Subclass 190 State Nomination: NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA Compared
Every Australian state and territory runs its own subclass 190 state nomination program, with its own occupation list and its own requirements. This covers what state nomination actually gets you, what Western Australia's program requires as a worked example, and why there's no fixed 'easiest' state. Figures as at September 2026.
Read the full guide, with official sources →
Watch
Chapters
- 0:00 There's no single
- 0:12 State nomination:
- 0:23 NSW and Victoria:
- 0:38 Each remaining state
- 0:50 Western Australia:
- 1:04 WA: 2 years living and working
- 1:18 South Australia:
- 1:29 No state stays
- 1:40 190 = permanent residence.
- 1:52 Match your occupation
- 2:03 Where to read more
Transcript
There's no single subclass 190 program. Every state and territory runs its own, with its own occupation list.
State nomination adds 5 points to your points test. It isn't the visa itself — the Department of Home Affairs still has to approve your subclass 190 application afterwards.
New South Wales and Victoria typically run the largest programs and draw the most competition in occupations like accounting, IT and engineering. Neither publishes a fixed number of places or a points threshold that holds all year.
Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT each run their own separate program, with their own occupation list and their own process.
Western Australia's program is a useful example of what state nomination actually asks of you. It charges a non-refundable state application fee of $200, published on migration.wa.gov.au.
Western Australia's terms also require living and working in WA for 2 years once the visa is granted. That's a commitment made to the state government, not a formal condition attached to the subclass 190 visa itself.
South Australia runs its own Skilled Occupation List, plus a Designated Area Migration Agreement covering some occupations that don't make the standard list.
There's no state that's reliably the easiest. Occupation lists and any points guidance are reviewed regularly in every state, so what worked last year may not this year.
Once a subclass 190 is granted, it's permanent residence. There's no ongoing legal condition tying you to the state — only the residence undertaking you already agreed to.
The mistake is applying to the biggest program instead of checking whether your occupation is actually on that state's current list — and lists change more often than most guides get updated.
The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description. And if you'd like to talk it through, you can compare registered migration agents there, and see their fees before you book anything.
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