On 19 September 2026 the Department of Home Affairs put Ministerial Direction 121 and Ministerial Direction 122 into force. Both directions replace every skilled visa processing priority under Ministerial Direction 119. Your place in the queue now follows a new sector-first order for temporary, provisional, and permanent skilled visas.
Home Affairs published the new order on the skilled visa processing priorities page. Direction 121 covers temporary skilled visa applications. Direction 122 covers listed provisional and permanent skilled visa applications. Undecided files lodged before 19 September 2026 move into the same order as new lodgements.
What Direction 121 changes for subclass 482
Direction 121 sets five priority tiers for Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa applications and Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa applications. Visa officers work from the top tier down.
- Tier 1: applications tied to construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, or resources sectors, or to Australia's law enforcement and defence interests
- Tier 2: applications in the Specialist Skills stream of the Skills in Demand visa
- Tier 3: other applications lodged while the applicant stayed inside Australia
- Tier 4: other applications lodged while the primary applicant stayed outside Australia without a combined family application
- Tier 5: all remaining applications
Priority sector status now sits above location. A nurse or carpenter who lodged from overseas joins the same front tier as a counterpart who lodged inside Australia. Under Direction 119, offshore applicants in shortage roles often waited behind broad onshore queues. Direction 121 removes the location penalty for Tier 1 occupations.
The Specialist Skills stream keeps a dedicated second tier. For nomination lodgements from 1 July 2026 through 30 June 2027, the Specialist Skills Income Threshold stands at AUD 146,576 a year, alongside the market salary rate for the role. Confirm the current threshold on Home Affairs guidance before your sponsor lodges.
What Direction 122 changes for permanent and regional visas
Direction 122 uses four tiers for ten skilled subclasses: Employer Nomination Scheme (186), Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (187), Skilled Independent (189), Skilled Nominated (190), permanent residence (Skilled Regional) (191), Skilled Regional (Provisional) (489), Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (491), Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (494), Skilled Regional (887), and Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (888).
- Tier 1: the same priority sectors as Direction 121
- Tier 2: other applications lodged while the applicant stayed inside Australia
- Tier 3: other applications lodged while the primary applicant stayed outside Australia without a combined family application
- Tier 4: all remaining applications
No Specialist Skills tier appears in Direction 122 because those subclasses lack the Skills in Demand Specialist Skills stream. Location still matters once your occupation falls outside the priority list. Combined family lodgements from overseas sit in the last tier under both directions.
How the priority sectors work
Home Affairs defines sectors by nominated occupation and role, not by employer branding. Construction covers construction trades and related engineering and plant roles. Healthcare covers health professionals and many support workers. Teaching covers school teachers and listed education roles. Agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, and resources follow defined production and support roles. Law enforcement covers police nominations from the Australian Federal Police or a state or territory police force. Defence covers listed AUKUS and Department of Defence related work.
Your ANZSCO code on the nomination or skills assessment decides the tier. A hospital administrator outside the listed health groups stays out of Tier 1. A project title with no matching priority code also stays out. Check the code on your file against the definitions on the Home Affairs priorities page.
What stays the same for you
Priority order decides which file an officer opens next. Priority order does not change visa criteria. You still need the eligible occupation, the required salary, skills evidence, English evidence where required, and a valid nomination or invitation. Health checks, police certificates, and form completeness still control grant timing after an officer starts review.
Home Affairs has not published separate processing times for each tier. Treat Tier 1 as earlier pickup, not as a fixed grant date. Keep your ImmiAccount alerts on, and answer any request for more information without delay so a priority slot does not sit idle.
Actions for applicants and sponsors right now
Review the nominated occupation code first. If your role sits in a priority sector, the new order already lifts your undecided 482, 186, 189, 190, 491, or related file relative to non-priority waiting lists. If your role sits outside those sectors, onshore lodgement still ranks ahead of offshore lodgement, and offshore family-combined lodgement remains last.
- Confirm the ANZSCO code on your nomination matches a priority definition before you change plans
- Upload missing police clearances, health results, and English scores so the file stays decision-ready
- Avoid withdrawing and re-lodging only to chase the new order, because undecided pre-19 September files already fall under Directions 121 and 122
- Ask your sponsor about nomination timing, because the public priorities page addresses visa applications rather than a fresh nomination queue rule
Employers recruiting offshore in construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, or resources gain a clearer path than under Direction 119. Employers recruiting offshore outside those sectors still face the onshore-first pattern for non-priority roles. Align start dates with realistic queue position rather than with old Direction 119 assumptions.
How this fits the September 2026 migration package
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke outlined wider migration settings at the National Press Club on 17 September 2026. Directions 121 and 122 deliver the skilled processing piece two days later. Student partner limits and visitor no-further-stay plans sit in separate workstreams with their own start rules. Skilled applicants should track the directions page for queue order and track student or visitor rules only when those routes apply to your household.
As of 22 September 2026, treat Directions 121 and 122 as the live processing order for the listed skilled subclasses. Read the Home Affairs skilled visa processing priorities page before you change travel plans, family lodging strategy, or job start dates. Your occupation code and lodgement location now decide where your file sits in the Australian skilled queue.
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