This week’s highlights
Australian migration news
1. Northern Territory abruptly closes all state-nomination application channels
2. Canberra issues a new round of invitations — our clients invited in Accounting, Auditing, Engineering and more
3. Department of Home Affairs issues Parent-visa queue letters in bulk over the weekend
4. This week’s grants, invitations and skills-assessment success stories — as usual
1. Northern Territory abruptly closes all state-nomination application channels
Last week the NT had just updated the processing progress across its various streams, noting that the offshore priority-occupation 491 stream had not yet commenced processing and would only begin in early 2026.
This week the NT suddenly announced the closure of all application channels — both onshore and offshore. Applications already successfully lodged will be finalised by 30 June.
Onshore graduate or worker-stream applicants may still lodge if they meet the following special circumstances,and do so before 31 December 2026:
– Visa expiring and not eligible for a 485 visa
– Reaching 45 years of age
– Points deduction causing the 491 EOI to fall below 65 points
2. Canberra issues a new round of invitations — our clients invited in Accounting, Auditing, Engineering and more
Canberra released a fresh round of invitations on Thursday and Friday as scheduled, continuing the tradition of priority occupations on day one and non-priority occupations plus the Small Business stream on day two. More of our clients were picked up on the second day — the chart below shows our clients’ invitation outcomes.
It appears the Small Business stream and some non-priority occupations saw a dip in Matrix scores; the fuller picture will only be clear once next week’s state government official report is released.
3. Department of Home Affairs issues a batch of Queue Letters over the weekend
The Department recently issued a large batch of Parent-visa Queue Letters for applications lodged in 2023,and we received several dozen over the weekend.Historically only queued (non-contributory) categories received Queue Letters / Queue Assessments (QL/QA),but post-COVID the contributory categories have also seen processing times stretch out significantly. Based on current Department advice, queued categories face a 33-year wait and contributory categories about 15 years — which is why Queue Letters have begun being issued for contributory cases too.
The Department will generally perform an initial assessment of the applicationto confirm the basic criteria are met —such as the family balance test, the sponsor’s residency requirement, and, for aged categories, medicals, police clearances and similar documentation — before issuing the Queue Letter.
We want to stress again thatthe true queue position is determined by the date of lodgement, not by the date the Queue Letter is issued.For example, a 143 case received a Queue Letter over the weekend but the lodgement date is clearly recorded as May 2023.
Now,when applying for a parent Visitor visa, attaching the Queue Letter typically allows the Department to grant up to a 5-year visitor visa with 12-month stays per visit.
Current Parent-visa processing progress
Contributory:Official progress is currently up to end of October,and on our side the latest contributory RFIs have reached applications lodged around 20 September 2018.
103 Queued: lodgement volumes in June 2013 were enormous, and this financial year is still likely to be working through that month.
Once a child obtains PR, regardless of whether they plan to settle in Australia in the short term, we recommend lodging the Parent visa application early to join the queue. If you intend to stay long-term in Australia to care for children without constant visa renewals, the 870 long-stay parent temporary visa is an option. If you need a seamless transition from a visitor visa to an 870, we recommend lodging the 870 application at least six months in advance. Contact us to discuss:
This week’s grants, invitations and skills assessments
Statenomination
Western Australia
Formal nomination
2025-12-10, submitted; 2026-1-23, formally invited
Canberra
Formal nomination
2025-12-22, submitted; 2026-01-23, invitedACT 190,Accountant (General)
2025-12-22, submitted; 2026-01-28, invitedACT 491,Civil Engineer
Matrix pre-invitation — see the summary above
Visa grants
189 Independent Skilled Migration
None this week
190 State Government Nomination
Submitted on 27/11/2025, Granted on 29/1/2026. Occupation: Retail Pharmacist
2025-5-26, submitted; 2026-1-27, granted (no RFI)
2025-1-22, submitted; 2026-1-27, granted (no RFI)
491 Regional State Nomination
None this week
191/887 Regional Permanent Residence
None this week
Employer Sponsorship
None this week
Investor / GTI visa
None this week
Partner Migration
2025-7-16, submitted; 2026-1-26, granted; 820&801 granted together (with child)
2025-7-17, submitted; 2026-1-28, granted
Parent visas
Lodged on 9 August 2018, 143 visa granted on 27 January 2026
2018-8-18, submitted; 2025-12-8, RFI issued; 2026-1-20, second invoice issued; 2026-1-27, 143 granted
2018-5-25, submitted; 2025-9-16, RFI issued; 2025-12-22, second invoice issued; 2026-1-29, 143 granted
2025-9-24, submitted; 2026-1-27, 870 sponsorship
485 Graduate Work visa
2025-9-18, submitted; 2026-1-29, granted
2026-1-21, submitted; 2026-1-30, granted
2026-1-9, submitted; 2026-1-30, granted
500 Student visa
Submitted on 11/11/2025, Granted on 28/1/2026
Submitted on 17/1/2026, Granted on 26/1/2026
600 Visitor visa
2026-1-20, submitted; 2026-1-27, granted; offshore application (1990 birth year, standard application)
2026-1-8, submitted; 2026-1-24, granted; offshore application PR parents
2026-1-9, submitted; 2026-1-24, granted; offshore application PR parents
2026-1-16, submitted; 2026-1-27, granted; offshore application PR parents
2025-11-14, submitted; 2026-1-29, granted; onshore application PR partner
Skills Assessment
VETASSESS
Submitted on 22/1/2026, Approved on 29/1/2026. Occupation: Marketing Specialist
Submitted on 21/1/2026, Approved on 28/1/2026. Occupation: Cafe or Restaurant Manager
2025-12-24, submitted; 2025-1-29, skills assessment issued (no RFI)
China academic-credential verification: 2025-12-12, submitted; 2025-1-24, skills assessment issued (with RFI)
China academic-credential verification: 2025-12-18, submitted; 2025-1-23, skills assessment issued (with RFI)
(Photo taken in 2021)
The “Perth may be removed from regional status” saga — who might be affected, and how to respond?
Latest technical data — 190 and 491 grants continue to accelerate!
Parent-visa Queue Letters arrive en masse over the weekend! Revisiting the 143/103 “queue letters”
Migration news sharing group
2025
Step 1: Press and hold to add our client service
Step 2: After adding, please
follow the NewStars WeChat official account
Use the chat window [search the plain number] to view the article
Code: 01- Australia’s most popular skilled migration programs 189 190 491
Code: 02- Work-to-migration in one step: Employer Sponsorship 482 186 494
Code: 03- Study first, migrate later: recommended majors and courses
Code: 04- High school / Gaokao / undergraduate study pathways
Code: 05- An essential for international student migration: the 485 Graduate Work visa
Code: 06- Organise this as soon as you receive PR: Parent visas and migration
Code: 07- Master of Marriage: Partner migration
Code: 08- Pivot to Hong Kong: the Quality Migrant and Top Talent schemes
Code: 09- Essential for parents / family / friends visiting: the 600 visa
Code: 10- Weekly updates on grants, invitations and skills assessments — success stories
Ask
Free initial study and migration consultation and planning
Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
Adelaide
Canberra
Hobart
Perth
Beijing
Guangzhou
New Zealand – Auckland
