On 18 October 2017, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (hereafter ‘DIBP’) conducted invitation round for not only skilled – independent (hereafter ‘subclass 189’) but also skilled – regional (provisional) (hereafter ‘subclass 489’).
Invitations issued during 2017-18
In this round, DIBP issued 1,250 and 5 invitations respectively for subclass 189 and subclass 489. Since July 2017, total 10,616 invitations have been issued. During 2017-18 financial year, 3,500 invitations for subclass 189 were issued on September (see table 1), which is the highest figure since July 2017. For subclass 489, the highest figure of invitations is 256 on August 2017. In this round, State and Territory Government nominated visa subclasses are not included.
Table 1 Invitations issued during 2017-18
Visa subclass | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Total |
Skilled – Independent (subclass 189) |
2,000 |
2,000 |
3,500 |
2,500 |
10,000 |
Skilled – Regional Provisional (subclass 489) |
210 |
256 |
93 |
57 |
616 |
Total |
2,210 |
2,256 |
3,593 |
2,557 |
10,616 |
DIBP ‘18 October Invitation round’ <https://www.border.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Pages/18-october-invitation-rounds.aspx> |
Invitations by Point Score
Clients who ranked the highest point would be invited to apply their visa. In this round, more than 400 clients who have achieved 75 points score are invited to apply for visa in subclass 189 visa scheme (See Figure 1), followed by clients having 70 points score (around 370 invitations) and 65 points score (around 360 invitations).
If there are clients who have same points score, client who has Expressions of Interest (hereafter EOI) with earlier dates of effect will be invited.
Figure 1 Invitations by Point Score on 18 October 2017
There are eight occupation groups subjected to pro rata arrangement due to high levels of application. The groups are as following:
- Accountants
- Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers
- Electronics Engineers
- Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers
- Other Engineering Professionals
- ICT Business and System Analysts
- Software and Applications Programmers
- Computer Network Professionals.
In this round, clients in Accountants and Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers occupation would be needed to have 75 points score in order to be invited with certain visa date of effect. (See table 3).
The cut off score for ICT Business and System Analysts, and other Engineering Professionals is 70 points score. The point score for clients in the remaining occupations is 65 (See table 2).
Table 2 Point scores and the Visa dates of effect for pro rata occupations
Occupation ID |
Description |
Points score |
Visa date of effect |
2211 |
Accountants |
75 |
04/09/2017 10.01 pm |
2212 |
Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers |
75 |
08/08/2017 12.03 am |
2334 |
Electronics Engineer |
65 |
18/09/2017 11.31 pm |
2335 |
Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers |
65 |
27/04/2017 11.34 pm |
2339 |
Other Engineering Professionals |
70 |
16/10/2017 12.06 am |
2611 |
ICT Business and System Analysts |
70 |
20/07/2017 3.30 pm |
2613 |
Software and Applications Programmers |
65 |
18/04/2017 8.50 pm |
2631 |
Computer Network Professionals |
65 |
04/03/2017 8.30 pm |
DIBP ’18 October Invitation round’ <https://www.border.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Pages/18-october-invitation-rounds.aspx> |
Invitation rounds will be issued twice a month. The maximum numbers for next invitation rounds (9 and 22 November 2017) will be 700 and 5 for subclass 189 and 489 respectively.
Please be noted that all invitation is now keep on 65 points so, applicants who are waiting for invitation with 60 points could not get invitation in any occupations since July 2017.
If you have any questions about invitation round, please feel free to contact us in the form below.