Legislation · Ministerial Directions
Ministerial Directions 121 and 122: who gets processed first
Two new directions under the Migration Act set the order in which skilled visa applications are considered: one for the temporary program, one for provisional and permanent visas. They do not change who is eligible. They change whose file reaches the top of the pile.
MD0MD0
the two directions now ordering Australia’s skilled visa processing
Commenced
19 September 2026
Replace
Ministerial Direction 119
Reach
Applications already lodged, and new ones
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visa subclasses in scope: the two Skills in Demand entries under Ministerial Direction 121, and ten provisional and permanent subclasses under Ministerial Direction 122
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priority sectors that now go first wherever the applicant is: construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing, resources, law enforcement and defence
( The order of consideration )
Two Directions, one logic
Both Directions sort applications with the same facts: whether the occupation falls in a priority sector, and if not, where the primary applicant was when the application was made and whether family members applied with them. Ministerial Direction 121 adds one tier for the Skills in Demand Specialist Skills stream.
Where does an application sit? Answer the Directions’ own questions.
Answer each question as it appears; the matching rung lights up below.
Ministerial Direction 121Temporary skilled visas
5 tiers
- HighestPriority 1 of 5.
Priority sector occupation
Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing or resources, or an occupation related to Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests. In or outside Australia.
- Priority 2Priority 2 of 5.
Specialist Skills stream
Skills in Demand applications in the Specialist Skills stream, in any other occupation.
- Priority 3Priority 3 of 5.
In Australia
Every other application where the applicant was in Australia when the application was made.
- Priority 4Priority 4 of 5.
Outside Australia, applying alone
The primary applicant was outside Australia when applying, and the application is not combined with another person’s application at any time.
- LowestPriority 5 of 5.
All other applications
Including applications made from outside Australia and combined with family members’ applications.
Ministerial Direction 122Provisional and permanent skilled visas
4 tiers
- HighestPriority 1 of 4.
Priority sector occupation
Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing or resources, or an occupation related to Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests. In or outside Australia.
- Priority 2Priority 2 of 4.
In Australia
Every other application where the applicant was in Australia when the application was made.
- Priority 3Priority 3 of 4.
Outside Australia, applying alone
The primary applicant was outside Australia when applying, and the application is not combined with another person’s application at any time.
- LowestPriority 4 of 4.
All other applications
Including applications made from outside Australia and combined with family members’ applications.
Worth noticing: inside the priority sectors, location no longer matters. A nurse, an electrician or a teacher ranks first whether the application was made in or outside Australia. Outside those sectors, an applicant outside Australia who applies alone ranks ahead of one who combines family members, under both Directions.
( Definitions that decide the tier )
What counts as a priority sector
Four sectors are defined by ANZSCO groups and codes, one by the nature of the work, one by the work with a list of codes, and two by who nominates or sponsors. Being near a listed occupation is not enough.
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ANZSCO groups and codes define “construction”. Close enough is not in the list.
- Sub-Major Group 33 – Construction Trades Workers
- Sub-Major Group 82 – Construction and Mining Labourers
- Unit Group 1331 – Construction Managers
- Unit Group 1332 – Engineering Managers
- Unit Group 2321 – Architects and Landscape Architects
- Unit Group 2332 – Civil Engineering Professionals
- Unit Group 3121 – Architectural, Building and Surveying Technicians
- Unit Group 3122 – Civil Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians
- Unit Group 3126 – Safety Inspectors
- Unit Group 3129 – Other Building and Engineering Technicians
- Unit Group 3222 – Sheetmetal Workers
- Unit Group 3223 – Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers
- Unit Group 7111 – Clay, Concrete, Glass and Stone Processing Machine Operators
- Unit Group 7121 – Crane, Hoist and Lift Operators
- Unit Group 7212 – Earthmoving Plant Operators
- 341111 – Electrician (General)
- 341112 – Electrician (Special Class)
( Scope )
Which applications they reach
Twelve visa subclasses across the two Directions, including applications already lodged and waiting on 19 September 2026.
