Client story / Australia / ICT Support Engineer
Ashwin's occupation was never eligible for the independent visa. Victoria invited him anyway.
Ashwin works in ICT support in Hyderabad. He came to Y-Axis in January 2025 to find out whether Australia was realistic for him. On 26 May 2026 the Department of Home Affairs invited him to apply for a Victoria nominated subclass 190 visa at 80 points. His application is now lodged and with a case officer.
Photograph published with Ashwin's consent.
eligible at all65
profile75
nomination80
Published with Ashwin's consent. Surname withheld at his request, and his invitation letter is held on file in redacted form.
The document behind this story
What the invitation letter says
- Visa subclass
- Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
- Nominated occupation
- ICT Support Engineer
- Stream
- Skilled Australian Sponsored
- Nominated by
- Victoria
- Indicative points test score
- 80
- Invitation issued
- 26 May 2026
- Application had to be lodged by
- 25 Jul 2026
- Invitation validity
- 60 calendar days
Redacted
Would your occupation even reach the visa you are aiming at?
Ashwin's could not, and he found that out in his first month rather than a year in. A free assessment tells you which subclasses your ANZSCO code can actually access, and what your points come to today.
Free. No obligation to buy a service.
The letter describes the score as indicative, because points claimed in an expression of interest are assessed after lodgement, not before.
The finding that shaped everything
His occupation cannot use the independent visa at all
Most people planning Australian permanent residence aim at subclass 189, the Skilled Independent visa. It needs no state, no employer and no commitment to live anywhere in particular. It is also restricted to occupations on one specific list, the Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List.
ICT Support Engineer is on the Short Term Skilled Occupation List, not that one. Occupations on the short term list can be nominated by a state or territory for subclass 190, or nominated for subclass 491 in a regional area. They cannot lodge a subclass 189 at any points score. Someone in this code with 100 points still cannot lodge one.
So Ashwin's plan was never a choice between 189 and 190. There was one points tested route to permanent residence open to him, and it ran through a state government that had to agree to nominate him. That changed the nature of the work. Instead of maximising a national score and waiting for a federal round, the job was to become a candidate a particular state would choose.
Check the list before you calculate the score. The occupation list decides which doors exist for your code. Points only decide who gets through the doors that are already open to you. Codes are also reviewed and can move between lists, so confirm your own against the Department's current instrument rather than an article.
In his words
What Ashwin said about the counselling
I had a great experience with Ms. Hemalatha from Y-Axis for Australian PR counselling. She was extremely professional, knowledgeable, and patient throughout the entire process. Her guidance made every step clear and stress-free, and she was always available to answer questions and provide the right advice. I truly appreciate her honest approach and dedication in helping clients achieve their PR goals. Highly recommended for anyone looking for valuable and trustworthy Australian PR guidance.
Ashwin
ICT Support Engineer, Hyderabad
The sequence
From a first enquiry to a lodged application
Green markers are confirmed by the invitation letter. The preparation stages before it are shown in the order they were worked, because the order is the part worth copying.
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January 2025
First eligibility check and counselling call
He approached Y-Axis to find out whether Australia was realistic at all, rather than to buy a service. The score was built from evidence on that call instead of being estimated.
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Opening weeks
Occupation and list check, before anything was paid for
ICT Support Engineer was confirmed as the right code for his duties, and confirmed as short term list only. Subclass 189 came off the table at this point, and Victoria went on it. Nothing else was started until this was settled.
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Preparation stage
ACS skills assessment
Assessed by the Australian Computer Society against the nominated occupation. Employer reference letters were written to describe duties against the occupation definition rather than internal job titles, which for support roles is often the difference between a positive outcome and a negative one.
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Preparation stage
English, the largest single point swing available
Competent English lets you apply but adds nothing to the score. Superior English is worth 20 points, more than any other factor an applicant can still change once age and qualifications are fixed.
Worth 20 points on its own -
Preparation stage
Expression of interest, and a registration of interest with Victoria
Victoria runs its own selection layer on top of SkillSelect rather than inviting strictly in points order, so the registration of interest carried real weight alongside the score. Victoria charges no nomination fee.
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26 May 2026Confirmed by invitation letter
Invited to apply, nominated by Victoria, 80 points
SkillSelect invitation for a subclass 190 visa, Skilled Australian Sponsored stream, nominated by Victoria, indicative points score 80, valid for 60 calendar days. At this point the expression of interest locked and could no longer be amended.
Score 80 including 5 for the nomination -
By 25 July 2026Deadline confirmed by invitation letter
Subclass 190 application lodged
Lodged in ImmiAccount inside the 60 day window. Letting that window lapse would have forfeited the invitation and sent him back to the pool to wait for another one.
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NowNot yet decided
With a case officer, awaiting a decision
The Department assesses the claims made in the expression of interest at this stage, having not assessed them before the invitation. Every claim now has to be supported by documents. A request for further information is common and is not a warning sign.
