February Visa Processing

Good News All Round

February was full of good news on the visa-processing front.

Good news #1: Subclass 887 finally kicked off large-scale grants

Good news #2: Subclass 491, 190 and 189 are being granted steadily every day

First, congratulations to everyone who received their visa grant in February. For those still waiting — the anxiety is real, and the questions keep coming: “Where is processing up to?” Today we’ve rounded up the current processing status for most common visa types.

But — and there is always a but — visa processing is alwayscase by case.

Skilled visas —

190:Processing has moved along quickly —the fastest applications being reached are from July 2022, across a range of occupations with little distinction now. However, given the sheer volume of 190 applications, not everyone is progressing simultaneously —quite a few people who applied earlier still haven’t received a grant. For a period, the main 190 grants were for 2021 applications — some faster, some slower. As of end-January, the backlog stood at approximately 21,000 applications, with processing speed broadly keeping up with new lodgements.

189:The majority of grants have gone topriority occupations lodged in October or even December 2022, with occasional grants for engineering and accounting lodged in November and December. Non-priority occupations remain very rare overall. The December flood of invitations left Subclass 189 with a backlog of 36,000 applications by end-January — the highest of any category.

491:A good number of grants too — slightly fewer than 190 but across a range of occupations.Processing has reached

November/December 2021, with some 2022 applications also being granted.

887:The wave of grants that began mid-February has continued every day with no sign of slowing. Applications from 2020, 2021 and 2022, family applications, those with a partner, and single applicants — all are being granted.The 20,000-application backlog is expected to be cleared by at least half this month.

191:Early this year there were 491→191 pathway grants for standard occupations, but this has been quiet over the past month or two.

Employer-sponsored:

482is processing quickly across different occupations —sponsorship + nomination takes roughly 3 months. Because it’s not strictly a PR or near-PR visa (like 491),there is no annual quota cap on Subclass 482 grants;

186is slower —nomination plus visa typically takes close to 1 year, though of course a grant means permanent residency.

Family visas —

143 Parent visa:This week processing has just reached applications lodged in early May 2017 (confirmation letters issued mid-May).

Partner visas:Subclass 820 and 309 remain relatively fast at 6–9 months; Subclass 100 and 801 are slower, with many waiting 1 year or more.

870:Currently the sponsorship approval and the visa itself each take about 2 months, so preparing 6 months ahead is perfectly fine. Remember that onshore lodgements require a prior Permission-based sponsorship application — allow extra time.

Other visas —

GTI:The wait after receiving an invitation is at least 1 year or more, and visa processing has slowed considerably. Where grants once came within a month or two, it is now entirely normal to hear nothing for 3+ months.

188 and 888:Both are very slow — 888 applications lodged in early 2021 still have no news.

State Nomination Processing

NSW:Processing has been very fast recently — a large number of applications lodged at end-January have already received nomination. Over 3,500 nominations were approved in two months (more on this below).

VIC:January saw 2 rounds of pre-invitations issued; February’s round only came on the very last day of the month — all because processing has slowed and the backlog has grown. Processing is currently around applications lodged in mid-January, with a large backlog accumulated from late-January through February.

ACT:Processing has also slowed considerably. Whereas formal nominations used to come within 2 weeks or even 1 week of lodgement, it now takes around 1 month.

WA:The official website states 28 days, but in practice we have clients who received pre-invitations in October, lodged formal documents in November, and only received formal nomination this week.

QLD:Two rounds of priority processing have been opened — everything else is not particularly fast.

TAS:Processing has reached applications lodged around 20 January. Progress is updated in real time on the official website.

NT and SA:There are no formal invitation rounds — nominations are issued on a rolling basis.

190/491 State Nominations

Quota Usage as at End of February

When it comes to pre-invitations, people are not only interested in past invitation scores and occupations — they are even more concerned about what is coming next.

The Department of Home Affairs has just published state nomination allocation figures up to end of February this year.

Back at end of December, most states (except SA) had not kept pace with expected quota usage. Two months later, the picture looks quite different.With 8 of the 12 months of the financial year gone, the expected reasonable usage rate is around 65%.Using that benchmark, states fall into three tiers:

Plenty of quota remaining — apply now: ACT, QLD and WA

ACT:Since January,190 onshore Matrix invitations have increased significantly and invitation scores have fallen accordingly— yet the 190 usage rate as at end of February was only 34%, partly because nomination processing has been slow recently. This also indicates there is room for scores to drop further. For 491, the ACT mainly issues nominations to offshore applicants — and issues a lot of them! For overseas applicants with 3 years of experience in a nominated occupation, the ACT has always been very welcoming. Get in touch to assess your eligibility!

WA:190 and 491 usage rates have only just passed 30%. The quotas are generous and the policy and invitation approach show genuine intent — WA’s problem remains processing speed. The willingness is there, but efficiency is still too low.

QLD:Invitations have been issued only sporadically until now. The state government has announced major changes are coming in March — let’s hope the floodgates open soon.

Adequate quota remaining — still reason for optimism: NSW, VIC and TAS

NSW:Australia’s largest state has once again shown what it can do when it wants to. 190attracted massive numbers of applicants, with two rounds of huge pre-invitations in January backed by highly efficient processing. The 190 data shows NSW processed over 3,500 nominations in two months — far ahead of every other state — and usage has already hit 65%. The remaining 3,000+ quota spread across the remaining months works out to around 800 per month, though it’s also possible they’ll concentrate allocations over one or two months before leaving time at financial year-end for nomination processing. Overall, the chance of repeated large-scale invitation rounds may not be as high going forward.

491 tells a different story — only around 22% of quota has been used. For offshore applicants who cannot accumulate enough points, this is a genuinely excellent opportunity! Engineering, IT, marketing and many other common fields are eligible — get in touch to assess your skills and lodge!

VIC:The round issued a few days ago was smaller than previous rounds, leaving many people worried the quota was running out.Data shows VIC actually has close to 5,000 190 nominations remaining, with a usage rate of 56.7%; 491 usage is even 10% lower. So quota is still available — processing has simply slowed as the state government works through the backlog.

TAS:Since adopting the new system, Tasmania has issued a good number of invitations and we have noticed it is progressively lowering the invitation threshold. 190 usage stands at 58% and 491 at 41% — quotas are ample. Fingers crossed the scores keep coming down!

On track or ahead of schedule: SA and NT

SA:Combined 190 and 491 quotas total 8,000. SA has already used 80% and 75% respectively — quietly and consistently working through its allocation.

NT:Quota numbers are small — the specific usage level is not critical; as long as it covers MINT-category and local graduate applicants, it is fit for purpose.

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February Visa Processing Update: State Nomination Quotas, NSW Issues 3,500 Nominations in Two Months, Plus State Processing Timelines

Business degree graduates may also qualify for a 5-year Subclass 485 — here’s how!

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Longer-term Subclass 485 visas are coming — what you need to know!

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