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🏝️ WA Nomination Priority: WA Residents vs Others Western Australia (WA) is unique among Australian states in giving categorically higher priority to WA residents in its state nomination ranking system.
Interstate and international applicants are considered after WA residents and are ranked equally. The General Stream and Graduate Stream operate in parallel, each with its own ranking system.
For FY2024-25, WA holds the third highest State Nomination Allocation quota, accounting for approximately 15% of the total allocation, following Victoria (VIC) and New South Wales (NSW).
⚡️ Key Implications
General Stream (WASMOL Schedule 1 & 2) This stream accounts for the majority of invitations. Here’s how the prioritization works:
For any given occupation, invitations will only be issued to interstate or international applicants if there are no remaining WA residents in the pool.
Example: An Electrical Engineer living in WA with 65 points will be prioritized over an interstate or offshore applicant with 110 points aiming for WA.
➕ Onshore Advantage
This policy strongly favors onshore applicants who are able to relocate to WA: - By moving to WA, applicants join the WA resident pool. - This reduces the chances of interstate and overseas applicants to near zero for most non-priority occupations. - This trend is already evident in WA invitation data.
🦘 Reality Check: WA Invites are dominated by Onshore WA Resident Applicants The vast majority of WA State Nomination spots are consumed by onshore WA residents.
Tasmania (TAS) follows a similar approach but has a much smaller allocation. Most other states maintain a more egalitarian approach, issuing invitations to both onshore and offshore applicants in more balanced proportions.
Clarification on Subclass 191 (Regional Provisional Stream) Residency Requirements The MIA Professional Support team has received several enquiries from members regarding eligibility requirements for the Subclass 191 (Regional Provisional stream) visa. Specifically, questions have been raised about whether, when applying for a Subclass 191 visa, an applicant must have resided in a designated regional area for three years, or whether it is sufficient to have held a Subclass 491 or Subclass 494 for three years.
The MIA sought formal clarification from the Department of Home Affairs on this issue.
The Department has confirmed that the key requirement for the SC191 visa is that applicants must have complied with visa condition 8579 during their time in Australia. The visa does not require applicants to have resided in Australia for a specific period.
Condition 8579 requires Subclass 491 and Subclass 494 visa holders to live, work, and study only in a designated regional area while they are in Australia. For Subclass 494 visa holders, subclause (5) also considers any changes in the nomination of the primary visa holder.
Condition 8579 complements other provisional visa requirements including maintaining sponsorship from a regional employer (subclass 494) or securing a nomination from a State or Territory Government (subclass 491). Further, each State and Territory government sets its own nomination criteria for the Subclass 491 visa. These may include requirements to demonstrate regional experience and a commitment to continued residence in the nominating jurisdiction.
Source: Migration Institute of Australia (MIA)
