In a nutshell, the subclass 189 visa is the “independent” visa and the subclass 190 visa is state-sponsored.

The skilled independent visa (sc. 189) has been designed for skilled workers, who:

• don’t have any family member or employer to sponsor them, or
• are not nominated by any state or territory in Australia.

As the name says it, the subclass 189 visa is a completely independent visa.

The skilled nominated visa (sc. 190) is available for skilled workers who have been nominated by an Australian state or territory.

All people interested in the points based general skilled migration visa program will need to submit an EOI and receive an invitation in order to lodge a visa application.

An Expression of Interest (EOI) is not a visa application. When you submit an EOI you are indicating that you would like to be considered for a skilled visa.

Your EOI will be stored in SkillSelect and is valid for two years.

You must obtain a minimum of 65 points to lodge an Expression of Interest.

Yes, you can update your EOI at any time before you receive an invitation to apply for the visa.

You will not be able to change or update your EOI once you have receive an invitation.

There are no limitations on how many EOI you can submit. However, if you receive an invitation you must be able to provide supporting evidence and demonstrate all the claims you have made to achieve your points score.

There is no guarantee that you will be invited to apply for any of the GSM visa even if you score the minimum 65 or higher points. Because invitations are issued automatically by the SkillSelect system to the highest ranking EOIs, subject to occupation ceilings, it is in your best interest to obtain high Migration points as possible.

Invitations are issued on a monthly basis. The results of the invitation rounds are published on the Department of Home Affairs website after every round.

When you receive an invitation, you will have 60 days to lodge your online visa application.

If you do not lodge your visa application within this 60 days, your invitation will expire, and you will then have to wait for the department to invite you again. Please note that there is no guarantee that you will receive another invitation.

If you receive 2 invitations to apply for the visa for the same EOI and you do not lodge a visa application, your EOI will be removed from SKillSelect. You will have to submit another EOI if you still want to apply for a visa.

The points test is used to help the department select applicants who have the skills and attributes Australia needs.

Points can be given for various factors, including age, English language ability, qualification and work experience.

Generally, there is a separate application that you must lodge with the state when they indicate that they may be interested in nominating you. There may be additional costs depending on the state/territory, and the processing times may take from few weeks to few months.

If you are nominated by a state or territory government and you have indicated that your points score is above the current pass mark for that visa, you will receive an invitation to apply for the visa.

You can see Subclass 489 visa Regional and Designated Area Postcodes to find out if an area within a State or Territory is considered to be regional.