Common questions about skilled visas
What you need to know about NSW nomination for subclass 190 and subclass 491 visas.
General enquiries
No. Once you are nominated by NSW – which means that your NSW application was approved and you were invited to apply for the visa by Home Affairs – you permanently lose eligibility to be nominated again for any skilled visa. This includes:
where you could not accept your nomination because there was incorrect information in your SkillSelect EOI (Expression of Interest) — it is the EOI owner's responsibility to ensure they are able to apply to Home Affairs for the visa if nominated, or
you do not apply to Home Affairs for the visa and your nomination expires, or
you were nominated in previous financial years
NSW may periodically adjust the published eligibility criteria to ensure the skill needs of NSW are met. Any changes apply to all EOIs regardless of when they were submitted (or amended) in SkillSelect.
The eligibility criteria for each visa are available at:
Invitation rounds
You should not wait to be invited by NSW. Being invited to apply for NSW nomination is competitive. As such, we strongly recommend all prospective migrants explore all other migration pathways and do not wait to be invited by NSW.
Invitation rounds occur frequently throughout the financial year with no set date. We cannot advise the date of upcoming invitation rounds.
Because EOI numbers are prevented from being invited more than once, if you do not apply using your invitation link and wish to be considered again in a future invitation round, you must submit a new EOI in SkillSelect.
If you were invited by NSW for the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) it is because you submitted an EOI in SkillSelect seeking nomination for that specific visa subclass.
Skills lists
NSW skills lists are at the ANZSCO unit group level. Visit our Skills List page to see if the unit group that your occupation belongs to is eligible for NSW nomination for the visa you are seeking nomination for.
Important: not all occupations within a listed unit group are eligible for that visa. Whether an occupation is eligible for a visa is determined by Home Affairs.
To be considered for NSW nomination, you must hold a valid skills assessment for an occupation that is BOTH eligible for the specific visa AND falls within an ANZSCO unit group shown on that visa’s skills list.
We cannot nominate anyone in an occupation that is not eligible for a given visa.
Visit the Home Affairs website to confirm that your occupation is eligible for a given visa before you apply for a skills assessment.
NSW Skills Lists are typically reviewed annually at the beginning of each financial year; however, changes may be made throughout the year to ensure NSW’s skills needs are being met.
Residency
Yes, offshore applicants are eligible in all eligible occupations; however, you must be currently residing offshore and have done so for a minimum period of:
six months for the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190), or
three months for the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491)
To prove your residency, you must provide:
bank statements for a minimum of six months from your main transaction account showing your salary and everyday transactions
In addition to the following documents (as applicable to you):
rental or lease agreements
utility bills, e.g. gas, water etc
other bills, e.g. phone, internet etc
driver’s licenses or proof of age cards
No. You do not have to be currently working (or have previously worked) in NSW in your nominated (or closely related) occupation to be eligible for nomination.
We do not consider any time spent in NSW on a tourist visa as you residing in NSW. As such, any time spent in NSW on a tourist visa cannot be counted toward the required residency timeframe.
Skilled employment
NSW defines ‘skilled employment’ as employment that is:
after the date you are deemed skilled in your nominated occupation, AND
in your nominated (or closely related) occupation, AND
for remuneration of at least 20 hours per week
For NSW nomination, you may only claim skilled employment after the date you have been deemed skilled in your occupation. This date is either (whichever is later):
the date you have been deemed skilled by your skills assessor (if applicable), or
the date you completed your qualifying study
If you are unsure whether your skills assessment shows the explicit date they have deemed you to be skilled in your occupation, you should contact your skills assessor directly.
NSW will not accept employment as skilled before you completed your qualifying study.
If you have been invited to apply for NSW nomination, and you have claimed skilled employment before the date you were deemed skilled, unfortunately, you are not eligible to accept your invitation to apply for NSW nomination.
If you have a valid skills assessment, which has assessed your skilled employment, you do not need to obtain a new assessment for ongoing employment after you obtained your assessment.
You can prove your further skilled employment by supplying evidence including:
employment contract
employment reference letter detailing the duration of your employment, the hours worked per week and duties performed
payslips, and
your letter of offer
Applying for NSW nomination
You can apply for NSW nomination for the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) under Pathway 1 shortly. This will be announced on our website and Skilled Migration newsletter. We cannot provide a timeframe when this will occur at this stage.
Common reasons why applications are declined include where an applicant:
Wasn't eligible to claim all the points in their EOI
It is the responsibility of the EOI owner to ensure they can provide evidence for all the claims in their SkillSelect EOI. Common causes of this include:
claiming credentialled community language points when your qualification has expired. Your CCL certificate must be valid on the day you are invited to apply by NSW to claim these points
claiming professional year points when not eligible
claiming points for skilled employment before the date you are deemed skilled in your occupation
Does not meet the residency requirement
You must be either currently residing in NSW or offshore and have continuously done so for a minimum period of six months.
Over-claimed points for employment
If your skills assessment displays a date you have been deemed skilled in your occupation, you cannot claim points for skilled employment before this date. This particularly applies to ACS and most VETASSESS assessments.
If your assessment does not display this date, you cannot claim points for skilled employment before you completed your qualification.
To ensure you are eligible to accept your NSW invitation, we strongly recommend you confirm you are eligible to claim all the points in your SkillSelect EOI, and that you have only claimed eligible skilled employment.
If you have claimed points in error, you are not eligible to accept your NSW invitation if invited. There are no exceptions for any reason.
Yes. You may still apply for NSW nomination with an expired document. To do this, click the checkbox in the application form to advise our office you are applying with an expired document. Further information about this process is explained in your invitation email.
Our invitation links are valid for 14 days only – you must apply within this time. We will not reissue your invitation if the link expires.
If you do not apply to NSW using your invitation link and wish to be considered again in a future invitation round, you must submit a new EOI in SkillSelect – EOI numbers are prevented from being invited more than once.
I'm claiming points for skilled employment
For NSW nomination, you must provide an ACS 'skills assessment', and your employment must be assessed by ACS. You can only claim points for employment after the date ACS deems you skilled in your occupation.
You cannot provide an ACS 'post-Australian study assessment' if you are claiming points for employment.
I'm not claiming points for skilled employment
You can provide any ACS assessment accepted by Home Affairs.
Applying to Investment NSW
A non-refundable application fee of A$330 (including GST) applies if applying from within Australia, or A$300 if applying from outside Australia.
Applying to an RDA office
Each RDA office sets their own fees. You need to contact the RDA office you wish to apply to directly for information about their fee structure.