Australia SkillSelect Invitation Rounds: 2025–26 Results and 2026–27 Round Status

Every round in 2025–26 and 2026–27

The program year runs from 1 July to 30 June. These figures are copied from the Home Affairs current-round and previous-rounds pages. The tie-break date is how far down the queue of people on the cut-off score Home Affairs reached: at equal points, the person whose Expression of Interest reached that score earlier is invited first.

Adding up the three published round tables gives 26,887 subclass 189 invitations and 450 subclass 491 family-sponsored invitations for 2025–26. The Home Affairs 2025–26 monthly table does not yet include the June round, so it shows a lower total. There were no rounds between December 2025 and May 2026.

Source: Department of Home Affairs, SkillSelect invitation rounds (last updated 14 October 2026) and Previous rounds (last updated 7 October 2026), read 21 October 2026. These numbers exclude state and territory nominations, which Home Affairs reports separately.

Subclass 189 minimum scores for common occupations among UAE-based applicants

Each round, Home Affairs publishes the lowest score it invited for each occupation. The table shows common occupations among UAE-based applicants. A dash means the occupation does not appear in the 189 table for that round, which Home Affairs says can mean nobody was available to invite or nobody met the parameters. The full tables cover 131, 144 and 140 occupations and are on the Home Affairs site.

Healthcare and secondary teaching scores fell from 80–85 in August 2025 to 75 by November and stayed there in June. Civil, mechanical and software engineers and general accountants had no subclass 189 invitations in any of the three rounds. For them the realistic route this year is state nomination (190 or 491), not 189.

Source: Department of Home Affairs, invitations issued by occupation and minimum score invited, rounds of 21 August 2025, 13 November 2025 and 4 June 2026, read 21 October 2026.

2026–27 planning levels and state nominations

On 12 May 2026 the Australian Government set the 2026–27 Permanent Migration Program at 185,000 places, with 132,240 for skilled migration. The split inside the skilled stream moved a lot:

Home Affairs also says the 2026–27 program puts migrants already living in Australia first, with 129,590 places across the skilled and family programs set aside for onshore applicants. Applying from the UAE is still possible; you are competing for a smaller offshore share.

State allocations for 2026–27 had not been published by Home Affairs as at 21 October 2026. Its allocations page still shows the 2025–26 figure of 20,350 places. What Home Affairs has published is the count of nominations states made between 1 July and 31 August 2026:

Tasmania and Western Australia did most of the early nominating. When we read the state sites on 21 October 2026, Tasmania listed 2,050 nomination places for the year (1,250 for 190 and 800 for 491) and no invitations planned in its overseas 491 pathway. The Northern Territory said it had received enough applications for 2026–27 and was not taking new 190 or offshore applications. The ACT said its 2026–27 allocation was not yet confirmed, and New South Wales said 491 applications were closed for the current program year. State settings change week to week, so read the state page before you pay for anything.

Sources: Home Affairs, Permanent Migration Program planning levels and State and territory nomination allocations (both last updated 21 September 2026); SkillSelect invitation rounds, state and territory nominations table; state pages for Tasmania, the Northern Territory, the ACT and NSW, read 21 October 2026.

What this means if you live in the UAE

• Rounds are rare, so have the file ready before the invitation. There were none between November 2025 and June 2026. Once invited you get 60 days, and UAE police certificates, salary certificates and employer reference letters take time to collect. Start collecting them while you wait for a round.
• Update your EOI the day a new English score arrives. Ties are broken by the date your EOI reached its score, so a PTE or IELTS result sitting in your inbox for two weeks costs you queue position. Superior English earns 20 points against 10 for Proficient on the Home Affairs points table.
• Watch your birthday. Age points drop from 30 to 25 at 33 and to 15 at 40, and the points table gives none from 45. If you are 32 with a 189 score just under your occupation’s cut-off, the months before your birthday matter more than anything else on this page.
• Civil and mechanical engineers, software engineers and general accountants should plan around a state. None of those four occupations appeared in the 189 tables in the last three published rounds. A 190 nomination adds 5 points and a 491 adds 15, and the state lists decide whether either is open to you this year.
• Expect a longer wait after lodging. Ministerial Direction 122, in effect since 19 September 2026, puts applications relating to construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources first, then applicants who were in Australia when they lodged, then single applicants outside Australia. Offshore applications that include family members come in the last group.

