How is the visa processing time estimated on SmartVisaGuide?

SmartVisaGuide collects a large amount of subclass 189, 190, 491 visa grant data from multiple sources each month. This is used as a source data for performing processing time calculation.

The method used to estimate processing time is the same procedure used by DHA. The sample size may be smaller than DHA, but its generally large enough to provide a meaningfully accurate estimate of current processing time.

Steps in Processing Time Calculation

For Priority Occupations

1. Get all priority occupation grants in last 30 days from our database
2. ⁠⁠If less than 24 grants are found in in step 1, increase duration to 6 months
3. Calculate the processing time for each of these grants (visa grant date - visa application date)
4. Sort the processing times into a list, in ascending order
5. Do a statistical estimate of 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% percentile value in this list.

This is based on the observation that all priority occupations are processed at similar rates.

For Non-Priority Occupations

1. Find atleast 24 grants in last 30 days for your occupation from our database
2. ⁠⁠If less than 24 grants are found in in step 1, find atleast 24 grants from your occupation's Unit Group (first 4 letters of your ANZSCO code)
3. If less than 24 grants are found in step 2, find atleast 24 grants for all non-priority occupations, this usually ends up being 100-200 grants per subclass.
4. Calculate the processing times for each of these grants (visa grant date - visa application date)
5. Sort the processing time into a list, in ascending order
6. Do a statistical estimate of 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% percentile value in this list.