Effective 25 July 2026, Ministerial Direction 119 replaced the previous Direction 105 and changed how the Department of Home Affairs prioritises a range of skilled visa applications, including Skills in Demand Subclass 482 nominations and visa applications.

Importantly, Direction 119 also covers applications still in the queue – so if yours was lodged before 25 July 2026 but not yet decided, the new rules apply.

If you are applying from outside Australia, you should be prepared for a longer wait than under the previous rules. For employers sponsoring overseas workers, the key takeaway is not that overseas recruitment should stop. It is that recruitment timelines, particularly where a candidate is outside Australia, will now require more careful planning.

More information can be found on the Department's website.

Two things now decide where your application sits in the queue:

1. the occupation being nominated, and
2. whether the applicant is in Australia or overseas at the time the application is lodged.
   
   

Specifically, applications will now be processed in the following order:

1. Onshore (ie. In Australia) applicants in occupations supporting Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests
2. Offshore (ie. Overseas) applicants in occupations supporting Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests
3. Onshore applicants in specified construction, healthcare, and teaching occupations
4. All other onshore applicants
5. All other offshore applicants

Why the change?

The stated aim is to fill critical skill shortages in Australia, while giving preference to people already living and working in Australia. The change also aligns with the government’s broader objective of reducing Net Overseas Migration (NOM) amid a rising number of temporary visa holders, though it is unclear how large of an impact Ministerial Direction 119 will have on this.

What this means for visa applicants

Offshore applicants get priority only if their occupations are in law enforcement or defence. The priority given to construction, healthcare and teaching only applies to applicants who were in Australia when they lodged, so most offshore applicants – including those on Subclass 482 – will fall within the fifth and lowest priority group.

A lower processing priority does not affect whether you are eligible for a visa – it only determines the order in which applications are allocated and considered. It also does not automatically mean a lengthy delay. The practical impact depends on the number and type of applications the Department is holding at any given time; when volumes are high, offshore applicants in the lowest priority group may wait longer while higher-priority applications are processed first.

What this means for employers and accredited sponsors

Where there is a choice, nominating a candidate who is already in Australia will likely result in faster processing than nominating someone offshore.

Accredited sponsorship remains valuable and still offers procedural and evidentiary benefits. We continue to see streamlined nomination processing, including nominations approved automatically shortly after lodgement. However, a quickly approved nomination should not be confused with priority processing of the worker's visa application:

• The nomination and the visa application are separate applications.
• Direction 119 does not list accreditation as a priority category.
• A visa application’s priority is determined by the applicant’s occupation and location at lodgement.
• An offshore worker’s visa may still fall into the lowest priority group, even where the employer is accredited.

Some information currently published by the Department of Home Affairs still describes priority processing as a benefit of accredited sponsorship, but the new Direction itself does not include accreditation in its five-level priority hierarchy. Until this is further clarified, employers should not treat accredited status as a guarantee of faster visa processing.

A note on the Specialist Skills stream (Subclass 482)

Direction 119 has removed the separate priority that the Migration Strategy previously gave to applications in the Specialist Skills stream of the Skills in Demand program. These applications are now sorted under the same priority order as everyone else.

• The occupation lists and eligibility rules have not changed. You still need to meet all the usual criteria.
• Decision-ready applications are processed faster. Lodging with complete documentation up front remains the most reliable way to reduce delays.
• If your application is currently pending, review where it now falls in the priority order so your expectations on timing are realistic.

This newsletter is a general summary for information only and is not legal advice. Please contact us to discuss how these changes affect your specific circumstances.