You must be under 45 when the Department invites you to apply for the visa.
You can still apply for the visa if you turn 45 after the Department invites you.
Subclass 189 visa is an independent points-tested permanent visa for skilled workers who are not sponsored by an employer or family member or nominated by a state or territory government to work, study and live permanently in Australia.
With this visa, you can:
To be eligible for a Subclass 189 - Point Tested Stream, you must:
You must be under 45 when the Department invites you to apply for the visa.
You can still apply for the visa if you turn 45 after the Department invites you.
Your occupation must be on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List.
You can only apply for this visa if the Department invites you.
To do this, you must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to let the Department know that you would like to apply for the visa. After you have submitted an EOI, the Department will rank you against other applicants for an invitation.
For your application to be valid, you must have a valid skills assessment at the time of invitation from a relevant skills assessment body.
Generally, you must have obtained your skills assessment three years before the date of your invitation.
However, If the assessment validity was for a shorter period, that period must not have passed.
Delegates of the Minister will now accept a suitable skills assessment for an applicant’s nominated skilled occupation which has been obtained within the 60 day invitation period.
When you submit your EOI in SkillSelect, you will be given an indicative points score. If you do not obtain a score of 65 points, you will not be invited to apply for this visa.
At the time of invitation, you must have at least competent English.
You and family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you must meet the Department’s health and character requirements.
To begin your permanent residency journey, our Agents will:
Your visa options will largely depend on the nominated occupation that you have chosen in Step 1.
For example, an occupation in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) will have more visa options, as opposed to the:
Based on your chosen occupation and current circumstances, we will identify which occupation list you belong to and advise you of the best possible visa options.
We will assist you in applying for your skills assessment with the relevant authority for your nominated occupation.
A skill-assessing authority is an organisation that checks that your skills meet the standards they set to work in your nominated occupation.
A suitable skills assessment is mandatory for the GSM process.
Delegates of the Minister will now accept a suitable skills assessment for an applicant’s nominated skilled occupation which has been obtained within the 60 day invitation period.
Once you receive a positive skills assessment, we will assist you with lodging an Expression of Interest application in SkillSelect.
An EOI is an application made to the Department of Home Affairs expressing your interest in being considered for the GSM Program. EOI will calculate your points based on your qualifications, experience and skills and rank you against other applicants who also wish to migrate to Australia.
If you are successful in your EOI application, the Department will issue you an invitation to apply for a permanent residency in Australia.
Once you have submitted your EOI, it is stored in SkillSelect and is valid for two years.
Invitations are issued automatically by the SkillSelect system to the highest ranking EOIs.
The Department cannot indicate if/when you will be invited for a skilled visa. Therefore, we recommend you continue to up-skill and improve your points until you get an invitation. We will continue to update your EOI if:
If you are invited to apply for a visa, you will receive an invitation from SkillSelect. You will then have 60 days from the invitation date to make a valid visa application online before the invitation expires.
Applications received outside of this timeframe will not be valid, and you will need to wait for a further invitation before being eligible to make an application.
Once your visa application is lodged, we will wait to hear from the Department.
Usually, the Department will respond by sending you a “Request for Further Information” – if they require further information/documentation to finalise your application.
We will wait to hear from the Department, and regularly request for updates on your application, to ensure that it is processed in a timely manner.
If the Department grant you a Subclass visa, they will send you a visa grant letter with:
If they refuse your visa application, they will tell you:
We have summarised a cost estimate for a Subclass 189 - Point Tested Stream application as below.
Paid directly to the relevant Skills Assessment body.
EOI is free of charge.
Paid directly to the Department of Home Affairs
Paid directly to the Department of Home Affairs
Paid directly to the Department of Home Affairs
Paid directly to the agency (i.e.; BUPA in Australia) that conducts your medical checks
Paid directly to Australian Federal Police that conducts your character checks
Paid directly to Overseas authorities that conducts your character checks
Unit 7, 242-244 Caroline Springs Blvd
Caroline Springs VIC 3023
