Visa processing times and priorities.
How long the Department of Home Affairs is taking to decide each visa, from its own processing time guide, and the Ministerial Direction that sets the order your application is reached in.
Waiting longer than this?
These are the Department’s figures for recently decided applications. Whether anything can be done about a particular application depends on its facts. Book a consultation and we will look at yours.
We can check the current position with you. Book a phone consultation or call +61 432 636 461.
Processing times for popular visas.
482 visa processing time186 visa processing time189 visa processing time190 visa processing time491 visa processing time494 visa processing timePartner visa 820 processing timePartner visa 309 processing timeProspective marriage 300 processing timeStudent visa 500 processing time485 visa processing timeVisitor visa 600 processing timeNational Innovation 858 processing time
Which Direction applies to my visa?
Under section 51 of the Migration Act 1958 the Minister may consider and dispose of visa applications in the order the Minister considers appropriate, and under section 499 may direct delegates how to do it. These are the processing-order Directions currently published by the Department.
| Direction | Visas | In force from | Our guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direction 121 | Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand, and the Temporary Skill Shortage applications still on hand) | 19 September 2026 | Subclass 482 guide |
| Direction 122 | Subclasses 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 489, 491, 494, 887 and 888 | 19 September 2026 | Skilled visa guide · Subclass 186 guide · Subclass 494 guide |
| Direction 117 | Partner (820/801, 309/100, 300), child, parent, contributory parent and other family visas | 25 July 2026 | Partner visa guide |
| Direction 120 | Class BX, subclass 858 (National Innovation, and the Global Talent and Distinguished Talent applications still on hand) | 25 July 2026 | – |
| Direction 115 | Subclass 500 applications made outside Australia on or after 14 November 2025 | 14 November 2025 | – |
| Direction 114 | Subclass 188 and subclass 132 applications still on hand (both closed to new applications) | 12 February 2025 | – |
Migration Act 1958 ss 51, 499 · Home Affairs, visa processing priorities
Direction 121: temporary skilled visas.
In force from 19 September 2026, replacing Direction 119. Covers Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand, and the Temporary Skill Shortage applications still on hand).
- Primary applicants nominated in an occupation in the construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing or resources sectors, or one related to Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests.
- Subclass 482 applications in the Specialist Skills stream.
- Other primary applicants who were in Australia when they applied.
- Primary applicants outside Australia when they applied, whose application has never been combined with anyone else’s.
- All other applications.
Family members in a combined application take the primary applicant’s place in the order (s 7(4)).
A delegate must depart from the order where the application involves compelling circumstances, such as community safety, the continuity of essential religious, cultural or community services in Australia, or Australia’s international relations (s 8).
Live processing timesSubclass 482
Direction 122: provisional and permanent skilled visas.
In force from 19 September 2026, replacing Direction 119. Covers Subclasses 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 489, 491, 494, 887 and 888.
- Primary applicants nominated in an occupation in the construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing or resources sectors, or one related to Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests.
- Other primary applicants who were in Australia when they applied.
- Primary applicants outside Australia when they applied, whose application has never been combined with anyone else’s.
- All other applications.
Family members in a combined application take the primary applicant’s place in the order (s 6(4)).
A delegate must depart from the order where the application involves compelling circumstances affecting community safety, or the continuity of essential religious, cultural or community services in Australia (s 7).
Live processing timesSubclass 186Subclass 187Subclass 189Subclass 190Subclass 191Subclass 489Subclass 491Subclass 494Subclass 887Subclass 888
Direction 117: family visas, including partner visas.
In force from 25 July 2026, replacing Direction 102. Covers Partner (820/801, 309/100, 300), child, parent, contributory parent and other family visas.
Tier 1 First, applications by a primary applicant who was in Australia when they applied, for a visa that can be granted in Australia.
Tier 2 Then, applications by a primary applicant who was outside Australia when they applied, or who must be outside Australia when the visa is granted.
Within each tier:
- Applicants for whom the Minister has substituted a decision for a Tribunal decision under section 351 or 417 (ministerial intervention).
- Partners (spouse, de facto partner, prospective spouse) and dependent children of the sponsor.
- Orphan relatives.
- Contributory parent and contributory aged parent visas.
- Carers.
- Parent and aged parent visas, remaining relatives and aged dependent relatives.
Secondary applicants take the primary applicant’s place in the order, whether or not their application was combined (s 8(4)).
A delegate must depart from the order if the applicant satisfies the delegate that the application involves special circumstances of a compassionate nature and that there are compelling reasons to depart from the order (s 9).
Live processing timesSubclass 100Subclass 101Subclass 102Subclass 103Subclass 114Subclass 115Subclass 116Subclass 117Subclass 143Subclass 173Subclass 300Subclass 309Subclass 445Subclass 801Subclass 802Subclass 804Subclass 820Subclass 835Subclass 836Subclass 837Subclass 838Subclass 864Subclass 884
Direction 120: National Innovation visa (subclass 858).
