Changes to Australian migration law and policy affecting skilled visas, newest first. Each update names the instrument or official source it comes from.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) will move its skills assessments to a new online portal, rename its assessment types and revise its fees. ANMAC expects the changes to take effect later this year and has not yet announced a date.
Who this affects: Nurses and midwives planning an ANMAC skills assessment for a skilled visa, applicants with an ANMAC assessment already in progress, and applicants seeking an assessment for the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement or a Designated Area Migration Agreement.
The Department of Home Affairs has announced that the next SkillSelect invitation round for the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa will be held on 15 October 2026.
Who this affects: People who have lodged an Expression of Interest in SkillSelect for the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa.
Registrations of interest for Queensland’s State Nominated Migration Program are closed, and Migration Queensland has published no opening date or allocation for 2026–27.
Who this affects: Anyone on the Gold Coast or elsewhere in Queensland waiting to register interest for a subclass 190 or 491 nomination. There is nothing to lodge with Migration Queensland at present, and an expression of interest in SkillSelect is not a registration of interest with the State.
Two instruments commenced on 22 September 2026. One remakes the designated areas for condition 8549 before the old instrument sunsets; the other corrects a postal address that had been wrong since it was made.
Who this affects: Holders of a visa carrying condition 8549, who must live, study and work only in a designated area, and anyone lodging a paper application for a Subclass 101 Child (Migrant) or Subclass 802 Child (Residence) visa. The Gold Coast falls inside the Queensland designated area.
Directions 121 and 122 commenced on 19 September 2026, replacing Direction 119. They reach back to applications already lodged and not yet decided.
Who this affects: Anyone with a skilled visa application already lodged and undecided, and anyone about to lodge. The directions govern the ORDER applications are considered in, so they change when an application is reached, and they do not change whether it succeeds. Employers waiting on a nominated worker are affected by the same ordering.
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