Hi guys. Do you wanna move to Australia? Are you looking for your pathway to permanent residency? Well, I’m gonna give you a little bit of information about regional migration. Regional migration has been around for a long time in Australia, but there’s been some recent changes that might be beneficial for you. In November 2019, the Australian Government added regional areas like Wollongong, New Castle, Gold Coast, even Perth, to the regional migration list. And instantly, people started thinking, “You know what? I’m gonna go to the, uh, these regional areas, I’m gonna study there, and I’m gonna get permanent residency.” But does regional study actually equal pathway to permanent residency?

The answer is yes, no, maybe. It actually really depends on your situation and what you study, and also what region you’re gonna be studying in. So I’m gonna give you a brief overview about some of the study pathways by regional migration, but I wanna stress that this is not to be considered migration advice. It’s merely an explanation of some of the things that you should be considering when you’re looking at your pathway to PR. If you want a professional personalized migration advice, then you’re gonna need to speak to a registered migration agent. And Go Study has fantastic partnerships with migration agents that can give you the best pathway and mapping so you can reach your goals. Just contact us at Go Study.com.au and tell us what you’d like to do. We’ll connect you to one of our partner agents who’ll map out your plan, and then we’ll help you find the best course to there.

All right, so let’s go ahead and talk about some of the things that you should know about regional migration. First of all, anywhere outside the major capital cities of Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney are generally considered to be regional. So if you’re gonna look at studying in one of these regions, this isn’t generally where you’re gonna end up. Now, there are some great benefits to studying in a regional area, and one of the most popular of these is actually the pathway to a Postgraduate Study Visa.

Now, if you graduate from a master’s or a bachelor program from a university in a regional area and you’ve studied for at least years or 16 consecutive months, then you’ll be eligible for the 485 Postgraduate Study Visa. This will give you three years of post-study work rights, as opposed to the usual two years that you’d get if you studied in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. This means that you could spend more time to find an employer to gain that work experience that will help you lead to a regional sponsorship.

Now, interestingly, if you study in Darwin, you can actually get up to four years of post-study work rights as well. So that’s pretty awesome. If you were to study at a vocational or bachelor or master’s level in a regional area, you’ll get five additional points to the visas that are based on points testing. Aside from that, there’s not a huge amount of benefits of studying at a vocational level in a regional area, unless you’re in one of those regions that has the DAMA, which is the Designated Area Migration Agreement. The DAMA is present in very, very remote areas like Far North Queensland, most of the Northern Territory, but it’s also in Adelaide. And it’s a special agreement that gives employers an opportunity to sponsor you for a range of different functions, uh, across a range of different careers.

Uh, the DAMA’s a bit tricky. You, again, you’re gonna need to talk to a migration agent about this one. But a lot of, uh, students are going to regional areas, studying vocational level, while they look for somebody to sponsor them. It’s a bit hit-and-miss. So again, uh, it’s gonna depend on you, your circumstances, and also your employer.

Now, there’re a range of special exceptions across all areas, that again, uh, really influence your decision as well. For instance, in Perth, if you study at a deployment level and do certain subjects like trades like carpentry or construction, then you’ll also be illegible for the 485 Postgraduate Work Visa when you don’t actually need to study at a bachelor level. That’s pretty cool. Again, there’s lots of different exceptions, so it really depends on you, where you study, and what the rules are for that region.

Now, while we’re talking about Perth, it actually has another really cool feature, uh, with a graduation occupations list. If you were to study at a bachelor or master’s level at any of the universities in Perth, and then you would graduate with a skill that is on the graduate occupations list. And assuming that you can get an employment agreement for at least a year and you meet the relevant work experience requirements, then you could actually get a much faster pathway to PR as well. But again, you’re gonna need to check whether this is right and relevant for you. Come have a chat to us at Go Study and we can set you up with the people that can give you the right advice.

So, is there a quick way for you yo study regionally and then get permanent residency? Generally, it’s gonna be no. You’re gonna be looking at a pathway that’s gonna last at- about six, seven, perhaps eight years, unless you’re, uh, gonna fit into one of those really unique exceptions. But I will tell you about what we believe is gonna be the most common pathway combining education into a PR pathway. And that is using what’s called the 494 Regional Employer Sponsor Visa. Now, under the 494 visa, an employer may sponsor you for up to five years to work in a regional area. During this time, you will work in a regional area for that employer, but after three years, you’ll be able to apply for permanent residency.

Now, to be illegible for the 494, you’re gonna need to have a few things. Number one, you need a relevant qualification, you’re gonna need to be working in a regional area, and you’ll need at least three years of experience in that, uh, chosen field.

So a common pathway might look like this. A student may go to a regional university or college and study at bachelor or master’s level and graduate. They will then be illegible for three years of post-study work rights. They can use that three years to gain their necessary three years of experience. So assuming they’ve have never worked in this job before overseas or in Australia, they can get those required three years. They can then move to a regional area, or if they’re already in a regional area, stay there with their current employer and actually work in that regional area for three years.

After those three years, they’ll be illegible to apply for the permanent residency, and as you can see, this is a pathway that’s now taking about three years for a bachelor, three years for the actual, uh, work experience, and then probably some time for the visa to come through. So you’re looking at about a seven-year pathway. But you know what, guys? It is actually an attractive option if you’re looking to move to Australia, so I would encourage you to think about it. And again, come have a chat to us at Go Study so we can set you up with the right people to help you make the right choices. There’s many other pathways that you can explore, and you’re gonna need some professional help.

So a few things I need to say about the information I’ve presented to you. Number one, details change over time. By the time you’re seeing this video, the rules might have changed again. So it’s important that you get up-to-date information. Number two, it really is gonna depend on you, your work background, your skillset, but also what jobs you’re gonna be going for. Number three, most of the pathways involve education. That’s where Go Study comes in handy, and we can set you up with the best course at the best price, at the best college. Have a chat with us about range of scholarships, the range of opportunities to get involved and find the right course for you.

And lastly, you are gonna need a professional to give you professional advice. If you’re being told that you can move to a regional area and you’ll get quick and easy pathways to PR, then they’re probably wrong and you’re gonna need a second opinion. Make sure you talk to somebody who knows what they’re doing and can map out your pathway. Come have a chat with us at Go Study and we’ll find you the best course to make sure you can reach your dreams in Australia. I hope this has been helpful. We’ll see you down under.