The Australian Government has confirmed a total of 20,350 work visas for immigrants during the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The country’s Department of Home Affairs made this in a notice published on Friday.
According to the notice, the 20,350 work visas allocation is aimed at addressing persistent and critical skill shortages across the nation.
It was gathered that the 20,350 work visa allocation number includes both the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the skilled Nominated Visa, also known as Subclass 190, is a permanent visa for skilled workers nominated by an Australian state or territory. This visa lets you live and work anywhere in Australia. However, you need a job on the skilled list, a skills assessment, a meet points test, and to be nominated.
On the other hand Skilled Work Regional Visa, also known as Subclass 491, is a temporary regional visa for skilled workers who want to live and work in regional Australia. It lasts up to 5 years and can lead to permanent residency. To be eligible, you need a skilled job, meet points, and get a nomination from a region or family in that area.
Under the allocation of 20,350 work visas, 12,850 places have been set aside for the Subclass 190 visa and 7,500 for the Subclass 491 visa. Here’s how each state and territory has been allocated:
The notice reads: “The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed the final state and territory nomination allocations for the 2025–26 program year, with a total of 20,350 visa places available across the Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated) and Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional) programs. The breakdown includes 12,850 places for Subclass 190 and 7,500 for Subclass 491.
“The Northern Territory (NT) has been allocated 850 places for Subclass 190 and 800 for Subclass 491; Queensland (QLD) has 1,850 and 750 respectively; South Australia (SA) receives 1,350 and 900; Tasmania (TAS) has 1,200 and 650; Western Australia (WA) is allocated 2,000 and 1,400; while Victoria (VIC) leads with 2,700 Subclass 190 and 700 Subclass 491 places.
“Compared to the previous program year, allocations for the Subclass 190 visa have decreased across all states and territories, except for QLD, which gained 1,250 additional places, and the NT which saw a modest increase of 50 places. For the Subclass 491 visa, allocations remain unchanged for the ACT and NT, while SA and QLD recorded increases of 100 and 150 places, respectively. All other jurisdictions experienced reductions, with VIC seeing the largest decrease (1,300 fewer Subclass 491 places than last year).
“The Department of Home Affairs has announced that an invitation round for the Skilled Independent (Subclass 189) visa (points-tested stream) will be held on November 13, 2025.
“New program information has also been released for the State and Territory Nominated (Subclass 190 and Subclass 491) visas, including the allocations for 2025-2026 for New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). NSW has received 3,600 places (2,100 for Subclass 190 and 1,500 for Subclass 491), while the ACT has received 1,600 places (800 for Subclass 190 and 800 for Subclass 491).
“Allocations for other states and territories are still being finalized, with interim arrangements in place. Tasmania has received an additional 450 interim places (300 for Subclass 190 and 150 for Subclass 491) and announced that weekly invitation rounds will now be held. South Australia and Western Australia have also been granted additional interim allocations, though specific numbers have not yet been released. Western Australia conducted a limited invitation round on October 29, 2025, and will hold another in November, while South Australia will continue issuing invitations using its interim allocation.
F”urther invitations for each state or territory’s nomination will open once the Commonwealth Government confirms the 2025–26 program allocations. In the meantime, nomination activity will continue under the current interim allocations across all jurisdictions.”
