Important information about accepting your NSW invitation

This page includes must read information about your eligibility to accept your invitation, how to apply, how to complete the application payment, and troubleshooting tips.

skilled migrant

You Can No Longer Change Your SkillSelect EOI

Modifying your EOI after being invited—for any reason—will disqualify you from applying. We verify the date and time your EOI was last modified during the application assessment process.

Key Points to Note

  1. Verify Your SkillSelect EOI: Make sure all information in your SkillSelect EOI is accurate and supported by evidence. If you can't support every claim with evidence at the time of your invitation, you are not eligible to accept your invitation. No exceptions.

  2. Skilled Employment Claims: Don't over-claim points for your skilled employment. Guidelines for eligible employment claims are provided further down this page.

  3. Technical Issues: If you encounter problems while submitting your application, consult the troubleshooting tips below. We don't offer technical support.

  4. Invitation Link Expiry: Your invitation link is active for 14 days only. Make sure to apply for NSW nomination before it expires. We won't reissue expired links.

  5. Immediate Payment: Be prepared to complete the payment as soon as you apply for NSW nomination. If you fail to do so, instructions for requesting a new payment link are provided below. Do not email us for a new link.

  6. Assessment Timeline: Allow up to six weeks for the assessment of your application. Refrain from contacting us for updates during this period.

One-Time Nomination by NSW

NSW will nominate you once only. If NSW approves your nomination and you receive an invitation for a visa from Home Affairs, you become permanently ineligible for future NSW nominations for any visa.

How EOIs are Selected and Your Eligibility to Accept Our Invitation

How We Select EOIs

We evaluate EOIs based on the claims made within them. This includes such things as point score, English proficiency and years of skilled work experience. 

Because your EOI was selected on the basis of the information provided in it during the selection process, you are not eligible to apply for NSW nomination if your claims cannot be substantiated with evidence. 

Eligibility to Accept Our Invitation

Before proceeding to apply for NSW nomination, you must ensure the following:

  1. Evidence-Backed Claims: You must be able to substantiate all claims made in your EOI with valid evidence. Because your EOI was selected based on your claims, it is not sufficient to simply meet the visa minimum requirements. 

  2. Document Validity: All your supporting documents should not only be valid at the time of invitation, but should remain so for at least five days thereafter.

  3. Employment Claims: Do not claim points for employment prior to the date NSW recognises you as skilled. This date is elaborated upon further down this page.

  4. Residency Requirement: You must meet the specific residency criteria.  Our residency requirement is elaborated upon further down this page.

Ineligibility to Apply

You are not eligible to apply for NSW nomination if you fail to meet any of the above criteria.

Note: No exceptions will be made to these eligibility requirements.


Skilled Employment Claims for NSW Nomination

Unique Requirement for NSW

For the purpose of NSW nomination, the date from which you can claim skilled employment is specific to our state's criteria.

Criteria for Claiming Skilled Employment

You may only claim skilled employment from:

  1. Skills Assessor's Date: The date your skills assessor officially recognises you as skilled, provided this date is explicitly stated on your skills assessment.

  2. Qualifying Study Completion Date: If your skills assessor does not specify this date, you may only claim skilled employment from the date you completed your qualifying study.

Ineligibility Due to Early Employment Claims:

If you've claimed employment in your EOI prior to meeting the above criteria, you are not eligible to accept an invitation to apply for NSW nomination.

Note: No exceptions will be made to this unique NSW requirement.


NSW Residency Requirements

Your invitation was issued based on your current residence as stated in your SkillSelect EOI. To apply for NSW nomination, you must provide evidence you meet our residency requirements:

For Onshore Candidates:

  • 190 Visa: You must be currently residing in NSW and have continuously resided in NSW for a minimum period of six months.
  • 491 Visa: You must be currently residing in NSW and have continuously resided in NSW for a minimum period of three months.

For Offshore Candidates:

  • 190 Visa: You must be currently residing offshore and have continuously resided offshore for a minimum period of six months.
  • 491 Visa: You must be currently residing offshore and have continuously resided offshore for a minimum period of three months.

Note: No exceptions will be made to these requirements.

Document Validity Requirements

Importance of Valid Documents

When applying for NSW nomination, it's crucial that all your supporting documents meet our validity criteria. Failure to comply will result in being ineligible to apply for NSW nomination.

Criteria for Document Validity

  1. Valid at Time of Invitation: All supporting documents must be valid at the time you receive your invitation to apply for NSW nomination.

  2. Continued Validity: These documents must remain valid for a minimum of five days following your application submission.

Consequence of Invalid Documents

If any of your documents fail to meet these validity requirements, you are not eligible to apply for NSW nomination.

Note: No exceptions will be made to this document validity requirement.

Expedited Assessment Requests

Standard Assessment Time

Application assessments typically take up to six weeks.

Criteria for Expedited Assessment

You may request an expedited assessment if within five working days any of the following will occur:

  1. Your current visa or your partner's current visa will expire.
  2. Your English, skills assessment, or passport, or your partner's, will expire.
  3. You will lose points for age, and this will bring your total points below the minimum required for the visa.

Limitations

Requests for expedited assessments will not be considered for reasons other than those listed above, or if the above criteria will be met beyond five working days from the request. 


NSW Application Fee and Payment Process

Payment Instructions

Once you've applied, expect an email with a payment link to finalise your application fee.

Fee Structure

  • A$330 (including GST) for applicants within Australia
  • A$300 for applicants outside Australia

Accepted Payment Methods

We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Diners Club International, and Union Pay.

Missed Payment Window

If you fail to complete the payment within 30 minutes of application submission, call our office at +61 2 4908 4898 between 10 am and 12:30 pm Sydney time for a new payment link. We won't reissue payment links via email.


Troubleshooting Application Form Issues

Common Issue: Error Messages During Submission

The most frequent issue applicants encounter is receiving an error message when trying to submit the application form.

Likely Cause

This problem is almost always due to a browser issue on the user's end.

Recommended Solutions

  1. Clear Browser History: Delete your browser's history, cache, and cookies, then try again.

  2. Switch Browsers: Try using a different web browser to submit your application.

Limitation on Technical Support

Note that we can't provide technical support for issues related to the application form, as the problem lies at the user's end.

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