What the subclass 190 visa is
The Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) is a permanent visa. It lets a skilled worker nominated by an Australian state or territory government live and work in Australia without a time limit attached to the visa itself. It sits inside the points-tested skilled migration stream, alongside the subclass 189 (no nomination) and the subclass 491 (provisional, regional).
The common misconception is that the 190 is a state visa administered by the state. It is not. The state or territory only runs the nomination step, a gatekeeping process layered on top of the federal points test. The visa itself is issued by the Department, under federal criteria, and carries the same permanent residence rights as a 189 grant. A person cannot skip the state process to get a 190, and a state nomination alone does not grant anything: it is one input into a still-federal application.
What the visa is not: it is not a fast lane. Adding a state nomination changes the points test outcome and can change which occupations are open to a person, but it does not change the character, health, or genuine-intention requirements that sit under every permanent skilled visa. An agent assessing a subclass 190 matter treats the nomination and the visa criteria as two separate, sequential tests, not one combined form.
The factors an agent assesses
State or territory nomination as its own competition
Each state and territory runs its own nomination programme, with its own occupation list, its own settings (which can include residence or employment history in that state, or commitments about where the applicant will live), and its own opening and closing windows. These lists and settings are not uniform across the country and they change during a programme year as allocations are used up. An agent working a 190 matter checks the specific state’s current published criteria for the relevant occupation, not a general national standard, because a factor that clears one state’s bar does not automatically clear another’s.
The points test
Once nominated, the applicant is still assessed against the federal points test set out in the Migration Regulations. The test scores factors including age, English language ability, skilled employment experience (onshore and offshore), and educational qualifications. A state nomination itself contributes points under this same test. The Department publishes the current minimum score and the current points table; an agent checks both before advising a client on how a nomination changes their position, rather than working from a remembered figure.
Skills assessment and occupation
The applicant’s occupation must sit on the relevant skilled occupation list, and must be supported by a positive skills assessment from the assessing authority for that occupation. The assessing authority, not the Department or the state, decides whether qualifications and experience match the nominated occupation. The Regulations test this at the time of invitation, so in practice an agent has the assessment in place before the expression of interest is lodged, not after an invitation arrives.
Health and character
As with other permanent skilled visas, health and character requirements apply to the applicant and family members included in the application. These are assessed on the same basis as for subclass 189, independent of the nomination.
Where it sits in a pathway
People arriving at a 190 application typically hold a temporary skilled or student visa, or are assessed offshore with no prior Australian visa at all. The expression of interest is lodged through SkillSelect, and only once nominated and invited does the formal visa application follow.
Compared to subclass 189, the 190 trades a residence or work commitment to a particular state for a points contribution that can be the difference between remaining in the pool and receiving an invitation. Compared to subclass 491, the 190 grants permanent residence on approval, where the 491 is provisional and sits earlier in a pathway that can later lead to a permanent visa. An agent mapping options for a client treats these three visas as different points, not different qualities, on the same points-tested spectrum, and the right one depends on the client’s occupation, state ties, and how the points settings for each currently sit.
What typically goes wrong
Treating the state list as fixed. State occupation lists and settings change, sometimes mid-year. A matter opened against one version of a list can find the goalposts moved by the time documents are ready.
Treating nomination as the finish line. Nomination is one input to the points test, not an approval. Health, character, and the underlying visa criteria still apply after nomination.
Missing state-specific residence or employment conditions. Some nominations carry conditions about where the applicant lives or works after grant. Failing to plan for these before lodging the state application creates problems later, not at the point of visa decision.
Letting a skills assessment lapse or narrow. A positive assessment is occupation-specific and time-limited. An agent checks that the assessment on file still matches the occupation being nominated for, rather than assuming an old assessment carries across.
Confusing the three points-tested visas. Advising as though 189, 190, and 491 are interchangeable, when their nomination requirements, points contributions, and post-grant conditions differ, is a common source of mismatched strategy.