New Skilled Visa Processing Priorities: Ministerial Directions 121 and 122 Explained

Australia has new skilled visa processing priorities. From 19 September 2026, Home Affairs works through skilled visa applications in a new order. Two new Ministerial Directions set that order: Ministerial Direction 121 (MD 121) for the Subclass 482 visa, and Ministerial Direction 122 (MD 122) for the main provisional and permanent skilled visas. Together, they replace Ministerial Direction 119 (MD 119).

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced the change in a National Press Club speech on 17 September, as part of a wider package of migration reforms. Unlike most of that package, the new priorities are already in effect. They also apply to applications lodged before 19 September that are still waiting on a decision. If you have a skilled visa application in progress, your place in the queue may have changed.

What are the new skilled visa processing priorities?

A processing priorities direction tells Home Affairs which visa applications to consider first. It does not change visa criteria or the skilled occupation lists. It changes the order of the queue.

The Minister signed both directions on 18 September 2026, and they took effect the next day. The main changes are:

• MD 121 now covers the 482 on its own, and MD 122 covers ten other skilled visas. MD 119 covered them all in one direction.
• Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, resources, law enforcement and defence occupations now share one top priority group.
• That top group applies whether you applied from inside or outside Australia.
• 482 applications in the Specialist Skills stream now have their own priority group, second only to the priority sectors.
• The directions cover visa applications only. MD 119 also covered nominations.
• Decision makers must now depart from the standard order in certain compelling circumstances.

Which visas are covered

MD 121 covers Skills in Demand applications and any Temporary Skill Shortage 482 applications still waiting on a decision. The Skills in Demand visa replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage visa on 7 December 2024. The National Innovation visa (subclass 858) has its own direction and is not affected by these changes.

MD 121: processing priorities for 482 visa applications

Under MD 121, Home Affairs considers 482 visa applications in this order, from highest priority to lowest:

The Specialist Skills stream group is new. It moves applicants in this stream, which is for highly paid specialists, near the front of the queue wherever they applied from.

MD 122: processing priorities for other skilled visas

MD 122 covers the 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 489, 491, 494, 887 and 888 visas. Home Affairs considers these applications in four groups:

MD 122 has no Specialist Skills group, as that stream only exists under the 482. Where the number of visas that can be granted is capped, Home Affairs still follows this order, unless an exception applies.

How MD 121 and MD 122 differ from MD 119

What this means for your application

• If you work in a priority sector, your application now sits in the top group, whether you applied from inside or outside Australia. The directions define which occupations fall within each sector, so confirm your nominated occupation qualifies before you rely on it.
• If you applied for a 482 in the Specialist Skills stream, you now have your own group, ahead of every applicant outside the priority sectors.
• If you applied from inside Australia in another occupation, you sit behind the priority groups but ahead of offshore applicants in other occupations.
• If your application includes family members, they get the same priority as you. If you applied from outside Australia, whether your application is combined with another person’s application also affects which group it falls into. This is one of the more technical parts of the directions, so get advice on your situation.
• If your application is already lodged, the new order already applies to it. Depending on your occupation and where you applied from, it may have moved forward or back. You do not need to do anything. Withdrawing and relodging to chase a better position means paying the visa fee again, and for points-tested visas you would need a new invitation. Get advice before you consider it.
• Priority is not approval. The directions decide the order, not the outcome. An application in the top group that is missing evidence will still stall, and a request for more information can cost you months.

What the directions do not cover

The new directions do not apply to:

• Nomination applications
• Applications where it is readily apparent the visa criteria will not be met
• Applications the Administrative Review Tribunal (or the former AAT) has sent back for reconsideration, or where it has substituted a new decision
• Separate applications by family members of a primary visa holder, where the primary visa holder applied from inside Australia
• The Tribunal itself

The second point matters more than it looks. An application that clearly does not meet the criteria does not have to wait its turn. Home Affairs can decide it at any time, so lodging early just to hold a place in the queue does not work if the application is not ready.

When the standard order can change

The new directions include something MD 119 did not: an exceptions provision. Decision makers must depart from the standard order when they are satisfied an application involves compelling circumstances.

Under MD 122, these are circumstances affecting community safety or the continuity of essential religious, cultural or community services in Australia. MD 121 lists the same examples and adds Australia’s international relations.

This is a narrow provision for exceptional cases. It is not a general route to faster processing.

Not sure where your application sits?

Which priority group applies to you depends on your visa, your nominated occupation, where you applied from and whether your application includes family members. Bill, our migration lawyer at Questra, can review your situation and tell you where your application sits under the new order, and what that means for your timing.

Book a Consultation

Based on Ministerial Directions 121 and 122, signed on 18 September 2026 and in effect from 19 September 2026. For the official summary, see the Department of Home Affairs skilled visa processing priorities page. This is general information only and not migration advice.

Bill Mitroulas

Head of Migration at Questra Immigration. Managing and overseeing the growth and performance of Questra’s team of migration agents, while maintaining a client-centric and quality-driven approach. A registered migration agent since 2015 and a member of the Migration Institute of Australia, with over 15 years’ experience in international education and 11 years in Australian Migration law.