Overview

Subclass 190 visa is an important part of the general skilled migration program of the Australian government as it gives an opportunity to the applicants to live and work in Australia permanently. This is a point-tested visa that requires the applicants to obtain an assessment of their academic and professional skills from an authorised body in Australia and also be nominated by a state or territory government. Currently, all of Australia, with the exception of Greater Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane is considered as regional areas. 

Further details on the nomination process of each state and territory agency and their specific requirements.

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia

Eligibility Criteria

Application to Skilled Independent Subclass 190 Visa is by invitation only. In order to be invited to apply, applicants must submit an expression of interest (EOI) in SkillSelect and should fulfill the following criteria. However, the legislation changes often and you are encouraged to contact us for current information.

• Primary applicant must nominate an occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list and be assessed favourably by an Australian skills assessment authority
• Be nominated by an Australian state or territory government
• Aged between 18 to 45 years at the time of receiving the invitation to lodge a visa application
• Score 65 points or more on the Department of Home Affairs’ points test for general skilled migration
• Possess competent level in English language or be a holder of an exempt passport (United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and United States)
• Applicants must meet the health criteria – “One fails, all fail” policy applies
• Applicants over the age of 16 years have to meet the character requirements
• The applicants must not owe any debt to the Australian government
• All applicants have to accept Australian Values Statement before the visas can be granted
• Must not have any history of visa cancellation or refusal of application

*It is important to let us know if you have had a visa cancelled or refused in the past or have a criminal record

Key Visa Entitlements

• You can stay in Australia as permanent residents
• You can work, study and enroll in the public healthcare system of Australia
• You can include family members in the visa application- partner, dependent children and dependent relatives
• You can sponsor family members to travel to Australia
• Travel in and out of Australia as many times as you wish for 5 years from the date visa is granted
• You can apply for an Australian citizenship, subject to meeting the applicable criteria

Visa Application Charges

Primary Applicant	AUD 4,115
Spouse/Secondary applicant over the age of 18 years	AUD 2,060
Each Child under the age of 18 years	AUD 1,030
Applicants over 18 years who don’t know functional English	AUD 4,890

*Additional expenses for skills assessment, English language testing, state-nomination, meeting the health and character criteria will be applicable on actual basis.

**The Department of Home Affairs generally revises the visa application charges on 01st July of each year.

Processing Timelines

Processing times for applications in this visa subclass can vary significantly depending on the risk assessment level of the applicants’ country of origin and how promptly the applicants can submit the requested documents, including translations, if required. The general processing times for the visa applications in this visa subclass are given below and it does not include the time needed to process the skills assessment and state-nomination applications.

• 75% of the applications are processed within 4 months
• 90% of the applications are processed within 15 months