5 June 2026
| PHOENIX LAW & ASSOCIATES — Client Alert & Commentary | Australia Immigration Intelligence – Subclass 189 Skilled Independent Visa |
Final 189 Round of 2025–26: Why This Week Matters Most
The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that the next — and final — invitation round for the Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa is scheduled for 4 June 2026.
End-of-year Q4 rounds historically carry the highest invitation volumes of any round in the programme year. The Department issues remaining invitations to exhaust its annual cap before 30 June — meaning applicants who narrowly missed earlier rounds may find the threshold has shifted in their favour this week.
Points Table
| 65 Minimum Points EOI-Eligible | 65–75 Tier 1 Cutoff Healthcare & Trades | 95–110 Typical Cutoff ICT & Oversupplied | 60 days To Lodge After Invitation |
What Applicants Must Do Before the Round
• Verify every detail in your EOI is accurate and current. Work experience, qualifications, English proficiency, and partner information must reflect your actual circumstances. Inaccurate EOIs can lead to visa refusal — and a PIC 4020 misrepresentation finding carries a three-year ban on future Australian visa applications.
• Update relationship status if it has changed. A skilled partner adds points. Changes need to be in SkillSelect before the round runs.
• Do NOT withdraw your EOI to “re-submit.” Your submission date is a tiebreaker when scores are tied. Losing it means going to the back of the queue.
• Check your skills assessment is still valid. Many certificates are valid for three years only. An expired assessment cannot support a visa application.
• If you receive an invitation: you have 60 days to lodge a complete application. That window cannot be extended.
KEY TAKEAWAYKey Takeaway: This round is the year’s best opportunity. The Budget has foreshadowed a Points Test reform. Scores competitive today may not be competitive under the revised model. Applicants close to the threshold in a Tier 1 occupation should review their EOI urgently.
The New Programme Year Opens in July–August
Once the current programme year closes on 30 June, SkillSelect resets under the new 2026–27 allocations. The Points Test reform consultation — expected in the second half of 2026 — may alter the scoring architecture before rounds resume. Applicants who miss this week’s round and elect to wait should understand that the system they are waiting for may look meaningfully different from the one they have been preparing for.
How Phoenix Law & Associates Can Assist This Week
This developments has time-sensitive dimensions. The 189 round runs this week. The salary threshold change takes effect at the start of next month. The character provisions are already live.
Phoenix Law & Associates is available to assist with Expression of Interest reviews and pre-invitation strategy for Subclass 189 applicants; nomination lodgement planning and salary compliance for employer sponsors ahead of the 1 July threshold increase; and confidential advice for visa holders with any exposure to the new character grounds under section 501(6A).
We also continue to assist clients across the full range of family visa pathways — partner, parent, and prospective marriage visas — where the Department’s April 2026 evidentiary expectations continue to apply.
If you have questions arising from this week’s briefing, contact our office to arrange a consultation. The migration environment rewards those who engage early.
CALL NOW +61731800908 or email – info@phoenix-law.com.au | Level 8, 320 Adelaide Street, Brisbane. #Subclass189Visa #phoenixlaw #brisbanelawyers #MultilingualLawyers #MigrationLaw
