Insights
How the New Method for Checking Australian Visa Processing Times Works A new way to check visa processing times? A better way to estimate how long you’ll wait? In the past, when checking processing times, most people’s first instinct was to open the Department of Home Affairs’ official website and look at the familiar Global Visa Processing Times tool —
Read More →
Remaining State Nomination Quotas & Processing Progress by State in Australia April is almost over, and the Department of Home Affairs has finally updated state nomination quota usage as at the end of March (feature image). Victoria will close new applications on 28 April, Canberra has skipped its April round, and NSW will issue its first round of Subclass 491
Read More →
Key migration news this week First week of online parent migration applications — plenty of system bugs The claim that the QS skills assessment now requires a year of experience is a misunderstanding Nurse registration English requirements adjusted — the speaking bar gets harder More Subclass 191 grants and faster employer sponsorship? A roundup of this week’s grants, invitations and
Read More →
2026 Australia: The Latest Processing-Time Update Across All Visa Types It has been a while since we last updated on processing speeds. Today, drawing on the latest FOI data for Subclass 191, we share how processing has been tracking lately across the various visa types. The Department’s official figures are set out in the images (Images 2 to 3); the
Read More →
SUBCLASS 870 · 2026 UPDATE This article was published in April 2026 — the current version is here The Subclass 870 visa’s eligibility requirements, income threshold, application charges, processing times and GTE requirement are set out in full in our August 2026 update. If you only read one, read the update; the article below is kept as an archive. Read
Read More →
The Parent Visa Online Lodgement System Is Officially Live! Just last week, we told you that parent migration would step into the online-application era on 22 April. First thing this morning, we put it to the test — and sure enough, a Parent Visa option has now been added under the Family category in ImmiAccount (see the header image). This
Read More →
New Partner Migration Rule: You Get Just One Chance to Provide Further Evidence We’ve just seen this month’s partner migration processing briefing, so here’s an update on where partner migration assessments currently stand. Response Timeframes and Submission Requirements for Requests for Further Evidence In short, the briefing flags a stricter approach to partner migration. Applicants are encouraged to provide evidence
Read More →
Common Reasons a NAATI CCL Result Is Cancelled, and How It’s Assessed Recently several people have asked me: if a CCL exam is found to be in breach and the result is cancelled, what should you do? Will it affect your migration? Let me give you the bottom line first — the consequences are serious. I’d also remind everyone who
Read More →
Overview of the March 2026 Subclass 189 EOI Backlog Data The EOI data was updated at the end of March, so as usual let’s look at the backlog comparison for the four major occupations — the “three treasures” (early childhood education, nursing and social work) plus secondary teaching — along with a few popular occupations. Subclass 189 — May invitation
Read More →
With Australian Skilled Migration So Competitive, the Subclass 482 Aged Care Labour Agreement Becomes a Top Choice With points for Australian skilled migration soaring ever higher and Subclass 189/190 invitations nowhere in sight, many applicants are asking: is there still a low-barrier, high-certainty ‘safe harbour’ out there? The answer is yes. Recently, Newstars received another batch of grant letters for
Read More →Newstars has branded offices around the world — find a professional consultant near you.
Get in touch for a free consultation — we'll help you analyse your situation from every angle.
Book Consultation
