First, the officially published 887 processing times are as follows:

That is to say,most applicants are waiting two years or even longer.

Next,as at 10 March 2022the Department of Home Affairs had 16,467 Subclass 887 applications either under assessment or yet to commence assessment:

Before 2019, state governments were heavily promoting the Subclass 190 programme, and the total annual 489 state-nomination quota across all states combined was only 5,000–6,000 places —meaning the Department of Home Affairs currently has at least two to three years’ worth of 887 applications piled up on its desk…

At this point you might think: with so many applications in hand, can’t the Department speed up processing and approve more? During the Morrison Government’s time in office,the following figures show the number of 887 grants per month up to 28 February 2022 — over the past year, monthly grants never exceeded 300…

In addition, we obtained our own FOI request covering887 backlog data as at early April— that is,17,247 applications,meaning roughly 800 new applications were added in just one month.

It is clear that the Department is indeed processing, and even accelerating — from single-digit monthly grants to 289 — but this is far from sufficient given the enormous backlog and the volume of new applications still being lodged.

We hope that now the Labor Government is in office, havingcriticised the Morrison Government’s visa backlog during the election campaignand pledged to establish a dedicated unit to prioritise resolution of visa processing delays, those promises will be delivered on step by step.

Just as with the 887,the Subclass 491 visa, which would eventually transition to the Subclass 191 permanent residency visa, may face similar challenges(though this is by no means what we would wish).

We cannot rule out that, given the overall policy tilt — from the federal Department of Home Affairs to state governments — toward regional areas,there may well be an intention to have 491 holders take longer to obtain PR and thus stay in regional areas longer to contribute.

Good News for 489/491 Holders —

This March, theregional areas used for Australian migration purposes were expanded again,with some areas surrounding Brisbane also included in the regional definition — just 45 to 60 minutes’ drive from Brisbane’s CBD,applicable to applicantsgranted on or after 5 March 2022:

With this latest expansion,the regional areas used for Australian migration purposes are now very extensive — everything outside central Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane qualifies,but which regional areas a visa holder may reside in is determined by the date of grant. We previously published a dedicated article analysing this:489/491 Holders — Don’t Live in the Wrong Area! Different 489/491 visas correspond to different regional areas — the Department of Home Affairs has confirmed the rules!

Meanwhile, from the beginning of this year,offshore applicants have gradually gained access to 491 state nominationas well,with the ACT and South Australia having already begun issuing invitations to offshore applicants,and Newstars already has successful cases:

Western Australia has announced its state nomination policy for the 2022–23 financial year,confirming it will open to offshore applicants from July, the start of the new financial year.

The Northern Territory MINT programme is a state-nomination skilled migration programme where applicants participate throughan investment of AUD 515,000.

There is an opportunity to obtain a Subclass 190 PR in one step, or alternatively to apply for a Subclass 491.

In terms of funding,the total investment amount for the MINT programme is AUD 515,000, with applicants required to allocate:

80% of the fundsinto stable, low-risk Northern Territory government bonds — the principal and relevant returns can be recovered after five years; the official suggested government bond yield is approximately 1.5%;

20% of the fundsinto NT venture capital investments in emerging start-up companies, with an investment term of five to ten years. Start-up investment carries slightly higher risk than government bonds, which is why only 20% of the total is required for this component — though higher risk also means higher potential returns.

1. MINT Subclass 190 EOI pointsOnly 60 base pointsare required to secure a place and obtain PR for the whole family.

2. Most nominated occupationshave no high English language requirement— meeting the federal requirement offour 6s is sufficient, with a minority of individual occupations requiring an overall score of 7.

3. No need to wait passively — apply directly once you meet the requirements.

Even in circumstances where other state governments are open to offshore applicants,I am confident that the Northern Territory MINT programme is still one of the very few — if not the only — pathways for offshore applicants to obtain a Subclass 190 in a single step.For offshore applicants, MINT does not require a high points score — 65 points is enough,there is no need to compete with domestic students for places, no requirement to study locally, no requirement to work locally — as long as your occupation is on the MINT list, you can apply!

To date,we have successfully assisted more than 40 applicant groups in obtaining Northern Territory Subclass 190 state nomination,with occupations includingAccountant, Marketing Specialist, Software Engineer, Human Resources Manager, English Teacher, Supply Chain Manager, Mechanical Engineerand more.

Common Occupations for the MINT Programme:

Nominated occupation: Contract Administrator; language four 6s; signed up at the end of last year and obtained formal nomination in April this year!

Nominated occupation:Marketing Specialist — application lodged at the end of September last year, formal nominationreceived in early April.

Nominated occupation: ANZSCO 242211 Vocational Education Teacher

Nominated occupations respectively: ANZSCO 233212 Geotechnical Engineer and ANZSCO 225113 Marketing Specialist

both received state nomination pre-approval approximately one month after lodgement

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