How to Qualify and Reap the Benefits of Skilled Regional Visa Subclass 887?

Skilled Regional Visa Subclass 887

If you have lived and worked for a minimum of 2 years in any regional area in Australia, you can now apply for the Skilled Regional Visa Subclass 887. This 887 visa Australia will let you live in Australia permanently. However, before applying, you should have explicit knowledge about all the eligibility criteria and benefits of this visa, and that is why we have penned down this blog for you.

What Are The Benefits Of a Skilled Regional Visa Subclass 887?

This visa is an Australian permanent residency visa. So once granted, it will allow you and your family members to live and work permanently in Australia. You can also avail additional perks and advantages.
Apart from working, you can also study in Australia if you wish.

From the visa subclass 887 grant date, you will be allowed to travel abroad and return to Australia for the next five years. You will have unlimited travel freedom with no restrictions on the number of trips.
You can include your family members in the application. Here family members mean partner and your or your partner’s dependent child. Family members who are allowed under this visa can enjoy the same rights as you. However, they will also have to comply with the visa conditions.

You can enroll in Australia’s national health care scheme, Medicare. Enrolling in Medicare will help you get treatment for free at public hospitals.

If eligible, you can make an application to become a citizen of Australia.
You will also be able to sponsor eligible relatives for various temporary and permanent visas in Australia.
There is one crucial point you should note here regarding the five-year travel restriction. After that period is over, you will not be allowed to re-enter Australia. For that, you will need to apply for a Resident Return visa or any other suitable visa. However, holders who stay inside Australia are not affected by this rule.

Basic Eligibility Criteria For The 887 Subclass Visa

If you want to apply for the 887 Visa Australia, you will be required to fulfill the following eligibility criteria.
You should be physically present in Australia while making your application.

You must hold an eligible visa at the time of application. The eligible visas include Subclasses 475, 487, 489, 495, and 496. Another point to keep in mind is that you should have held this visa for a minimum of 2 years.

Working as a full-time employee for an Australian employer in a specified regional area for at least one year is required. Note that a specified regional area is different from a designated regional area, and the postcodes only apply to the applicants of skilled regional visa subclass 887 and 489 Visa. For detailed information, it is recommended to check out the official website of the Department of Home Affairs.
Both the primary and secondary visa holders should satisfy health requirements. However, if you have already gone through a health examination while applying for the previous visa, you will not be generally required to undertake another one.

All the holders whose age is over 16 should provide relevant police clearance certificates from every country they have stayed. Family members not included in the application should also meet this requirement.

You, as well as your family members, must not have any pending debts owed to the Australian Government.
You should also have no records of visa application refusal or visa cancellation in the past.

Document Checklist For The Visa 887

Here we give a comprehensive document checklist for the Visa Subclass 887.

Visa application form

Form no. 80 should be completed in as detail as possible.

Relationship document

If you include your spouse in the application, a valid marriage certificate should be submitted.
Documents related to staying in a regional area To prove that you have stayed in a regional area in Australia, you must provide the following documents.
Rental agreements or leases
Title deeds to the residential property
Utility bills like gas, telephone, electricity that have your residential address included.
Character document

An AFP (Australian Federal Police) clearance certificate should be submitted as character proof. Currently, applying for these checks online is possible. For information, you should visit the official website of the Australian Federal Police.

When filling out the online application form, you must select the ‘Commonwealth Employment/Purpose’ option under the ‘Purpose Type’ in section 2.3. In the newly opened drop-down box, you have to use Code 33 to get police clearances for citizenship or immigration.

Documents related to work experience

These documents should include:
Payslips covering the employment period,
Tax returns, contracts, superannuation papers, and group certificates,
Employment references,
Any other documents related to the employment history that is provided for the skills assessment.
Employment references

Regarding employment references, you have to keep in mind the following points.
It should be written on the employer’s official letterhead and include the reference.
The full address, fax numbers, telephone numbers, website addresses, and email ids of the employer should be written.

The name, contact number, and position of the person signing the reference should be provided.
Required additional information should include the exact employment period, the duties undertaken and positions held, whether the post was full or part-time, temporary or permanent, and the salary.
The position description should be given according to the nature of the duties (like accounts clerk or chemist) and not in general terms (like a public servant or officer).
Self-employment
The self-employment documents should include:
Audited financial statements for the total employment period,
Documents of company registration,
Taxation records,
Major contract documents,
Marketing and advertising material,
Company profile or prospectus,
Membership proof of any professional and business associations.


How can you apply for 887 visa Australia?


Now you can apply online for 887 visa Australia. The only thing you will need is to open an Immi account. At the time of application, you should provide various relevant documents. It will be better to start your application several weeks before the deadline and prepare all the documents. Your application will not be complete without making the payment, and once the application is received, the Department of Home Affairs will acknowledge it.


Visa Cost and Processing Time


For the primary applicant, the visa application fee is AUD 425. This fee becomes AUD 210 for the partner and dependent child over 18. For a dependent child under 18, the fee becomes AUD 110.


For biometrics, health examinations, and police certificates, you will have to bear separate charges. 
If one of your adult family members has not achieved the Functional English level or more, you will be required to bear a Second Instalment that costs about AUD 4890.


The 887 Visa processing time varies according to the number of applications submitted at a specific time. For 75% of applications, it takes about 15 months. On the other hand, 90% of applications take about 16 months to process.


Final Words

You can know your visa application outcome through email. If your visa application is successful, the Department of Home Affairs will send you the visa grant letter. In the case of rejection also, they will send an email citing the reasons. To avoid this worst possible outcome, taking assistance from Immigration Adelaide can be an excellent idea.