Subclass 189 vs 190 vs 491: which Australian skilled visa fits you

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Subclass 189 vs 190 vs 491: which Australian skilled visa fits you

Australia’s three general skilled migration visas, subclass 189, 190 and 491, share one points test and one set of age and English rules. They differ in who backs the application and in where you may live once it is granted; the 491 is also provisional rather than permanent. If you are in the UAE with a skills assessment in hand, or about to apply for one, this is the choice to settle before you lodge an expression of interest, because state nomination is a separate step that happens before Home Affairs invites you. Below is what Home Affairs publishes about each visa as at August 2026, and how we work through it with applicants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

At a glance

  • All three need a SkillSelect invitation, a listed occupation, a skills assessment, at least 65 points and competent English at invitation.
  • You must be under 45 when invited; turning 45 after the invitation does not stop you applying.
  • Subclass 189 and 190 are permanent. Subclass 491 is a five-year provisional visa with a permanent pathway through subclass 191 after three years.
  • State or territory nomination adds 5 points for the 190 and 15 points for the 491, and each state sets its own criteria.
  • Offshore applications now being allocated for processing were generally lodged in November 2025 (189) and February 2025 (190 and 491).

What the three visas have in common

Home Affairs runs all three through SkillSelect. You lodge an expression of interest (EOI) and can only apply once you are invited. Each visa requires an occupation on its own list, a skills assessment obtained within the 3 years before the invitation, an age under 45 at invitation, at least 65 points and competent English at invitation. The invitation can name a score higher than 65, and if it does you must meet that higher score.

Once invited you have 60 calendar days to lodge, and that period cannot be extended. The invitation may arrive up to 2 years after the EOI. It is not a grant, and we advise clients not to resign from a UAE job on the strength of one. The skills assessment comes from the assessing authority for your occupation, and each authority has its own procedures, timeframes and charges. Because everything else depends on it, it is the first thing we start.

Where they differ: the three-column comparison

Feature Subclass 189 (Points-tested) Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated) Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional)
Type of visa Permanent Permanent (travel facility expires 5 years after grant) Provisional, 5 years
Who backs you Nobody; invited on points alone A state or territory government agency nominates you A state or territory agency nominates you, or an eligible relative in a designated regional area sponsors you
Where you can live and work Anywhere in Australia Anywhere in Australia, subject to your commitment to the nominating state Only in a designated regional area, for you and your family
Extra points for the backing None 5 points 15 points
Visa application charge (main applicant) From AUD 6,135 From AUD 6,140 From AUD 6,140
Route to permanent residence Granted as permanent Granted as permanent Subclass 191 after holding the 491 for 3 years
Offshore applications now being allocated (lodged in) November 2025 February 2025 February 2025

The regional condition on the 491 applies to the whole family. You and every family member on the visa must live, work and study in a designated regional area. Until you have held the 491 for 3 years you cannot apply for other permanent visas, including the 186 and 190.

The points test, and what “competent English” means

The points table is identical for all three. The items that decide most scores:

  • Age: 25 points at 18 to 24, 30 at 25 to 32, 25 at 33 to 39, 15 at 40 to 44.
  • English: competent 0, proficient 10, superior 20.
  • Overseas skilled employment: 5 points for 3 to 4 years, 10 for 5 to 7, 15 for 8 or more, counted in the 10 years before invitation in your nominated or a closely related occupation. Employment points are capped at 20.
  • Qualifications: 15 for a bachelor degree of a recognised standard, 20 for a doctorate; highest qualification only.
  • Partner: 10 if your partner meets the partner-skills criteria, 5 if your partner has competent English, 10 if you are single or your partner is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

A worked example shows how the items combine. Take an applicant aged 34 with a bachelor degree, eight years of overseas skilled employment in the nominated occupation, proficient English and a partner who has not sat an English test. The sheet reads 25 for age, 15 for the degree, 15 for employment, 10 for English and 0 for the partner, which is 65 in total. That meets the floor and no more. A 190 nomination lifts the same person to 70 and a 491 nomination to 80, and a competent English result for the partner adds 5 to either figure. Those two items, the partner’s test and the state nomination, are usually what can still move a score at this level before the EOI. You can run your own numbers on our Australia points calculator.

Home Affairs changed its approved English tests on 7 August 2025. For a test taken since that date, competent English means at least IELTS 6 in each component; PTE Academic 47 listening, 48 reading, 51 writing and 54 speaking; TOEFL iBT 16, 16, 19 and 19, registered under “Taking TOEFL for Australia”; or OET 290, 310, 290 and 330. Competent English earns 0 points. Proficient earns 10 and superior 20, so for many UAE applicants the English score is the one item they can still improve once the skills assessment is in.

