From 18 February 2022,if the primary applicant was, at any point between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021 (inclusive),outside Australia at any timeon a Subclass 489/491as a current or former visa holder(whose visa expired while they were offshore) will be eligible for a 3-year visa extension as compensation,The applicant must be a visa holder; if the primary applicant meets the criteria, secondary applicants will also be automatically extended by three years.

However, those who are currently offshore or onshore awaiting a grant of one of these three visa subclasses, or who were in Australia for the entire duration of the above period, are not included.

Eligible holdersdo not need tocontact the Department of Home Affairs or take any action(with the exception of those who have voluntarily cancelled their Subclass 489 to apply for another visa, or those with an overstay record),The Department of Home Affairs will proactively contact eligible visa holders or their agents once the relevant legislation has passed.

Now that the Department has announced a date, we expect the relevant legislation to be enacted before the 18th, and Subclass 489/491/494 holders all fall within the eligible travel class.

If you need assistance with the Subclass 491/489 pathway to PR, contact our team below.

The Department of Home Affairs has just released the Subclass 189 EOI official round data for 21 January 2022. Rounds now run quarterly, with very limited invitations issued each time,with the next round scheduled for April — the final round of this financial year.

This round issued200 Subclass 189and 200 family-sponsored Subclass 491 invitations.

Minimum invitation scores:

Subclass 189 minimum invitation score: 90 points, DOE September 2021

Family-sponsored Subclass 491 minimum invitation score: 65+15 points, DOE January 2022

Note! Targeted (manual) Subclass 189 invitation rounds have been in place for quite some time now,meaning the Subclass 189 minimum invitation score refers only to the small number of occupations that actually received invitations, most of which are in the healthcare sector.

Starting from this round, the Department has provided a breakdown of the occupations and scores invited.

Occupations receiving Subclass 189 invitations this round:

Emergency Medicine Specialist — 90 points

General Practitioner — 90 points

Medical Diagnostic Radiographer — 90 points

Medical Laboratory Scientist — 90 points

Medical Practitioners nec — 90 points

Microbiologist — 90 points

Mining Engineer — 90 points

Neurosurgeon — 95 points

Nuclear Medicine Technologist — 95 points

Nurse Practitioner — 95 points

Paediatrician — 90 points

Petroleum Engineer — 90 points

Registered Nurses across multiple specialisations — all 90 points; however, Registered Nurses neconly received invitations under the family-sponsored Subclass 491 at a base score of 65 points.

Veterinarian — 90 points

Family-sponsored Subclass 491invitations also went predominantly to healthcare occupations; the more commonly seen ones include:

Chemical Engineer 65+15

Social Worker 65+15

All occupations invited this round are shown in the table below.

Occasionally, a round or two will include a small number of engineering occupations in the Subclass 189,and the Subclass 189 scores for healthcare occupations are far from low — most require 90 points,with only 650 Subclass 189 invitations issued across the entire financial year to date (through the January round).

The Subclass 189 has had only 6,500 PR places allocated per financial year in both the previous and current year. Invitation numbers don’t directly correspond to PR places, but you can only issue invitations if you have PR places to give — and the current allocation isn’t even enough to clear the backlog.

Based on our previous file reviews, the Subclass 189 PR visa application backlog stood at 13,033 as of November 2021 — nearly 11,000 of which are in the NZ Stream alone. At 6,500 places per year, even two full financial years of quota wouldn’t clear this backlog, which partly explains why Subclass 189 invitations have become so hard to come by.

Waiting for a Subclass 189 invitation is simply wishful thinking at this point — it’s time to seriously explore Plan B, or even Plan D.

Data as at 31 January 2022

Subclass 190 —

9,682 Registrations of Interest received in total; the state government issued 1,996 ROI invitations,of these, 1,640 have submitted formal nomination applications after receiving an ROI invitation (quota: 3,500).

Subclass 491 —

1,503 Registrations of Interest received in total; the state government issued 336 ROI invitations,of these, 307 have submitted formal nomination applications after receiving an ROI invitation (quota: 500).

Key sector breakdown

*Scores below include the state nomination bonus of 5/15 points.

DIGITAL sector

Subclass 190 received 2,237 ROI applications;minimum invitation score 95 points; 171 new ROIs added in one month, a slowdown compared to December’s growth;Subclass 491 received 290 ROIs; minimum invitation score 90 points (i.e., 75 base points).

HEALTH SECTOR

Subclass 190 received 3,527 ROI applications;minimum invitation score 80 points; 287 new ROIs added in one month, broadly consistent with December’s growth;Subclass 491 received 367 ROIs; minimum invitation score 65 points (i.e., 50 base points).

WORKFORCE SKILLS PATHWAY — Early Childhood Education / Cook/Chef

Subclass 190 received 1,175 ROI applications;minimum invitation scores: early childhood education 90 points, cook/chef 65 points; 89 new ROIs added in one month, also slower than December; Subclass 491 received 516 ROIs; minimum invitation scores: early childhood education 70 points (55 base), COOK/CHEF 65 points (50 base).

For other sectors, please refer to the table below.

Victoria’s Subclass 190 and 491 nomination processing has accelerated since the last update, with many of our applications submitted between December and January now receiving formal nominations over the past week or two.

In terms of specific occupations, it’s healthcare, followed by ICT and engineering.

Victoria issued two sporadic rounds of ROI invitations after the Christmas–New Year break,with healthcare receiving a larger share,though based on the invitations our clients have received,the state government has placed greater emphasis on applicants working in regional areas over the past couple of rounds,likely in response to the COVID-19 wave that hit from late December through January. Other occupations such as early childhood education, cook/chef, and IT have been seen less frequently.

However, this wave appears to have peaked — today, both New South Wales and Victoria reported new daily case numbers falling below 10,000, with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs both signalling that the situation is under control and that further border relaxations, including for tourists, are being planned for the near future.

With Victoria still holding ample nomination quota, we expect more non-healthcare occupations to be invited going forward — if you’re working locally in Victoria, it’s well worth giving this a shot! Contact our team below if you need assistance!