South Australia Skilled Migration Updates:
23/10/2026
South Australia is now open for Registrations of Interest (ROI) for individuals living and working in South Australia whose current visas are due to expire by 31 January 2027.
Offshore candidates may continue to lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI). Offshore applicants are not required to submit an ROI, as suitable candidates will be invited directly from their EOI lodged.
Invitations will be issued to suitable candidates from both onshore and offshore cohorts, with a focus on candidates working in priority sectors, including building and construction, defence, education, engineering, health and manufacturing. High-ranking candidates in non-priority sectors may also be considered. All applicants must have a current EOI lodged in SkillSelect.
State and Territory Nomination Allocation - South Australia (2025-26)
The Australian Government has determined South Australia’s allocation for the 2025-26 General Skilled Migration program.
In total, including interim allocations, this comprises:
- Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa: 1,350 places (+150)
- Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa: 900 places (+250)
Application fees (2026-27):
- Registration of Interest: Free
- State Nomination (190 & 491): $394
These are the 2025-26 figures. South Australia had not published its 2026-27 nomination allocation as at October 2026.
2026-27 Nomination options
For the 2025–26 GSM program, South Australia will prioritise candidates in the following sectors:
- Construction
- Engineering
- Manufacturing
- Trades
- Health
- Education
High-ranking candidates in non-priority industries may also be considered.
If you have skills and experience in South Australia’s priority industries, and if your nominated occupation is eligible for the subclass 190, you may receive an invitation to apply for state nomination under the visa subclass 190. If you have skills and experience in non-priority industries, or if your nominated occupation is not eligible for the subclass 190, you may be invited to apply for state nomination under the visa subclass 491.
◾️1 – South Australian Graduates
Basic requirements:
To be eligible under the South Australian Graduates stream, you must:
- Have an active Expression of Interest (EOI) on the Department of Home Affairs’ SkillSelect system with South Australia as your first preferred State or Territory.
- Check if your nominated occupation is eligible under the South Australian Graduates stream on South Australia’s Skilled Occupation List
- Currently live and work in South Australia
- Be under 45 years of age at the time your state nomination is approved
- Have a valid and positive skills assessment for your nominated occupation
- Have at least Competent English. To prove you have Competent English, you need to show evidence of an English approved test and score, or be a citizen of, and hold a valid passport from Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the United States of America. Note that if you hold a valid passport from any of these countries and would like to claim higher levels of English proficiency on your EOI, you must show evidence of an English approved test and score.
- Score at least 65 points in the Department of Home Affairs’ points test (including state nomination points)
- Have completed your qualification at a South Australian education provider and meet the following study requirements:
- Your course in South Australia must be Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) registered, with a minimum of 46 CRICOS week.
- Your study meets the minimum qualification level listed for your nominated occupation on the Skilled Occupation List
- A minimum of 75% of your qualification must have been completed in South Australia
- You must have resided in South Australia for at least one year during your studies
- Have been residing in South Australia for at least the last 6 months
- Have been working full-time for the last 6 months, and be currently employed full-time (at least 30 hours per week). Your job must be related to, and at the same Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) Sub Major Group (represented by the first two digits of the ANZSCO code).
- Have undertaken your skilled work experience post-course completion.
◾️2 – Skilled Employment in South Australia stream
Basic requirements:
- Have an active Expression of Interest (EOI) on the Department of Home Affairs’ SkillSelect system with South Australia as your first preferred State or Territory.
- Check if your nominated occupation is eligible under the Skilled Employment in South Australia stream on South Australia’s Skilled Occupation List
- Currently live and work in South Australia
- Be under 45 years of age at time of state nomination is approved
- Have a valid and positive skills assessment for your nominated occupation
- Have at least Competent English. To prove you have Competent English, you need to show evidence of an English approved test and score, or be a citizen of, and hold a valid passport from Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the United States of America. Note that if you hold a valid passport from any of these countries and would like to claim higher levels of English proficiency on your EOI, you must show evidence of an English approved test and score.
- Score at least 65 points in the Department of Home Affairs’ points test (including state nomination points)
- Have been residing in South Australia for at least the last 12 months
- Have been working for the last 12 months, and be currently employed, in a full-time (at least 30 hours per week) job. Your job must be related to, and at the same skill level as, your nominated occupation. For South Australian nomination, this is generally defined as being in the same Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) Sub Major Group (represented by the first two digits of the ANZSCO code).
◾️3 – Outer Regional Skilled Employment
Basic requirements:
To be eligible under the Outer Regional Skilled Employment stream, you must:
- Have an active Expression of Interest (EOI) in the Department of Home Affairs SkillSelect system, with South Australia selected as your first preferred state or territory.
- Confirm your nominated occupation is eligible under the Outer Regional Skilled Employment stream on South Australia’s Skilled Occupation List.
- Currently live and work in Outer Regional South Australia.
- Be under 45 years of age at the time state nomination is approved.
- Hold a valid and positive skills assessment for your nominated occupation
- Score at least 65 points in the Department of Home Affairs points test, including state nomination points.
