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How do I get PR in Australia from India?

Most Indian applicants get Australian permanent residence through the points-tested skilled visas: a positive skills assessment in an occupation on the skilled list, English at a competent level or better, and enough points to be invited through SkillSelect. The 189 visa needs no sponsor; the 190 and 491 add points through a state nomination.

Three visas, one system

SkillSelect is Australia's expression-of-interest system. You lodge a profile with your points claim, and the Department of Home Affairs, or a state, invites the highest-ranked profiles in your occupation.

  • Subclass 189, Skilled Independent. No sponsor, live anywhere. The hardest to be invited for, because every applicant in the country competes in the same pool.
  • Subclass 190, Skilled Nominated. A state or territory nominates you for 5 extra points. You commit to living there for two years. Permanent from day one.
  • Subclass 491, Skilled Work Regional. A regional nomination for 15 extra points. Five years, provisional, leading to permanent residence after three years of regional living and work.

What you must have before anything

  1. An occupation on the skilled list. Each visa uses its own list, and states publish their own on top.
  2. A positive skills assessment from the authority for your occupation: ACS for IT, Engineers Australia for engineers, VETASSESS for most others, AHPRA-linked bodies for health. This is the slowest step and the one Indian files most often fail on paperwork.
  3. English. Competent English, IELTS 6.0 in each band, is the floor. Proficient (7.0 each) adds 10 points; Superior (8.0 each) adds 20.
  4. At least 65 points. That is the legal minimum to lodge. Invitations in most occupations need considerably more.

Then

Lodge the expression of interest, apply for state nomination where your occupation is listed, and wait for an invitation. After it, you have 60 days to apply, with medicals, police certificates and the visa application charge. Processing after that has recently taken roughly eight to fourteen months.

Run the Australia points calculator first. If your number is not competitive for your occupation, we will say so before you pay an assessment body.

Sources

Checked against these on by Hari Prasad, Head of Sales — Australia Migration. Immigration rules change without notice — if you are reading this much later, check them again.