189 Invitation Rounds 2021-2022

189 Invitation Rounds 2021-2022

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January 25, 2023•2 min read

Superseded. This article covers the 2021-2022 program year and is kept for reference only. Program settings, caps, occupation lists and policy change without notice. Check the current requirements on the Department of Home Affairs website before you act.

189 Invitation Rounds 2021-2022

Suman Dua MARN 1800859Jan 25, 20232 min read

How many invitations were issued by the Department of Home Affairs?

Department of Home Affairs issued 12,200 189 invites and 466 invites for 491 FS stream.

In August, most invitations went out to offshore applicants in the health, trade, and Engineering occupations. Some offshore invites were sent out at a minimum of 65 points.

Another invitation round were held on 6th October 2022, and 11,982 invites were sent out for 189 visa, and 847 invites were sent out for the 491 FS stream. For this invitation round, we also saw many invites that were issued to offshore applicants. Some onshore Applicants in health and critical occupations like teaching were also invited in this round.

The recent invitation round was held on 8th December 2022, exactly after 63 days after the previous round. This was the biggest round we have seen in many years, and 35000 invitations were sent out for the 189 visa. Both onshore and offshore applicants got invited to this round, and the minimum cut-off point for this round was 65 points for most occupations.

The concern here is that the total number of seats available for this year for 189 and 491 Family Sponsored Visa is 32,100, so there could be many reasons that the Department is issuing many more invites than the available places.

Some reasons could be that:

  1. Many applicants were not expecting to be invited and had some of their documents expired. Even if they did get the invite, they could not lodge the visa.

  2. Many applicants had already received their 491 visas granted. Once you hold a 491 regional skilled visa, you are not eligible to lodge a 189-visa application.

  3. Many applicants had their 190-visa lodged or granted, which is also a permanent visa, so it does not make sense to lodge a 189 visa for them.

  4. Many applicants had multiple EOIs lodged for different occupations or multiple EOIs for the same occupation but with different submission dates. In this case, they could only accept one invitation, and all other invitations got wasted.

  5. As the number of places available for this financial year refers to the visa grants rather than the invitations, Department could anticipate that most of these applicants will not be receiving the 189 visa grants this financial year.

Considering that Department waited for the wasted invitations to go back in the pool and held the recent invite after 63 days, we can expect the next invitation round in February. There is also a possibility that the next invitation round, which can occur in February, or a bit later, will be a very small round, and it could also be the last invitation round for 189 for this financial year.

If you have any questions or would like us to help you with the 189 application, please contact us.



 

 

 

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Suman Dua MARN 1800859
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