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After a decisionHoped for, not scheduled
A grant would come first, then a moving date
No arrival date can be set, because it depends on a decision that has not been made. Published processing times for this subclass have run beyond a year from lodgement through 2026.
The arithmetic
How a score of 80 is built
The invitation letter documents the total of 80 and the nominating state. Since a subclass 190 nomination is worth exactly 5 points, the remaining 75 came from the factors an applicant controls. The table below shows the factors those points are drawn from and what each is worth.
| Factor | Points available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Up to 30 | Highest band is 25 to 32. Assessed at the date of invitation, not the date you lodge the expression of interest. |
| English language ability | 0, 10 or 20 | Competent English adds nothing. Proficient is worth 10, Superior 20. |
| Skilled employment outside Australia | Up to 15 | Counted after the assessing authority deducts an initial qualifying period, so total years and countable years differ. |
| Educational qualification | Up to 20 | Recognised by the assessing authority for the nominated occupation. |
| Partner skills | 0, 5 or 10 | Needs the partner under 45, a co applicant, with Competent English and an assessment in an occupation on the same list. |
| State nomination, subclass 190 | 5 | Confirmed in Ashwin's case. Victoria. |
| Minimum to be eligible | 65 | Meeting the minimum does not mean you will be invited. |
Age points are assessed at the date of invitation. A birthday while an expression of interest sits in the pool can cost 5 points, and in a state nomination process that can be the difference between being picked and not. The Australian Computer Society also deducts an initial qualifying period from ICT work experience before counting it, commonly two years where the degree closely matches the occupation and more where it does not.
What it costs
The charges, and the one that jumped mid window
Ashwin was invited on 26 May 2026 and had until 25 July 2026 to lodge. The visa application charge changed on 1 July 2026, in the middle of that window.
| Charge | Until 30 Jun 2026 | From 1 Jul 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Main applicant | AUD 4,910 | AUD 6,140 |
| Additional applicant aged 18 and over | AUD 2,455 | AUD 3,070 |
| Additional applicant under 18 | AUD 1,230 | AUD 1,535 |
| Victoria state nomination | No fee | No fee |
Anyone invited on 26 May 2026 who lodged in June paid the old rate. Anyone who used the full 60 days and lodged in late July paid the new one, for exactly the same visa. Across a family that difference runs into thousands of Australian dollars. The charge that applies is the one current on the date the Department receives the application, so confirm the figure on the Department's visa pricing estimator immediately before lodging.
Not in the table: skills assessment, English tests including any resits, health examinations for every applicant, police certificates, translations, card surcharges and professional fees.
Y-Axis has counselled more than 10 Lakh people in 25 plus years
An assessment works out which subclasses your occupation code can reach, which gap is worth closing first, and which states realistically nominate your code this program year.
The transferable part
Three decisions did most of the work
He checked the list before the score
Knowing early that his code could not use subclass 189 meant he never spent months optimising for a visa he was not able to lodge. That one check redirected the entire plan.
English before everything else
Twenty points from one exam, more than any other single factor still within reach. Age is fixed, qualifications are fixed, and experience only moves with time. English was the lever in his own hands.
He treated Victoria as the audience
Because a state had to choose him, the registration of interest was written for Victoria's stated priorities rather than as a copy of his expression of interest. In a nomination process, being legible to the state matters alongside the score.
Read this part twice
Where this case would not transfer
He does not have permanent residence yet. An invitation is permission to lodge an application, not a decision on it. His invitation letter states that being invited does not guarantee a valid application or a successful one, and that the Department has not yet assessed the claims in his expression of interest. The final decision rests with the Department of Home Affairs and the officer.
- It is not finished. Anyone reading this as the story of a granted visa is reading it wrong.
- 80 points is not a threshold. It was enough for this occupation, in this state, in this round. Victoria weighs its own priorities, and the same score in a different code or a different year may go nowhere. Other states have published higher expectations for ICT occupations.
- Occupation lists move. Codes are reviewed and change list. An occupation that reaches subclass 190 today may not tomorrow. Check your own code against the Department's current instrument, not against this page.
- Age. The age factor carries up to 30 points and falls away with each bracket, so the same profile ten years older does not reach the same total by any route shown here.
- Processing time is not a promise. The Department publishes how long half and how long ninety in every hundred recently decided applications took, and for subclass 190 those figures have sat above a year from lodgement through 2026. Plan against the published range.
- The points test is under review. The Department has published a review discussing changes to age weighting and partner points among other factors. None of it is law at the time of writing, and no plan should assume either the current settings or the proposed ones will hold.
The final decision on any visa application rests with the Department of Home Affairs and the officer. No consultancy, including this one, decides an outcome, and nobody can promise one.
Questions this case raises
Australia PR for ICT support roles, answered
Can an ICT Support Engineer apply for the subclass 189 independent visa?
