Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)

The 189 is the visa with no sponsor. You're tested on points alone — age, English, skilled work experience, qualifications, partner's skills, and so on. It's been the harder route to get an invitation in recent years because the program ceiling is small and the points threshold sits well above the entry floor.

How the process works (in order)

1. Skills assessment. Your nominated occupation must be on the relevant occupation list and assessed by the right authority for that occupation (Engineers Australia, ACS, VETASSESS, AHPRA, and so on).
2. English test. Most applicants need IELTS / PTE / OET / Cambridge / TOEFL at Competent level just to apply. Higher levels score more points.
3. Expression of Interest (EOI). Submitted through SkillSelect. You list your claimed points. The EOI sits in the pool for up to 2 years.
4. Invitation rounds. Home Affairs invites the highest-ranked candidates each round. You get 60 days from invitation to lodge.
5. Visa application. Lodge with all supporting evidence within 60 days.

The points basics

• 65 points is the minimum to be invited. In practice, invitations for most occupations have required substantially more (often 85–100+) in recent years.
• Points come from age, English level, skilled employment (in and outside Australia), qualifications, Australian study, partner skills/English, and a few smaller categories.
• Use the official Points Calculator (link below) — calculations from migration-agent blogs are sometimes out of date.

Reading SkillSelect invitation rounds Don't ask "what's the current 189 cutoff?" — there isn't a single number. The Invitation Rounds page publishes, after each round:

• The minimum points score that received an invitation.
• A breakdown by occupation (when occupation ceilings are in play).
• The number of invitations issued.

Read several rounds in a row to see the trend for your occupation. If your occupation hasn't been invited at all in recent rounds, that's a stronger signal than any specific number. Watch for the annual Migration Program planning levels released around the May Budget — these set the year's ceiling.

Common gotchas

• People often add partner points based on a partner who hasn't actually completed a skills assessment. Read the partner points rules carefully — partners need their own assessment, English score, and age cap.
• Claiming work experience that wasn't paid, full-time and post-qualification — the assessing authority will strip the years that don't qualify, and Home Affairs reviews that calculation.
• Assuming "65 points is enough." It hasn't been for most occupations for several years.

Where to read more

• Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189): https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/skilled-independent-189
• Points table for subclass 189: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/skilled-independent-189/points-table
• SkillSelect — Expression of Interest: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skillselect/expression-of-interest
• Invitation rounds: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skillselect/invitation-rounds
• Points calculator: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/departmental-forms/online-forms/points-calculator