2
subclasses
Direction 121
10
subclasses
Direction 122
Direction 121 · Temporary skilled visas
- Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand)
- Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage)
Direction 122 · Provisional and permanent skilled visas
- Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme)
- Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme)
- Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent)
- Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated)
- Subclass 191 (Permanent Residence, Skilled Regional)
- Subclass 489 (Skilled Regional, Provisional)
- Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional, Provisional)
- Subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional, Provisional)
- Subclass 887 (Skilled Regional)
- Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment, Permanent)
Where the Directions do not apply
- Applications remitted by the AAT or the ART for reconsideration, or where the tribunal has set aside a decision and substituted its own
- Applications where it is readily apparent that the criteria for the visa would not be satisfied
- Family members who did not combine their application with the primary applicant, where the primary applicant was in Australia when they applied
- The Administrative Review Tribunal itself
When a decision-maker may depart from the order
- Compelling circumstances affecting community safety
- Compelling circumstances affecting the continuity of essential religious, cultural or community services in Australia
- Under Ministerial Direction 121 only, compelling circumstances affecting Australia’s international relations, and the list there is given as examples
Family members who combined their application with the primary applicant take the primary applicant’s priority. Where a visa class is capped for the year, the same order decides places within the cap.
( Against Ministerial Direction 119 )
What actually moved
Ministerial Direction 119 had ordered skilled processing since 25 July 2026. Eight weeks later, six shifts define its replacement. What Ministerial Direction 119 said is kept as a record.
Top of the order
MD 119Law enforcement and defence occupations, onshore first
MD 121 · 122Seven priority sectors together, in or outside Australia
Named priority sectors
MD 119Law enforcement · Defence · Healthcare · Teaching · Construction
MD 121 · 122Adds Agriculture, aquaculture and fishing · Resources
The onshore line
MD 119In-Australia applicants ranked ahead at every level, priority sectors included
MD 121 · 122Location matters only outside the priority sectors
Offshore applicants
MD 119One offshore tier
MD 121 · 122Applying alone ranks ahead of applying with family members
The temporary program
MD 119Subclass 482 in the same instrument as the permanent visas
MD 121 · 122Its own Direction, 121, with a tier for the Specialist Skills stream
Employer nominations
MD 119Ordered by the same Direction (Schedule A, five subclasses)
MD 121 · 122Not covered: both Directions order visa applications only
What they do not do
They do not change the skilled occupation lists, and they do not change any visa criteria. Every applicant must still meet the requirements of the Act and the Regulations.
Priority is not a promise of speed. The Directions set the order of consideration; they do not set processing times, and they do not guarantee an outcome.
A lower tier is not a refusal signal. It describes queue position, nothing about the merits of an application.
( Executive view )
The Directions in five lines
- 01
Seven sectors go first, wherever the applicant is.
Construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing, resources, and occupations tied to law enforcement or defence sit above everything else under both Directions, in or outside Australia.
- 02
Outside those sectors, being in Australia comes next.
Every other application made from inside Australia ranks ahead of every application made from outside it.
- 03
Offshore, applying alone ranks ahead of applying with family.
A primary applicant outside Australia whose application is never combined with another person’s sits above one whose application is. Family members who combine take the primary applicant’s place.
- 04
The Specialist Skills stream has its own tier.
Under Ministerial Direction 121, a Skills in Demand application in the Specialist Skills stream ranks second, behind the priority sectors and ahead of every other onshore application.
- 05
They reach files already in the queue, and eligibility did not move.
Both Directions apply to applications lodged but not finally decided on 19 September 2026. No occupation list changed and no criterion changed: the Act and the Regulations still decide who can be granted a visa.
( Reading them well )
What should applicants and employers take from this?
A processing direction decides when a file is looked at, not how it is decided. Whether a visa can be granted still turns on the criteria in the Migration Act 1958, the Migration Regulations 1994 and the instruments in force, applied to individual circumstances.
The sectors are precise. Most are ANZSCO groups and codes; agriculture, aquaculture and fishing is defined by what the position does; the resources sector needs both; and law enforcement and defence turn on who nominates or sponsors. An occupation that feels adjacent to a listed one earns no priority at all. Checking the nominated occupation and the position description against the instrument, before lodging, is the first step of any sensible strategy.
For applications already lodged, the position may have moved either way on 19 September 2026. For new ones, the order of steps, where to be when lodging and whether to combine family members now, has become a strategic question outside the priority sectors. That is a matter for assessment, not assumption.
( Where this connects )
Source: Ministerial Directions 121 and 122.
General information only, current at 7 October 2026. Not immigration assistance. Source: Ministerial Directions 121 and 122. Eligibility depends on your circumstances and on the law as it stands on the day you apply.
Shoreline Migration · Registered Migration Agent · MARN 2619597
Wondering where your matter sits under the new order?
The Directions set the queue; your eligibility is decided by the criteria that apply to your occupation and circumstances. Working out both, properly, is an assessment.