Bespoke Invitation Rounds for 189 and 491 visa (Family Sponsored Stream)

In the past 12 months, many of the applicants who submitted their Express of Interest for invitations to apply for visa subclass 189 or 491 – Family Sponsored stream were disappointed when not being invited despite their high scores. A big question raised among applicants was how the invitation rounds were run, and their possibility of receiving an invitation with their situation.

As record, bespoke invitation rounds have been run since May 2020. This is the reason why there was a decrease in points, from 90 points pre-Covid to as low as 70 points. Many people in the EOI pool wondered why they have not been invited with even 100 points while their friends got invited with only 75 points. This does not seem right with the algorithm of the EOI system.

In this article, we will explain how the EOI system works in normal time, and how it is targeted during the last 12 months. Also, as the recent budget announcement has allocated the same migration level with 2020 – 2021, we think it is worth looking back at some historical data from May 2020 and at some implications it may have towards the future rounds.

EOI system

In normal time, the Express of Interest system is used to manage express of interest from applicants all over the world, who want to migrate to Australia under the Skilled and Business migration programs. It is used to receive, assess, calculate points, and issue invitations to those who are on top of the pool.

The selection through Skills Select platform is set up by an algorithm, which issues invitations based on ranking system. The ranking system is fairly simple: EOIs with the highest points score then with the earliest dates of submission. Therefore, those with high scores will have more opportunity to be invited, regardless of their occupations and current residence (as long as they are in MLTSSL and the ceilings have not been reached).

 

Targeted invitation rounds – How does it work?

The unprecedented Covid19 situation is by no mean “normal”. Since May 2020, the algorithm has been tailored in a way that it does not simply base on the points and date of submission. The Department of Home Affairs has tailored the algorithm by adding more parameters to the ranking system. The most important filter in this bespoke ranking system is the occupation lists which are limited to healthcare, engineering, technology, and sciences.

Let us have a closer look at the quotas, parameters, and occupation lists from different invitation rounds since May 2020 to October 2020.