Two new Ministerial Directions (Ministerial Direction 121 and Ministerial Direction 122) under S499 of the Migration Act 1958 have come into effect on 19/09/2026. Minister for Immigration Tony Burke has changed the order of processing priorities that apply across Skilled Migration Programs. This is the Minister of Home Affairs providing new instruction to the Department of Home Affairs in relation to the order for which skilled nomination and visa applications are processed.
Ministerial Direction 121 provides a 5-tier order of consideration and applies to the 482 Skills in Demand visa pathway.
Current processing times for 482 are provided below noting that the Department is transitioning and that these times are subject to change as the reprioritisation occurs.
Priority 1 – Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources sectors or in Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests
Priority 2 – Visa applications from applicants in the Specialist Stream. The minimum salary under tis stream is $146,576 per annum plus super. (the department is currently processing applications lodged in July 2026).
Priority 3 – Visa applications from applicants who were in Australia at the time they lodged the visa application (the department is currently processing applications lodged inJanuary 2026).
Priority 4 – Visa applications where the primary applicant was outside of Australia at the time they lodged their application, and whose application is not combined with any another person’s application at any time (the department is currently processing applications lodged inOctober 2025).
Priority 5 – All other visa from applicants who were outside Australia at the time they applied (the department is currently processing applications lodged inOctober 2025).
Ministerial Direction 122 provides a 4-tier order of consideration and applies to the 186 and 494 Employer Sponsored Skilled Pathway as well as 187,189,190,191,489,497,887,888 Skilled Migration Program. Current processing times for 482 are provided below noting that the Department is transitioning and that these times are subject to change as the reprioritisation occurs.
Priority 1 – Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources sectors or in Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests
Priority 2 – Visa applications from applicants who were in Australia at the time they lodged the visa application (the department is currently processing applications lodged in February 2025).
Priority 3 – Visa applications where the primary applicant was outside of Australia at the time they lodged their application and whose application is not combined with any another person’s application at any time (the department is currently processing applications lodged inJuly 2024).
Priority 4 – All other visa from applicants who were outside Australia at the time they applied (the department is currently processing applications lodged in July 2024).
