Subclass 191
Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa
The pathway from the provisional 491 or 494 to Australian permanent residence. Three years holding the provisional visa in compliance with its conditions. ATO notices of assessment for three income years. No minimum income requirement.
The Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa is the permanent residence outcome of the regional provisional pathway. Holders of the Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa and the Subclass 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa become eligible for the 191 after three years of compliant residence, work, and study in a designated regional area.
Applications for the 191 in the Regional Provisional Visas stream could be made from 16 November 2022, three years after the introduction of the 491 and 494. The Department now processes them as a defined pathway with established documentary requirements.
Home Affairs states there is no minimum income requirement for the 191. The substantive requirement is documentary: ATO notices of assessment for three income years out of the five years of the regional provisional visa, plus evidence that you lived, worked and studied in a designated regional area as required by condition 8579.
Eligibility criteria
Held a regional provisional visa for three years
The applicant must hold a Subclass 491 or Subclass 494 visa when applying and must have held it for at least three years. The three years run from the visa grant date, not from the date of arrival in Australia.
Compliance with condition 8579
The applicant must have complied with condition 8579 on the regional provisional visa held at the time of application, unless the applicant falls within a class of persons the Minister has specified by legislative instrument. This means that, while in Australia, the applicant lived, worked, and (where applicable) studied only in a designated regional area.
Three ATO Notices of Assessment
The applicant must provide copies of notices of assessment, and any notices of amended assessment, given under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 for three relevant income years. Home Affairs describes these as three income years out of the five years of the eligible visa, and states there is no minimum income requirement.
Substantial compliance with other conditions
The applicant must have complied substantially with the other conditions of the regional provisional visa held at the time of application, and of any later bridging visa, including 8578 (notification), 8580 (evidence on request), and 8581 (interview on request).
Health and character
All applicants must satisfy public interest criteria including health and character requirements. Police certificates are required from each country, including Australia, where the applicant spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16.
Family unit members
Members of the family unit may apply combined with the primary 191 application. Home Affairs states that generally they do not need to hold an eligible visa; one is needed where, for example, a child has turned 23 since the eligible visa was granted and no longer meets the standard family unit definition. Each must meet the health and character requirements.
The income threshold question
Confusion around 191 income requirements is common. Clause 191.222 of the Migration Regulations 1994 allows the Minister to specify, by legislative instrument, a minimum taxable income for each of the three income years. Home Affairs states that there is no minimum income requirement for the 191.
The applicant must, however, file tax returns and obtain notices of assessment for three income years out of the five years of the regional provisional visa. Without the notices of assessment the 191 criteria cannot be met, and missing tax records also make it harder to show where you worked during the underlying 491 or 494.
Where income through the qualifying period was low or intermittent, the applicant should still file returns to obtain the NOAs. Low income figures on NOAs do not, by themselves, defeat a 191 application. Absent NOAs do.
Documenting 8579 compliance
Evidence of compliance with condition 8579 is central to every 191 application. The assessment is evidence-led: sparse documentation creates doubt, and doubt puts the application at risk.
Home Affairs lists proof of residence (leases or rental agreements, utility bills showing your home address, school reports, title deeds), proof of work (reference letters, payslips) and proof of study (academic transcripts, letters of completion). Bank statements and tax records showing regional employers can support the same picture. Continuous records at regional addresses carry the most weight. Where any category is missing or interrupted, the surrounding evidence must do more work.
Condition 8579 governs where you live, work and study while in Australia; time overseas is not a breach of it. No published rule sets a number of days away from a regional area that is acceptable. Documenting the reason for any extended stay outside a regional area, and the regional ties you kept through it, is essential.
Speak with an immigration lawyer about your 191 application
We review your three-year compliance evidence, identify gaps, advise on documentation strategy, and prepare the application to a litigation-ready standard.
Book a consultationIf 8579 compliance is contested
The Subclass 191 regulations contemplate that the Minister may, by legislative instrument, specify a class of persons for whom non-compliance with condition 8579 is excused for the purpose of granting the 191. This is a class-based mechanism, not an individual waiver. It applies only to persons captured by an instrument that the Minister has made.
Where compliance is not established at the visa stage, the consequence is generally refusal of the 191. A refusal may carry merits review rights to the Administrative Review Tribunal, depending on where the application was made; the refusal letter states whether review is available and the strict time limit for applying. Judicial review to the Federal Circuit and Family Court is available on grounds of jurisdictional error, also within strict time limits.
Where 8579 compliance during the underlying 491 is doubtful, the strategic question is whether to lodge the 191 with all available evidence and accept the risk of refusal and review, or to seek alternative pathways. Either route requires legal assessment of the specific circumstances.
Common questions
Who can apply for the 191?
When does the three-year period start?
Is there a minimum income threshold for the 191?
What evidence do I need to demonstrate compliance with 8579?
Can I move anywhere in Australia once the 191 is granted?
What if I had to move out of a regional area during my 491?
Information current as at 15 October 2026. The Department of Home Affairs publishes the current 191 criteria at homeaffairs.gov.au. The legislative framework is in Schedule 2 Part 191 of the Migration Regulations 1994, available at legislation.gov.au.