The Victoria Government announced a closure of the Skilled Migrant Nomination program for subclass 190 and 491 Visa as at 28th May 2020.
The program hopefully re-opens on 1st July.
The Victoria Government “is facing economic and health challenges posed by coronavirus (COVID-19). To help us respond to this challenge, priority will be given to occupations in sectors critical to the coronavirus response in allocating remaining nomination places. ‘’
In the 2019-2020 financial year, Victoria had only 2,500 places available for nomination under the 190 Skilled Migrant visa. The places are allocated by the Immigration Department. The limited number of State nomination combined with inflated points for the 189 visa, makes the demand for State nomination even more competitive.
Nomination ceiling for the 491 Skilled Migrant Regional visa was 1,041 places. It has to be noted that 491 visa applicants for sponsorship from Victoria require a job offer from an employer based in regional Victoria.