Permanent Resident Australia

People can become a permanent resident of Australia in different ways.
Three common ways of becoming a permanent resident are through gaining:

  • a family-stream permanent visa
  • a work-stream permanent visa
  • business or investor-stream permanent visa

Check that you meet the criteria before you apply. If your visa has a “no further stay” condition attached, you cannot stay in Australia beyond the period specified in your visa in order to apply for permanent residency.

Family-stream permanent residence visas

These are for:

  • partners, children, parents, or dependent relatives of an Australian citizen, permanent resident of Australia, or Eligible New Zealand citizen
  • children being adopted or in the process of being adopted outside of Australia
  • carers who need to move to Australia to provide long-term care for an approved relative

Work-stream permanent residence visas

These are for workers who have an Australian employer sponsoring them to work in Australia, or have skills that Australia values.

Business or investment-stream permanent residence visas

These are for business investors willing to carry out a business venture in Australia.

Other options

Retirement visa pathway

The Australian Government has recently created a pathway to permanent residency for eligible retirees. This pathway provides options to long-term residents who have contributed to and are well-established in the community.

The government has built the pathway by setting aside a portion of places from the permanent migration scheme for parents.

Retirement visa pathway

The Australian Government has created a pathway to permanent residency for eligible retirees. The Pathway was announced by the Government on 8 May 2018 as part of the 2018-19 Budget and was introduced on 17 November 2018.​

This pathway provides options to long-term residents who have contributed to and are well-established in the community.

The government has built the pathway by setting aside a portion of places from the permanent migration scheme for parents.

Former Resident visa

This visa is for certain permanent Former Residents.

With this visa, you can

  • stay in Australia permanently
  • work and study in Australia
  • enroll in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
  • sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
  • travel to and from Australia for up to 5 years from the date of the grant as long as the travel facility remains valid
  • apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible

How long you can stay

This permanent visa allows you to stay in Australia indefinitely.

You become a permanent resident on the day you get the visa.

For citizenship purposes, your permanent residency starts on the day:

  • we grant the visa if you are in Australia
  • you enter Australia on this visa if you are outside Australia when we granted it

Processing times

For an indication of processing times for this visa, use the visa processing time guide tool. This will show the processing times for recently decided applications. It is a guide only and not specific to your application.

Your application might take longer to process if:

  • you do not fill it in correctly
  • you do not include all the documents we need, or we need more information from you
  • it takes us time to verify your information

We cannot process your application if you do not pay the correct visa application charge. We will notify you if this is the case and if necessary return your application.

Global Talent visa

This visa is for people with an internationally recognized record of exceptional and outstanding achievement.

Visa pathways

The Global Talent visa is for the brightest and best global talent. It comprises of two visa pathways:

  • Global Talent pathway
  • Distinguished Talent pathway.

The Global Talent pathway provides priority processing for highly skilled applicants who:

  • have an internationally recognized record of exceptional and outstanding achievements within the Minister’s defined sectors
  • currently earn, or are likely to earn at the Fair Work High Income Threshold.

Before applying for the Global Talent pathway, you should submit an Expression of Interest against relevant requirements for priority processing. If successful, you will receive a unique reference and identifier to use when making a Global Talent (subclass 858) visa application.

More information on the Global Talent pathway, including Expression of Interest requirements and the submission process, can be found at EOI requirements.

The Distinguished Talent pathway is for extremely talented applicants who have an internationally recognized record of exceptional and outstanding achievements working in sectors other than a Minister’s defined sector for either a profession, sport, the arts, or academia and research. An expression of Interest is not required for this pathway.

Applicants can apply for the Global Talent pathway and the Distinguished Talent pathway online via ImmiAccount.

Refugee and humanitarian visas

These visas are for people who left their home country due to persecution.

To learn more about refugee and humanitarian visas, explore visa options.

Pacific Engagement visa

This visa is for eligible citizens from participating Pacific Island countries and Timor Leste to apply for permanent residence to live in Australia.

Learn more about the Pacific Engagement visa.