- You must have at least Competent English, you must provide evidence of an approved English test and score, or hold a valid passport from Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the United States of America. If you hold a passport from one of these countries and wish to claim a higher level of English proficiency in your EOI, you must provide evidence of an approved English test and score.
- Have lived and worked in Outer Regional South Australia for the past nine months and be currently employed in a full-time role of at least 30 hours per week.
- Your employment must be related to, and at the same skill level as, your nominated occupation. For South Australian nomination, this is generally defined as being within the same Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) Sub Major Group, represented by the first two digits of the ANZSCO code.
◾️4 – Offshore Candidates
Work experience must be in a role deemed full-time, defined as 20 hours per week according to SkillSelect. You must also have skills in an occupation that is available on our Skilled Occupation List.
Please note that offshore applicants are not required to lodge a Registration of Interest (ROI) application through the Skilled & Business Migration online portal.
Basic requirements:
To be considered for South Australian nomination, you must:
- Have at least three years of skilled work experience in your nominated or closely related occupation (within the last 5 years)
- Meet the visa requirements set by the Department of Home Affairs
- Your application must demonstrate that you were eligible for the claims entered in your SkillSelect EOI at the time of invitation
- Meet South Australia’s state nomination requirements
Your application is assessed by merit on the following factors:
- English language proficiency
- Years and field of skilled employment*
- Skills and qualifications level
- EOI points
*Work experience must be in a role deemed full-time, defined as 20 hours per week according to SkillSelect.
Skilled Migration for trades professionals
If your nominated occupation is in the construction or trades sector, different work experience requirements apply.
If your occupation is listed below, you only need 1 year of skilled employment* (in the last 3 years) to be considered. Your application is assessed on merit by the following factors:
- Years and field of skilled employment*
- English language proficiency
- Skills and qualifications level
- EOI points
*Work experience must be in a role deemed full-time, defined as 20 hours per week according to SkillSelect.
Passport holders of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, United States of America, and Canada are not required to sit an English Language test to demonstrate English proficiency. However, applicants may wish to consider completing an approved English language test, as higher levels of English proficiency may strengthen the competitiveness of an application.
| ANZSCO Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 133111 | Construction Project Manager |
| 312114 | Construction Estimator |
| 322313 | Welder (First Class) |
| 331111 | Bricklayer |
| 331211 | Carpenter and Joiner |
| 331212 | Carpenter |
| 331213 | Joiner |
| 333211 | Fibrous Plasterer |
| 333212 | Solid Plasterer |
| 333311 | Roof Tiler |
| 333411 | Wall and Floor Tiler |
| 334111 | Plumber (General) |
| 334115 | Roof Plumber |
| 341111 | Electrician (General) |
| 341112 | Electrician (Special Class) |
Invitations to apply for nomination (Registration of Interest outcome)
The Australian Government provides South Australia with a quota of nomination places each year, limiting the number of applicants that can be nominated. As a result, the nomination process is highly competitive, and meeting the minimum eligibility requirements does not guarantee that you will be invited to apply for nomination. Invitations to apply for South Australian nomination will be sent on an ongoing basis throughout 2025-26. Only the most competitive Registrations of Interest (ROIs) will be selected and invited to apply for state nomination. In addition to the minimum nomination requirements, South Australia considers a combination of factors when determining which candidates are invited to apply to state nomination.
For onshore candidates, these factors based on the information provided in your ROI and include in no particular order:
- English language proficiency
- Years of skilled experience in your nominated occupation
- Skills and qualification level
- Salary
- Assessment of employer.
Who can provide immigration assistance
You can make your own application for state nomination, however if you are unsure about the application process you can seek immigration assistance.
Immigration assistance is when a person uses knowledge of, or experience in, migration procedure to assist with visa applications or other visa matters by:
- preparing, or helping to prepare a visa application or other document
- advising about a visa application or visa matter
- representing in, or preparing for, proceedings before a court or review authority in relation to a visa matter.
We commit that if you appoint VisaEnvoy to provide immigration assistance, the person assisting you must be a MARA Registered Migration Agent.
Talk to us
Applying for a General Skilled Migration Visa can be confusing as there are small intricacies in migration law. To alleviate your stress and worry about how to apply for the visa, you can book a time with us to help you understand the processes to make sure that you are on the right track.
South Australia Skilled Migration invitation round
The South Australian Government has issued nomination invitations for Sc 190 and Sc 491 on 21 May 2026. This includes:
- 161 x nomination invitations for a Sc 190 visa
- 77 x nomination invitations for a Sc 491 visa
The total number of nomination invitations issued in the 2025-26 program year are the following:
- 1767 x nomination invitations for Sc 190 visa
- 1086 x invitations for Sc 491 visa
This is the final scheduled invitation round for the current program year. Additional invitation activity may occur to optimise the use of the remaining nomination places.
Other States and territory nomination requirements:
Each state and territory has its own list of occupations, requirements and processes you must follow. Select a state below to see it’s state nomination requirements for 190 and 491 visa:
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