How is the 2-year regional residence requirement for subclass 887 calculated in 2026?

How subclass 887 counts two years of regional living: cumulative not continuous, which regional list applies, and what proves it.

Published: 8 October 2026

The two years are counted cumulatively, not as one unbroken stretch of living in the same town: the Department of Home Affairs requires that you "have lived for a total of at least 2 years" as the holder of one or more eligible visas in a specified regional area. That wording comes from the department's official Skilled Regional visa (subclass 887) page, as at the July 2026 official page. The practical consequence for a family that has already moved is that periods of regional living are added together, but each period must sit inside the correct regional definition for your sponsorship route.

What does "a total of at least 2 years" mean in practice?

The count runs over time you held an eligible visa, and it can be made up of several separate periods. The eligible visas are subclass 489, 495, 496, 475 and 487, and also Bridging visa A or Bridging visa B held after making a valid application for a subclass 489, 495 or 487 visa, or, where a subclass 887 visa is lodged outside Australia during the concession period, a subclass 489, 495, 496, 475 or 487 visa that expired during the concession period while the holder was outside Australia. The residence must be in a specified regional area, and clause 887.212 of the Migration Regulations 1994 frames the same test as living in a specified regional area "for a total of at least 2 years" as the holder of one or more of those visas.

Two clocks run together here. Besides the two years of regional living, the person meeting the primary criteria must have held a subclass 489, 495, 496, 475 or 487 visa for a total of two years before the subclass 887 application is made, and that visa must have been granted on the basis of satisfying the primary criteria or on the basis of being the spouse or de facto partner of the person who did. In most cases the two requirements are satisfied by the same stretch of time; time spent in the region before the eligible visa was granted, or on some other visa, does not count.

Does a holiday or a trip home break the two years?

The published requirement is a total, not a continuous period, so a break in physical presence does not by itself reset the count. The department's procedural guidance (PAM3) treats residence as cumulative rather than necessarily continuous, and treats ordinary breaks such as holidays or overseas travel that do not exceed a reasonable continuing-residence period as not interrupting continuity, with the assessment made on the facts of each case.

What does put a case at risk is the separate condition-compliance test. You, and any family members holding an eligible visa, must have complied with the conditions attached to your eligible visa when in Australia, and this requirement applies for the whole period you hold the visa(s); subclass 887 applicants might not be eligible where a prior visa was cancelled or an earlier application refused. Conditions such as 8539 and 8549 are the ones that tie a provisional visa to particular areas, so the question to ask about any absence is not only "does it break the count?" but "was it consistent with the conditions on my grant?".

To make the arithmetic concrete, assume an applicant who lives in a listed regional postcode area for 14 months, spends six weeks overseas visiting family, then returns to the same area for a further 10 months. Those two regional periods are added together; the six weeks is simply not counted.

Which regional definition applies to you?

The area you must have lived in depends on how your eligible visa was obtained, and the two lists are not the same list.

How you got the eligible visa	Area your residence must be in
A state or territory government nominated you	A regional or low-population growth metropolitan area, per the subclass 887 regional postcodes list
A family member sponsored you	A designated area of Australia, per the subclass 887 designated area list

The procedural guidance explains why the distinction exists: the definition of "specified regional area" follows the condition attached to your provisional visa, with condition 8539 corresponding to the areas in Schedule 6A item 6A1001 and condition 8549 corresponding to the designated areas in Schedule 6 item 6701. For subclass 475 and 487 visas granted between 1 July 2010 and 1 January 2011, the guidance applies item 6A1001 where the visa was granted on state or territory government nomination, and item 6701 where it was granted on sponsorship by an eligible family member (under 1228(3B) or 1229(3B)).

Which version of the definition applies is determined by reference to the legislative instrument in force when your provisional visa was granted. That matters for families who moved early and then saw boundaries change: a postcode that counts for a later applicant may not have been listed when your visa was granted, and vice versa.

What evidence actually proves two years of regional living?

The department's document list for residence is deliberately open-ended. The examples given are leases or rental agreements, utility bills such as telephone, gas or electricity that show your home address or addresses, school reports, and title deeds to your home, along with any other evidence that demonstrates you and any family members are resident in a specified regional area. The same evidence is expected to show that your family has complied with visa conditions while in Australia.

In practice the useful test is continuity of address over time. Documents that name you, name the address, and are dated will carry far more weight than a single summary letter, because a case officer is reconstructing a two-year timeline rather than checking one fact.

Can the two years ever be shorter?

Yes, in one narrow situation. COVID-19 concessions were available to eligible prospective subclass 887 applicants who lodged during a concession period, and they were not the same onshore and offshore.

Lodgement location during the concession period	Employment requirement	Residence requirement
Outside Australia	9 months full-time work in a specified regional area	18 months residence in a specified regional area
Inside Australia	9 months full-time work in a specified regional area	2 years of residence in a specified regional area

Both figures for applicants outside Australia carry the qualifier that a shorter period applies if the Minister specifies one in a legislative instrument; the inside Australia figures do not carry that qualifier. Because concession periods and legislative instruments change, whether any reduced period still applies to a given application is something to confirm against the department's current published concession information.

How the residence rule sits beside the work rule

The two rules are separate but run over the same visa-holding period. Alongside the two years of residence, you must have worked full-time for at least 12 months as the holder of one or more eligible visas, in the same category of area that your sponsorship route points to. Full-time work means 35 hours per week, hours in concurrent part-time jobs can be combined, and the work can be in your nominated occupation or any other occupation.

This article describes how the published rules read and is general information only; it is not personalised advice about your circumstances, and where your own visa conditions, a governing legislative instrument or current departmental policy matters, rely on the official published material or on advice from a qualified professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the 887 residence requirement continuous or cumulative?

It is cumulative. The department requires that you have lived for a total of at least two years in a specified regional area as the holder of one or more eligible visas, and the procedural guidance states that residence may be accumulated rather than continuous.

Do holidays or trips outside Australia reset the two-year count?

A break in physical presence does not by itself reset a cumulative count, and ordinary holidays or overseas travel within a reasonable period are not treated as interrupting residence. The separate risk is condition compliance: you must have complied with your eligible visa conditions for the whole time you held it.

Which postcode list should I check, the regional area list or the designated area list?

Check the one your sponsorship route points to. State or territory government nomination leads to the regional or low-population growth metropolitan area postcode list; family member sponsorship leads to the designated area of Australia list.

Does time on a bridging visa count toward the two years?

Bridging visa A or Bridging visa B can be an eligible visa where it was held after making a valid application for a subclass 489, 495 or 487 visa, so time on such a bridging visa can count. The separate requirement is that the subclass 489, 495, 496, 475 or 487 visa itself was held for a total of two years before applying.

Does living in the region before my 489 or 487 was granted count?

No. The requirement is framed as residence as the holder of one or more eligible visas, so time in the region before the eligible visa was granted, or while holding some other visa, does not form part of the two years.

Can the two-year residence period be reduced?

Only under the COVID-19 concessions, and only for applicants who lodged outside Australia during a concession period, where the residence requirement was 18 months alongside a 9-month work requirement. Applicants who lodged inside Australia during that period received the shorter work requirement but still needed two years of residence.