State nomination and the regional rules

What the states decide

For the 190, and for the nominated form of the 491, Home Affairs invites you only after a state or territory agency has nominated you. Every agency sets its own criteria and you must contact them directly. An occupation on the national list makes you eligible to lodge an EOI; it does not oblige any state to nominate you.

Where “regional” actually is

Applicants in the UAE often rule out the 491 on the assumption that a designated regional area means a small town. The postcode list says otherwise. It includes Perth (6000 to 6038), Adelaide (5000 to 5171), every ACT postcode, Tasmania, the Gold Coast, Newcastle (2264 to 2308), Wollongong (2500 to 2526) and all of the Northern Territory. The areas not listed are the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane metropolitan postcodes. In practice a state capital such as Perth or Adelaide is available under the 491, while Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are reachable only through the 189 or 190. The trade-off is in the points: a 491 nomination is worth 15, three times the 5 that a 190 nomination carries, in exchange for at least 3 years in a regional area before you can apply for the 191.

The 191 pathway

The subclass 191 (Regional Provisional stream) is how a 491 becomes permanent. You must have held a 491 or 494 for at least 3 years, complied with its conditions for the whole period, and be able to provide Australian Taxation Office notices of assessment for three income years out of the five. Home Affairs states there is no minimum income requirement, and no sponsor or nominator is needed at this stage. The charge is from AUD 630, and applications now being allocated were lodged in January 2026.

Decision guide for a UAE-based applicant

  1. Comfortably above 65 with proficient or superior English, and an occupation on the 189 list. Lodge a 189 EOI and, in parallel, 190 EOIs with the states that nominate your occupation.
  2. At or just above 65, with a state currently nominating your occupation. The 190 is usually the realistic target.
  3. At 65 only once the 15 nomination points are counted, or an occupation that appears only on 491 lists. The 491 is the route that is open, provided the household has agreed to at least 3 years in a regional area before the 191.
  4. Approaching 45. Start the skills assessment now; you can still be invited at 44 and lodge the application after your birthday.

See our Australia skilled migration visa guide for the occupation lists, and the Australia overview if none of the three fits.

From the UAE: what this means for you

Documents. Start with the skills assessment, since every other step depends on it. We build the file around degree certificates, transcripts and employment references that describe your duties in enough detail for the assessing authority. UAE reference letters are frequently two lines on letterhead, and former employers can be slow to reissue them, so we ask for a detailed letter while you are still in contact with the manager who supervised you.

Attestation and translations. If your degree is from outside the UAE, gather the originals now. Retrieving documents from an overseas university is often the slowest step we see, and anything not in English has to be translated before it is submitted.

Police clearances. Home Affairs treats Australian police certificates as valid for 12 months from issue. We therefore time police certificates around the invitation rather than the first meeting.

English tests. IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT and OET are all approved. Check each provider’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi dates and book early if you are aiming for proficient or superior rather than competent.

Timelines from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Before the EOI, the pace is set by the skills assessment and the English score; in our experience that stage takes months rather than weeks. Then comes the wait for an invitation, which can be up to 2 years. After lodging, Home Affairs processes skilled visas under Ministerial Direction 119, in effect from 25 July 2026, which prioritises by occupation and by where you were when you applied. Your UAE residence visa, tenancy renewal and school year all need to be planned against that sequence.

Frequently asked questions

My IELTS is from before 7 August 2025. Does it still count?

It may. Home Affairs says results from before the 7 August 2025 change can remain valid for up to 3 years depending on the visa subclass. If you sit again, the new score table applies.

Does a 491 lock me into a small town?

No. The postcode list includes Perth, Adelaide, the ACT, Tasmania, the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong and all of the Northern Territory; only the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane metropolitan postcodes are left out.

What happens if I turn 45 while waiting?

Turn 45 after you are invited and you can still apply. Turn 45 after lodging the EOI but before an invitation and you will not be invited; Home Affairs will not process an application from someone who was already 45 at invitation.

What to do next

To find out which fits you, start with a free eligibility assessment, call 04 357 7796, or book a 20-minute review with a MARA-registered consultant in Dubai or Abu Dhabi through our contact page. We have completed 10,569 assessments since 2014, and you can check any consultant’s registration on our verify credentials page. We do not promise outcomes; we tell you what the rules say and what your file can support.

Sources

Cover photo: M G via Pexels

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