Australian government invited only 50 candidates to apply for permanent residency visa 189 subclass through their April 2020 invitation round. Recently-released Department of Home Affairs data reveals only 100 candidates were invited to apply for two skilled visas –50 for subclass 189 visa which is a skilled independent permanent residency visa while 50 invitations went to candidates willing to live and work in regional Australia under visa subclass 491. The visa subclass 491 is a regional pathway for Australian permanent residency after fulfilling pathway requirement of living and working in regional area for three consecutive years.
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Invitation round on 11th April 2020 invited 17 candidates with a 95-point score claimed for visa subclass 189. Another 15 invited for the same subclass who claimed their points 100 on their EOI submitted through SkillSelect. The number of candidates invited to apply for 189 skilled independent visa subclass who claimed more than 100 points are 18. Among them, 12 claimed 105 points, and rest claimed 110 and 115 points on their EOI submitted to the Department of Home Affairs.
For the subclass 491 regional provisional visa, 27 candidates were invited on their 95 points claim. Another 9 candidates got invitation on 100 points, and 13 got with their 105 points claim. One candidate who got invited on 11 April round claimed 110 points for a regional provisional visa.
Point scores and the dates of effect cut off for the 11 April 2020 invitation round
| Subclass | Occupation ID | Description | Minimum points score | Latest date of effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 189 | 2211 | Accountants | 100 | 25/03/2020 8:33PM |
| 189 | 2212 | Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers | 95 | 16/01/2020 6:41PM |
| 189 | 2334 | Electronics Engineer | 95 | 20/03/2020 8:36PM |
| 491 | 2334 | Electronics Engineer | 95 | 18/03/2020 9:45PM |
| 189 | 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 95 | 18/03/2020 10:04PM |
| 491 | 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 105 | 19/11/2019 7:50PM |
| 189 | 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals | 95 | 23/03/2020 12:45AM |
| 491 | 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals | 105 | 11/12/2019 5:17PM |
| 189 | 2611 | ICT Business and System Analysts | 95 | 13/03/2020 4:10AM |
| 491 | 2611 | ICT Business and System Analysts | 105 | 2/04/2020 3:20PM |
| 189 | 2613 | Software and Applications Programmers | 95 | 24/03/2020 3:15PM |
| 491 | 2613 | Software and Applications Programmers | 95 | 10/04/2020 7:12PM |
| 189 | 2631 | Computer Network Professionals | 95 | 21/03/2020 10:25AM |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
The highest point claimed was 115 for subclass 189 visa on the 11 April 2020 invitation round. Though this invitation round generated very few invitations for aspirants willing to spend their life in Australia as a permanent resident, evident 100 plus point score range are achievable. To apply for skilled migration visas, Australia invites candidates by rank through point scores on SkillSelect they claimed, for a relevant subclass. The minimum point score was 95 for both skilled independent visa 189 as well as skilled work regional provisional visa 491 with the latest date of effect 25 March 2020 and 10 April 2020, respectively.
In the last ten months, the government has invited a total of 7,000 candidates to apply for permanent residency visa 189. Another 1350 were invited to apply for regional provisional 491 visa. Though now discontinued, 300 candidates were invited to apply for regional provisional visa 489, which was more flexible than newly introduced regional visa 491 in terms of minimum income and living regional.
