How do I know if I am eligible for a skilled visa?

Five things decide it: your age, whether your occupation is on the list for the visa you want, whether an assessing authority agrees your qualifications and experience match that occupation, your English, and whether those add up to 65 points or more. They interact. Strong English can carry a middling occupation, and a strong occupation with thin English can fail. There is no way to know from the outside without going through yours.

Which of the three skilled visas would suit me?

They are not ranked, and the best one is whichever you can actually get. Subclass 189 needs no sponsor at all. Subclass 190 needs a state or territory to nominate you, and each runs its own list. Subclass 491 is for regional Australia and is provisional for five years before permanent residence becomes possible. Which is realistic depends on your occupation, your points, and which states are nominating that occupation at the time you apply.

Do I need to sit an English test?

Most applicants do. Which tests are accepted and what score each visa needs are set by the Department of Home Affairs and change, so check the current requirement rather than relying on a figure from last year. English also carries points, so a higher score can change which visas are open to you.

Can I apply if I studied or worked overseas?

Yes. Qualifications and work experience earned outside Australia count. Depending on your occupation you will usually need a positive skills assessment from the assessing authority for that occupation first, and that is a separate application with its own rules, its own fee and its own timeframe.

My occupation is in shortage. Does that mean I qualify?

No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. The shortage list is published by Jobs and Skills Australia and measures where employers cannot find people. The visa occupation lists are published by the Department of Home Affairs and decide which occupations can be used for which visa. They overlap, but they are different documents doing different jobs. An occupation can be badly short of people and still not be on a visa list.

My occupation is a priority. Does that mean I will be approved?

No. Ministerial Direction 119 sets the order applications are picked up, not the outcome. Construction, healthcare and teaching applications lodged from inside Australia are looked at earlier than others. Every requirement still has to be met, and the Department still decides.

How long does it take?

Nobody can give you an exact date, so treat any firm promise with caution. The Department publishes what it is currently working through, and those dates move. As a rough shape: a skills assessment, then an expression of interest, then an invitation if one comes, then the application itself. Each stage has its own wait.

Three separate costs, and only one of them is Jenny’s. The Department charges its own application fee, which is published on its website and changes each July. The assessing authority charges for the skills assessment. Jenny’s own fee is a fixed amount, quoted in writing and set out in a service agreement before you engage her.

Skilled migration · subclass 189, 190 and 491

Can you move to Australia on a skilled visa?

Australia lets in a set number of skilled workers each year, and picks them with a points test. If you are under 45, work in an occupation on the list, can prove your qualifications, and speak good English, you may have a pathway. Below is what each of those actually requires and where applications most often come unstuck, so you can judge whether yours is worth pursuing.

Check where you stand Read the requirements first

What decides whether you are eligible?

Five things, and they work together rather than one at a time. Failing one is usually fatal. Being strong on one can make up for being average on another.

Your age

You must be under 45 when you are invited to apply. Not when you start, not when you lodge. Points also drop as you get older, so the same person scores differently at 32 and at 42.

Your occupation

Australia keeps official lists of occupations that can be used for each visa. If the work you do is not on the list for the visa you want, that visa is closed to you no matter how good you are at it.

Your skills assessment

An official body for your occupation checks that your qualifications and work history really do match that occupation in Australia. It is a separate application, with its own fee and its own wait, and it comes before the visa.

Your English

Most people have to sit an approved test. There is a minimum, and above the minimum you earn points. This is the requirement people most often improve, because a better score can open a visa that was closed.

Your points

Age, English, qualifications, work experience, a partner’s skills and a state nomination all add up to a score. You need at least 65 to be invited. Scoring 65 does not mean you will be invited, because you are competing with everyone else who scored.

Which skilled visa would suit you?

There are three, and they are not ranked from worst to best. The difference is who backs your application: nobody, a state government, or a regional area you agree to live in.

Each subclass links to the Department of Home Affairs page for it, where the current application charge is published. Checked 8 August 2026.
Visa	Who backs you	How long you can stay	The catch
Subclass 189 Skilled Independent	Nobody. You stand on your own points.	Permanent from the day it is granted	The hardest of the three to be invited for, because there is no state backing your application.
Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated	A state or territory government	Permanent from the day it is granted	Each state runs its own list and its own rules, and they change through the year. You are usually expected to live there.
Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional	A state or territory government, or an eligible relative already in Australia	5 years, then permanent residence after 3 years if you meet the conditions	It is not permanent on day one. You have to actually live and work in the designated area, and the permanent stage has its own requirements.

Which skills is Australia short of right now?

Healthcare, construction and teaching, and it has been those three for several years running. Jobs and Skills Australia found about three in ten occupations were in shortage in its 2025 list, published 15 October 2025, with the gaps concentrated in trades and in the health, education and construction professions.

Healthcare

Hospitals, clinics, aged care and mental health. Applications in this area are looked at earlier.

Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency)
Registered Nurse (Mental Health)
Registered Nurse (Aged Care)
Midwife
General Practitioner
Psychiatrist
Physiotherapist
Occupational Therapist
Dentist
Medical Diagnostic Radiographer

Construction and trades

Building, fitting out and maintaining things. Applications in this area are looked at earlier.

Electrician (General)
Plumber (General)
Carpenter
Bricklayer
Glazier
Plasterer (Wall and Ceiling)
Civil Engineer
Construction Project Manager
Quantity Surveyor
Fitter (General)

Teaching

Early childhood through to vocational training. Applications in this area are looked at earlier.

Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher
Primary School Teacher
Secondary School Teacher
Middle School Teacher
Special Needs Teacher
Vocational Education Teacher

Engineering and technology

Not on the priority list, but persistently short of people.

Cyber Security Engineer
Cyber Security Architect
DevOps Engineer
Software Tester
Environmental Engineer
Geotechnical Engineer
Biomedical Engineer
Mechanical Engineering Technician

These are examples, not the whole list. Each one was rated in shortage both nationally and in Victoria in the Occupation Shortage List, and hundreds of others were too. To find out whether your own occupation can be used for a visa, check the Department of Home Affairs occupation lists.

Does a priority occupation mean you will be approved?

No. It changes when your application is picked up, not whether it succeeds. Since 25 July 2026 the Department works through skilled applications in a set order, and where you are when you apply matters as much as what you do.

Law enforcement or defence occupations, applicant already in Australia
Law enforcement or defence occupations, applicant outside Australia
Construction, healthcare and teaching occupations, applicant already in Australia
Everything else, applicant already in Australia
Everything else, applicant outside Australia

Two things worth taking from that. Applying from inside Australia moves you up every time, which is why the visa you are on now matters. And priority is only about queue position: every requirement still has to be met, and the Department still decides. Read the current processing priorities.

Questions people ask first

Skilled migration, answered plainly.

Find out where you stand before you spend anything.

Tell Jenny your occupation, your age, your qualifications and your English. She will go through which of the three visas are realistic for you, what each would take, and when the honest answer is that none of them is.

Check where you stand

Indicative guidance only, not migration advice. Your details stay private.

Written and checked by Jenny Satya Graha, Registered Migration Agent MARN 0429372. Every requirement, fee and list on this page was checked against the Department of Home Affairs and Jobs and Skills Australia on 8 August 2026. Criteria and charges are set by the Australian Government and change often. Check the Department of Home Affairs skilled migration program to confirm anything above, including the eligibility requirements that apply to you.