Visa processing times guide

New feature now live

It’s straightforward to use: select yourvisa subclass and the stream within that subclass, then selectyour visa lodgement date. For some subclasses there is only one stream, so no stream selection is needed.

Let’s use Subclass 491 (state-nominated) as an example. Say you lodged on 1 August 2020 — the result looks like this:

Using the Subclass 491 example above, here’s what the tool tells you:

First, in recent cases,90% of the same-subclass visa applications that have been granted took 392 daysor less.

Second,your application is outside the 90% standard processing timeframe — it sits in the orange zone.And from the chart you can get a rough sense of how far outside you are.

Third, the explanation reads: “Some visas do take longer to process. We’ll contact you once a decision has been made.” The left-hand column also lists two common reasons: your application has some incomplete information, or your application is more complex.

All of the above — apart from the timeframe figure itself — is the same format for every subclass.We tried changing the lodgement date to a more recent one, which placed it in the green zone within the standard processing timeframe. The information and content are essentially the same — the only difference is that the phrase ‘Some visas do take longer to process’ doesn’t appear.

Not sure whether it was intentional or not, but of all the text on the page, only‘We’ll contact you once a decision has been made’ is in bold— the implication being: don’t rush, just wait for the notification!

What if your wait time has already exceeded the 90% standard processing timeframe and you’re sitting in the orange zone?

First,this 90%is notthe processing timeframe for this type of visa’shard benchmark,but rather a figure based on applications finalised over a recent period,so the wait time derived from this data naturally fluctuates..If the internal priority during a given period is clearing old backlogs, wait times will be longer; if the focus shifts to recent applications in shortage occupations, wait times will be shorter.

Second,there is currently no commitment or guideline stating that all applications must be finalised within this timeframe — nor even an aspiration to do so.In fact, the official website also makes clear thatthis toolis not intended to checkinformation specific to your application:

However, exceeding the 90% wait time can serve as a reason to request a status update — a standard, widely used basis for doing so.

All in all,the Global processing times tool is of very limited use as a reference — you can see the what, but not the why.It doesn’t distinguish between onshore and offshore, and there’s no occupational breakdown. Some figures are clearly inaccurate — the most typical example being the Subclass 820/801 partner visa, where most real-world cases are significantly faster than the data suggests. Some subclasses with too few grants also have missing data — Subclass 143, for instance, has not been updated.

And ultimately, what most applicants really want to know is any predictive clues about their own timeline.

From various reports, it appears the migration grant quota for this financial year will increase to 200,000 —let’s hope every one of those numbers translates into a visa approval for a real applicant.

For processing updates and news for the 2022–23 financial year, if you don’t want to miss anything you can add the customer service account belowto join the new-policy updates group— when requesting to join, please include the note:New policy

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