Complete timeline guide
Australian skilled visa timeline: 189 and 190 from EOI to grant
Updated Jul 19, 2026
Written and checked by the QueueCheck editorial team. Last checked July 19, 2026. How we verify information
The subclass 189 and 190 timeline hides its longest stage in plain sight. Home Affairs publishes processing times that start when a visa application is lodged, but you cannot lodge until you are invited, and the wait for an invitation, sitting in SkillSelect with an Expression of Interest, has no published time at all. For many occupations and points scores, that invisible stage is the longest part of the whole journey.
This guide walks both subclasses end to end: the preparation stages you control, the invitation stage nobody can schedule, and the post-lodgement stage Home Affairs publishes percentile times for. If you are comparing timelines with other applicants, always ask which stage they are counting from, because EOI-to-grant and lodgement-to-grant are entirely different numbers.
The live number right now
OfficialAustralian skilled visas (189/190): Home Affairs publishes percentile times by subclass; time waiting for an invitation is separate and not included
Reader timelines are being collected for this service. The tracker page keeps the current official figure and what people who applied in your month are reporting.
The 189 and 190 journey, stage by stage
Typical times reflect common applicant experience and the structure of the program. Home Affairs publishes percentile processing times that begin at lodgement, not at the EOI.
1. Skills assessment
Weeks to months, by assessing authority
Each occupation has a designated assessing authority with its own fees, evidence rules, and queue. This is the first long lead-time item, and most assessments are valid for a limited period, commonly 3 years, so sequence it with the rest of your plan.
2. English test
Weeks, including booking and results
Test scores translate directly into points, and higher bands meaningfully change invitation prospects. Results are typically valid for 3 years for these visas. Book early; retakes to chase a higher band are common and each adds weeks.
3. Expression of Interest in SkillSelect
Minutes to file; the wait is open-ended
The EOI is free and not a visa application. It sits in SkillSelect for up to 2 years while invitation rounds select from it. Nothing about filing an EOI guarantees an invitation, and no official wait time exists for this stage.
4. State or territory nomination, for the 190
Adds its own application and queue
The 190 requires nomination by a state or territory, each running its own program with occupation lists, extra criteria such as work experience or residence in the state, opening and closing windows, and their own decision queues. Nomination adds 5 points and a commitment to live in the nominating state.
5. Invitation and 60 days to lodge
60-day deadline once invited
An invitation opens a 60-day window to lodge the visa application. Points claims are locked to what the EOI said at invitation, so every claim must already be true and provable. Missing the window lets the invitation lapse.
6. Lodge the application, health and police checks
Within the 60-day window
Lodge with evidence for every points claim, then complete health examinations and police certificates for each country you have lived in. Onshore applicants receive a bridging visa on lodgement that activates if their current visa expires.
7. Assessment and grant
Published as percentiles by Home Affairs
Home Affairs publishes how long 50 percent and 90 percent of recently decided applications took, by subclass, on its global processing times page. A grant letter states any initial entry date and conditions; offshore applicants must make first entry by the stated date.
The invitation wait: the stage with no published number
Invitation rounds select the highest-ranking EOIs subject to program planning levels, so your wait depends on your points score, your occupation's demand, and how many places the program has, none of which you control after submission. A score that gets invited quickly in one program year can wait indefinitely in another.
The two levers that actually move an EOI up the ranking are points and flexibility. Points come from better English scores, more assessed experience, a partner's skills, or state nomination. Flexibility means keeping the EOI accurate and considering more states for the 190, since each nomination program selects on its own criteria beyond the points ranking.
How to read the Home Affairs percentile times
The global processing times page reports, per subclass, how long it took to finalise 50 percent and 90 percent of recent grants. These are backward-looking measurements, not promises, and they restart from lodgement. A case needing extra checks, character documents, or requested information can sit beyond the 90th percentile without anything being wrong procedurally.
Use the median as your planning number and the 90th percentile as your patience number. Contacting Home Affairs inside the 90th percentile window rarely changes anything; a case sitting well beyond it is a legitimate reason to use the official feedback and enquiry channels.
Onshore versus offshore, and life while waiting
Applicants who lodge while lawfully in Australia receive a bridging visa that keeps them lawful after their current visa ends, generally with the work rights of the associated bridging visa class. Offshore applicants wait abroad and simply travel after grant, respecting the initial entry date in the grant letter.
Long waits punish stale documents. Police certificates and health examinations carry validity windows, and letting them expire mid-assessment invites another request and another delay. Keep employment evidence current too, since points were locked at invitation but verification can still ask for proof.
Where skilled cases stall, and what actually helps
The EOI has waited months with no invitation
Recheck the ranking levers: a higher English band, updated assessed experience, partner points, or additional state programs for the 190. An EOI is editable until invited, and improving a score mid-wait immediately changes your ranking in subsequent rounds. Waiting longer, by itself, adds nothing.
Invited, but a points claim cannot be proven
Do not lodge with an unprovable claim; a wrong points claim at decision time can refuse the case under public interest criteria and cost the fee. Letting an invitation lapse and correcting the EOI is painful but recoverable. A refusal for false claims is much worse.
A section 56 request for more information arrived
Answer completely within the stated deadline, in one response where possible. The processing clock effectively resets around requests, so the cheapest time you will ever save is by making the officer's second read the last one.
Medicals or police certificates expired during processing
Renew promptly when asked, starting with the slowest issuing country for certificates. If you can see assessment approaching the validity edge, prepare renewals early; supplying fresh documents unprompted alongside a request response avoids a second round trip.
The 190 state changed or closed its program mid-wait
State programs open, close, and change criteria within a program year. If your target state closes, review other states whose lists include your occupation and update the EOI accordingly. Nomination criteria are the states' own; meeting the federal points floor alone is not an entitlement.
Your dates make this page better
Official numbers cannot show what applicants actually experience month by month. Sharing your application and decision dates helps the next reader see the real pace. Under a minute, dates only, nothing personal.
Share my Australian skilled visas (189/190) datesQuestions people actually ask
How long from EOI to grant overall?
No official number exists because the invitation stage is uncapped in time. Realistic planning adds three blocks: your preparation stages, an invitation wait that depends on points and occupation demand, and the published percentile processing time after lodgement. Only the last block has an official figure.
Is the 190 faster than the 189?
Not inherently; each has its own published percentiles that move with workload. The 190's real advantages are the 5 nomination points and access to state programs that may invite scores the 189 rounds currently do not reach, at the cost of a commitment to the nominating state.
Can I include my partner and children?
Yes, family members can be included in the application, each needing health and character checks, and a skilled partner's qualifications can add points if claimed in the EOI. Every added person's document set is another item that can hold the case, so prepare theirs alongside yours.
What happens after the grant?
Both visas are permanent residence. Check the grant letter for an initial entry date if you are offshore and any conditions. For the 190, honour the commitment to live in the nominating state for the period that state expects; states treat it seriously even though it is a commitment rather than a visa condition.
Why does my agent quote a different time than Home Affairs?
Agents usually quote end-to-end estimates including skills assessment and the invitation wait, while Home Affairs publishes only lodgement-to-decision percentiles. Both can be right at once. When comparing any two numbers, first establish which stages each one counts.