Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated Visa: State Nomination Explained

The 190 has two decision-makers. A state or territory decides whether to nominate you; the Department of Home Affairs then decides the visa. Both have to say yes.

The sequence is:

1. Get your skills assessment and English result.
2. Lodge an EOI in SkillSelect, selecting the state or states you would accept.
3. Apply to the state — most run their own separate application process and their own registration of interest system.
4. If nominated, you receive an invitation to apply for the visa.
5. Lodge the visa application within the invitation period.

Some states search the SkillSelect pool and invite directly; others require a separate expression of interest on their own portal. Check the specific state's current process — they differ, and they change between programme years.

Being on the MLTSSL is not enough. Each state and territory publishes its own, narrower list of occupations it will nominate, and attaches its own conditions — minimum work experience, a job offer in the state, prior study or residence there, or a points floor above the national minimum.

This produces a common frustration: an engineer with a strong score finds their occupation open in one state and closed in four others, or open with a condition they cannot meet. There is no way around it other than checking each state's current list and criteria directly, in the programme year you are applying.

Engineering occupations tend to fare better than most here, because state infrastructure and resources pipelines keep them in demand — but "tend to" is not "always", and lists close mid-year when allocations run out.

The 190 is permanent from grant, so legally you are a permanent resident with the same status as a 189 holder. What differs is the commitment you made to the nominating state: to live and work there, typically for the first two years.

This commitment is a condition of the nomination rather than a condition printed on the visa. In practice that means moving early is not usually a visa-cancellation risk, but it is a genuine undertaking you gave, states do follow up, and a pattern of nominated applicants leaving immediately is exactly what causes states to tighten criteria for everyone who follows.

If you have no intention of living in the state, do not apply for its nomination. Apply for a 189, or raise your points until you do not need one.

The practical strategy for most engineers is to lodge one EOI covering 189 and 190, select every state whose list includes your occupation and whose criteria you meet, and treat the 491 as the fallback if neither converts.