No. When WA nominates you, you make a genuine commitment to live and work in the state - typically the expectation covers the first couple of years. The 190 is permanent residence, so there's no hard legal lock beyond that, but you should go in genuinely intending to settle in WA. We'll talk you through what that means in practice.

The 190 is permanent residence straight away with +5 points. The 491 is a provisional visa with +15 points, leading to permanent residence after three years. If your score needs a big lift, the 491 often makes more sense. If it needs only a small nudge, the 190 gets you to permanent residence faster with no provisional stage.

It depends on your occupation and the current WA requirements, which do change over time. Some pathways require a job offer or local work experience; others don't. We confirm the current rules for your specific occupation before you commit to anything.

Yes. Your partner and dependent children can be on the application and receive permanent residence alongside you. We make sure the whole family is correctly included from the outset - it's not something to add as an afterthought.

WA asks for a genuine commitment to settle in the state, and the expectation generally covers the first two to three years. It's not a hard legal lock-in - the 190 is permanent residence the moment it's granted, and after the settlement period your movement within Australia is typically unrestricted. The point is that you should apply genuinely intending to live and work in WA, not treat the nomination as a back door. WA policy on this can change, so we talk you through the current expectations before you commit.

Possibly. WA runs its own occupation list (WASMOL), which is separate from the national skilled list. An occupation can sit on one and not the other, and WA's list often includes general and graduate streams with their own conditions. So even if the national list closes the door, WA's list may open it. The catch is that the list updates roughly quarterly, so what's true today may shift. Use our occupation list checker as a starting point, then see how WA nomination works for the current status of your occupation.

There's no single figure we can put on a web page, because the cost depends on your circumstances - family size, the type of skills assessment your occupation needs, and the steps the nomination pathway adds. Government charges for the state and federal stages are set by the authorities and change over time. We quote our own fees in writing once we've looked at your case; see how we quote. On timing, the EOI to invitation stage generally runs around 8 to 12 weeks, subject to WA capacity and Department workload, and that's typical rather than guaranteed. Book an assessment and we'll give you a picture tailored to your situation.

Not to be included as a dependent. Your partner - married or de facto - and your dependent children can be added to your application without their own skills assessment, and they receive permanent residence alongside you. A separate skills assessment for your partner only comes into it if you want to claim partner skill points toward your own score, which is optional. Children are generally included as dependents based on age and circumstances. We work out which approach helps your case and make sure everyone is correctly included from the start.