What is Regional? The Gold Coast is and Everyone Loves it!

‘Australia’s favourite playground’. ‘Beautiful one day, perfect the next’. These are just a few of the taglines used to describe this magnificent city. But did you know that the Gold Coast is classed as regional for migration purposes? What does being classed as ‘regional’ actually mean? Let’s see:

Most locations of Australia outside major cities (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) are classed as designated regional areas for migration purposes.

The Australian government has designated certain areas of the country as ‘regional’ and given migrants to those areas extra incentives to live, work, study and play there. The Gold Coast enjoys a Category 2 regional designation with migrants having access to the following incentives:

• Access to the dedicated 25,000 regional places
• Priority processing of regional visas
• Access to the Regional Occupations List – more jobs compared to non-regional lists
• International graduates with a bachelor or higher qualification from a regional campus of a registered institution will be eligible to access additional year in Australia on a post-study work visa

The Gold Coast is Australia’s holiday capital, comprising endless amounts of things to do and see, world-famous beaches, shopping, dining, major events and more. The Gold Coast is also a major education hub. The exciting city has been branded ‘Australia’s Favourite Classroom’. It’s easy to see why. Not only does it boast the bounty outlined above, the public transport is phenomenal, socialising is a breeze, and overall living costs are considerably lower than major cities such as Melbourne and Sydney. With world-class education and training facilities, the Gold Coast is simply a wonderful place to study. In 2019 the Gold Coast was ranked as the #1 city for student affordability in Australia.

To boost diversity and prosperity in regional Australia, there is additional incentive for international students to study at a regional institution and to live in regional areas post-study: From 2021, international students studying at all locations outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will be offered an extension on the current two year Post-study work stream of the Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa (TGV), which applies to Bachelor and Masters by coursework graduates.

Eligibility will include international students who studied at a regional campus of a metropolitan university.

The additional post-study work arrangements will become available in 2021, and will require ongoing residence in a regional area.

Having lived and studied on the Gold Coast (a Category 2 designation), international graduates will be eligible for an additional year on a second Temporary Graduate visa.

The Gold Coast is also attractive to holders of:

• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visas (subclass 491) – for people nominated by a State or Territory government or sponsored by an eligible family member to live and work in regional Australia; and
• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visas (subclass 494) – for people sponsored by an employer in regional Australia

To be eligible for permanent residence, holders of the new skilled regional provisional visas will need to show they have lived and worked in regional Australia (The Gold Coast) while holding one of these visas. They can then apply for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191) from November 2022.

If you are looking for the perfect lifestyle, Australia’s best classroom, or a new city to showcase your skills, contact us via our online contact form or call our Queensland office on +61 (07) 5592 0755.