Updates / Program
2026-27 Migration Program: what actually changed for skilled visas
The permanent program holds at 185,000 places, but the mix shifted sharply. Employer-sponsored is up 32%, the 189 grew, and regional 491 places were cut by more than half.
The headline numbers
The 2026-27 permanent Migration Program stays at 185,000 places, with roughly a 70:30 split between the skilled and family streams. The skilled stream holds about 132,240 places. What matters is not the total - it is where the places moved.
Where the places went
- Skilled Independent (subclass 189): up from 16,900 to 21,090 places - a 25% increase.
- Skilled Nominated (subclass 190): up from 33,000 to 35,500.
- Employer-sponsored permanent visas: up from 44,000 to 58,040 - a 32% rise and the single largest change in the program.
- Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491): cut from 33,000 to 14,110 - down 57% in one year.
What it means for you
The government is steering hard toward employer sponsorship and, to a lesser degree, independent skilled migration, while pulling back sharply on the regional provisional route. If your plan leaned on the 491, treat it as a route that now needs a genuine strategy rather than a fallback - competition for regional nomination is rising as the places shrink.
Planning levels are not visa grants. They guide processing priorities and invitation volumes, not a guarantee for any individual. Confirm the current position on the official page before acting.
Source: Department of Home Affairs — Migration Program planning levels. Published 15 July 2026. Rules change - confirm the current position before you act.
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