Skilled visa income thresholds have increased in line with changes to annual Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings. For more information see Annual indexation of skilled visa income thresholds from 1 July 2026.

We prioritise visa applications for the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa under Ministerial Direction 121. We are currently processing visa applications that were lodged in:

October 2025 – Construction, Healthcare, Teaching, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fishing, and Resources sectors, or in Australia's law enforcement and defence interests.
July 2026 – Visa applications in the Specialist Skills stream.
January 2026 – Visa applications from applicants who were in Australia at the time they lodged their application.
October 2025 – Visa applications where the primary applicant was outside of Australia at the time they lodged their application and whose application is not combined with another person’s application at any time.
October 2025 – All other visa applications from applicants who were outside Australia when they applied.

Please note. As we transition to the new priorities under Ministerial Direction 121, processing timeframes may fluctuate. Some published timeframes may temporarily move backwards while applications are reprioritised.

Employing overseas workers