Processing priority shake up: offshore application woes
/Over the weekend, the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship issued three new ministerial directions that affect the processing priorities of skilled and family visas.
Ministerial Direction 119 - Skilled visa applications
The first is Ministerial Direction 119 that affects skilled visa applications. This replaces Direction 105, which came into effect in December 2023 when the country and world was emerging from the pandemic.
Direction 119 affects both nomination and visa applications currently under consideration and all future applications from 25 July 2026, however, it does not affect:
the Administrative Review Tribunal (‘ART’) or its former guise of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (‘AAT’),
applications where it is readily apparent they will not be approved,
nomination applications to change sponsor, or
subsequent visa applications, which are applications made by members of the family unit of a person who already holds a temporary skilled visa.
The instrument splits processing into two Schedules.
Schedule A refers to nominations made for employer-sponsored visas:
Subclass 186 – Employer Nomination Scheme visa,
Subclass 187 – Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa,
Subclass 482 – Skills in Demand / Temporary Skill Shortage visa, and
Subclass 494 – Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa.
Schedule B applies to the abovementioned visa applications as well as all independent skilled visas and the now closed business skills visa, namely:
Subclass 189 – Skilled – Independent visa,
Subclass 190 – Skilled - Nominated visa,
Subclass 191 – Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa,
Subclass 489 – Skilled - Regional (Provisional) visa,
Subclass 491 – Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa,
Subclass 887 – Skilled - Regional visa, and
Subclass 888 – Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) visa.
The order of processing priorities for nominations is now as follows:
Nominees are in Australia, and the occupation is either 441311 Detective or 441312 Police Officer, and the nominating entity is either the Australian Federal Police, or a state or territory police force, or the occupation is a defence force occupation, such as 441111 Defence Force Member - Other Ranks and nominated by the Australian Defence Force or the Department of Defence and relates to AUKUS Pillars I or II.
The same as above but the nominee is outside Australia.
All other nominations where the nominee is in Australia when the nomination application is made.
All other nominations where the nominee is outside Australia when the nomination application is made.
Visa applications are now processed in the following order and where:
The primary visa applicant is in Australia at the time of applying, and their nomination relates to police or defence interests (priority 1 or 2 for nomination applications as described above).
The primary visa applicant is outside Australia at the time of applying, and their nomination relates to the same police or defence interests.
The primary visa applicant is in Australia at the time of applying, and their nomination relates to a healthcare, teaching or construction occupation – a full list of ANZSCO occupation codes is listed.
The primary visa applicant is outside Australia at the time of applying, and their nomination relates to a healthcare, teaching or construction occupation.
The primary visa applicant is in Australia at the time of applying, and none of the above applies.
The primary visa applicant is outside Australia at the time of applying, and none of the above applies.
While this aligns with the government’s policy of giving priority to onshore visa applicants, given the processing times for subclass 482 – Skills in Demand visas in the Core stream are pushing 10 months for 90 per cent of applications processed, businesses needing to import skilled labour on short notice that are not part of the select few may be disappointed.
Ministerial Direction No. 117 - Family visa applications
On the same day, Ministerial Direction No. 117 came into effect. This will prioritise visa applications where the primary visa applicant is in Australia at the time of applying and over applications where the primary visa applicant is outside Australia or must be outside Australia to be granted this visa.
There is, however, the ability to depart from this priority if the application involves special circumstances of a compassionate nature, and there are compelling reasons.
Given the highly regulated nature of family visas, there is an order of priority depending on what visa application was lodged. There is no surprise that the order is:
The Minister has substituted a more favourable decision to the one made by the ART or AAT,
Partner, prospective marriage or dependent child visa applications,
Orphan relative visa applications,
Contributory parent and contributory aged parent visa applications,
Carer visa applications,
Parent and aged parent visa applications, remaining relative, and aged dependent relative visa applications.
This is in addition to Ministerial Direction 103, which prioritises applications where there is a cap and queue system in place.
Aside from the priority of onshore visa applications over offshore visa applications, there seems to be little effective change.
Ministerial Direction 120 – Global Talent visas
Lastly, there is Ministerial Direction 120 – that applies to the subclass 858 – Global Talent visa. Unsurprisingly, the order of processing priorities is the same as the priorities for an invitation to apply for this visa, which is set out on the Department of Home Affairs’ website.
Top field award winners take priority over those nominated by an expert Australian Government agency, or State or Territory Government agency, over Tier One sectors of critical Technologies, renewables and low emission technologies, and health Industries, over Tier Two sectors of Agri-food and AgTech, Defence Capabilities and Space, Education, Financial Services and FinTech, Infrastructure and Transport, and Resources.