Australia 190 State Nomination 2026: Why PR Depends on a State or Territory
State or territory nomination is not an optional extra on the Subclass 190 — it is the condition that turns a points score into an application. On the Australian Department of Home Affairs’ official Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) page (as at the July 2026 official page), the Department states that you can only apply if it invites you, that it will only invite you if a state or territory government agency has nominated you, and that the pathway begins with an expression of interest (EOI) in SkillSelect. In other words, the 190 is a permanent skilled visa that a jurisdiction has to claim first; points alone never reach the application stage.
What follows is general information drawn from the pages cited at the end, not advice on any individual case. State and territory criteria are set independently and change frequently, and how the rules bite depends on your own occupation, history and documents, so the official pages remain the authority you should rely on.
Why does a state or territory have to nominate you?
Because the 190 is designed as a nomination-based permanent visa. The Department’s own sequencing is: submit an EOI → a state or territory government agency sees the completed EOI and may nominate you → if you are nominated, you receive an invitation to apply. There is no branch of that sequence where an applicant self-nominates, and no branch where a high score substitutes for a nominator.
That is the structural feature separating the 190 from Australia’s independent points-tested skilled migration, where no state or territory stands behind the application. On the 190, the nominator is effectively a second decision-maker: it decides whether your skills are the ones it wants before the Department ever decides whether you meet the visa criteria.
How does nomination actually become an invitation?
The chain runs through SkillSelect, and each link is separate:
- The EOI is not an application. It is a declaration of interest, it can be submitted from inside or outside Australia, and there is no fee for submitting it. SkillSelect estimates your points from the claims you make.
- States and territories read completed EOIs. Once submitted, your EOI becomes visible to state and territory government agencies. If your skills match what they want, an agency may nominate you.
- Nomination produces the invitation. Being nominated is what triggers the invitation; the EOI on its own does not.
- The invitation is time-limited. You have 60 calendar days from the date of invitation to apply, and the Department states it cannot extend this time. The invitation also states the points score you must achieve when the application is assessed. An invitation may arrive up to two years after the EOI is submitted, and if you fail to apply after two invitations your EOI is removed from SkillSelect.
The eight nominating agencies are the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Each sets its own criteria for who it will nominate, and those criteria are not interchangeable across jurisdictions — a profile that one jurisdiction wants may attract nothing from another.
Who decides what: Canberra or the state?
Roughly speaking, the Commonwealth owns the visa criteria and the jurisdiction owns the nomination decision.
| Decided by the Australian Government | Decided by the nominating state or territory agency |
|---|---|
| Minimum 65 points on the points test, and the score stated on your invitation (which may be higher) | Whether your occupation and profile are ones it wants to nominate |
| Under 45 at the time of invitation | Its own nomination criteria and process, and what it expects from applicants |
| At least competent English at time of invitation | Whether to nominate you from the EOI pool at all |
| Nominated occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list | Whether to maintain or withdraw that nomination |
| Suitable skills assessment, health, character, debts to the Australian Government, Australian Values Statement | — |
The practical consequence for planning: on the 190 you are optimising for two different audiences at once. A strong points score satisfies only the Commonwealth half of the table.
What must be true at the moment of invitation?
Timing matters more on this visa than applicants usually expect, because several criteria are assessed as at the date of invitation rather than the date of application:
- Age. You must be under 45 when invited. If you turn 45 after the invitation, you can still apply; if you turn 45 after submitting the EOI but before an invitation, the Department states you will not be invited.
- English. At least competent English is required at time of invitation.
- Skills assessment. Your application is only valid if you declare a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation, and the assessment must have been obtained in the 3 years before the invitation date (or, if it was issued for a shorter period, that period must not have lapsed). Following the decision in Thapa v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2021] FCCA 686, Minister’s delegates will accept a suitable skills assessment obtained within the 60-day invitation period — though the Minister reserves the right to argue in court that Thapa was wrongly decided. For medical practitioners, full or unconditional general registration, or conditional specialist registration, with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency is accepted; for lawyers, admission to practice in the relevant state or territory.
