In short: The 491 and 494 are provisional visas granted for five years, not permanent ones. You are a foreign person, so you need foreign investment approval, you pay the foreign purchaser duty surcharge, and you cannot buy an established dwelling. Lenders treat both reasonably well because they lead to permanent residency through the subclass 191.
Regional visa holders sit in an unusual position. Your visa is longer than most temporary visas, your permanent residency route is written into the migration rules, and lenders quite like both facts. What trips people up is geography: where you are required to live, where you are allowed to buy, and how a regional postcode changes what a lender will lend.
What the visas are
The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) is for skilled workers nominated by a state or territory government or sponsored by an eligible family member. The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) is for workers sponsored by a regional employer. Both are granted for five years and both require you to live, work and study in a designated regional area.
"Regional" is broader than people assume. Category 2 covers Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Wollongong and the Illawarra, Geelong and Hobart. Category 3 covers everywhere else outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Check the current postcode list with the Department of Home Affairs before you assume a suburb qualifies.
The permanent step is the subclass 191, which generally requires you to have held the provisional visa for at least three years, complied with its conditions, and met a minimum taxable income requirement.
What applies to you
| Question | Position for a 491 or 494 holder |
|---|---|
| Visa type | Provisional, granted for five years |
| Pathway to permanent residency | Yes, subclass 191 after three years and an income test |
| Foreign investment approval needed | Yes, before an unconditional contract |
| Can buy an established dwelling | No, while the federal ban runs to 30 June 2029 |
| Can buy new, off-the-plan or vacant land | Yes, with approval and conditions |
| 5% Deposit Scheme eligible | No, it requires citizenship or permanent residency |
| State first home owner grant | No, unless a co-applicant is a citizen or permanent resident |
| Typical maximum LVR | Often 80%, with a small group of lenders going higher |
| Foreign purchaser duty surcharge | Yes, 8% in Victoria, 9% in New South Wales at the time of writing |
| Where you must live | A designated regional area, as a condition of the visa |
Policy differs lender to lender and changes without notice, so we check current appetite against your grant notice before you make an offer.
The geography problem
Your visa tells you where to live. It does not, by itself, tell you where you may own property. But buying a home in metropolitan Melbourne while your visa requires you to live regionally invites an obvious question about whether you are complying, and that is a question for a registered migration agent, not a broker. Most 491 and 494 clients buy where they live, which keeps everything simple.
Lending in regional postcodes brings its own rules. Some lenders reduce the maximum loan-to-value ratio in small towns, in single-industry areas or where recent sales evidence is thin. Valuations can come back under contract price more often than in the growth corridors. Postcode and location lender policy explains how that works, and what to do about a low valuation covers the fix when it happens.
Because you are restricted to new dwellings and vacant land anyway, most regional visa holders end up looking at house and land. See house and land packages and construction loan progress payments.
Worked example: a 491 family building in Ballarat
Sanjay holds a 491 nominated by Victoria, with four years remaining, and earns $104,000. His wife works part time earning $38,000. They buy a $560,000 new house-and-land package in Ballarat.
Victorian land transfer duty on $560,000 is $2,870 plus 6% of the excess over $130,000: $2,870 + $25,800 = $28,670.
| Line | On the 491 now | After the 191 permanent visa |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | $560,000 | $560,000 |
| Deposit | 20% = $112,000 | 5% = $28,000 under the 5% Deposit Scheme |
| Loan | $448,000 | $532,000, no mortgage insurance |
| Land transfer duty | $28,670 | $0, first home buyer exemption to $600,000 |
| Foreign purchaser additional duty at 8% | $44,800 | Nil |
| Foreign investment application fee | $15,600 | Nil |
| First Home Owner Grant on a new home | Not eligible | $10,000 back |
| Conveyancing and costs | about $3,000 | about $3,000 |
| Cash needed | $204,070 | $21,000 |
For illustration, at 6.00% p.a. over 30 years, $448,000 costs about $2,686 a month and $532,000 about $3,190 a month. Waiting three years for the 191 costs them roughly $500 a month more in repayments and saves them about $183,000 in cash. For most 491 families that is not a close call, but it does depend on whether rent and prices move against you in the meantime, which is the part we model with you.
Regional Victoria has its own 5% Deposit Scheme price cap, $650,000 outside Melbourne and Geelong at the time of writing, so the Ballarat purchase fits comfortably. See the 5% deposit guarantee and Ballarat mortgage broker.
Things to get right before you sign
- Hold foreign investment approval or make the contract conditional on it. Buying without approval is a breach with penalties.
- On vacant land, approval normally requires construction to be completed within four years and the land not to be sold before completion.
- Budget the surcharge and the application fee as cash. Neither can be added to the loan.
- Confirm the lender lends in that postcode at the loan-to-value ratio you need before you pay a deposit.
- If your spouse is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, buying as joint tenants removes the approval requirement altogether and can remove the Victorian surcharge.
For the rules that apply across every temporary visa, read buying property as a temporary resident and FIRB approval for property. Our home loans for visa holders page sets out how we screen lenders, and home loans by visa subclass compares the 491 with every other option.
Frequently asked questions
Can a 491 visa holder buy a house in Australia?
Yes, with foreign investment approval, and only a new dwelling, an off-the-plan property or vacant land while the federal ban on foreign persons buying established dwellings runs to 30 June 2029. You will also pay a foreign purchaser duty surcharge, 8% of the dutiable value in Victoria at the time of writing. Several lenders will consider a 491 holder, commonly to 80% of the property value.
Do I have to buy in a regional area on a 491 or 494?
Your visa requires you to live, work and study in a designated regional area. It does not directly regulate where you may own property, but buying a home in Sydney or Melbourne while holding a regional visa raises a compliance question you should put to a registered migration agent before you commit. In practice, most regional visa holders buy in the area where they already live.
Is the 491 treated better than the 485 by lenders?
Generally yes. The 491 is granted for five years and carries a defined permanent residency route through the subclass 191, so a lender sees a longer and more certain income horizon than on a two-year graduate visa. Expect a wider field of lenders and often a higher maximum loan-to-value ratio. Lender policy still differs and changes without notice, so it is checked file by file.
What happens to my loan when I get the 191 visa?
Nothing automatic, but your options improve. As a permanent resident you can refinance without the temporary-resident restrictions, access higher loan-to-value ratios and buy established property next time. You cannot claim back the foreign purchaser duty surcharge you already paid, which is exactly why the timing decision matters before the first purchase rather than after it.
Can I use the 5% Deposit Scheme on a regional visa?
No. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme requires every applicant to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and a provisional visa is neither. Once the subclass 191 is granted you become eligible, subject to the scheme's other criteria and the regional price cap. Check the current criteria at housingaustralia.gov.au.
Talk to GNT Finance
Regional purchases turn on two things: which lenders accept your visa, and which lenders lend confidently in your postcode. We check both before you make an offer. Gorakh Timilsina worked as a senior credit officer before founding GNT Finance, and we work across Victoria and Australia-wide by phone and video. Book a free consultation or call 0426 403 703.
This page is general information only and not legal, tax, migration or financial advice. Visa and foreign investment rules change — confirm current requirements with the Department of Home Affairs, the Foreign Investment Review Board or a registered migration agent.
Written by Gorakh Timilsina
Founder, CEO & Senior Mortgage Consultant at GNT Finance. Gorakh started as a broker assistant, spent years as a senior credit officer assessing loan applications, and now helps Melbourne families get the right loan approved. English, Nepali and Hindi spoken.