Subclass 189 Visa: How the Skilled Independent Visa Works in 2026

The subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) visa is a permanent visa for skilled workers who don't have an employer, a state or a family member sponsoring them. You can't apply for it whenever you like. You lodge an expression of interest (EOI) in SkillSelect, and you can apply only if the Department invites you. To be invited you need at least 65 points, an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, a suitable skills assessment, at least competent English, and you must be under 45.

Almost every one of those requirements is tested on the day of the invitation, not the day you lodge. That single rule explains most of the mistakes we see with this visa. This guide covers what the 189 gives you, what has to be true at invitation, how the points test adds up, what it costs from 1 July 2026 and how the Department is ordering applications now.

What does the subclass 189 give you?

Permanent residence, from the day the visa is granted if you're in Australia, or from the day you enter on it if you're outside. You can live, work and study anywhere in the country. No regional condition, no employer tie, no state commitment written into the visa.

But one part does expire, and that's travel. You can leave and come back as often as you like for 5 years from grant. After that, a permanent resident who wants to travel needs a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157) to get back in as a permanent resident. Your permanent residence doesn't end. Travel rights do, and people get caught by it.

Your partner and dependent children can be included in the application, or added after lodgement but before a decision is made. Everyone who applies has to meet the health and character requirements, and family members who aren't coming can still be asked to meet them.

What has to be true on the day you're invited?

Picture a mechanical engineer who submits an EOI at 44 with 80 points and turns 45 in four months. If no invitation arrives before that birthday, the EOI can't be invited at all. If one arrives the day before, she can still apply after she turns 45. Exactly the same logic applies to the skills assessment, the English result and the occupation list: each one is locked in at the moment of invitation.

Two practical points follow. First, watch the expiry dates on your skills assessment and English test while the EOI sits in SkillSelect, because an EOI can wait up to 2 years for an invitation and neither document waits with it. Second, the Department currently accepts a suitable skills assessment obtained during the 60-day invitation period. That's a policy position the Department adopted after a court decision, and the Department says it reserves the right to argue in court that the decision was wrong. We wouldn't plan around it if there's any way to hold the assessment before the invitation.

There's also a timing rule for people coming off a regional provisional visa. If you hold a subclass 491 or 494, or that was your last substantive visa, you must have held it for at least 3 years when you apply for the 189.

How the points test adds up

Points are counted at the time of invitation. Your EOI gives you an indicative score, and the invitation states the score you must meet when the Department assesses your application. If you can't prove a claim, you can lose the points and the visa with it. Department guidance is blunt: if you can't show you meet the invited score, don't apply.

State nomination and regional nomination points don't exist on the 189, because nobody nominates you. That's the trade-off for a visa with no strings.

Sixty-five is the entry ticket. It is not a prediction. Each occupation competes separately, the invitation rounds are not a fixed cut-off, and the score that tends to be invited moves from round to round. Our occupation guides describe what the Department's recent SkillSelect data shows for each code, and for many popular occupations a 65-point EOI simply waits.

Calculate your points here using Point Calculator.

SkillSelect, the EOI and the 60 days

An EOI is not a visa application. It's free, you can submit it from anywhere, and it doesn't give you a bridging visa, so if your current visa is ending you need another plan to stay lawful. You can update the EOI at any time before an invitation: new work experience, a better English result, a finished qualification. Each change updates your indicative score.

Once invited, the EOI is frozen and the 60 days start. You'll be invited at most twice. If you don't apply after the second invitation, the EOI is removed and you'd have to start again.

Then comes evidence. Every claim in the EOI has to be supported when you lodge: the skills assessment, test results, employment references on letterhead with duties, dates, hours and salary, qualification documents, and partner evidence if you claimed partner points.

What does the 189 cost?

From 1 July 2026 the first instalment went up, and a lower charge now applies where the main applicant holds a valid passport from a Pacific-regional country or Timor-Leste. Family members get the lower rate based on the main applicant's passport.

A second instalment is only charged if the Department is about to grant the visa and an adult applicant hasn't shown functional English. Health checks, police certificates, translations and the skills assessment fee are extra. And the application charge isn't refunded if the visa is refused.

Where 189 applications sit in the processing queue

Ministerial Direction 122 sets the order in which the Department picks up 189 applications. It affects timing, never eligibility. Here is how far each group had reached on the Department's 189 page on the day we checked.

Those months move, and the Department warns they may temporarily go backwards while applications are reprioritised under the new direction. Check the 189 page itself on the day you need the answer.

Places matter too. For 2026-27, the Migration Program sets the Skilled Independent category at 21,090 places, up from 16,900 in 2025-26. The Department allocates invitations to meet the planning levels, so a bigger Skilled Independent allocation gives the 189 more room this year. It doesn't change the points test for anyone.

Before you submit the EOI

Do the arithmetic against evidence, not memory. Every point you claim in SkillSelect will be tested against documents at the visa stage, and the date that matters is the invitation date. If your skills assessment, English result or age window could run out while you wait, that is the risk to manage first.

FAQ

Is the subclass 189 a permanent residence visa?

‍Yes. The subclass 189 is a permanent visa, and you become a permanent resident on the day it's granted if you're in Australia, or on the day you enter if you're outside. Its travel facility lasts 5 years from grant, after which you need a Resident Return visa to re-enter as a permanent resident.

Is 75 points enough for a 189 visa?

‍It depends on your occupation. Sixty-five points is the minimum to be invited, but each occupation competes separately and the invitation rounds are not a fixed cut-off. The same score can be invited quickly in one occupation and keep waiting in another. Check what the Department's recent SkillSelect data shows for your code.

What is the age limit for the 189 visa?

‍You must be under 45 when the Department invites you. If you turn 45 after the invitation, you can still apply. If you turn 45 after submitting your EOI but before an invitation arrives, you won't be invited.

Which occupations can apply for the 189 visa?

‍Only occupations on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, at the time you're invited. The Short-term Skilled Occupation List and the Regional Occupation List don't apply to the 189. Your skills assessment must come from the assessing authority listed for your occupation.

Is the 189 harder to get than the 190?

‍It depends on your occupation. The 190 needs a state or territory to nominate you, adds 5 points for that nomination, and can use the Short-term Skilled Occupation List as well. The 189 has none of those, but you don't have to meet any state's criteria either.

How long does it take to get PR after a 189 invitation?

‍There's no fixed time. You have 60 days from the invitation to apply, and the Department then processes applications in the order set by Ministerial Direction 122, with priority sectors first. Use the Department's processing time guide for an indication, but treat it as a guide only.

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Not sure your points hold up, or whether the 189 is the right target for your occupation? Book a consultation and we'll check your claims before the Department does.