area and remain in the position for the full two years. DHA may cancel this visa if the visa holder fails to do so.

The main applicant can include the following people in the visa application at the time of lodgement:

• partner
• dependent children

The visa application must include documentary evidence of their relationship to the main applicant and family members must meet health and character requirements.

This is a permanent residence visa. It lets the visa holder and any family members who have also been granted this visa to:

• Stay in Australia indefinitely
• Work and study in Australia
• Enrol in Medicare, Australia's scheme for health-related care and expenses
• Apply for Australian citizenship (if eligible)
• Sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence
• Travel to and from Australia for five years from the date the visa is granted