Eligibility: 494 to subclass 191 PR

[ammie_eliza]

Currently on  employer sponsored 494 visa with my partner as defacto. Arrived in australia in 2018 and have held working holiday, TSS and now 494 since august 2020.

In November 2022 the new PR pathway subclass 191 will begin accepting applicants. Our migration agent advises that to be eligible you need to have held the 494 for 3 full “financial” years to prove income requirements.

Is this correct? I cannot find any advice on the government or other immigration advice websites to suggest anything other than calendar years from date of award… help! Thanks in advance.

“Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional): To meet the requirements of the permanent visa (from November 2022) applicants must:

hold a regional provisional visa subclass 491 or 494 visa when they apply for the Subclass 191 visa, and have held that visa for at least three years;
have earned the minimum income for at least three years as the holder of a regional provisional visa; and
have complied with the conditions of the regional provisional visa.”

[Marisawright]

I'd say your agent is right.  The problem, I think, is that you'll need tax returns to prove your income and tax returns are always for the financial year, not the calendar year.

[ammie_eliza]

Thanks for the response!

Do you know if tax returns are the only proof accepted? And is this the same for all visa applications as I’ve never heard anyone refer to financial years as a factor before.

I can demonstrate eligibility for the past 4 years, and would have met the threshold before the end of the financial year cut off. 

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, ammie_eliza said:

Do you know if tax returns are the only proof accepted?

No idea, I am just looking at it logically.   I'm thinking that the advantage (for Immigration) is that by using your tax returns, they know the ATO has already accepted those as correct, so they don't have to do any additional verification.  So it would be a sensible rule for them to have.

What other visas require evidence of income?

Edited March 13, 2022 by Marisawright