A new Ministerial Direction for prioritising skilled visa applications to support outcomes from the Migration Strategy came into effect on 15 December 2023.
Ministerial Direction No. 105 recognises the need to support regional Australia by streamlining visa processing for business located in regional Australia who are sponsoring skilled workers. The new Ministerial Direction elevates applications for employer sponsored visas in relation to occupations to be carried out in regional Australia to the highest priority.
This priority is for occupations to be carried out in a regional area under the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482), Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) visas as they fill an identified shortage and are guaranteed to be in regional Australia.
Information on the changes is available in the factsheet at the base of this announcement. The new Ministerial Direction is also available at: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/skilled-visa-processing-priorities