- Occupation. The nominated occupation must appear on the relevant list of eligible skilled occupations for the 190.
- Health, character, debts and values. You must meet the health and character requirements; accompanying family members must meet the health requirement and, if aged 16 years or over, the character requirement; non-accompanying family members must meet the character requirement and may also need to meet health. Any debt owed to the Australian Government by you or family members — including those not applying with you — must be repaid or arranged for repayment. Applicants aged 18 or over must have read (or had explained) the Life in Australia material and sign an Australian Values Statement.
If you are in Australia when you apply, you must hold a substantive visa or a Bridging visa A, B or C. If you currently hold, or your last substantive visa was, a Subclass 491 or 494, you must have held that visa for at least 3 years at the time you apply.
Does nomination mean the visa will be granted?
No. The Department is explicit that getting an invitation does not mean the visa will be granted. After you apply you must still prove the points claimed on your invitation and meet every other criterion. If the application is refused, the Department will tell you why and whether you have a right to review, and it will not refund the application charge.
Nor is nomination a one-way commitment. The official page states that if the state or territory agency that nominated you withdraws the nomination after you have applied, your application becomes invalid. Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 frames the same point as criterion 190.215 — “the nominating State or Territory government agency has not withdrawn the nomination” — alongside 190.211 (written invitation), 190.212 (skills assessment), 190.213 (competent English) and 190.214 (points score).
Think of it this way: for a hypothetical applicant who is nominated, invited and then loses the nomination during processing, the problem is not a weakness in the points claim or a missing document — it is that the visa’s foundational condition has disappeared, and there is nothing left to assess.
Who is the 190 actually built for?
The 190 suits applicants whose occupation is wanted by a specific jurisdiction and who can satisfy the Commonwealth criteria at invitation. It is a poor fit for anyone who needs certainty about timing, because two separate discretionary gates — the jurisdiction’s decision to nominate, and the Department’s invitation — sit between an EOI and an application, and the second can arrive up to two years after the first.
It also carries a jurisdictional dimension that independent skilled migration does not. Your EOI is a national document read by eight agencies with different priorities; the same profile can be competitive in one jurisdiction and invisible in another. That is why the state or territory is the variable to understand first, and the points table second.
FAQ
Is being nominated the same as being invited to apply?
No. Nomination comes from a state or territory government agency and is what makes an invitation possible; the invitation itself comes from the Department through SkillSelect. You apply for the visa only after the invitation, and you have 60 calendar days to do so.
Is 65 points enough for the 190?
Sixty-five is the floor, not the target. The Department states you will not be invited without an estimated score of at least 65 points, but the invitation you receive states the score you must achieve at assessment, and that may be higher depending on your EOI claims.
Can I apply for the 190 directly once a state has nominated me?
Not on the strength of the nomination alone. The EOI is not a visa application and carries no fee; you must receive an invitation before applying, and you lodge online through ImmiAccount within 60 days of that invitation.
What happens if I turn 45 after submitting my EOI?
It depends on when the invitation arrives. You must be under 45 at the time of invitation, so if you turn 45 after submitting the EOI but before being invited, the Department states you will not be invited. If you turn 45 after the invitation is issued, you can still apply.
What happens if the nominating agency withdraws my nomination after I apply?
Your application becomes invalid. The official page states this outcome directly, and Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 expresses it as criterion 190.215 — that the nominating agency has not withdrawn the nomination — which is why the nomination must remain in place throughout processing, not just at lodgement.
Will I get my money back if the 190 is refused?
No. The Department states it will not refund the application charge if the application is refused, and it will tell you the reasons for refusal and whether you have a right to have the decision reviewed.
Do I have to be in Australia to apply, or to be granted the visa?
Neither. You can apply from inside or outside Australia and you can be outside Australia when the decision is made, but you cannot be in immigration clearance at the time of decision. If you are in Australia when applying, you must hold a substantive visa or a Bridging visa A, B or C.