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 Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (SESR) (subclass 494) visa under Ministerial Direction 122. We are currently processing visa applications that were lodged in:

September 2025 – Construction, Healthcare, Teaching, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fishing, and Resources sectors, or Australia's law enforcement and defence interests.
September 2025 – Visa applications from applicants who were in Australia at the time they lodged their application.
September 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 at the time they lodged their application.

Please note: While the Department transitions to the new processing priorities under Ministerial Direction 122, published allocation dates and processing timeframes may fluctuate. Some timeframes may temporarily increase as applications are reprioritised.

Skilled — Independent visa (subclass 885)