Australia 189 vs 190: which one should you actually file

What actually separates them

Subclass 189, Skilled Independent, is a points-tested permanent visa with no sponsor. Once granted you may live and work anywhere in Australia, and you answer to nobody about where you settle.

Subclass 190, Skilled Nominated, is the same points-tested permanent visa with a state or territory government nomination attached. The nomination is worth five points, and in exchange you indicate an intention to live and work in that state — commonly framed as around two years.

Both are permanent residence from the day of grant. Both give the same work rights, the same Medicare access, and the same pathway to citizenship. Neither is a “lesser” visa, which is the most common misconception in this comparison.

They are the same visa product with different sponsors. The choice is about queues and occupation lists, not about quality of outcome.

The five points are not the point

Five points matters less than which pool you are ranked in. A 189 invitation is decided against every applicant in Australia's national skilled pool. A 190 invitation is decided against the far smaller group of people a single state is interested in this year.

That is why a profile sitting well below the national cut-off can be invited comfortably by a state that wants its occupation — and why an otherwise strong profile in an oversubscribed occupation can wait indefinitely on 189 while a state nomination clears it in months.

It also cuts the other way. States nominate against their own labour-market priorities, which change annually and sometimes mid-year. An occupation a state wanted last year may not appear on its list at all this year.

The occupation lists are the real gate

Subclass 189 draws from the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. If your occupation is not on it, 189 is simply not available to you regardless of your score.

Subclass 190 draws from the broader list, but the operative list is the nominating state's own — each state publishes which occupations it will nominate, often with extra conditions such as minimum experience, a job offer in the state, current residence in the state, or a local qualification.

So the sequence is: get the skills assessment for your occupation first, then see which lists that occupation actually appears on, and only then compare points. Doing it in the other order is how people spend money assessing an occupation that no state wants.

How binding is the state commitment, really

This is the question everyone asks quietly and few advisers answer plainly. The 190 visa itself carries no legally enforceable condition tying you to the nominating state — unlike the regional visas, which do.

What does exist is a commitment you make to the state in the nomination application, and states do follow up. Some ask for periodic updates during the first two years. Leaving early will not have your permanent residence cancelled, but it can affect future dealings with that state, including nominating a relative later.

The honest framing is this: treat it as a genuine commitment you intend to keep. If you already know you want Sydney and you are applying to a state you have no interest in living in, you are starting a permanent move with a statement you do not mean.

So which should you file

File 189 if your occupation is on the MLTSSL and your points clear where recent national rounds have landed. It is simpler, has no second application, and leaves you free.

File 190 if your occupation is on a state's list and your national score is short, or if your occupation is not on the MLTSSL at all. The five points help; the smaller queue helps far more.

And you are not usually choosing. You can hold an Expression of Interest for both simultaneously, and most well-run files do exactly that — taking whichever invitation arrives first, rather than betting on one.

In most cases the answer is “both”. Lodge one EOI covering both subclasses and let the queues decide.

Common questions