Subclass 189

First, to claim the right points, you need good knowledge of Australian migration law, as it is very complex. There are many critical criteria that applicants are not aware of, and they can make simple mistakes unintentionally, which eventually leads to refusal or a waste of the invitation.

When you lodge your EOI, you must be very careful about the points you claim. When you apply for the visa, you must provide evidence for every point claimed in your EOI. If you can’t prove any claimed points, your visa may be refused.

For example: you can only claim Professional Year (PY) points if your PY matches your nominated occupation. That means if you have done a PY in accounting and your occupation is ICT, then you cannot claim points for your PY.

Another example is if you have exactly 3 years’ experience in your occupation in Australia, but during these three years you took unpaid leave for only two weeks—even then, you cannot claim points for 3 years. However, after working another 2 weeks, you can then claim three years of experience.

There are many applicants who do their EOI by themselves and claim the wrong points and eventually get a visa refusal. That’s why it’s important to get professional advice to confirm which points you can or cannot claim.

Substantive visa or BVA or BVB (with work rights): You can claim points for your work experience gained in Australia.

BVC: You cannot claim points for work experience gained while on a Bridging Visa C, even if you have work rights.

Yes, you can marry, but you must make sure it doesn’t reduce your points.

Example: if you claimed 10 points as single and then you marry an overseas partner, your partner must be able to provide proof that he or she has 10 points at the time of invitation (e.g., competent English + a suitable skills assessment).

So, if you think you are going to marry soon, then do not claim single points in your EOI. Alternatively, ask your partner to get a positive skills assessment and competent English, and then lodge the EOI.

Yes, only before the decision or visa grant.

Partner
You can add a partner after you lodge your visa, as long as your points are not affected.

Child
You can also add a newborn child after visa lodgment.

If the visa has already been granted, then the option would be to apply for a Partner visa and a Child visa.

In these circumstances, unfortunately, you cannot use that invitation, as all the points you have claimed must be valid at the time of invitation.

In this scenario, you need to submit a new EOI after redoing your English and receiving a new positive skills assessment with the correct points. However, you can update your points once you have received your NAATI results.

At the time of invitation, your skills assessment, English test, NAATI results, and Professional Year must all be valid.

Many applicants think they should wait until they have good points , or they assume the cut-off is too high and it’s not worth lodging yet.

Our advice to all our clients is to lodge the EOI as soon as you are eligible and you have at least 65 points for the Subclass 189 visa. There are many reasons why lodging the EOI as early as possible is an important move.

For example, you are a nurse with 70 points. You could have lodged your EOI on 1 December 2024, but you waited and lodged it on 1 January 2025.

In the next 189 invitation round, you and your friend both have 70 points, but your friend lodged their EOI earlier (30 December 2024). Your friend gets invited, and you don’t.

This is because when two applicants have the same points, the system invites the person who lodged their EOI earlier.

Another example: nobody knows how many invitations the Department will issue for each occupation, and the cut-off can be lower or higher than the previous round depending on the Department’s needs. So, it’s always good to be in the queue once you are eligible.