This Week’s Key Migration News
- Major shake-up in the new financial year’s PR quota allocation — onshore prioritised over offshore: how to respond
- Subclass 189/190/491 grants stay fast, backlogs fall further
- State nomination quotas as at April — which states can still issue more?
- ACT releases the final invitation-round report of the financial year
- This week’s grants, invitations and skills-assessment data wrap-up
1. Major Shake-up in the New Financial Year’s PR Quota Allocation — Onshore First, Then Offshore: How to Respond
The Department of Home Affairs handed down its Budget for the 26-27 financial year on schedule, and there are quite a few changes in the migration settings for the new year. The core points: the 26-27 quota is confirmed at 185,000 — 132,240 for the Skill stream and 52,760 for the Family stream — a split similar to the 25-26 financial year. For the first time, places are divided between onshore and offshore, with both the Family and Skill streams prioritising onshore applicants: 129,590 places will go to applicants in Australia and 55,110 to offshore applicants, with the offshore allocation prioritising highly skilled talent.
On Friday night the Department released the allocation across each category. The changes are significant: the biggest loser is Subclass 491, the biggest winner is Subclass 186 employer sponsorship, and there are more winners than losers.
Within the Skill stream
Essentially, the places cut from the regional category have been redistributed to Subclass 186, 189 and 190. The biggest beneficiary is Subclass 186, which gained more than 14,000 places (truly Labor’s favoured child) — we’re looking forward to seeing Subclass 186 speed up. Subclass 189 and 190 each picked up a share: Subclass 189 gained 4,100+ and Subclass 190 increased slightly by 2,500. Quotas are the basis for invitations, and with one of the three points-tested categories slashed and two increased, invitations for Subclass 189 in the new financial year will be more optimistic. Subclass 491 is in a tougher spot — this mainly affects offshore applicants and onshore applicants in popular but lower-scoring categories. Subclass 190 rose modestly by 2,500; given the overall cut to Subclass 491, we expect each state’s Subclass 190 invitation quota to see some increase.
The Family stream
The 1,440 places cut from parent visas have been redistributed to partner and child visas — yet the Family stream is the category where demand most badly outstrips supply… Partner visas gained 1,000 places and child visas gained 500. While this won’t truly change processing speeds, it’s better than nothing.
The Department’s website announcement didn’t clarify the onshore/offshore split any further. Over the past five financial years, judged by lodgement location, the Skill stream’s ratio has generally sat between 7:3 and 6:4, while the Family stream has fluctuated more — the ratio has flipped over those five years, with the Family stream now at 40% onshore and 60% offshore. Over the past two financial years, offshore grants have exceeded 80,000 each year, so 55,000 places is clearly not enough. This will directly affect applicants offshore who are waiting for a grant or preparing to lodge, and may indirectly affect applicants waiting for a skilled migration invitation. Our recommendations are as follows:
– Partner migration / children
Applying for a visitor visa to enter Australia and then lodging Subclass 820/802 onshore is the direct route. But partners applying for a visitor visa need to be well prepared — we do see refusals from time to time.
– Within parent migration
Basically less than ten percent are onshore; only during Covid were there more onshore grants. This adjustment may mean the onshore categories Subclass 804 and 864 become slightly faster than Subclass 143 — for example, half a year to a year faster, as was the case before Covid. If you haven’t yet lodged a parent visa, you could consider first applying for the Subclass 103 queue-based parent visa, then switching to the Subclass 864 Contributory Aged Parent visa once the parent reaches the aged threshold of 67.
– Skill stream
For those waiting for an invitation who want to move from offshore to onshore, the main options are a visitor visa, a student visa and the WHV (working holiday visa).
- ① For those who have lodged an EOI/ROI and are awaiting an invitation: a visitor visa allows only 3 months per entry, so in theory you could apply for a visitor visa in advance to be ready, then enter and lodge onshore after receiving a skilled migration invitation, which also lets you obtain a bridging visa
- ② For offshore applicants who have already graduated and are working: a student visa or WHV are options — the key point for both is that the younger you apply, the easier it is; applying for a student visa above the age of 30 is considerably harder, so consider and act early
- ③ For applicants of the right age coming to study: we recommend carefully considering, at the study-abroad planning stage, whether you’ll want to migrate in the future
- ④ The actual impact on invitations may in fact not be that large. Subclass 189 might adjust to favour onshore as a result, while state nomination policies and invitations over the past two years have already leaned towards onshore applicants
At this stage the Department hasn’t announced how it will distinguish onshore from offshore. For applicants who have already lodged, if the basis ends up being the location at lodgement, there isn’t much that can be done.