In force from 25 July 2026. Covers Class BX, subclass 858 (National Innovation, and the Global Talent and Distinguished Talent applications still on hand).
- Global experts who have received top-of-field international awards.
- Applicants nominated by an expert Australian Government, State or Territory agency on Form 1000.
- Exceptional and outstanding achievement in a tier 1 sector: critical technologies, renewables and low emission technologies, health industries.
- Exceptional and outstanding achievement in a tier 2 sector: agri-food and ag-tech, defence capabilities and space, education, financial services and FinTech, infrastructure and transport, resources.
- All other applications.
Live processing timesSubclass 858
Direction 115: student visas lodged outside Australia.
In force from 14 November 2025, replacing Direction 111. Covers Subclass 500 applications made outside Australia on or after 14 November 2025.
- Priority 1: school, non-award, standalone ELICOS, TAFE, recognised pilot training and PhD students, government-sponsored and scholarship students, Pacific and Timor-Leste students, and students whose education provider has not reached its prioritisation threshold.
- Priority 2: students whose provider has reached its prioritisation threshold but not its upper threshold.
- Priority 3: students whose provider has reached its upper threshold.
Applications made before 14 November 2025 stay under Direction 111 until they are decided (s 3(2)). Student applications made in Australia are not covered; the Department says it aims to assess those in the order they are lodged.
Live processing timesSubclass 500
Direction 114: business innovation and investment visas.
In force from 12 February 2025. Covers Subclass 188 and subclass 132 applications still on hand (both closed to new applications).
- Subclass 188, Entrepreneur stream.
- Subclass 188, Business Innovation stream, and subclass 132, Significant Business History stream.
- Subclass 188, Investor stream.
- Subclass 132, Venture Capital Entrepreneur stream.
- Subclass 188, Significant Investor stream.
Live processing timesSubclass 188Subclass 132
How processing priorities work.
Does the processing order decide whether my visa is granted?
No. A processing Direction sets the order in which the Department reaches applications. It does not change the criteria. Directions 121 and 122 each say they do not change the skilled occupation lists and that applicants must still meet the requirements of the Act and the Regulations, and Direction 115 is described by the Department as neither a visa cap nor a criterion for grant or refusal.
Does a new Direction apply to an application I lodged before it started?
For the skilled and family Directions, yes. Directions 121, 122 and 117 each apply to applications made but not finally determined before they commenced, as well as to new ones. An undecided skilled application was moved onto the new order on 19 September 2026.
The student Direction is different. Direction 115 applies to offshore student applications made on or after 14 November 2025; earlier ones stay under Direction 111 until decided.
Direction 121, s 4(3) · Direction 117, s 4(4) · Direction 115, ss 3(2), 4(1)
Is an onshore partner visa processed ahead of an offshore one?
Direction 117 puts family applications in two tiers. Applications by a primary applicant who was in Australia when they applied, for a visa that can be granted in Australia, come first. Applications by a primary applicant who was outside Australia, or who must be outside Australia at grant, come second. Within each tier, partners and dependent children are second only to ministerial intervention cases.
So an 820 lodged in Australia sits in the first tier and a 309 sits in the second. The live times above show how that plays out in the Department’s own figures.
Can my application be moved up the queue?
Only in limited cases, and the test differs by Direction. Under the skilled Directions a delegate must depart from the order where the application involves compelling circumstances, such as community safety or the continuity of essential religious, cultural or community services. Under Direction 117 the applicant must satisfy the delegate that there are special circumstances of a compassionate nature and compelling reasons to depart from the order.
A request of that kind has to be supported with evidence. We can assess whether one is worth making.
Direction 121, s 8 · Direction 122, s 7 · Direction 117, s 9
What if the Tribunal sends my application back to the Department?
It depends on the visa. Directions 121 and 122 do not apply to an application remitted by the ART for reconsideration, or to one where the Tribunal set a decision aside and substituted its own. Direction 117 expressly does apply to family applications remitted from the ART or an earlier tribunal. None of the Directions binds the Tribunal itself.
For what happens at the Tribunal, see refusals and ART review.
Why has the published processing time gone backwards?
The Department’s notes on the skilled visas say that, as it moves applications
onto the new priorities under Directions 121 and 122, processing timeframes may fluctuate.
Some published timeframes may temporarily move backwards while applications are
reprioritised.
What do the 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% figures mean?
They come from the Department’s processing time guide, which it says is based
on how long it has taken to process recently decided applications
. The 90% figure is
the time within which nine in ten of those applications were decided. The guide does
not guarantee that applications will be decided within the timeframe
, and it does not
look at any particular application.
For the visa application charge, use our visa fee calculator. The background to the latest changes is in our updates on Directions 121 and 122 and Direction 117.
Tell us where you are up to.
Whether you are at the very start, waiting on a decision, or holding a refusal letter, start with a conversation about where things stand.
- Office
- Suite 2, 19 Short Street, Southport QLD 4215