SKILLED INDEPENDENT VISA – Subclass 189

This visa is for invited workers and New Zealand citizens with the skills we need, to live and work permanently anywhere in Australia. Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) Points-tested stream This visa lets invited workers with skills we need to live and work permanently anywhere in Australia.

• You don’t need a sponsor or nominator
• You must be invited to apply
• You must be under 45 to be invited Stay Permanently Cost From AUD4,045 Processing Time 75% of applications: 7 months 90% of applications: 8 months With this visa, you can
• Stay in Australia permanently
• work and study in Australia
• enroll in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
• sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
• travel to and from Australia for 5 years
• if eligible, become an Australian citizen Newly arrived residents may have to wait before they can access certain Australian Government payments and benefits.

How long you can stay

This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia indefinitely. The visa has a travel component that expires 5 years after the date of visa grant. You become a permanent resident on the day we grant the visa. For citizenship purposes, your permanent residence starts on the day:

• we grant the visa if you are in Australia
• you enter Australia on this visa if you are outside Australia Include family You can include members of the family unit in your application. You can:
• include them when you lodge your visa application
• add them after you lodge your application but before we decide on your visa.

Family members who apply for the visa must meet our health and character requirements. If your partner or dependent children are not included in this application, tell us the reason why (for example, they already hold Australian citizenship or are a permanent resident).

Cost 

The visa costs AUD4,045 for the main applicant. There is also a charge for each family member who applies for the visa with you. To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. You might have to pay an extra charge for any applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English.

This charge is the second installment. Pay it only when we ask you to. We ask for the charge only if we are going to grant the visa. The second installment charge for family members is AUD4,885. The Visa Pricing Estimator does not include the second installment or other costs. You might also have to pay other costs for health checks, police certificates, and biometrics.

Apply from You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when we decide on your application, but not in immigration clearance. If you apply in Australia, you must hold a substantive or a subclass 010 Bridging A visa, a subclass 020 Bridging B visa, or a subclass 030 Bridging C visa, otherwise, your application will not be processed.

Processing times

We assess applications on a case-by-case basis, and actual processing times can vary due to individual circumstances including:

• whether you have lodged a complete application, including all necessary supporting documents
• how quickly you respond to any requests for additional information
• how long it takes to perform required checks on the supporting information provided
• how long it takes to receive additional information from external agencies, particularly in relation to health, character, and national security requirements
• for permanent migration visa applications, how many places are available in the migration program Travel You can travel in and out of Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date we grant the visa.
• After 5 years you will need a Resident Return (RRV) visa (subclass 155 or 157) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident. Visa label We will digitally link your visa to your passport. You will not get a label in your passport. Have a suitable skills assessment For your application to be valid, you must declare that you have a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation. You will need to provide a copy of this skills assessment with your application.
• For medical and legal practitioners, we also accept the following as proof of a skills assessment:
• full or unconditional or general medical registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
• Conditional specialist registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. This only allows you to practice in your specialty. You need no further training or supervision
• Admission to practice law in the relevant state or territory Your skills assessment must have been obtained the 3 years before the date of your invitation. If the assessment was for a shorter period, that period must not have passed. If your skills were assessed on the basis of a qualification you got in Australia when you held a student visa, the qualification must be from studying a course registered on CRICOS. Be able to score 65 points or more This is a points-tested visa. When you submit your EOI in SkillSelect you will be given an indicative points score based on the claims you have made. If you do not obtain a score of 65 points you will not be invited to apply for this visa. If we do invite you to apply for the visa, your invitation will state the number of points that you must score when we assess your application for grant of the visa (this score may be higher than 65 points, depending on your claims in the EOI). When you lodge your application you must provide evidence supporting your claims

• To calculate how many points you may score use the points calculator. 

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