For more analysis and advice, see: Major PR Quota Shake-up | Waiting for an Invitation / Waiting for a Grant / Skilled Migration / Family Migration — How to Respond?
In addition, no further details emerged on the much-anticipated reform of the points-based system — it was only confirmed that the points system will be reformed, with the goal of selecting younger, more highly skilled and more highly qualified applicants. For more on what was announced on Budget night, see: A Historic First — the New Financial Year’s 185,000 PR Places Prioritise Onshore! Points-System Reform to Select Younger, More Qualified and Skilled Applicants!
2. Subclass 189/190/491 Keep Up Fast Grants, Backlogs Fall Further
The February grant report card for Subclass 189, 190 and 491 has finally arrived. Obtaining FOI file data from the Department is now very slow; this week we also finally received new parent-visa data, and we’ll update the progress table for everyone soon. Back to the data for the three main categories: overall, each set a record or came close to a new financial-year high for monthly grants, with backlogs falling across the board. *The Subclass 491 grant figure is most likely a typo — by our calculation it should be 2,655.
Subclass 189 — backlog effectively under control —
There aren’t many new lodgements anymore, while grants have been climbing step by step, breaking 2,000 in February, so the backlog has come under effective control. After the November invitation round it once topped 10,000, but by February it was back to four digits. How many are issued in the May round depends on the Department’s expectation for the backlog at the 30 June financial year-end. Over the past two financial years, the Subclass 189 backlog at 30 June year-end has been around 7,000; if the Department again wants to hold it at 7,000 this year, the May round still has room for 2,000+ visa places. February mainly cleared lodgements from September to December 2025, with November and December 2025 still the bulk of the backlog at 2,631 and 2,566 remaining respectively. We’ve had quite a few Subclass 189 grants recently, concentrated on mid-November applications, and the data shows January 2026 lodgements have also started to be processed.
Subclass 190 — record monthly grants —
In February, grants surged to nearly 4k, up sharply by 445 on January, the highest monthly grant figure so far this financial year. The data shows 11,000+ places remaining as at the end of February, with an actual average of 2,700+ grants per month; based on quota and pace alone, the allocation is enough to last to the end of the financial year. New lodgements in February were at a medium-to-high level, reaching 2,592; with grants outpacing lodgements, the total backlog still fell by 1.3k, leaving 22,648 in the backlog — likely the lowest in recent years. Processing status: between November 2024 and June 2025 each month still had a backlog of 1k–2k+, but lodgements from July to November 2025 have already dropped below the thousand mark.
Subclass 491 — FOI file data error, large volume of grants maintained —
The data shows only 63 grants for the month, but in reality, by taking the backlog at the end of January and subtracting the end of February, Subclass 491 processing should be around 2,655 — above the average monthly processing volume and close to this financial year’s monthly high of 2,700+. Quotas now stand at 16,246 remaining, and the total backlog has also successfully dropped below 20,000 to 19,000. This means that as long as February’s processing pace of 2,600+ can be maintained to year-end, the Subclass 491 stock at financial year-end will also be a new low for recent years. Subclass 491 grant speed is expected to hold over the final months of the financial year. Subclass 491 is now also mainly processing visas lodged from January 2025 onwards, which the data confirms.
When the Budget was released, some organisations used the backlog of 425,000 PR visa applications to push for a quota increase. At the time we also pointed out that the points-tested Skill stream actually accounts for only 7.6%. Over the past two or three years the Department has controlled new lodgement numbers by reducing invitations, and we’re now seeing the effect. We hope the new financial year’s state nomination invitation quotas can at least be maintained, rather than cut using the visa backlog as an excuse — the invitation quotas won’t be known until after 1 July.
3. State Nomination Quotas as at April — Which States Can Still Issue Invitations?
The Department has released each state’s nomination quota as at 30 April. You can see that some state governments are nearly done for the year, while others still have room. We’ll focus mainly on those that may still issue invitations — the specific figures are in the chart below:
– New South Wales
Subclass 491 still has 451 places; in theory Pathway 2 could run another round. April issued 18 in the month, which suggests Pathways 1 and 3 may have finished processing — or that resources have been shifted to processing Subclass 190, given the astonishing 562 Subclass 190 grants in a single month.
– Northern Territory
Subclass 491 still has 362 places, and the offshore priority-occupation pathway is being processed slowly. The MINT pathway — a non-points-tested pathway dedicated to offshore applicants — will open new-financial-year placeholders soon, so keep an eye on it. For details, see: Limited-Time PR Opportunity! Suited to accounting / finance / administration / education and training / management / IT and more back home — no employer needed, no competing on points or English.
– Queensland
There are still close to 600 Subclass 190 places. Queensland has issued one round so far in May; let’s hope it isn’t once again the only state left with leftover quota this year.
