Australia manages its Skilled Independent Migration Visa Application Program, through an Expression of Interest (EOI), points based, "SkillSelect" program (subclass 189 and 190 visas).

For the points based skilled migration visa, your EOI will be ranked according to your score on a Points Calculation, requiring at least 65 points. Your EOI can remain in the pool for a maximum of two years.

Obtaining an invitation to apply for a 189 skilled independent visa Individual visa applicants will be invited to apply for a visa based upon the Points Calculation. Applicants are selected from the pool of applicants generally in relation to their score (highest scoring individuals). Please note however that other factors may also impact on this (e.g. ProRata occupations).

The following list provides the recent waiting times for an individual who had submitted an Expression of Interest for the 189 visa with a score of 65 points or higher (NB: this does not include occupations in high demand which are issued on a pro-rata basis, see below). Note invitations are currently generally made once a month so waiting times can be longer depending upon the date your EOI is lodged. As can be seen it can be difficult to predict how soon an invitation will be issued due to a number of unpredictable factors that may occur. Invitations for the family sponsored 491 visa are not included in the details below.

Note that, due to the COVID-19 related international border closures, from May 2020 selection from the EOI pool operated under different criteria prioritising key occupations and mainly onshore applicants.

• Previous years 2016-18
• July 2016 to June 2017 holders of 60 points and over received invitations
• between July to December 2017 between 65 and 75 points were required
• between Jan 2018 to March 2019 between 70 and 75 points were required
• between Apr 2019 to Nov 2019 between 80 and 85 points were required
• between Dec 2019 to Apr 2020 between 90 and 95 points were required
• May 2020 to Apr 2022, due to the impact of COVID-19 the government prioritised priority occupations
• 25 May 2020 - 85+ points (EOI's submitted prior to Dec 2019) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 11 Jun 2020 - 85+ points (EOI's submitted prior to 25/03/2020) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 14 Jul 2020 - 90+ points (EOI's submitted prior to 07/2020) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 11 Aug 2020 - 90+ points (EOI's submitted prior to 07/2020) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 11 Sep 2020 - 65+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 07/2020) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 21 Oct 2020 - 65+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 09/2020) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 21 Jan 2021 - 65+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 04/2020) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 21 April 2021 - 80+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 07/2019) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 26 July 2021 - 80+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 07/2019) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 29 Oct 2021 - 90+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 11/2020) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 21 Jan 2022 - 90+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 09/2021) NB: not all occupations invited - COVID-19
• 21 April 2022 - 85+ points (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 05/2020) NB: not all occupations/point scores invited - COVID-19
• 22 Aug 2022 - 65+ points, a large number of invitations were made 12,200 following the change of government - and a change in policy (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 05/2020) NB: not all occupations/point scores invited - COVID-19
• 6 Oct 2022 - 65+ points, a large number of invitations were made 11,714 (selected priority EOI's submitted prior to 05/2020) NB: not all occupations/point scores invited - COVID-19
• 8 Dec 2022 - 65+ points, a large number of invitations were made 35,000 NB: not all occupations/point scores invited - COVID-19

ProRata Occupations

NB: at the current time Pro Rata occupations have not yet reverted back to the pre-COVID-19 conditions and are more varied depending upon government policy/preferences.

In addition to this the demand for each occupation is monitored and quotas are set for each occupation. Where occupations are in high demand these may be offered on a pro-rata basis which has the result of targeting higher scoring applicants (therefore strategies might be considered for individuals with lower points).

Occupations invited on a pro-rata basis (consideration of application strategy may be appropriate).

The following table provides an example of the number of points required (and deeming dates) to obtain invitations for individuals who have submitted an Expression of Interest for the 189 visa for an occupation issued on a pro-rata basis). (Source Dept. of Home Affairs). NB: no Pro-Rata occupations were invited May 2020, and only a few critical occupations in June 2020, the table below lists the April 2020 figures - some occupations within 'Other Engineering professions' received invitations in June . The April table has been left below to provide an overview of where the EOIs had reached pre-COVID changes to this process.