Policy note, current as at 30 July 2026.
This is about the order in which applications are processed.
It changes no eligibility criteria: nothing about what you must prove has changed.
As always this is provided as general information and is not provided as, intended to be, or should be taken to be immigration assistance. The information provided in this post is current as at 31 July 2026.
On 25 July 2026, Ministerial Direction 119 took effect and replaced the processing priorities that had operated under Ministerial Direction 105.
It applies to all applications already on hand as well as new ones - and, for the first time, it expressly brings the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) program inside the priority framework. MD 105 never covered the 482.
Two questions now decide your place in the queue.
Under the new direction, priority turns on your occupation and on where you are when you apply.
Occupations supporting Australia’s law enforcement and defence interests sit at the top, followed by construction, healthcare and teaching.
And across the board, applicants who are already in Australia are processed ahead of applicants who are outside Australia.
If you are applying from overseas
We will say this plainly, because most of the workers we help apply from offshore:
Under MD 119, an offshore application now sits behind an onshore application in the processing order.
New processing-time patterns for offshore applications are expected to take a month or two to become clear, and we will be watching them closely.
Two things have not changed:
Priority processing has never been a guarantee of a fast decision, and the direction alters nothing about the criteria your application must meet.
A strong, complete, decision-ready application remains the best thing you can control - and that part is exactly what we do.
If you are an employer:
Nominations and applications already lodged may be re-ordered in the queue according to the new priorities, and 482 nominations are now expressly within the framework.
The practical effect is on sequencing and workforce planning:
When you need people on the ground matters more than ever in deciding when and how to lodge. If your pipeline includes offshore candidates, build the new processing order into your planning assumptions now rather than discovering it later.
The primary sources
Ministerial Direction 119
If you’re trying to work out what this means for your application or your workforce, start at Visas & Immigration, or talk to us.
Current as at 30 July 2026.