The legislation for validity criteria and eligibility criteria for subclass 191 application has been published. Below are some important points worth mentioning.

One key point which has been clear is that the applicant does not need to wait for 3 full income years to be eligible.

For instance, a 491 holder has his visa granted on 01 Jan 2022, will only need to wait until the end of 01 Jan 2025 to lodge 191 applications. They will need to lodge Tax return and receive notice of assessment of 3 years ending 30 Jun 2022, 2023, and 2024, despite that the first year holding 491, the applicant only holds the eligible visa for 6 months.

Clause 191.111

In this Part: income year has the meaning given by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. relevant income year: an income year is a relevant income year for an applicant if: (a) the income year ended before the date of application; and (b) the applicant held a regional provisional visa for all or part of the income year. taxable income has the meaning given by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

Another important provision is clause 191.221

(1) The applicant complied substantially with the conditions (other than condition 8579) to which the following visas were subject:

(a) the regional provisional visa held by the applicant at the time of application; (b) any subsequent bridging visa held by the applicant.

(2) The applicant complied with condition 8579 to which the regional provisional visa held by the applicant at the time of application was subject unless the applicant is included in a class of persons specified in an instrument under subclause (3).

(3) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, specify a class of persons for the purposes of subclause (2).

The applicant will need to comply with condition 8579 and substantially comply with other conditions on their 491 visa to be eligible for the grant of 191.

Condition 8579

(1) If the visa is a Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)) visa, the holder, while in Australia, must live, work and study only in a part of Australia that was a designated regional area at the time the visa was granted.