From 18 September 2026, most Skilled visa applications will be processed under new Ministerial Direction 122.

This replaces Direction 119, shifting the focus from onshore applicants to those in key industry sectors and occupations.

Affected Visa Types

Direction 122 covers general skilled, provisional visas, and permanent employer-sponsored nominations and visas, including:

Subclass 482 visa processing priorities are set out in Direction 121.

New Priority List

All new and existing applications will now be processed in the following order of priority:

  1. Applications in relation to an occupation in construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, and resources sectors, or an occupation related to law enforcement or defence interests.
  2. All other applications where the primary applicant is in Australia at the time of application.
  3. Applications where the primary applicant is outside Australia at the time of application, and there are no family members included.
  4. All other applications.

Note that applications made family members to join a primary applicant are given the same priority as the primary applicant.

Construction occupations

Construction occupation means an occupation in any of the following (where each occupation is of equal priority):

ANZSCO Sub-Major Group 33 – Construction Trades Workers

ANZSCO Sub-Major Group 82 – Construction and Mining Labourers

ANZSCO Unit Group 1331 – Construction Managers

ANZSCO Unit Group 1332 – Engineering Managers – NEW

ANZSCO Unit Group 2321 – Architects and Landscape Architects

ANZSCO Unit Group 2332 – Civil Engineering Professionals

ANZSCO Until Group 3121 – Architectural, Building and Surveying Technicians

ANZSCO Until Group 3122 – Civil Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians – NEW

ANZSCO Unit Group 3126 – Safety Inspectors

ANZSCO Unit Group 3129 – Other Building and Engineering Technicians

ANZSCO Unit Group 3222 – Sheetmetal Workers

ANZSCO Unit Group 3223 – Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers

ANZSCO Unit Group 7111 – Clay, Concrete, Glass and Stone Processing Machine Operators

ANZSCO Unit Group 7121 – Crane, Hoist and Lift Operators

ANZSCO Unit Group 7212 – Earthmoving Plant Operators

ANZSCO occupations:

341111 – Electrician (General)

341112 – Electrician (Special Class)

Healthcare occupations

Healthcare occupation means an occupation in any of the following (where each occupation is of equal priority):

ANZSCO Sub-major Group 25 – Health Professionals

ANZSCO Minor Group 411 – Health and Welfare Support Workers

ANZSCO Unit Group 2346 – Medical Scientists

ANZSCO Unit Group 2721 – Counsellors

ANZSCO Unit Group 2723 – Psychologists

ANZSCO Unit Group 2725 – Social Workers

ANZSCO Unit Group 3112 – Medical Technicians

ANZSCO occupations:

423111 – Aged or Disabled Carer

423312 – Nursing Support Worker

423313 – Personal Care Assistant

Teaching occupations

Teaching occupation means an occupation in any of the following (where each occupation is of equal priority):

ANZSCO Minor Group 241 – School Teachers

ANZSCO Unit Group 1341 – Child Care Centre Managers

ANZSCO occupations:

134311 – School Principal

134411 – Faculty Head – NEW

242111 – University Lecturer

242211 – Vocational Education Teacher (AUS) / Polytechnic Teacher (NZ)

421111 – Child Care Worker

Agriculture, Aquaculture or Fishing occupations – NEW

Agriculture, Aquaculture or Fishing occupation means an occupation where the nominated position is directly involved in primary produce production or supporting productivity, including:

  • The cultivation, production or harvesting of crops
  • The capture (fishing), breeding, raising, management or production of livestock, poultry, seafood or other primary agricultural products
  • Agricultural production support activities, including animal health, irrigation, quality assurance, inspection or farm supervision
  • The slaughter, dressing, boning, slicing, processing, preparation or inspection of livestock, poultry, seafood or other primary agricultural products for sale, distribution or consumption.

Resources Sector occupations – NEW

Resources Sector Occupations means an occupation where the nominated position directly supports the exploration, extraction and production of minerals, oil and gas, or coal resources, including mine closure, decommissioning and rehabilitation activities. This includes occupations in any of the following (where each occupation is of equal priority):

ANZSCO Unit Group 2336 – Mining Engineers

ANZSCO Unit Group 2344 – Geologists, Geophysicists and Hydrogeologists

ANZSCO Unit Group 7122 – Drillers, Miners and Shot Firers

ANZSCO occupations:

133513 – Production Manager (Mining)

232212 – Surveyor

232214 – Other Spatial Scientist

234912 – Metallurgist

323211 – Fitter (General)

323212 – Fitter and Turner

323213 – Fitter-Welder

323214 – Metal Machinist (First Class)

323299 – Metal Fitters and Machinists nec

Law Enforcement and Defence occupations

A Law Enforcement or Defence occupation means any of the following (where each is of equal priority):

  • ANZSCO Unit Group 4413 – Police – Nominated by an Australian police force
  • Occupations in relation to AUKUS Pillar I (conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines) or II (advanced capability development)
  • Applications nominated by the Australian Defence Force or Department of Defence
  • Applications with support from the Australian Defence Force or Department of Defence where work will be undertaken at a defence facility, or supports the production or supply of defence related materiel or technology

How long will my application take to process?

Allocation information is published on the Immigration website for each visa type here and updated monthly.

The processing times calculator is based on historical information and is no longer a reliable source of information on expected future timeframes, due to the rapidly changing priorities.

Immigration’s systems will identify applications that meet the new priority arrangements based on nominated occupation and location of the applicant at the time of lodgement.

Existing applications will be reorganised based on the new processing priorities. Applicants who have moved down the priority list should adjust their expectations on timeframes accordingly. Hold off on completing medicals or obtaining police clearances until requested.