The Skilled Regional nominated (489) visa is a provisional skilled visa that allows applicants to live and work in regional NSW for up to 4 years. Currently, there are 9 regions participating in the NSW 489 program.
Each regional area publishes its own skilled occupation list with the occupations that are in demand. The information below is a summary of the status of each region.
Central West
Temporarily closed. The Central West Skills Occupation List will re-open in March 2019.
http://www.rdacentralwest.org.au/visas/visa-489/
Far South Coast
Temporarily closed. Applications for the Skilled Regional Sponsored Visa (SRS) 489 for the NSW Far South Coast is currently suspended until early 2019.
https://www.rdafsc.com.au/srs-489/
Mid North Coast
Temporarily closed. All applications are currently on hold and RDA MNC is not accepting any further applications due to a high volume of Expressions of Interest.
http://rdamnc.org.au/migration/skilled-regional-sponsored-visa-489/
Murray
Open for nominations
http://www.rdamurray.org.au/index.php/migration-services/skilled-migration/
Northern Inland
Open for nominations
http://www.rdani.org.au/skilled-migration/skilled-regional-nsw-sponsorship.php
Northern Rivers
Temporarily closed
https://rdanorthernrivers.org.au/rsms-certification/
Orana
Temporarily closed
https://www.rdaorana.org.au/migration/migrants/
Riverina
Temporarily closed. Nomination to all occupations are closed. This will be reviewed in February 2019.
https://rdariverina.org.au/skilled-migration/
Southern Inland
Open for nominations
https://www.rdasi.org.au/regional-migration/state-sponsored-migration-489-visa/
Note that this information is accurate as of the date of the publication of this post. For up-to-date information on occupation lists go to our searching tool.
