Moving interstate on a 190 or 491: the commitment to the state, the condition on the visa, and what each move costs

MARN 1576536

What the state asks for

Each state and territory runs its nomination programme to fill its own skills needs, and each asks the people it nominates to commit to living and working in the state for a period after the visa is granted, commonly two years for the 190 and for the duration of the regional requirement for the 491, in a declaration signed with the nomination application. The commitment is a term of the state's nomination, and the state can decline to nominate a person it does not believe will keep it; what the state cannot do is write it into the visa, because the visa and its conditions are the Commonwealth's. The consequence is that the commitment binds the nominee to the state as a matter of undertaking, and binds the visa only where the Commonwealth has chosen to attach a condition of its own, which it has done for the regional visas and not for the 190. The state nomination guide sets out each programme.

The 190: a promise, not a condition

The 190 is a permanent visa and carries no condition about where the holder lives. A holder who moves to another state the month after grant has not breached the visa, cannot be cancelled for the move, and keeps the visa and its travel facility. The Department's cancellation powers are not engaged: the general power requires a ground such as incorrect information or changed circumstances, and a change of mind about where to live is neither, though a nominee who declared an intention they never held, and moved on the day of grant to a job arranged before the nomination, is in a position the Department could examine as incorrect information if the state referred it, which is rare. What the holder has done is break an undertaking to the state, and the state is the party that responds.

The 491: condition 8579

The 491 is a provisional visa and carries condition 8579, which requires the holder to live, work and study only in a part of Australia that is a designated regional area, and the Department enforces it with the ordinary cancellation power. The condition refers to designated regional areas as a class, everywhere outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for the current instrument, and not to the nominating state; a holder nominated by Tasmania who moves to Geelong, Newcastle or Cairns is within the condition. A holder who moves to a capital city excluded from the designated areas, or who works there while living regionally, breaches it, and the breach is a cancellation ground and, independently, a failure of the 191's requirement of compliance with the condition. The move within regional Australia breaks the state's commitment in the same way as a 190 move, and the state responds in the same way; the move out of regional Australia ends the pathway. The regional checker confirms a destination before the lease is signed, and the 491 guide sets out the condition.

The 494: the regional employer

A 494 holder is tied to the nominating employer by condition 8608, in the regional position nominated, and a move is a change of employer, not of state; the new employer in the new region nominates, with its own Regional Certifying Body advice, and the holder has the period between sponsors to arrange it. The regional requirement follows the position, so a 494 holder moves only where a regional employer will nominate, and the 191's three years count the employment with each. The 494 guide covers the change of employer.

What the state does when you move

States monitor their nominees through surveys, address updates they request as a term of nomination, data-matching arrangements with the Department covering tax and address records, and the ordinary channels of a small community. A nominee who moves early is recorded as not having met the commitment, and the record has three consequences: the state will usually decline to nominate that person again, for any visa, which matters to a 491 holder who later wants a 190 or to a 190 holder whose circumstances change; the state may decline to nominate the person's family members, partners and relatives, who apply later; and the state's view of the agent or the employer involved is affected. States do not fine, do not sue on the undertaking, and do not refer 190 holders to the Department for cancellation. The cost of a 190 move is reputational with that state, and it is real for anyone who will need the state again.

Telling the state

Every state asks nominees to tell it when they move, and the request is worth honouring: a nominee who writes before the move, with the reason, is treated as a person whose circumstances changed, and a nominee who is found to have moved without a word is treated as a person who misled. The reasons states accept are the reasons people actually have: the job that brought the nominee ended, the partner's work is elsewhere, a parent is ill, there is no work in the occupation in the state, a child needs a school or a service, the nominee's own health. The letter is short, factual, dated, and keeps the state's goodwill where it can be kept. A nominee who has not yet moved and whose reason is a better offer elsewhere considers whether the offer is worth the state's future nominations for the family, and sometimes decides to serve the two years.

The 191 after a move

The 191 requires a 491 or 494 holder to have held the visa for three years, to have complied with its conditions, and to have taxable income at or above the threshold for three of those years, and it does not require the three years to have been in the nominating state. A 491 holder who moved from one regional area to another, kept working, and met the income threshold meets the 191; a 491 holder who moved to a capital city does not, because condition 8579 was breached, and the Department reads the address and employment history against the designated areas when the 191 is lodged. The state's commitment is not a 191 criterion, so a 491 holder who broke it by moving to another regional area is not refused the 191 for that. The 191 guide sets out the criteria.

Citizenship

Citizenship by conferral requires lawful residence in Australia for the qualifying period, permanent residence for the final year, good character, and the test; none of the criteria refers to the state of residence, the nomination, or the commitment, and the Department does not ask about them. A 190 holder who moved after a year and applies for citizenship after four is assessed on the same residence count as anyone, and the broken undertaking is not a character matter. A 491 holder reaches citizenship through the 191, which is where the condition matters. The citizenship guide sets out the criteria.

Moving without a problem

1. Identify the visa: 190, 491 or 494, and the conditions on the grant letter.
2. For a 491, check that the destination, both the home and the workplace, is a designated regional area; for a 494, arrange the new nomination before the move.
3. Write to the nominating state with the reason and the date, before the move where possible.
4. Update the address with the Department, which is a separate obligation.
5. For a 491 or 494, keep the records that will prove regional residence and income for the 191, in both locations.
6. Expect the state to decline future nominations, and plan any family member's nomination through a different state if it comes to that.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Subclasses 190, 491 and 494 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, conditions 8579 and 8608 in Schedule 8, the instrument designating regional areas, the criteria of subclass 191, and section 116 of the Migration Act 1958, as in force at the date above; the states’ commitments, monitoring and policies on nominees who move are the states’ own and are published on each programme’s site. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.