Invitations Issued By The Department Of Home Affairs
The Department of Home Affairs (the Department) has released the results for the latest Skill Select invitation round, which took place on 26 July 2021. These results are for the following points-based skilled visas:
- Subclass 189 Skilled – Independent visa; and
- Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Family Sponsored visa.
Invitation rounds are anticipated to be run quarterly.
A summary of these results is provided in this article.
State and Territory Government Nominations
The number of nominations approved by State and Territory Governments for the following skilled visas have also been released:
- Subclass 190 Skilled – Nominated visa; and
- Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) State Nominated visa.
State and territory government nominations are not impacted by departmental invitation rounds and occur independently of this process.
A summary of these results are also provided in this article.
You will also find links to information on the number of invitations issued for the following business visas below:
- Subclass 188 Business Innovation and Investment (provisional) visa; and
- Subclass 132 Business Talent (Permanent) visa.
Department Of Home Affairs Update
The Department has issued the following statement:
The Government is closely monitoring migration and visa settings to ensure they are consistent with public health measures, are flexible and do not displace job opportunities for Australians, so that Australia can effectively respond to the immediate and subsequent impacts of COVID-19. As such, targeted invitation rounds have occurred since May 2020.
Invitation Round Results
Total invitations Issued
The total number of invitations issued in July 2021 is set out below.
| Visa subclass | July 2021 | August 2021 | September 2021 | October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | April
2022 |
May
2022 |
Jun
2022 |
Total issued in 2021/22 |
| Skilled – Independent (subclass 189)
|
500 | 500 | |||||||||||
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – Family Sponsored*
|
250 | 250 | |||||||||||
| Total
|
750 | 750 |
*The information in the above table for the subclass 491 visa is for the family-sponsored stream only. State Nominated invitations (including for the Skilled – Nominated (subclass 190) visa) are issued separately by each State and Territory Government.
Invitations issued for the Subclass 189 visa in the July 2021 round have remained the same as the previous round in April 2021.
For the Subclass 491 visa – Family Sponsored stream, there was an increase in invitations issued for the month, rising from 160 in April 2021, to 250 in the current round.
Points Score Cut-Off
Expression of Interest (EOI) applicants required the following minimum points scores to secure an invitation in the July 2021 round.
| Visa subclass | Minimum points score | Date of effect month (last invited applicant) |
| Skilled – Independent (subclass 189) | 80 | July 2019 |
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – Family Sponsored
|
65 | March 2021 |
Please refer to our article on the New Skilled Regional Visas to be introduced to read about how EOI applicants are ranked under this process.
The highest ranked applicants are the first who are invited to apply for the relevant visa. Applicants with equal scores are invited in order of when they reached their points score (this is referred to as the date of effect). EOI’s submitted with earlier dates of effect are invited first.
Based on the latest data released, the minimum points score required to receive an invitation for the subclass 189 visa in the July 2021 round remained the same compared with the previous invitation round, with 80 points points required to secure an invitation. The last invited applicant submitted an EOI in July 2019, which means EOI applicants who achieved a score of at least 80 points and who submitted their EOI by July 2019 were issued an invitation in this round, reflecting a wait time of approximately 24 months.
The minimum points score needed to secure an invitation for the subclass 491 visa also remained the same as in the previous round, with 65 points needed to receive an invitation. The results show that Subclass 491 visa EOI applicants who achieved a minimum points score of 65 and who submitted their EOI by March 2021 received an invitation in this round. This represents a wait time of approximately four months.
As in the previous few rounds, information showing the number of invitations issued based on points score have again not been published in this round (this data had been released in previous invitation rounds).
Occupation Ceilings
An occupation ceiling applies to invitations issued under the Subclass 189 visa and Subclass 491 visa – Family Sponsored stream. This means that there are a limited number of EOI’s which can be issued for each occupation.
This has been put in place to ensure the skilled migration program is balanced and facilitates the issuing of invitations to prospective applicants across a range of skilled occupations.
Occupation ceilings are compiled based on a percentage of employment figures for each occupation. The employment figures are provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and represents the number of people employed in Australia in each occupation.
Occupation ceilings do not apply to State and Territory Nominated or Business Innovation and Investment visa subclasses.
Invitations Issued For The Most In-Demand Occupations
The table below shows that, apart from the occupations of Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers (ANZSCO code: 2335) and Other Engineering Professionals (ANZSCO code: 2339), no invitations were issued in the July 2021 round to applicants in occupations which had the highest demand for places. Invitations for these skilled occupations are pro-rated to ensure availability of invitations across the program year.
The remainder of invitations have been issued for non-pro-rated occupations in the July 2021 round.
The following data has been published for the latest round:
| Occupation (ANZSCO code) | Visa Subclass | Minimum points score required in the 26 Jul 2021 invitation round | Latest date of effect month |
| Accountants (2211) | 189/491 | N/A | N/A |
| Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers (2212) | 189/491 | N/A | N/A |
| Electronics Engineer (2334) | 189/491 | N/A | N/A |
| Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers (2335) | |||
| 189 | 90 | April 2021 | |
|
|
491
|
N/A | N/A |
| Other Engineering Professionals (2339) | |||
| 189 | 90 | April 2021 | |
| 491 | N/A | N/A | |
| ICT Business and System Analysts (2611) | 189/491 | N/A | N/A |
| Software and Applications Programmers (2613) | 189/491 | N/A | N/A |
| Computer Network Professionals (2631) | 189/491 | N/A | N/A |
State and Territory Government Nominations
Invitations issued by State and Territory Governments for the subclass 491 and 190 visa programs in June 2021 are as follows.
| Visa subclass | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | Total |
| Subclass 190 visa | 88 | 1,381 | 124 | 37 | 342 | 268 | 310 | 298 | 2,848 |
| Subclass 491 visa | 45 | 621 | 130 | 180 | 352 | 336 | 8 | 70 | 1,742 |
Total invitations issued by State and Territory Governments from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021 is set out below:
| Visa subclass | ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | Total |
| Subclass 190 visa | 802 | 3,272 | 500 | 944 | 1,589 | 991 | 1,410 | 1,030 | 10,538 |
| Subclass 491 visa (State Sponsored) | 598 | 1,656 | 500 | 901 | 1,763 | 1,670 | 206 | 209 | 7,503 |
You can access the latest monthly and aggregate data for nominations issued for the Business Innovation and Investment (provisional) subclass 188 visa and the Business Talent (Permanent) subclass 132 visa at the following link:
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skillselect/invitation-rounds
More Information
Skilled Regional Visa Program
To learn more about the subclass 491 visa (as well as the Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa, to be introduced on 16 November 2022, and which will enable subclass 491 visa holders to qualify for permanent residence in Australia), please see the following articles:
New Skilled Regional Visas to be introduced
Skilled Regional Sponsored Visa
Further Regulations released for the new regional sponsored visas to commence from 16 November 2019
Applications for the new provisional regional sponsored visas are now open
For more information about the subclass 491 visa specifically, please see the following articles:
State Sponsored Visa Program
For more information on the Subclass 190 visa, please see the following:
Subclass 190 State Sponsorship Visa
Australian Skilled Migration Visa List
Skilled Independent Visa Program
You can read more about the Subclass 189 visa (and other skilled visas) in our Australian Skilled Migration Visa List article.
Sources/Links
Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs – Immigration and citizenship – Visas – Working in Australia – SkillSelect – Invitation rounds
* https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skillselect/invitation-rounds