Priority Processing for Skilled Visas.

Zhanna Heenan

Visa News 12 December, 2022

Ministerial Direction 100 – Priority Processing for Certain Skilled Visas.

The new Ministerial Direction has been designed to allow the Department of Home Affairs to process more skilled applications faster and respond quickly to labour market needs, speeding up processing for all occupations and making the process less complicated.

Giving priority processing to certain offshore permanent and provisional skilled visa applicants will enable more workers to enter Australia and assist the economy, easing labour shortages.

Regional applications will continue to be processed as a high priority, helping to support agricultural and other regional industries.

This direction removes the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) implemented in September 2020, which involved time-consuming and complex assessments.

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The following skilled visas are subject to Ministerial Direction No. 100:​

• Subclass 124 (Distinguished Talent)
• Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme)
• Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme)
• Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment) (Provisional)
• Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent)
• Subclass 190 (Skilled – Nominated)
• Subclass 191 (Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional))
• Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled))
• Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage)
• Subclass 489 (Skilled – Regional (Provisional))
• Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional))
• Subclass 494 (Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional))
• Subclass 858 (Global Talent)
• Subclass 887 (Skilled – Regional)
• Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent).

Skilled visa applications are processed in the following order of priority:​

1. Visa applications in relation to a healthcare or teaching occupation.
2.  For employer-sponsored visas, visa applications where the applicant is nominated by an Approved sponsor with Accredited Status.
3. Visa applications in relation to occupations that are to be carried out in a designated regional area.
4. For permanent and provisional visa subclasses, visa applications that count towards the migration program, excluding the Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa.
5. All other visa applications.​

For all categories above, priority will be given to holders of eligible passports.

Within each category above, for provisional and permanent skilled visa applications, priority is given to visa applications where the primary applicant is located outside Australia at the time the visa application is made.​

Healthcare or Teaching Occupations

ANZSCO Sub-major Group 25 – Health Professionals

ANZSCO Minor Group 241 – School Teachers

ANZSCO Minor Group 411 – Health and Welfare Support Workers

ANZSCO Unit Group 1341 – Child Care Centre Managers

ANZSCO Unit Group 2346 – Medical Scientists

ANZSCO Unit Group 2721 – Counsellors

ANZSCO Unit Group 2723 – Psychologists

ANZSCO Unit Group 2725 – Social Workers

ANZSCO Unit Group 3112 – Medical Technicians

ANZSCO occupations:

134311 – School Principal

421111 – Child Care Worker

423111 – Aged or Disabled Carer

423312 – Nursing Support Worker

423313 – Personal Care Assistant.​

Further information is available in the Ministerial Direction 100 Factsheet.