The Department of Home Affairs runs invitation rounds every month for Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 491) – Family Sponsored Stream. The number of invitation issued in each round may vary depending on the number of applications that are being processed by the Department. It is important to know that the Departmental invitation rounds do not impact the State or Territory Government nominations for Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491). The dates for the invitation rounds are subject to change and as such, are not fixed monthly.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, like everything else, the Department invitation rounds are also running, rather, unusually. The Department has adopted the approach of conducting targeted invitation rounds as have occurred since May 2020 until August 2020, with a view to monitoring migration and visa pathways closely and ensuring that the approach is consistent with public health measures adopted in Australia. The focus is to ensure that migration is undertaken to respond to the immediate and subsequent impacts of pandemic effectively, but not at the cost of job opportunities for Australians.
In this financial year’s program, the Department has issued the following number of invitations so far:
| Month | Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189) | Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – Family Sponsored Stream |
| July 2020 | 500 | 100 |
| August 2020 | 110 | 90 |
| Total | 610 | 190 |
Due to high levels of demand, certain occupation groups are subject to pro rata arrangements to maintain availability of invitations across those occupations the program year. Some of these occupations are Accountants, Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers, Electronics Engineer, Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers, and Engineering Professionals.
In terms of process, the places are first allocated to Subclass 189 visa and the remaining places to Subclass 491. This means that if all places are allocated under Subclass 189 visas, no invitations are issued for Subclass 491 visas in the particular occupations.
If you have any questions or need more information on Invitation Rounds/SkillSelect, Contact Us or call us on (02) 4626 100 to speak to one of our Registered Migration Agents in Sydney to discuss your visa pathway.
