Ministerial Direction 119 and New Visa Processing Priorities...
@gregormendel (2H ago| Updated 1H ago)Ministerial Direction 119 and New Visa Processing Priorities
Processing priorities for nomination and visa applications for certain Skilled visas
Nomination and visa applications for certain Skilled visas are processed according to Government policy priorities, which are outlined in Ministerial Direction 119 (3MB PDF) and came into effect on 25 July 2026.
From this date, Ministerial Direction 119 has replaced all processing priorities under Ministerial Direction 105. Ministerial Direction 119 applies to all on hand applications, including for the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) program, which was not previously included under Ministerial Direction 105. Prioritisation under Ministerial Direction 119 is afforded according to both occupation and the location of applicants at the time of application. - Occupations supporting Australia’s law enforcement and defence interests are afforded the highest priority, followed by those in construction, healthcare, and teaching. - Applicants who are already in Australia have higher priority than those who are outside Australia.
Processing priorities for nomination and visa applications
Skilled nomination and visa applications are processed in the following order of priority: 1. The first and highest priority is given to nomination and visa applications that support Australia's law enforcement or defence interests where the applicant is in Australia at the time of application. 2. The second priority is given to nomination and visa applications that support Australia's law enforcement or defence interests where the applicant is outside Australia at the time of application. 3. The third priority is given to nomination and visa applications relating to construction, healthcare, and teaching occupations where the applicant is in Australia at the time of application. 4. The fourth priority is given to all other nomination and visa applications where the applicant is in Australia at the time of application. 5. The fifth and final priority is given to all other nomination and visa applications where the applicant is outside Australia at the time of application.
Visa classes and subclasses included in this Direction
Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional)(subclass 191) visa Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa Skilled Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) visa Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) visa Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (subclass 494) visa Skilled Regional (subclass 887) visa Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (subclass 888) visa.
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Hold on, so like, this tells us, An offshore Registered Nurse is given waaay less priority than an Onshore Tennis Coach?
Looks like they’ll just throw in the rubbish all offshore applicants even if they’ve been waiting for more than 15 months.
doesnt this mean offshore candidates will just never get processed? there is always around 2-1, even higher, onshore to offshore lodged. so there will ALWAYS be onshore lodged at all times, so then the offshore never get touched?
a new processing time will emerge for offshore over next 1 to 2 months. We will update this website to reflect the new direction 119 classification, hopefully in couple days. So instead of current priority vs non-priority it will be: - ONSHORE PRIORITY - ONSHORE NON-PRIORITY - ALL OFFSHORE
Feeling disheartened as an offshore applicant. preference for priority applications were always a given, but now preference is for onshore clearly. @gregormendel @biotechy would it be possible to make an FOI request and get an answer if they will get back to offshore only after exhausting onshore or would there be a fixed percentage of offshore grants every month. Just to be clear I am not asking you to create an FOI request, I am just asking if this kind of request will come under FOI category or not
this seems too broad, and from past experience, it will most likely be refused. But you can try, worst they say is no. Best is yes.
@gregormendel With the new 119 direction in effect, as a 491 offshore, non-priority applicant, lodged application in July 2025, should expect further delay as now offshore non-priority has become "No proirity"/"we dont need you, we already got your money" applicant?
Probably they won’t touch offshore for another few years. Frustrating. No visibility on offshore despite the fact that they are allotted slots to offshore. Looks like 100% of processing power is focused on onshore
Yes
Yes