Newstarsec The holiday schedules and emergency contact details for our Australian offices are shown above. Contracted clients are advised to confirm the specific holiday dates with the consultant handling your case.

We have also compiled the migration-related agencies’  2025–2026 year-end holiday arrangements!

state governments

major skills assessment bodies

holiday closures and processing status are set out below so you can plan your visa and skills-assessment timing sensibly. Please be sure to save this for reference.

Department of Home Affairs — overall update

A general note first:

The federal Department of Home Affairs and most government agencies only publicly announce “public holidays”

, but past years show a noticeable drop in staffing over Christmas & the New Year period.

As of today, the Department is still granting visas as normal

, including:

191 / 491 / 190 / employer-sponsored / 143 parent migration, and we have recently received fresh grants and requests for further information.

From this week onwards, visa processing is expected to slow noticeably as the holidays overlap.This slowdown typically lasts  2–3 weeks, depending on each case officer’s individual leave.We expect processing speeds to return to normal by mid-January.

State government holiday schedules

✅ New South Wales (NSW)

Closed: 24 December 2025 – 9 January 2026

Reopens: 12 January 2026 (Monday)

No applications will be processed and no enquiries will be answered during this period.

If your visa or passport is due to expire during the closure and you need to request priority assessment,

please be sure to contact the state government before 12 December 2025 (Friday) so your case can be handled before the break.

✅ Western Australia (WA)

Closed: 25 December 2025

Reopens: 2 January 2026 at 8:30 am (WST)

During the closure:

no assessments or formal invitations will be issued

email enquiries will be batched and handled after reopening

✅ Canberra (ACT)

Closed: 24 December 2025 at 4:00 pm

Reopens: 5 January 2026 at 8:30 am

✅ Tasmania (TAS)

Closed: 24 December 2025 at 12:00 pm

Reopens: 2 January 2026

During the closure:

applicants can continue to lodge  ROIs and formal nomination applications,

but processing is suspended, no enquiries will be answered, and no nomination invitations will be issued.

Skills assessment bodies — holiday summary

✅ VETASSESS

Closed: 23 December 2025 at 5:00 pm

Reopens: 5 January 2026

During the closure:

applications can still be lodged online

no assessments will be carried out and no enquiries answered

Priority processing reminder

5 December 2025is this year’s deadline for priority processing.

Priority service will be paused from 6 December, resuming on 5 January.

✅ ACS

Closed: 19 December 2025 at 12:00 pm

Reopens: 5 January 2026

Decision Ready (Decision Ready) applications:

lodge by 30 November → a result is guaranteed by 19 December.

Expect an additional delay of  ≥4 weeks after the break.

If your visa expires during the break, be sure to lodge before 16 December.

✅ EA (Engineers Australia)

Holiday period: 22 December 2025 – 4 January 2026

Delays are possible across all channels, including the fast track.

✅ Accounting skills assessments

CPA

25 December 2025 – 2 January 2026

Holiday days are not counted toward processing time.

CA

24 December 2025 – 7 January 2026

IPA

22 December 2025 – 5 January 2026

For priority applications, submit a complete document set by 15 December.

✅ AITSL (Teachers)

Currently processing applications lodged the week of 1 December 2025.

Closed: 25 December 2025 – 2 January 2026

During the closure:

no phone calls will be answered

no progress enquiries will be responded to

The break will cause significant processing delays.

✅ ANMAC (Nursing)

Portal closed: 17 December 2025

Reopens: 7 January 2026

During the closure:

no new applications can be lodged

phone & email support are suspended

If your documents are complete, be sure to submit them before 17 December.

✅ AACA

22 December 2025 – 5 January 2026

Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory have not yet published their holiday schedules; we have emailed them for confirmation. Any assessment bodies not listed above also have not yet released their details.

We will post updates in the comments of this article as new information becomes available.