The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) brought together the various state governments to brief us on the latest state-nomination situation across the states.

31 March was the final day, and the presenting state governments were NSW and Western Australia — both of which everyone is keenly watching. BTW, yesterday was South Australia and the Northern Territory; we took part too, but didn’t share anything because there really wasn’t any new information… Thankfully, NSW and WA didn’t disappoint!

NSW — a major Subclass 491 release is coming! 75% of the Subclass 190 quota already used

WA — 50% of the total quota already used; if you’re worried about losing your job offer, you can apply for priority processing

NSW / a major Subclass 491 release，more Subclass 190 invitations to come

About 75% of the Subclass 190 quota has been used; more Subclass 190 invitations are still to come

By the end of February, NSW had used almost 65% of its Subclass 190 quota; in March NSW also issued pre-invitations, and nomination processing has been very fast. This week, many of our clients who received a pre-invitation in the 16 March round formally received their nomination.So using another 10% in a month is reasonable. A 75% quota-usage rate is also broadly in line with how far through the financial year we are.

NSW will continue to issue Subclass 190 pre-invitations, and the state government will use up the entire quota,though an even bigger surprise than before is probably off the table now.

Issuing Subclass 491 Pathway 2 invitations will be NSW’s next priority

The official made it clear that issuing Subclass 491 invitations will be NSW’s focus going forward.

First, Subclass 491 will have invitation rounds similar to Subclass 190 —there will be multiple rounds, and they will be “very large rounds”.The first centralised invitation round appears to have kicked off this week on 29 March. As is NSW’s usual practice, invitation timing won’t be announced in advance; based on the official’s expectations, you can anticipate 1-2 rounds per month

Second, these invitation rounds will mainly be issued by the state government,rather than the Regional Development Australia (RDA) bodies.

Because many RDAs have used up the majority of their quota, and they won’t receive any top-up allocation,the RDA pathway will keep processing and accepting applications, but, depending on each region’s situation, it ends once the quota is exhausted。So going forward, NSW Subclass 491 invitations will mainly be issued under Pathway 2.

It was also reconfirmed thatif you have already received a Subclass 491 state nomination, you will not get another opportunity to obtain Subclass 190.A person only gets one chance at a NSW state nomination, regardless of different financial years or different occupations.

No specific quota split between onshore and offshore; high-scoring applicants are favoured

The official said they have not set any specific internal split of the quota between onshore and offshore applicants,

it still comes down to each applicant’s profile. Unlike Victoria,the official said NSW does indeed favour high-scoring applicants.

Big release ahead:

pathway2

The Pathway 2 process is very similar to NSW Subclass 190 —both are invitation-based;applicants submit an EOI – receive a pre-invitation – submit all documents – pass assessment and receive a formal nomination

The difference is that NSW Subclass 491 Pathway 2 hasa different list，the invitation score will be much lower, and more invitations are issued tooffshore applicants。

Aside from the minimum federal skilled-migration requirements, the state government adds almost no extra conditions, soto apply for NSW Subclass 491 Pathway 2 you need：

– to have lived inoverseas / NSW (including Sydney) for at least 3 months

– an EOI score of 65 points (at least 50 of which you score yourself）

– a nominated occupation on thePathway 2 skills list，and to have the correspondingskills assessment

– to be agedunder 45

– English ofat least four 6s

For more on Subclass 491, see: Apply and get invited directly from overseas, picked up on a bare 50 points, multiple state nominations with zero extra requirements! With over ten thousand Subclass 491 places left, are you really not considering it?

The 29 March NSW Subclass 491 invitation shower

the latest summary is below

These invitations cover both Pathway 1 and Pathway 2

The full NSW Subclass 491 Pathway 2 skills list

version as at 31 March 2023

The final three months of the financial year

Multiple rounds with large numbers of invitations

A rare opportunity — contact our team now for an assessment

WA / 50% of the quota used; if you’re worried about losing your job offer, you can apply for priority processing

The two WA state officials also shared a lot of information, mainly during the Q&A. The questions focused mostly on invitation trends, quota usage, processing progress and status, and the policy direction for the next financial year.

Invitation trends

1. When asked whether Subclass 491 would still be issued,their response was that neither the Subclass 491 nor the Subclass 190 program has closed this financial year, and applications can still be submitted.

2、2. As to whether interstate applicants would be considered, the WA officials said they would be，because every stream is open to interstate applicants, and they are ranked together with all other applications

3. If you’re not selected in one round, you’ll continue to be considered in the next. Unless your EOI itself has expired, there’s no need to resubmit an identical one.

Quota usage

1、1. So far, around 50% of the combined Subclass 491 + Subclass 190 quota has been used. At the end of February, WA was one of the lowest-usage states, with 32% used across the two visa types combined,and after one month the usage rate rose by 18% — a clear sign of the processing team’s efforts.

2. WA issued no Subclass 491 invitations in the last two rounds; the officials said they are indeed doing “quota load management”.

3、3. They reiterated that they will (do their best to) use up the entire quota this financial year.

Processing progress and status

1. Because a large number of pre-invitations were issued last October and November while the processing team was not yet ready, pre-invitations submitted in those two months are being processed more slowly.

2. Because one of WA’s Subclass 190 requirements, for both onshore and offshore applicants, is a local 6-month job offer.If slow processing puts an applicant’s job offer at risk, you can contact the state government to expedite, but you must provide very detailed supporting documents.

3. In addition, for offshore applicants, if slow visa processing puts a job offer at risk, the state government is unable to help.

Policy direction for the next financial year

The officials said that at presentthey are not considering waiving the job-offer requirement for offshore applicants applying for Subclass 190

For now, they cannot disclose anything about the next financial year;they only said the changes made this financial year have all received very positive feedback,and that reviewing policy each year is something the state government does as a matter of course.

If you’re onshore in Australia and want to do everything you can to secure Subclass 190,WA is an excellent low-score “fast invitation” opportunity! For the previous WA pre-invitation round, see: Could the score go any lower? Accounting / IT / Engineering invited for Subclass 190 at 65 points! WA issued 2,500 invitations in its March round!

Add our consultant below and we’ll arrange an assessment for you!

A week packed with information has wrapped up — we hope everyone seizes the opportunities of this financial year!

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