Australian Migration News
This week we combine the MIA state-government invitation-briefing updates into a roundup of the latest state-nomination news from every state
This week’s successful visa grant, invitation and skills-assessment case roundup — as usual
NSW — announced that 491 Pathway 1 and Pathway 3 open on 19 January; Pathway 2 invitations will not be issued until April
–190 — 375 formal nominations issued per month (except December). Acceptance rates are affected by many factors, so the actual number of pre-invitations issued will certainly exceed 375. The plan is one round per month, but to reach the 375 target more than one round may be issued — as in previous rounds
NSW issued another 190 round on 25 November this week; the previous Western Australia round was on 6 November — less than three weeks apart:
– 491 Pathway 1 and Pathway 3 applications will open on 19 January; processing will begin immediately after opening and is expected to exceed the standard 6 weeks.The state government will monitor Pathway 1 and Pathway 3 application numbers in real time; once it judges that the quota may be reached, the application channel will be closed
–491 Pathway 2 has a lower priority than Pathways 1 and 3, so invitations are expected to begin no earlier than April, most likely only 1 round, 2 rounds at most
– NIV issued 5 invitations; the pool holds close to 1,000 NIV EOI applications
WA — a round will be issued in early December, with monthly rounds thereafter; non-priority applicants have a chance of being invited; the three-month residency must be continuous
– This year the plan is to maintain monthly invitation rounds; the next invitation is early December. Because May and June are set aside for processing pre-invitations,April is expected to be the final round, though depending on quota availability one or two extra rounds may be issued
– On the three-month residency documentation requirement: the state officer recommends submitting the EOI at least three months after relocating,if the residency requirement is not met but an invitation has been received and an application lodged, it will still be refused。Residency must in principle be continuous; for short absences for travel, business trips, or family visits the main factor is duration — a normal few days is fine, but leaving for one or two months at a stretch may have an impact
–Non-priority occupations will still be invited this year,but these invitations will not occur in the December or January rounds.As to whether overseas/interstate applicants have a chance of being invited, the state officer’s stance is that it is hard to say
– WA invitations look at occupation first, then score — they do not drill down to individual bonus criteria
VIC — the wording and stance remain the same as last financial year; the 491 exemption for local graduates is confirmed to be removed
– Still plan to issue invitations roughly once a month
–Overseas 491 this year prioritises Education, Health and Social Services — the classic “three treasures” occupations — the same as last financial year
– Onshore and overseas applicants compete together in principle, with no order of priority
–The various ROI selection criteria also have no order of priority among them. VIC has repeatedly stressed that it considers all an applicant’s ROI criteria holistically — it is not the case that having a job or work experience automatically outweighs English
– There is still no minimum residency duration for onshore this year; onshore applicants only need to ensure they are residing in Victoria at the time of submission
–The reduced 491 quota this year has led to the removal of the 491 exemption for Victorian graduates,and all onshore 491 applicants must already be working and living in Victoria
QLD — more invitations and more processing will begin from January
–From January, both invitation numbers and processing volumes will increase
– This year invitation rounds will be more frequent, with a smaller number issued per round, in order to shorten processing wait times
–If, after receiving an ROI invitation, the application is refused during processing, applicants may resubmit in the same financial year and may be invited again
– The state government again reminds applicants not to submit duplicate ROIs — of duplicate ROIs, only the most recently submitted one will be considered
SA — priority sectors receive 190, non-priority mostly receive 491, and onshore rounds are also issued monthly
On the 24th of this week SA announced its policy and opened the onshore ROI channel; the specific changes are as follows:
1. Minor adjustments to prerequisites
2. Clearly defined priority industries
3. Clarified selection logic for onshore and overseas invitations
4. Minor adjustments to the occupation list — some popular occupations can now only apply for 491
At the MIA briefing additional invitation information was provided
–The six priority sectors will be prioritised for 190, while non-priority sectors will mainly receive 491 — this applies equally to onshore and overseas applicants
–This year onshore invitation rounds will also be issued monthly; overseas and onshore invitations will be issued separately, and an official report will be published on the website after each round
– A visa nearing expiry will not help in getting an invitation
ACT (Canberra) — invitations will most likely be issued in December, and a new system will launch in June
– 425 places have already been used;1,175 places remain — 595 x 491 (74% remaining) and 580 x 190 (72.5% remaining)
–Another matrix invitation round will be issued before the end of the year, most likely in the period before Christmas in December. After that, invitations are planned for once a month until May 2026. A new application system is expected to launch in June next year, which will affect the timing of the final invitation round of this financial year — that round is expected to take place no later than early May.
– The new system goes live in June next year and will allow withdrawal and editing of Canberra Matrix submissions
– Canberra may later factor in applicants’ salaries, prioritising higher-paid candidates; for now invitations are still issued solely on matrix score and occupation
– Later changes are expected to the Employer Sponsored Streamlined Pathway, salary thresholds, and the small business stream
NT — scores do not matter, commitment does; overseas 491 processing will start no earlier than Q1 2026
NT opened the overseas application channel on the morning of the 24th,but by midday around 15 popular occupations had been removed — Contract/Project Administrator, Marketing Specialist and similar roles were withdrawn immediately.Further adjustments on the 26th;occupations such as External Auditor were also removed.The NT government subsequently confirmed that too many applications had been submitted for these occupations,and those successfully submitted prior to removal will continue to be processed.
