494 Visa to PR: How the 494 to 191 Pathway Works in 2026

You moved for a regional job, signed a lease in a town you barely knew, and have now spent a year or two on a 494 visa.

Permanent residence is the reason you chose this visa. Yet the details feel uncertain. When does the clock start? What if your job changes? Does a quiet tax year count against you?

The answer is simpler than most forums suggest. The 494 visa to PR route runs through one visa, the subclass 191, and its rules are short.

You must have held the 494 for 3 years, followed its conditions and have 3 years of tax assessments. There is no new nomination, no points test and no income threshold.

This guide explains when your 3 years start, what happens if your job changes, what the 191 costs, how long it takes and what to keep from year 1.

Want your 191 date and evidence checked now, rather than in year 3? A MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2518738) at The Migration can review your 494 history. Book a 494 to 191 review.

How Does the 494 Visa Lead to Permanent Residence?

After holding your 494 for at least 3 years, you can apply for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa, subclass 191. It is the main 494 visa to PR route, and it doesn’t need your employer to nominate you again.

The 494 visa is provisional. It lasts 5 years and can’t be extended. The 191 is designed to take you from that provisional stage to permanent residence.

For most 494 holders, the 191 is the shortest and cheapest of the three.

When Does Your 3-Year Clock for the 191 Start?

Your 3 years start on your 494 grant date, not the day you arrived or started work. Home Affairs counts the time you have held the visa.

This is good news for people granted offshore who arrived a few months later. Those months still count. Your family members’ 191 visa timing follows yours.

Two points are easy to miss.

• Time overseas doesn’t stop the clock, but long absences can leave gaps in your tax and regional evidence.
• An application lodged even a day early can be refused. Count from the grant date on your grant letter.

You can check your grant date in VEVO or on your grant letter.

What Are the 191 Visa Requirements for 494 Holders in 2026?

The 191 has four main requirements: 3 years on your 494 visa, compliance with its conditions, 3 years of ATO notices of assessment, and health and character clearances. Home Affairs lists no age limit, no English test and no skills assessment for it.

What you must show

• Time held: you have held the 494 for at least 3 years when you apply.
• Compliance: you followed the 494 conditions for the whole time you held it while in Australia.
• Regional evidence: proof you lived, worked and studied only in designated regional areas.
• Income evidence: ATO notices of assessment for 3 income years out of the 5 years of your 494.
• Tax debt: any ATO debt repaid, or a payment plan in place.
• Health and character: for you and each family member who applies.

What you don’t need

• A new employer nomination.
• A points test or an Expression of Interest.
• A new English test or skills assessment.
• To be under 45.

You can apply from inside or outside Australia, but not for immigration clearance. Full details are on the 191 visa page.

Is There a Minimum Income for the 494 to 191 Pathway?

No. The Home Affairs 191 Regional Provisional stream page states, “There is no minimum income requirement.” The test is 3 years of ATO notices of assessment.

You may still see a figure of about AUD 53,900 on other websites. That comes from an earlier version of the rules and does not apply to 191 applications today.

What matters in practice is that you lodge a tax return every year. A notice of assessment only exists once the ATO has processed your return. The 191 visa income requirement guide covers low-income and part years in detail.

Missed a tax return or had a short income year? A MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2518738) at The Migration can check whether your 3 notices are in place. Have your 191 income evidence checked.

What Happens If You Change Employers or Lose Your 494 Job?

Your 191 clock keeps running while your 494 stays valid. What matters is that you stay within the conditions while you find the next role.

If your job ends

• You have up to 180 consecutive days to find a new regional sponsor, apply for another visa or leave Australia.
• Tell Home Affairs about changes to your employer, job or hours.
• Your employer must also tell Home Affairs that your work has ended.

If you move to a new employer

• The new employer must be in a regional area and lodge a new nomination for you.
• Wait for Home Affairs to approve the new nomination before you start, unless the new business is an associated entity of your sponsor.
• Your new job must be in the occupation you are nominated for.

A short gap between jobs does not reset your 3 years. Working for an employer without a nomination, though, can breach your conditions and put the 191 at risk.

Where Must You Live Before You Apply for the 191?

You must live, work and study only in designated regional areas for the whole time you hold the 494. That is all of Australia except Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin, Canberra, the Gold Coast and Newcastle all count. You can also move between regional areas, as long as your job stays with your sponsor in a regional location.

Moving to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane breaches your visa conditions. It can lead to cancellation and a refused 191. The designated regional areas list explains the postcode check.

How Much Does the 191 Cost and How Long Does It Take in 2026?

The 191 costs AUD 630 for the main applicant, far less than the 494 itself. Home Affairs currently decides half of 191 applications within 7 months.

Fees and times as published by Home Affairs on 4 November 2026. Processing figures were updated on 2 November 2026 and cover applications finalised to 30 September 2026. Check the Visa Pricing Estimator and the processing time guide before you lodge.

Under Ministerial Direction 122, 191 applications for jobs in construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources are processed first, then applicants in Australia.

Can 494 Holders Apply for the 186, 189 or 190 Visa Instead?

Yes, but only after holding the 494 for 3 years. Until then, Home Affairs won’t grant a 186, 189 or 190 visa to a 494 holder.

The same 3-year lock stops you from making a valid partner visa (subclass 820) application. It also blocks the 132, 188 and 858 visas.

By the time the lock ends, most people already qualify for the 191. The others are worth comparing only if something stops the 191. For example, you may have breached a condition, or lack 3 notices of assessment. In that case, the 186 visa or the 190 visa may still be open.

What Evidence Should You Keep From Year 1?

Keep proof of where you lived, where you worked and what you earned for every year on the 494 visa. When year 3 arrives, the 191 visa is mostly a matter of attaching what you already hold.

Regional living evidence

• Leases, rental receipts or a mortgage statement for each address.
• Utility bills and Medicare or bank letters showing your address.
• School enrolment letters for your children.

Work evidence

• Your employment contract and any updated contracts.
• Payslips and end-of-year income statements.
• Approval letters for any new nomination.

Tax evidence

• An ATO notice of assessment for every income year.
• Proof of any ATO payment plan.

Store copies in one folder that you update each July, when the new tax year starts.

How The Migration Helps 494 Holders Move to the 191

The Migration has helped regional visa holders with Australian visas for more than 7 years. Its MARA-registered migration agents (MARN 2518738) plan the 191 from the 494 stage, and you can confirm registration on the MARA public register.

• Date check: the team confirms the earliest date you can lodge, from your grant letter.
• Condition review: the agents check job changes, addresses and gaps against your 494 conditions.
• Evidence plan: the team lists the notices of assessment and regional proof to collect.
• Family planning: partners and children are included in the 191 application with you.

491 holders follow a similar route, covered in the 491 to 191 visa pathway guide.

Conclusion

The 494 visa to PR route is the 191 visa. Once you have held your 494 for 3 years, complied with its conditions and lodged your tax returns, you can apply without a new nomination, points test or income threshold.

The 3 years count from your grant date; a job change doesn’t reset them, and the 191 costs AUD 630. The work is to keep clean regional and tax records from year 1.

Ready to plan your 191 application? Book a 494 to 191 consultation with a MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2518738).

Frequently asked questions