Australia increases number of Skill select invitations

Australia provides various visa options to help skilled immigrants get to settle in the country. Although many of these visa options allow the applicant to apply independently or on their own, there are some visa options that are nominated by the state. These visas include the Subclass 189, Subclass 190 and the Subclass 491 visa.

Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189): This visa option is suitable for skilled workers. However, this visa cannot receive sponsorship.

Skilled Nominated Visa (Subclass 190): This visa is applicable to skilled workers who have a nomination from an Australian state/Territory.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 Visa: This visa has replaced the Subclass 489 Visa as a pathway to a PR visa. Under this visa skilled workers and their families must live, work and study in designated regional areas for 5 years.

Among these visas the Subclass 189 and the Subclass 491 visa are the most popular visa options to move to Australia.

Invitation process and cut-offs

The highest-ranked applicants by points score are invited to apply for the relevant visa by the State and  Territory governments. For applicants who have equal points for that subclass,  invitations are issued based on the order of invitation. Expressions of Interest with earlier dates are first to be issued invites.

Strict criteria have been placed on the occupations that the State and Territory Governments will authorize for Subclass 491/190, after the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic. These can be used only for professions that are vital to the economic recovery from COVID.

These critical occupations include those connected with medical services, including air ambulance and delivering critical medical supplies; and those with critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services.

The occupation ceilings and the new invitation rounds are focused primarily on the need to tackle the pandemic of COVID-19 and the economic recovery of Australia. As a consequence, professionals such as registered nurses, general practitioners, civil engineers, electrical engineers, telecommunications engineers,operational therapists, physiotherapists,  were issued invitations.

Latest invitation round

The latest invitation rounds for Skilled Independent Visa (subclass 189) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) for September has been released. Every month the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) releases information regarding the number of invitations issued during each month. The September month has seen an increase in the number of invitations issued as compared to the previous month.

In September, 350 subclass 189 visas invitations were issued. For subclass 491, the DoHA issued 150 invitations.  Compare to the August invitation round, this is an increase of 240 and 60 invitations, respectively.

Visa Types	August	September	Change
Subclass 189	110 invites	350 invites	240 increase
Subclass 491	90 invites	150 invites	60 increase

The overall points to receive an invitation has also dropped during this month.

Subclass 189 – The lowest score to receive an invitation was 65 points. This is a dramatic drop from the previous month, where the lowest score to receive an invitation was 90. 65 points is the lowest for the whole year.

Subclass 491 – 75 points remained to be the lowest score to receive an invitation for a subclass 491 visa. There has been no change since last month. The 75 points includes the extra 15 points awarded to subclass 491 visa.

Though there was a drop in points to receive an invitation, many people who received the invitations are in targeted sectors.

Visa Types	Minimum points for August	Minimum points for September	Change
Subclass 189	90 points	65 points	Decrease by 25
Subclass 491	75 points	75 points	No Change

This is a good indication the migration to Australia based on the Skill Select system os picking up.