–This year applicants will still not be ranked by score; NT places greater weight on commitment and employability,that is, commitment to remaining in the Northern Territory and the ability to find local work. For the overseas 491 pathway, applicants who can demonstrate strong commitment to the NT — including but not limited to connections with NT employers — will have a better chance of being invited.
–The overseas 491 priority-occupation pathway may not begin processing until Q1 2026 at the earliest, possibly Q2.This year NT will provide monthly progress updates on processing via the portal.
– NT onshore applicationshave begun to see some invitations and requests for further information (including the residence-stream 491 and the graduate-stream 190) — these channels enjoy higher processing priority
TAS — steady, frequent invitations with gradually falling invitation scores
–As usual, a weekly invitation round was issued on the 26th of this week; this round’s190 minimum score was 36 points — orange, and 491 minimum score was 43 points — orange
–The remaining formal-nomination quota is 997 x 190 (83% remaining) and 576 x 491 (88.6% remaining)
–NIV is planned to start in early 2026; once the framework is finalised, further information will be released
– DAMA is expected to be implemented in early 2026; the state government expects to need several months to progressively refine the rules and processes, and is aiming to publish at least the initial details early next year.
For a full assessment of this year’s state-nomination options, please contact our client service team
For the full state-by-state updates see
This week’s visa grants, invitations, and skills assessments
StateNomination
TAS
Lodged on 7/11/2025, pre-invited on 26/11/2025. Chef
26 Aug 2025 Onshore submission189, 26 Nov 2025 Granted–Actuary
Submitted:26/08/2025 | Granted:26/11/2025
Submitted:21/08/2025 | Granted:24/11/2025
Submitted:25/08/2025 | Granted:22/11/2025
190 State Nomination
03 Sep 2024 Onshore submissionACT 190，27 Nov 2025 Granted—Cafe or Restaurant Manager
Submitted:30/04/2024 | Granted:28/11/2025
491 Regional State Nomination
191/887 Regional Permanent Residence
Submitted 8 August 2025; nomination and visa approved 28 November 2025 — Accountant
Investor visa / GTI visa
Submitted 15 July 2021; 188 granted 26 November 2025
Partner migration
Submitted 11 June 2021; 820+801 granted 27 November 2025
Submitted:28/04/2025 | Granted:24/11/2025 801
Submitted:21/05/2025 | Granted:22/11/2025 801
Submitted:07/05/2025 | Granted:22/11/2025 801
Submitted:24/03/2025 | Granted:22/11/2025 801
Submitted:17/03/2025 | Granted:22/11/2025 801
Submitted:05/06/2018 | Further-information request:07/10/2025 | Granted:25/11/2025 143
Submitted:22/03/2018 | Further-information request:28/03/2025 | Granted:24/11/2025 143
Submitted:29/10/2025 | Granted:25/11/2025
485 Temporary Graduate (work) visa
Submitted:09/10/2025 | Granted:27/11/2025
Submitted:10/09/2025 | Granted:27/11/2025
Submitted:17/11/2025 | Granted:24/11/2025
500 Student visa
Submitted 11 November 2025; granted 25 November 2025
Submitted:26/06/2025 | Granted:24/11/2025
600 Visitor visa
Submitted:20/11/2025 | Granted:27/11/2025
Submitted:17/11/2025 | Granted:25/11/2025
Submitted:12/11/2025 | Granted:25/11/2025
101
Submitted:28/06/2024 | Granted:27/11/2025
Skills assessment
VETASSESSSkills assessment
Submitted:18/11/2025 | Granted:23/11/2025
NewStars Group introduction video
ACT expected to issue invitations in December — one round per month! TAS invited today — 190 minimum 36 points, orange!
QLD to ramp up invitations from January; VIC overseas 491 prioritises the “three treasures”! NSW has issued invitations again!
SA state nomination opens ROI today on the 24th — clear onshore selection rules, popular occupations such as Accountant restricted to 491 only
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No. 01– Australia’s most popular skilled migration programs: 189, 190, 491
No. 02– One-step work-to-migration employer sponsorship: 482, 186, 494
No. 03– Study first, then migrate — recommended majors and courses
No. 04– High school / Gaokao / undergraduate study pathways
No. 05– Essential for student migration — the 485 graduate work visa
No. 06– To be arranged immediately after PR — parent migration and visas
No. 07– Master of Marriage — partner migration
No. 08– Pivoting to Hong Kong — the QMAS and Talent Admission schemes
No. 09– Essential for parents / relatives / friends visiting — the 600 visa
No. 10– Weekly updates of visa grants / invitations / skills-assessment success stories
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