Queensland State Nomination 2026-27 Is Out: Four Streams, New Occupation Lists and ROIs Open 6 November
By Suman Dua, Registered Migration Agent, Nationwide Migration and Education, Brisbane
Migration Queensland published its 2026-27 State Nominated Migration Program this afternoon, Friday 30 October 2026. Registrations of Interest open on Friday 6 November 2026. That gives you one week to get your Expression of Interest, your documents and, if you are onshore, your 2025-26 tax return in order.
I have read every page of the new program today. This article sets out the four skilled streams, which occupation list applies to each, what you must have ready before you register, and the ROI rules that trip people up every year. Everything here is current as at 30 October 2026. Migration Queensland changes its pages without notice, so check the state website before you lodge.
What Queensland nominates for
Migration Queensland nominates skilled workers for two visas:
- Subclass 190, Skilled Nominated visa. Permanent residence. Queensland expects you to live and work in Queensland for at least two years after the visa is granted.
- Subclass 491, Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa. A five-year provisional visa leading to permanent residence through the subclass 191. Queensland expects you to live and work in regional Queensland for at least three years after grant.
Two rules apply across the whole program. Not every occupation is open to the 190, so some applicants will only be offered the 491. And if you have ever been nominated for, applied for or held a subclass 491 or 489 visa, Queensland will not nominate you for the 190.
Queensland also says plainly that it does not select mainly on points. You need 65 points on the Department of Home Affairs test and competent English, but invitations go to the top-ranked registrations against Queensland's workforce priorities. The selection factors Queensland lists are your skills and qualifications, your work experience and salary, where in Queensland you work, your age, your English, and your partner's skills and English. Age is a selection factor, not an eligibility criterion.
The four skilled streams
Queensland calls them pathways. You choose the one pathway that best matches your circumstances when you register. Here is what each one requires in 2026-27.
1. Skilled workers living outside Australia (offshore)
This is the only stream for people who are not in Queensland. You do not need a job offer, and you do not need to be working in your occupation when you register, when you are invited or when you are nominated.
What you do need is at least one year of skilled employment within the last three years, counted at the date you submit your ROI. That work must be in your nominated occupation or a closely related one, meaning an occupation sharing the same first three digits of the ANZSCO code. It must come after you finished the qualification you rely on, it must be at least 20 hours per week, and it must be declared as related in your SkillSelect EOI. Casual work counts and you can combine several jobs.
Your occupation must be on the Queensland Offshore Skilled Occupation List, known as the QSOL. That list also flags any registration or licensing you will need to work in Queensland.
2. Skilled workers living in Queensland (onshore)
This is the main stream for people already here. You must be living in Queensland and currently working for a Queensland-based employer, and you must have been doing both for a qualifying period counted backwards from the day you submit your ROI:
| Visa sought | Qualifying period before ROI |
|---|---|
| Subclass 491 | At least 6 of the last 9 months living and working in regional Queensland |
| Subclass 190 | At least 9 of the last 12 months living and working in Queensland |
The work must be at least 20 paid hours per week in your nominated occupation or a closely related one, and it must come after you completed your qualification. Casual work counts and multiple jobs can be combined. You must keep meeting this test when you register, when you are invited and when you are nominated, so do not change jobs or move interstate in the middle of the process.
Your occupation must be on the Queensland Onshore Skilled Occupation List. Chefs and cooks working in takeaway or fast-food businesses are not eligible.
3. Building and construction workers in Queensland (onshore)
This stream exists because Queensland wants tradespeople and construction professionals quickly. The qualifying period is much shorter: at least three continuous months living and working in Queensland for a Queensland-based employer immediately before you submit your ROI. The same 20 paid hours per week rule applies, and the work must be in your nominated or a closely related occupation.
Queensland says it aims to nominate this stream for the subclass 190 wherever the occupation allows it. Your occupation must be on the Queensland Onshore Skilled Occupation List and flagged for the Building and Construction pathway on that list.
