Ontoday, 15 January, Victoria unexpectedly released its first round of 2026 invitations. Victoria is still holding one round per month; the previous round was in early December.
This round covers a wider range of occupations, including many popular non-priority occupations that applicants have been waiting on — occupations that are rarely invited in other states.
Key data we have gathered
1、The volume issued is larger than in previous rounds
2、A broader range of occupation types was invited, Previous rounds concentrated on priority and health/medical occupations. In this round the restrictions on occupation are looser, and we instead saw more IT invitations, plus Marketing / Advertising / Accounting — occupations that cannot even be submitted in other states — receiving invitations. Their core competitive edge is still long-term relevant work experience in Victoria，priority occupations did receive invitations, but the volume no longer shows a stark contrast with non-priority ones
3、The vast majority of invitations went to onshore applicants, all of whom needed relevant work，at least more than half had the relevant job + work experience combination. Including our own clients, many of those invited had been working locally in Victoria for a long period
4、the majority were still Subclass 190 invitations. Victoria’s 491 quota this year was already small — only 700 places
As of end of November 2025, Victoria had 2,341 Subclass 190 places and 487 Subclass 491 places remaining (not counting the early-December round). The quota remains relatively ample and Victoria is essentially maintaining a one-round-per-month cadence.Among all state-nominated programs, Victoria is the one that has stuck with allowing the full occupation list to lodge this year, simply setting priority sectors on top. For applicants willing to stay in the state, regardless of occupation there should be an invitation coming this year; and where quota permits, Victoria is also leaving some opportunities for offshore candidates.
In the 2025–26 financial year, the states received their full quota allocations very late. Invitations were issued cautiously before allocations landed, and once they did arrive there was only about a month before the end-of-year holiday break — which is why the number of invitations in the first half of FY25–26 was relatively low.We are barely halfway through January 2026, and South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland have already released their first round of 2026 invitations. Over the coming months, invitations from every state will become more frequent and larger in volume.
If you would like advice on Victorian state nomination, or a full overview of options across the other state-nomination programs, please contact our consultants below:
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No.: 01 — Australia’s most popular skilled-migration pathways: 189 / 190 / 491
No.: 02 — Work-to-migration one-stop employer-sponsored visas: 482 / 186 / 494
No.: 03 — Study first, then migrate: recommended majors and courses
No.: 04 — Pathways for high school / Gaokao / undergraduate study abroad
No.: 05 — Essential for student migrants: the Subclass 485 post-study work visa
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No.: 09 — A must for parents / family / friends visiting: the Subclass 600 visitor visa
No.: 10 — Weekly updates on grants / invitations / skills assessments: success stories
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