Australia Regional Skilled Migration Scheme RSMS (Subclass 187)

This visa allows skilled workers, who are nominated by their employer in regional Australia, live and work in Australia permanently.

Basic Eligibility

  • be nominated by an approved Australian employer for a job in regional Australia
  • be under 45 years of age
  • meet the skills, qualifications and English language requirements

Direct Entry Stream

This visa is closed to new applications.

With this visa, you could

  • stay in Australia indefinitely
  • work and study in Australia
  • enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
  • sponsor eligible relatives to come to Australia
  • travel to and from Australia for 5 years
  • if eligible, become an Australian citizen

You must

  • have an occupation on the relevant list of eligible skilled occupations
  • have an Australian employer nominating you to work in a position in regional Australia
  • depending on your occupation, demonstrate you have at least 3 years of relevant work experience
  • depending on your occupation, have a skills assessment
  • agree to remain employed with your nominating employer in regional Australia for a minimum of 2 years

Temporary Residence Transition Stream

This visa allows skilled workers, who are nominated by their employer in regional Australia, live and work in Australia permanently.

  • ​​​You must be a transitional subclass 457 or subclass 482 worker
  • Usually, you must have worked for your employer full-time for at least 3 years
  • You must be nominated by your employer

With this visa, you can

  • stay in Australia indefinitely
  • work and study in Australia
  • enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
  • sponsor eligible relatives to come to Australia
  • travel to and from Australia for 5 years
  • apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible

Travel

From the date we grant this visa, you can travel to and from Australia for up to 5 years.

After that period, you will need a Resident Return (RRV) visa to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident.

If you leave Australia after the expiry date of your travel facility, without being granted another permanent visa with a valid travel facility, for example a Resident Return (RRV), you might not be able to return to Australia as a permanent resident.

How long you can stay

This is a permanent visa – it lets you stay in Australia indefinitely.

You become a permanent resident on the day we grant the visa.

Your permanent residency for citizenship purposes starts:

  • on the day the visa is granted if you are in Australia
  • on the day you enter Australia on this visa if you are outside Australia

Include family

You can:

  • include family members in your application when you apply
  • add family members to your application after you apply but before we decide on your visa

For this visa, your family members are:

  • your partner
  • your dependent child or stepchild
  • your partner’s dependent child or stepchild
  • the dependent child or stepchild of your or your partner’s dependent child or stepchild

You can also include someone who holds a subclass 457 visa or subclass 482 visa if we granted them that visa on the basis, they are a member of your family.

Family members who apply for the visa with you must meet our health and character requirements.

Family members who do not apply for the visa with you might also have to meet the requirements.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Have the required skills (you must have the required skills and qualifications needed to perform the tasks of the nominated occupation). You might be asked to get a skills assessment to show you have these skills.
  • Licensing, registration or membership – You must be licensed, registered or a member of a professional body if it is mandatory in the state or territory you intend to work in.
  • Be nominated by the employer who sponsored your temporary work visa
  • you must be under 45 years of age when you apply.

You are exempt from this criterion if any of the following applies to you:

  • you are nominated as an academic (university lecturer or faculty head at Academic Level B, C, D or E) by a university in Australia
  • you are nominated as a scientist, researcher or technical specialist at ANZSCO skill level 1 or 2 by an Australian scientific government agency
  • you are a medical practitioner who has worked in your nominated occupation for at least three years as a 457 or 482 visa holder. For two of those years, you were employed in regional Australia. The nominated position is in regional Australia
  • as a subclass 457 or 482 visa holder, you have been working in the nominated occupation for the nominating employer for at least the last 3 years, and your earnings were at least as much as the Fair Work High Income Threshold for each year of that period

If during that 3-year period you were stood down or required to work reduced hours due to COVID-19, your earnings and the high-income threshold are assessed at a pro rata rate for the affected years. This concession applies for applications lodged on or after 24 November 2020 and in relation to periods of COVID-19 related temporary employment changes since 1 February 2020.

If you held (or had applied for and were later granted) a subclass 457 visa on 18 April 2017, you can still apply for this visa if you are under 50 when you apply.

Transitional arrangements

If you held (or had applied for and were later granted) a subclass 457 visa on 18 April 2017, you can still apply for this visa if you are under 50 when you apply.

  • You must currently be the primary visa holder of either:
      • a subclass 457 visa
      • a subclass 482 (TSS) visa
      • a bridging visa A, B or C

The bridging visa must be the one you were granted after your subclass 457 or TSS visa expired.

  • Meet health and character requirement
  • Sign the Australian value statement
  • Have the required level of English language test score
  • Have paid back the debt to the Australian government
  • Not have had a visit visa cancelled or previous application refused