4. Graduates of a Queensland university (onshore)
If you finished a Bachelor, Master or PhD at a Queensland university or institution, with 100 per cent of the course completed in Queensland and the degree meeting the Australian Study Requirement, this is your stream. You must have graduated after 1 July 2022. The degree does not have to relate to your nominated occupation.
The residence and work periods are the same as the general onshore stream: 6 of the last 9 months in regional Queensland for the 491, or 9 of the last 12 months in Queensland for the 190, working at least 20 paid hours per week for a Queensland-based employer. The difference is in what work counts. A graduate's qualifying work can be in the nominated occupation, a closely related occupation, or any Skill Level 1 occupation. Only work in the nominated or closely related occupation earns EOI points, but the broader rule means a graduate working in a professional role outside their field can still qualify.
Your occupation must be on the Queensland Onshore Skilled Occupation List and you need a valid skills assessment for it.
A note on the fifth pathway
Queensland also lists a subclass 491 Small Business Owner pathway for people who started a business in regional Queensland. The business purchase option is closed. The start-up option is only open to businesses first registered between 1 June 2024 and 19 September 2025 that have been profitable with at least $200,000 turnover in the last 12 months, and the ROI must be in before 30 April 2027. That is a different kind of application and I will cover it separately.
Which occupation list applies to which stream
This is where applicants go wrong. Queensland publishes two lists for 2026-27, and the building and construction stream uses a marked subset of one of them.
| Stream | Occupation list |
|---|---|
| Offshore skilled workers | Queensland Offshore Skilled Occupation List (QSOL) |
| Onshore skilled workers | Queensland Onshore Skilled Occupation List |
| Building and construction workers | Onshore list, occupations ticked in the "Building and Construction pathway" column |
| Queensland university graduates | Queensland Onshore Skilled Occupation List |
Both lists show separately whether an occupation is open for the 491, the 190 or both. The offshore list is shorter than the onshore list and carries notes on registration and licensing. Queensland's warning on both pages is blunt: if your occupation is not on the list, you are not eligible for nomination in 2026-27 and you should not submit an ROI.
Check your exact ANZSCO code against the right list before you do anything else. The lists are built on the 2013 ANZSCO framework used in the Commonwealth instrument LIN 19/051, so the code on your skills assessment is the code you look up.
The 2025-26 tax return rule
This is the change that will cost unprepared onshore applicants the most. If you are in Queensland, you must have lodged your 2025-26 tax return and received your ATO Notice of Assessment before you submit an ROI. The ROI form itself asks for your taxable income for the year ended 30 June 2026 as recorded on that notice, and the notice is one of the documents you must upload if you are invited.
If you have not lodged your return yet, do it now. The ATO can take a couple of weeks to issue a Notice of Assessment, and the ROI opens in one week. Offshore applicants are not asked for an Australian tax return.
One ROI per applicant, and it cannot be edited
Queensland's ROI rules are strict and they are worth reading twice.
- Everyone needs a new ROI for 2026-27. If you registered last year and were not nominated, your old registration does not carry over.
- One subclass per ROI. You pick the 190 or the 491. You cannot ask for either.
- One active ROI at a time. If you submit several, Queensland considers only the most recent one.
- An ROI cannot be updated once submitted. If your circumstances change, if you change jobs, move, get a new skills assessment or simply made a mistake, the only fix is to submit a new ROI. The new one replaces the old one, and your place in the queue starts again from the new submission.
- Your SkillSelect EOI must be current and accurate first. Queensland reads your EOI alongside your ROI. EOIs are valid for two years, Queensland will consider EOIs up to 715 days old, and an EOI due to expire within 14 days will not be considered. If your EOI is close to expiry, lodge a fresh one before you register.
- Save the confirmation page. Migration Queensland cannot send you a copy of what you submitted.
If you are onshore and want your registration checked before you lodge, book a consultation with our Brisbane team. Get the ROI right the first time. A rushed registration on 6 November that has to be withdrawn and resubmitted on 20 November has gained you nothing.