For the points test and the difference between 189, 190 and 491, see our Australia skilled migration guide. To check whether your occupation is on the right list, see the Australia skilled occupation list, and for a first estimate of your score use the Australia points calculator.

Questions we get about SkillSelect rounds

Did the 15 October 2026 SkillSelect round happen, and what were the results?

Several Australian migration agencies reported clients receiving subclass 189 invitations on 15 October 2026. As at 21 October 2026 Home Affairs had not published results for that round: its invitation rounds page, last updated 14 October 2026, still shows 4 June 2026 as the current round. The agency figures are samples of their own clients and they disagree with each other, so we do not print them as cut-offs. We will add the official results when Home Affairs publishes them.

How many SkillSelect rounds were there in the 2025-26 program year?

Three. On 21 August 2025 Home Affairs invited 6,887 people for subclass 189 and 150 for subclass 491 (family sponsored). On 13 November 2025 it invited 10,000 for 189 and 300 for 491. On 4 June 2026 it invited 10,000 for 189. That is 26,887 subclass 189 invitations across the three published round tables (the Home Affairs 2025-26 monthly table does not yet include the June round), with no rounds between December 2025 and May 2026.

What score do I need for a subclass 189 invitation?

65 points lets you lodge an Expression of Interest, but invitations go to the highest scores in each occupation. In the 4 June 2026 round nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and secondary teachers were invited at 75, architects at 85, electronics and telecommunications engineers at 95, and carpenters, electricians and plumbers at 65. Civil engineers, mechanical engineers, software engineers and general accountants were not in the 189 tables for any of the last three published rounds.

When is the next SkillSelect invitation round?

Home Affairs had not announced a date for the next subclass 189 round as at 21 October 2026. It runs rounds periodically and does not publish a fixed calendar. State and territory nominations for 190 and 491 do not wait for these rounds; each state invites on its own schedule.

How many places are there for 189, 190 and 491 in 2026-27?

The Home Affairs planning levels for 2026-27 are 21,090 places for Skilled Independent (subclass 189), 35,500 for State and Territory Nominated (subclass 190) and 14,110 for the Regional category, which includes subclass 491. The 189 figure is up from 16,900 in 2025-26 and the Regional figure is down from 33,000. Planning levels count visas granted, so they are not the same as the number of invitations.

Can I get a SkillSelect invitation while living in Dubai?

Yes. You do not need to live in Australia for subclass 189, 190 or 491. The visas themselves do not require a job offer; some state nomination streams do. You lodge the Expression of Interest online from the UAE, and an invitation gives you 60 days to lodge the visa application. Under Ministerial Direction 122, applications from people outside Australia are processed after priority-sector applications and after applicants who were in Australia when they lodged, so plan for a longer wait than someone already in Australia.

Ask us where your score sits against the latest cut-offs for your occupation.

Last updated 21 October 2026 by the Cosmos Immigration case team. We update this page when Home Affairs publishes new round results. Cosmos Immigration is a private consultancy, not a government body. Round results, planning levels and state settings are set by the Australian Government and the states and can change without notice. Australian matters are handled with an independently engaged migration agent who holds the authorisation Australian law requires; you can check that on our verification page.

Sources

• Department of Home Affairs: SkillSelect invitation rounds (current round, 2026–27 totals, state nominations to 31 August 2026; last updated 14 October 2026)
• Department of Home Affairs: SkillSelect previous rounds (21 August and 13 November 2025; last updated 7 October 2026)
• Department of Home Affairs: Permanent Migration Program planning levels (last updated 21 September 2026)
• Department of Home Affairs: State and territory nomination allocations (last updated 21 September 2026)
• Department of Home Affairs: Skilled visa processing priorities (Ministerial Direction 122)
• Department of Home Affairs: Points table (age and English points; 190 and 491 nomination points)
• Department of Home Affairs: Expression of interest (60 days to apply after an invitation)
• State pages, read 21 October 2026: Tasmania 2026–27 program · Northern Territory nomination · ACT Migration · NSW subclass 491
• Unofficial, used only for the status of the 15 October 2026 round: Newstars Education (client sample, updated 16 October 2026) · RACC (client sample)