The Australian Government has introduced Ministerial Direction 119, which took effect on 25 July 2026. This Direction replaces Ministerial Direction 105 and changes the order in which many skilled visa nominations and visa applications are processed. Importantly, this direction now applies to Skills in Demand (subclass 482) applications, which were not previously covered.
What has changed?
Under the new Direction, the Department of Home Affairs will prioritise applications based on both:
- the applicant’s occupation, and
- whether the applicant was in Australia or outside Australia when the application was lodged.
The purpose of this direction is to prioritise applicants who are already contributing to the Australian workforce, and particularly those working in priority sectors. These sectors and their order of priority are set out below.
New processing priority order
Applications will now generally be processed in the following order:
Priority 1
- Law enforcement or Defence occupations
- Applicant was in Australia when the application was lodged.
Priority 2
- Law enforcement or Defence occupations
- Applicant was outside Australia when the application was lodged.
Priority 3
- Construction
- Healthcare
- Teaching
- Applicant was in Australia when the application was lodged.
Priority 4
- All other skilled occupations
- Applicant was in Australia when the application was lodged.
Priority 5
- All other skilled occupations
- Applicant was outside Australia when the application was lodged.
These priorities apply to both employer nominations and visa applications.
Occupations
Which visas are affected?
Ministerial Direction 119 applies to a broad range of skilled visas, including:
- Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)
- Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187)
- Skills in Demand (subclass 482)
- Temporary Skill Shortage (legacy subclass 482)
- Skilled Independent (subclass 189)
- Skilled Nominated (subclass 190)
- Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491)
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (subclass 494)
- Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (subclass 191)
- Skilled Regional (subclass 887)
- Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (subclass 888)
What does this mean for applicants?
For many applicants, the most significant change is that being onshore may now provide a processing advantage, even if your occupation is not within a priority sector.
Applicants working in construction, healthcare or teaching who applied while in Australia are also expected to benefit from higher processing priority.
Conversely, applicants outside Australia in occupations that are not classified as priority occupations may experience comparatively longer processing times as the Department focuses resources on higher-priority cohorts.
Existing applications are included
The Direction applies not only to new applications lodged on or after 25 July 2026, but also to applications that were already lodged and remain undecided. This means existing applications may move into a different processing priority depending on the applicant’s occupation and where they were located when they applied.
Important to remember
While the new Direction determines the order in which applications are considered, it does not change the legal requirements for any visa.
Applicants must still satisfy all legislative criteria, including health, character, skills, English language and other visa requirements before a visa can be granted. The Direction also does not change the skilled occupation lists.
Our comments
Overall, Ministerial Direction 119 provides a clearer indication of the Australian Government’s current skilled migration priorities and the types of applications likely to receive earlier attention. While the Direction offers useful guidance on processing order, actual processing times remain subject to change and its practical effect will become clearer over the coming weeks. For employers and visa applicants, the change reinforces the importance of lodging complete applications, ensuring occupations are correctly classified, and understanding how an applicant’s location at the time of lodgement may affect processing priority.