What the ROI form asks for
The online registration asks for:
- your SkillSelect EOI number
- your passport number
- the ANZSCO code of your nominated occupation
- the visa subclass you are seeking nomination for
- confirmation that your work experience meets the requirements of your chosen pathway
- your Queensland employment and residency details (onshore applicants)
- your taxable income for 2025-26 from your ATO Notice of Assessment (onshore applicants)
- your partner's English proficiency and skilled occupation ANZSCO code, if applicable
Queensland tells you not to register unless you already hold a current passport, a VEVO statement if you are onshore, a valid skills assessment, and evidence of the work experience you are claiming.
What happens if you are invited
An invitation starts a 14-calendar-day clock. Within those 14 days you must upload the State Nomination Application Form and every supporting document, and pay the nomination fee. If the application is incomplete when the clock runs out, it is closed and you will not be invited again in the same program year.
The documents Queensland expects from an onshore employee are:
- passport bio page, matching the passport number in your ROI
- recent VEVO statement
- valid skills assessment, or registration evidence where the occupation requires it, such as AHPRA registration or a Certificate of Admission for solicitors
- evidence of your residential address: a lease or an electricity or water bill from the last three months. Phone, internet and bank statements are not accepted
- the complete employment contract for every Queensland job you rely on, showing at least 20 paid hours per week
- a Statement of Service form signed by each employer, with any gaps or unpaid leave declared
- up to three payslips per employer: one from the start, one from the middle and one from the end of the qualifying period
- your 2025-26 ATO Notice of Assessment
- for graduates, the graduation certificate or completion letter showing the qualification, where you studied and the completion date
Offshore applicants provide an employer reference letter for every skilled job claimed in the EOI, on letterhead, signed and dated, with the employment dates, location, hours, duties and the referee's name and position. A letter for your current job must be no more than one month old at the time of the nomination application. Anything not in English needs a certified translation, and you cannot translate your own documents.
Self-employed applicants have a separate list of ABN records, client letters, invoices and bank statements. Ask us if that is you.
Fees
| Visa | Offshore (no GST) | Onshore (includes 10% GST) |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass 190 nomination | $573.00 | $630.30 |
| Subclass 491 nomination | $573.00 | $630.30 |
The fee is paid only after you are invited, and it is not refunded under any circumstances, including a change of mind or a visa refusal by the Department. Queensland's fee page notes a minor adjustment to processing fees this year, so confirm the figure on the state site when you pay.
What to do this week
- Find your occupation on the correct list. Offshore applicants use the QSOL. Onshore applicants and graduates use the onshore list. Building and construction applicants need the tick in the pathway column. Note whether your occupation is open for the 190, the 491 or both.
- Lodge your 2025-26 tax return if you are onshore and chase the Notice of Assessment. No notice, no ROI.
- Check your SkillSelect EOI. Update your employment history so every job you will rely on is marked as related to your nominated occupation, and confirm the EOI is not within 14 days of expiry.
- Count your qualifying period backwards from the day you intend to register. If you are a month short of 9 of 12 months for the 190, decide whether to register for the 491 now or wait.
- Gather the invitation documents now, especially the employer Statement of Service and the payslips from the start, middle and end of your period. Fourteen days goes quickly when an employer's HR team is slow.
- Register once, correctly, on or soon after 6 November.
How we can help
Queensland does not publish its allocation or its invitation round dates, and it says openly that the program is highly competitive and that meeting the criteria does not guarantee an invitation. The applicants who get invited are the ones whose ROI, EOI and documents line up perfectly against the stream they chose.
Our Brisbane team of registered migration agents lodges Queensland nominations every program year. We will check your occupation against the right list, confirm which stream and subclass gives you the strongest ranking, review your EOI before you register, and prepare the invitation documents so the 14-day window is never a problem. Book a consultation with our Brisbane office before 6 November.
Need help with your Queensland Registration of Interest? Book a consultation at https://nationwidemigration.com.au/onshoreapplicantss or call our Brisbane office on +61 7 3726 5183.
This article is general information only and is not immigration advice for your circumstances. Migration Queensland and the Department of Home Affairs change their requirements without notice. Nationwide Migration and Education, Level 5, 320 Adelaide Street, Brisbane. Suman Dua is a registered migration agent.
