The state nomination policy meetings organised by MIA, the Migration Institute of Australia, have reached their final day, with the NSW and Canberra governments presenting today.
Of particular interest, NSW unexpectedly issued a new round of Subclass 190 invitations on the morning of 12 November, while Canberra also continued issuing Matrix invitations today. After four consecutive days of government policy briefings, the states’ allocations and state nomination arrangements for the 2026–27 financial year are gradually becoming clearer.
State nomination positions as at 12 November:
NSW Subclass 190: approximately 500 pre-invitations in this round
NSW issued a new round of Subclass 190 pre-invitations on the morning of 12 November. The data we have collected so far is shown below:
NSW’s currently confirmed allocation for the 2026–27 financial year is 900 Subclass 190 places and 800 Subclass 491 places.
Two Subclass 190 invitation rounds have been held so far. The first issued approximately 450 to 500 invitations, with approximately another 500 issued in this round.
Notably, the acceptance rate for the first round was lower than in previous years, at approximately 50%, compared with the usual rate of approximately 65% to 75%. Whether NSW continues issuing invitations once a month will therefore depend on the acceptance rate for this round and the government’s subsequent workload.
It is also uncertain whether invitations will be issued in December, given the Christmas and New Year holidays.
NSW Subclass 491: Pathway 2 closed this year
A significant change to NSW Subclass 491 arrangements for the 2026–27 financial year is that Pathway 2 will not open this year.
With a relatively limited Subclass 491 allocation this financial year and greater priority being given to applicants within NSW, offshore applicants cannot apply through Subclass 491 Pathway 2 this year.
For applicants within NSW who wish to apply for Subclass 491 this year, the main requirement is to meet the relevant Pathway 1 or Pathway 3 criteria, such as having qualifying employment in regional NSW or being a regional NSW graduate.
Pathways 1 and 3 are currently expected to open for applications in 2027, possibly as early as January.
The full NSW Subclass 491 occupation list will also be published on the official website soon. Below are the changes to the Subclass 491 list for this financial year.
NSW has made clear that it is prioritising applicants within the state this year
Overall, the basic application requirements for Subclasses 190 and 491 have not changed significantly. They include having an occupation on the relevant occupation list and meeting NSW residence or employment requirements.
Onshore applicants need to have lived in NSW for at least six months or have employment related to their nominated occupation. Offshore applicants need to meet the relevant offshore application criteria.
However, NSW has explicitly stated that it will give greater priority to applicants within the state this year.
Popular occupations receiving NSW invitations in the 2025–26 financial year
Invitation data from the previous financial year shows that occupations receiving relatively large numbers of Subclass 190 invitations included Carpenter, Construction Project Manager and Early Childhood Teacher.
For Carpenters, invitation scores last financial year were largely concentrated in the range of approximately 60 to 75 base points. Welders also received invitations at 65 base points, while the typical invitation score for Early Childhood Teachers was approximately 90 base points.
For Subclass 491, the occupations receiving the most invitations last financial year mainly included Early Childhood Teacher, ICT Business Analyst and Secondary School Teacher, with Early Childhood Teacher clearly leading in invitation numbers.
Canberra: at least 800 places provisionally confirmed, including around 600 for Subclass 190
Canberra’s provisionally confirmed allocation is currently at least 800 places, comprising approximately 600 Subclass 190 places and 200 Subclass 491 places.
However, this is not the final allocation.
The federal government’s current thinking for the ACT allocation is for Subclass 190 places to decrease slightly from the previous financial year while remaining broadly similar overall. A more substantial reduction is expected for Subclass 491 places.
The ACT Government is still in discussions with the federal government to seek more places, so the final allocation may still change. The government also said it could not yet confirm when the final allocation would be settled.
ACT nomination applications take an average of approximately three weeks to process
The average processing time for ACT Government nomination applications is currently approximately three weeks.
However, the actual processing time depends on when an applicant lodges their application and how complete their documents are.
If complete nomination documents are lodged promptly after an invitation is received, some applications may receive an outcome within a few days.
If an applicant lodges in the last few days before the deadline, processing may take around five weeks.
For applicants who have already received a Matrix invitation, preparing and submitting complete documents as soon as possible therefore remains very important.
The ACT will continue issuing invitations this year
The ACT has issued approximately 92 formal nominations so far, the vast majority of them for Subclass 190.
There are approximately 7,000 to 10,000 applications in the Matrix pool, so competition remains strong.
The ACT previously announced part of its invitation schedule, but the government has recently said that it may add another round in November.
The government’s current intention is to add further invitation rounds to the original schedule, including approximately one to two additional rounds before the end of the year, another round before January, and approximately another one to two rounds before March.
However, all these arrangements ultimately depend on the ACT’s final allocation, with the Subclass 491 allocation in particular potentially subject to significant change.
Despite receiving its final allocation relatively late this year, the ACT Government still hopes to avoid interruptions to state nomination invitations and nomination processing as far as possible.
The ACT will not suspend offshore applications
For offshore applicants, the ACT will not completely close its offshore invitation pathway this year.
The government confirmed that it will continue inviting offshore applicants, but the number of invitations it can issue will depend directly on its final allocation.
The ACT is currently using an indicative internal split of approximately 20% offshore and 80% within the ACT. This is not a fixed ratio: the final split will still depend on the composition of the application pool and applicants’ actual acceptance rate after receiving Matrix invitations.
Last financial year, the acceptance rate following offshore invitations was lower than in previous years, so offshore applicants received less than 20% of formal nominations. In earlier years, the offshore nomination share had reached approximately 30%.
The ACT is reviewing its occupation list
The ACT is also currently reviewing its occupation list.
However, which occupations will ultimately be retained or added still depends on the final state nomination allocation received for this financial year.
The government said it would try to announce the changes in advance.
