This week’s highlights

Australian migration news

1. Half the financial year gone, with nearly 16,000 state-nomination places still unused

2. Western Australia issues 1,100+ invitations to construction trades

3. Victoria’s first round of 2026 — large-scale invitations for non-priority occupations

4. NSW runs a small 190 round — IT occupations included, but cut-off scores high

5. Our weekly wrap-up of visa grants, invitations and successful skills assessments — as always

I. Half the financial year gone, with nearly 16,000 state-nomination places still unused

Because the full quota was released late, and the Christmas break followed soon after, the states have fallen badly behind on using their state-nomination allocations. Data published on the Department of Home Affairs website this week shows:

– Roughly 10,000 Subclass 190 places are still available — 77% unused

– Roughly 6,000 Subclass 491 places remain — an even higher share of nearly 80% not yet used

– Only 1,278 Subclass 190 places and 369 Subclass 491 places were actually used in December, a total of 1,657 —a relatively low figure; in busier periods a single state has used that many on its own. Because of the holidays, many states were likely not at full capacity for roughly half the month.

For a state-by-state analysis, see:Half the financial year gone — the states still have nearly 10,000 Subclass 190 and 6,000 Subclass 491 state-nomination places unused! QLD / WA / NT / SA all have more than 70% remaining!

So in the second week of the new year, several states have started issuing invitations. As of now, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales have all released a new round, and the Northern Territory has resumed case processing. The ACT issued a round just before the break and is now working through nominations.Plenty of opportunity remains in the second half of the financial year — make the most of it!

II. Western Australia issues 1,100+ invitations to construction trades

WA’s first round of 2026 was either a pleasant surprise or simply a surprise — 1,100 invitations all going to construction-trade applicants, which is the state’s top-priority area this financial year. Features of this round:

–Mostly issued through the general stream, with 819 Subclass 491 invitations and 279 Subclass 190 invitations

– Of course WA doesn’t have anywhere near that many construction tradespeople locally,so the round was opened to offshore and interstate applicants across every occupation

– Given the nature of the trades,EOI cut-offs sat at 65–75 points, with carpenters on the higher side at 85. Since most were 491 invitations, that’s effectively a raw score of 50–60 points.

– Pairing the 491 with construction trades, WA isspecifically targeting very-low-score applicants who can’t reach 60 points on their own — WA genuinely needs people to go out and do the work. The state’s objective is clear, but applicants may have other plans. Construction trades are in demand across every skilled-migration pathway,so it’s entirely possible some applicants will decline this 491 invitation and hold out for a 190 or 189 — acceptance rates this round may well be lower than usual.

For the invited scores by occupation, see:WA drops its first 2026 round — interstate and offshore welcome! 1,100+ invitations for a single sector, multiple occupations landing at raw score 50

If you’re considering the construction-trades pathway, the best-fit candidates are those onshore on a higher-education student visa with six months to a year left on their course, whose own field offers no — or a very difficult — migration pathway. Get in touch to hear about our construction-trades courses.

III. Victoria’s first round of 2026 — large-scale invitations for non-priority occupations

Victoria unexpectedly released its first 2026 round this week on 15 January.The data below reflects what we had collected as of 18:00 AEDT on 15 January.

– The volume this round looks to be the largest so far, covering a wider spread of occupations rather than concentrating on the priority list.Many IT invitations went out, along with pure-commerce occupations such as marketing, advertising and accounting. Multiple Marketing Specialists were invited, all with at least one year of relevant work in Victoria.

–Onshore invitations remain the mainstream,with relevant in-state employment effectively a baseline,and invitees typically combining a relevant job with matching work experience. Many invitees have been working locally in Victoria for a considerable period.

– Because this round also invited a number of non-priority, highly competitive occupations,cases of applicants with identical profiles missing out are more visible.Victoria assesses ROI criteria rather than points, so a genuinely objective ranking is hard to establish. In our previous meetings with the state government, they could only provide very official-line answers and were unable to explain the logic directly.

IV. NSW runs a small round — IT included, but scores are high

NSW and VIC issued invitations on the same day, and NSW’s volume was clearly much smaller than Victoria’s. The chart below reflects data from our own clients plus externally collected information. NSW is still selecting applicants primarily via priority occupations and points,so the more popular the occupation, the larger the applicant pool — and the higher the invited score.

This week: visa grants, invitations and skills assessments

Statenomination

South Australia

Formal nomination

Nomi Lodged in 8/1/2026, Invited in 12/1/2026. Registered Nurse (Perioperative) 85

Received nomination invitation 9 Jan 2026; formal invitation received 15 Jan 2026. Architectural Draftsperson — 312111 (85+15) offshore, with over 8 years of relevant overseas work experience.

Victoria

For ROI pre-invitation data, see the section above.

Western Australia

Formal nomination

EOI lodged 26 Feb 2025; nomination invitation received 5 Dec 2025; formal invitation received 16 Jan 2026. Quantity Surveyor — 233213 (75+5) WA onshore.

For pre-invitation data, see the section above.

Visa grants

1Subclass 189 Skilled Independent

Lodged 3 Sep 2025; granted 16 Jan 2026. Onshore, Registered Nurses nec.

Subclass 190 State Nominated

Onshore lodgement for ACT 190 on 4 Nov 2024; granted 12 Jan 2026 — Software Engineer. Onshore lodgement for ACT 190 on 10 Oct 2025; granted 16 Jan 2026 — Secondary School Teacher.

Subclass 491 Regional State Nominated

None this week

Subclass 191 / 887 Regional Permanent Residence

None this week

Employer sponsorship

None this week

Investment / GTI visa

None this week

Partner visa

Lodged 28 Apr 2025; Subclass 100 granted 14 Jan 2026.

Lodged 23 Jun 2025; Subclass 801 granted 12 Jan 2026.

Parent visa

Subclass 103 lodged 19 May 2016; Subclass 143 lodged 25 Sep 2025; Subclass 143 granted 12 Jan 2026.

Subclass 143 lodged 25 Jul 2018; Subclass 143 granted 14 Jan 2026.

Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate

Lodged 24 Dec 2025; Subclass 485 granted 12 Jan 2026.

Subclass 500 Student

Submitted on 30/6/2025, Granted on 15/1/2026

Submitted on 15/12/2025, Granted on 11/1/2026

Lodged 29 Oct 2025; granted 16 Jan 2026. Offshore, higher education.

Lodged 30 Oct 2025; granted 16 Jan 2026.

Citizenship application

Lodged 21 Jul 2025; approved 16 Jan 2026.

Skills assessment

VETASSESS

Chinese qualification verification lodged 12 Dec 2025; approved 15 Jan 2026.