Stay

Permanently

With this visa, you can

• stay in Australia permanently
• work and study in Australia
• enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
• sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
• travel to and from Australia for 5 years
• if eligible, become an Australian citizen

You must

• have an occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list
• have a suitable skills assessment for the occupation
• be invited to apply for this visa
• satisfy the points test

How long you can stay

This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia indefinitely. The visa has a travel component that expires 5 years after the date of visa grant.

You become a permanent resident on the day we grant the visa.

For citizenship purposes, your permanent residence starts on the day:

• we grant the visa if you are in Australia
• you enter Australia on this visa if you are outside Australia

Include family

You can include members of the family unit in your application. You can:

• include them when you lodge your visa application
• add them after you lodge your application but before we decide on your visa. 

Family members who apply for the visa must meet our health and character requirements.

If your partner or dependent children are not included in this application, tell us the reason why (for example, they already hold Australian citizenship or are a permanent resident).

Apply from

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when we decide on your application, but not in immigration clearance.

If you apply in Australia, you must hold a substantive or a subclass 010 Bridging A visa, a subclass 020 Bridging B visa or a subclass 030 Bridging C visa, otherwise your application will not be processed.

Processing times

• 25% of applications: 82 Days
• 50% of applications: 83 Days
• 75% of applications: 3 Months
• 90% of applications: 3 Months

We assess applications on a case-by-case basis, and actual processing times can vary due to individual circumstances including:

• whether you have lodged a complete application, including all necessary supporting documents
• how quickly you respond to any requests for additional information
• how long it takes to perform required checks on the supporting information provided
• how long it takes to receive additional information from external agencies, particularly in relation to health, character, and national security requirements
• for permanent migration visa applications, how many places are available in the migration program

Travel

You can travel in and out of Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date we grant the visa.

Visa label

We will digitally link your visa to your passport. You will not get a label in your passport.

Process