Skilled visa processing priorities - Order of Consideration for processing Visa

Australian Skilled visa applications are processed according to government policy priorities, which are outlined in Ministerial Direction No. 100, which has been updated on 28 Oct 2022.

The new Ministerial Direction is designed to allow the Department to process more skilled applications faster and respond quickly to labour market needs, speeding up processing for all occupations and makes the process less complicated.

Prioritising offshore permanent and provisional skilled visa applications will also enable more workers to enter Australia and contribute to the economy and ease labour shortages.

Applications relating to occupations in regional Australia continue to have priority , helping to support agricultural and other regional work force needs.

This direction removes the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) implemented in September 2020, which involved time-consuming and complex assessments.

The Department of Home Affairs has finalised over 2,780,000 visas since 1 June 2022. This includes over 43,000 temporary skilled applications and over 47,000 permanent skilled visa applications. These delivery numbers have only been possible because there are 260 more staff working on visa processing than there were at the start of May 2022
 

• Prioritises applications in relation to healthcare and teaching occupations, as well as offshore permanent and provisional applications.
• Visa applications in relation to an occupation to be carried out in a designated regional area.
• Helps small businesses seeking to recruit overseas workers. It speeds up processing for all occupations and makes the process less complicated. This change will allow more applications to be processed faster, particularly for the critical Temporary Skill Shortage visa, which is designed to respond quickly to labour market needs.

The new priorities apply to all skilled visa nominations and visa applications that are yet to be decided, as well as new applications lodged.

Healthcare or Teaching Occupations being prioritised.

    ANZSCO Sub-major Group 25 - Health Professionals
    ANZSCO Minor Group 241 - School Teachers
    ANZSCO Minor Group 411 - Health and Welfare Support Workers
    ANZSCO Unit Group 1341 - Child Care Centre Managers
    ANZSCO Unit Group 2346 - Medical Scientists
    ANZSCO Unit Group 2721 - Counsellors
    ANZSCO Unit Group 2723 - Psychologists
    ANZSCO Unit Group 2725 - Social Workers
    ANZSCO Unit Group 3112 - Medical Technicians
    ANZSCO occupations:
        134311 - School Principal
        421111 - Child Care Worker
        423111 - Aged or Disabled Carer
        423312 - Nursing Support Worker
        423313 - Personal Care Assistant.