Lodging a Skilled Visa for Australia? The Queue Changed on 19 September 2026

News · 2026-09-21 · 4 min read

If you are a South African tradesperson or professional chasing jobs in Australia, the order in which your visa file gets looked at has just been rewritten. From 19 September 2026, the Department of Home Affairs works to two fresh Ministerial Directions, MD 121 and MD 122. They take over from MD 119 and decide who is dealt with first across nearly every big skilled pathway.

Priority decides your waiting time

Home Affairs does not treat every file the same. Each one is placed according to what government considers most important right now. Land near the top and a decision can come quickly. Land near the bottom and you could be waiting a long while.

Temporary skilled visas: how MD 121 sorts the pile

MD 121 applies to the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa, and to files still running under the Temporary Skill Shortage visa it replaced. Applications are taken in this sequence:

Work in a priority field: Construction, Healthcare, Teaching, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fishing and Resources, as well as roles linked to defence or law enforcement.
People in the Specialist Skills stream of the Skills in Demand visa.
People who were physically in Australia on the day they lodged.
People lodging from outside Australia on their own, with no partner or family application attached.
All remaining files.

Put plainly: an offshore family application in a field outside that list sits at the very end.

Provisional and permanent skilled visas: the MD 122 order

MD 122 reaches much further. It takes in the Skilled Independent (189), the Skilled Nominated (190) and the Employer Nomination Scheme (186), the regional provisional subclasses 491, 494 and 489, and permanent options such as the 191 and 887. Its order is a little shorter:

Priority-sector files and those in the national interest (the same industries listed above).
People who were in Australia when they lodged.
People lodging alone from overseas.
Everyone left over.

Where a South African applicant is likely to land

Your trade or profession sits in a priority sector: expect your file to move quicker than it would have under MD 119.
You are already in Australia: you now jump ahead of most people applying from abroad.
You lodge from home with your family on one combined application: that is the lowest rung, so plan for a longer wait.

If you are planning the move with a partner and children, factor this into your timing. Talk it through as a family before you decide how and from where to lodge.

Two directions that carry on unchanged

Not everything moved to MD 121 and MD 122. These two still run on their own:

MD 114 handles the closed Business Innovation and Investment (188) and Business Talent (132) visas.
MD 120, in effect since 25 July 2026, handles Class BX (858) visas. That covers the National Innovation visa plus the closed Distinguished Talent and Global Talent programs.

Read the processing time tool with care

Home Affairs' processing time tool is a rough guide and nothing more. Its figures come from how long recently finished applications took. It does not look at your file and cannot forecast your own result, so use it only as a broad yardstick.

The bottom line for Mzansi applicants

Because priority now hangs on how and where you lodge, a neat and complete file counts for more than before. A mistake or a missing document can knock you off the quick lane. Get your papers in order early: your trade certificate, certified copies where they are asked for, a SAPS police clearance and an IELTS or PTE result if your visa needs one. If you cannot tell where your application will fall under the new order, get qualified advice before you hit submit.

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