What is Skilled Regional visa (subclass 887) visa?
Subclass 887 Skilled Regional Visa is a permanent visa for people who have lived and worked in specific regional areas of Australia. To apply for this visa, you must have been on subclass 489, 495, 496, 475 or 487 visa for at least 2 years.
To apply for an 887 visa, you must have lived lawfully on one of the visas mentioned above in the following areas
- a regional or low-population growth metropolitan area if a state or territory government nominated you for your eligible visa, or
- a designated area of Australia if a family member sponsored you for your eligible visa.
What can you do with this visa?
- You can stay permanently in Australia
- Work and study in Australia
- Become eligible for Medicare health cover
- Sponsor relatives to move to Australia
- Travel to and from Australia for 5 years
- Apply for citizenship eventually
Eligibility
To apply for Subclass 887 visa, here are the general eligibility requirements
- You must be inside Australia at the time of lodgement your visa
- You must hold one of the eligible prerequisite visas
- You must have lived on the visa in the specified regions of Australia for at least two years
- You should have worked for at least one year in the specified regional area full-time.
- You should meet English language, health and character requirements.
Important: This visa is eligible for COVID concessions which give you access to shorter work requirements and the option to apply from outside Australia. Check with the migration agent to understand how concession works.
How to apply?
You apply for this online via your Immi account. You need to provide identity, character and other documents at the time of application. Pay the fee and you will get an intimation from the immigration department acknowledging your application.
Cost and Processing time
The cost for the main applicant of this visa is AUD425 and there are charges for health checkups, police certificates and biometrics.
There would also be additional charges for each family member who applies for the visa with you.
If a family member is 18 years of age or older and has less than functional English (IELTS score of 4.5). This charge is called Second Installment which costs you AUD4,890 and you need to pay only if you are going to be granted the visa.
The visa processing time is currently 14 to 20 months.
Visa outcome
If your application is successful, you will be communicated in writing
- Visa grant letter
- The date your visa starts
- Your visa conditions
In case of rejection, you will also be communicated why your application was rejected and whether you can apply for a review of the decision or not.
If you aspire to be a permanent resident of Australia and think you could be eligible for this visa, talk to our migration agents today. With their guidance, you can certainly improve the chances of visa success.
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