– South Australia
There are still 400+ Subclass 190 and 300+ Subclass 491 places; ROI invitations are expected to continue into June.
– Western Australia
There are still 550+ Subclass 190 and 330+ Subclass 491 places. March processed 400+ Subclass 190 and 100+ Subclass 491 in the month, so by the numbers there’s still room for another small invitation round.
– Tasmania
On paper there are still places, but once you count the ROIs that have already been invited and are awaiting processing, it’s likely over-allocated. Tasmania still issued new ROIs this week, and may hold on until the end of May.
4. Canberra Releases Its Final Invitation-Round Report of the Financial Year
Canberra released its May-round report this week — barring surprises, this is the final round for the 25-26 financial year. In this round, the onshore general pathway issued only 130 Subclass 190 and 87 Subclass 491; the small-business pathway gave 3 Subclass 190 at a minimum score of 105, and 14 Subclass 491 at a minimum score of 100. The offshore pathway gave 38
Subclass 190 and 33 Subclass 491. This financial year, priority occupations have stabilised below 100 points, while non-priority ones require 100+ points; this round was much the same. The invitation status by occupation is as follows:
Next, the ACT Government’s focus will be on processing matrix invitations and on the new matrix submission system.
5. This Week’s Grants, Invitations and Skills Assessments
State Government Invitations
Tasmania
Formal Nomination
Lodged 27 April 2026, TAS Subclass 190 nomination approved 13 May 2026. Nurse
Visa Grants
Subclass 189 Skilled Independent Migration
Submitted on 11/9/2025, Granted on 13/5/2026. Social Worker
Lodged 18 December 2025, Subclass 189 granted 11 May 2026
Lodged: 15/09/2025, Approved: 12/05/2026
Subclass 190 State Government Nomination
Submitted on 19/12/2024, Granted on 13/5/2026. Chemistry Technician
19 Feb 2025 ACT Subclass 190 lodged onshore, granted 11 May 2026 — Cafe or Restaurant Manager
Lodged 25 March 2026, Subclass 190 granted 13 May 2026, Secondary School Teacher
Lodged 18 June 2025, Subclass 190 granted 14 May 2026
Lodged: 27/05/2025, Approved: 12/05/2026
Subclass 491 Regional State Nomination
10 Dec 2024 ACT Subclass 491 lodged onshore, granted 12 May 2026 — External Auditor
26 Jul 2024 ACT Subclass 491 lodged onshore, granted 13 May 2026 — Accountant (General)
Subclass 191/887 Regional Permanent Residence
Lodged 25 August 2025, Subclass 191 granted 9 May 2026
Lodged: 22/08/2025, Approved: 09/05/2026
Employer Sponsorship
Lodged 7 August 2025, Subclass 482 nomination approved 13 May 2026. Chef
Lodged 28 June 2025, Subclass 186 nomination approved 13 May 2026, visa granted 14 May. Massage Therapist
Lodged 12 August 2025, Subclass 482 nomination approved 13 May 2026. Retail Manager (General)
Lodged: 04/06/2025, Approved: 13/05/2026
Investor Visas / GTI Visas
None this week
Partner Migration
Lodged: 27/06/2025, Approved: 13/05/2026. Subclass 820
Lodged: 02/09/2025, Approved: 11/05/2026. Subclass 100
Parent Visas
Lodged: 14/11/2018, Request for further documents: 10/04/2026, Approved: 11/05/2026. Subclass 143
Child Visas
Lodged: 02/09/2025, Approved: 11/05/2026. Subclass 802
Subclass 485 Graduate Work Visa
Lodged 18 April 2026, Subclass 485 granted 10 May 2026
Lodged 14 April 2026, Subclass 485 granted 11 May 2026
Lodged: 10/03/2026, Approved: 12/05/2026
Subclass 500 Student Visa
Submitted on 17/5/2025, Granted on 14/5/2026
Lodged 27 April 2026, Subclass 500 granted 9 May 2026
Lodged 27 April 2026, Subclass 500 granted 12 May 2026, converted from WHV
Lodged 15 January 2026, Subclass 500 granted 14 May 2026
Lodged: 13/03/2026, Approved: 14/05/2026
Subclass 600 Visitor Visa
Lodged 8 May 2026, Subclass 600 granted 14 May 2026
Lodged: 07/05/2026, Approved: 14/05/2026
Lodged: 07/05/2026, Approved: 13/05/2026
Lodged: 24/04/2026, Approved: 12/05/2026
Subclass 155 Visa
Lodged 2 April 2026, Subclass 155 granted 13 May 2026
Lodged: 07/05/2026, Approved: 12/05/2026