No. Subclass 189 is restricted to occupations on the Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List, and ICT Support Engineer sits on the Short Term Skilled Occupation List. Occupations on the short term list can be nominated by a state or territory for subclass 190, or nominated for subclass 491 in a regional area, but they cannot lodge a subclass 189 at any points score. Confirm your own ANZSCO code against the Department of Home Affairs occupation lists, because codes move between lists at review.
How many points did this applicant have, and how many do you need?
Ashwin's invitation letter records an indicative points test score of 80, with Victoria as the nominating state. A subclass 190 nomination is worth 5 of those points, so 75 came from the other factors. The minimum to be eligible for a points tested skilled visa is 65, and meeting the minimum does not mean you will be invited. Competitive scores vary by occupation, by state and by program year.
Does a SkillSelect invitation mean the visa is approved?
No. An invitation gives you permission to lodge a valid application, usually within 60 calendar days. The invitation letter states plainly that being invited does not guarantee that you can make a valid application or that the application will succeed, and that the Department has not yet assessed the claims made in the expression of interest. Those claims are assessed after lodgement, and documentary evidence must support every one of them.
What happens if you miss the 60 day lodgement deadline?
The invitation lapses and cannot be transferred to another expression of interest. Once an invitation is issued the expression of interest is locked and cannot be amended, and it unlocks after 60 calendar days. You can then revise it or submit a new one and wait to be invited again. Ashwin was invited on 26 May 2026 and had until 25 July 2026 to lodge.
How much does a subclass 190 visa cost in 2026?
The Department of Home Affairs lists the subclass 190 main applicant visa application charge as from AUD 6,140 for applications received from 1 July 2026, up from AUD 4,910. Additional applicants aged 18 and over are charged AUD 3,070 and those under 18 AUD 1,535. Victoria charges no state nomination fee. Skills assessment, English tests, health examinations, police certificates and translations are all separate. Confirm your figure on the Department's visa pricing estimator before lodging, because the charge that applies is the one current when the application is received.
How long does a subclass 190 application take after lodgement?
The Department publishes processing times as percentiles for recently decided applications, and those figures change. Through 2026 the published times for subclass 190 have run above a year from lodgement. Processing time is counted from lodgement, so it excludes the skills assessment, English testing, the wait in the pool and the state nomination process. Ashwin's application is lodged and awaiting a decision, so his own total is not yet known.
Can Y-Axis guarantee an Australia PR visa?
No. The final decision on any visa application rests with the Department of Home Affairs and the deciding officer. Y-Axis provides eligibility assessment, points strategy, occupation and list checks, skills assessment preparation, documentation and application support. No consultancy can promise a visa outcome, and any organisation that does should be treated with caution.
How can Y-Axis help me with an Australia PR application?
Y-Axis Overseas Careers has counselled more than 10 Lakh people over 25 plus years. For Australian skilled migration that means checking which subclasses your occupation code can actually reach, a points assessment built from evidence rather than assumption, advice on which states realistically nominate your occupation, skills assessment and employer reference preparation, English test planning, and documentation support through lodgement. Call +91-7670800000 or email info@y-axis.com to book a free assessment.
Verification
Where the figures on this page come from
- Ashwin's SkillSelect invitation letter, Department of Home Affairs, dated 26 May 2026. Source for the subclass, nominated occupation, stream, nominating state, indicative points score of 80, the 60 day validity and the 25 July 2026 lodgement date. Held on the client file in redacted form. Primary document / on file
- Department of Home Affairs, Immigration and citizenship. Points test factors, subclass 190 requirements, occupation lists, visa application charges, visa pricing estimator and published global processing times. immi.homeaffairs.gov.au and homeaffairs.gov.au / checked July 2026
- Visa application charges from 1 July 2026. Subclass 190 main applicant charge stated as from AUD 6,140, with AUD 4,910 applying to applications received before that date. Home Affairs visa pricing table, refreshed 1 July 2026
- Occupation list status, ICT Support Engineer. Short Term Skilled Occupation List, assessed by the Australian Computer Society, no subclass 189 access. Home Affairs occupation lists / checked July 2026
- Australian Computer Society. Assessing authority for ICT occupations, and the qualifying period deducted from work experience before it is counted. acs.org.au / checked July 2026
- Live in Melbourne, Victorian Government skilled visa nomination program. Registration of interest model, priority sectors and the nil nomination fee. liveinmelbourne.vic.gov.au / checked July 2026
Start where Ashwin started, with the real number
Y-Axis Overseas Careers has guided Indian professionals through overseas migration for 25 plus years and has counselled more than 10 Lakh people. An Australia PR assessment tells you which subclasses your occupation can reach, what your points come to today, which factor is worth fixing first, and which states realistically nominate your code this program year. It does not tell you that you will get a visa, because nobody can.
Call +91-7670800000 / info@y-axis.com / y-axis.com
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