Visa Priority Shifts to Onshore as Migration Rules Tighten

The Albanese Government is moving to bring net overseas migration (NOM) down toward its budgeted targets. In late July 2026, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke signed a new ministerial direction reordering how skilled visa applications are processed. The change favours people already in Australia over new arrivals from overseas.

A bigger, more sweeping policy announcement was expected in early August but has since been delayed.

Why the Government is Acting Now

Net overseas migration is currently running at around 300,000 a year, well above the government’s own targets.

Budget papers put NOM at an estimated 295,000 for the 2025 26 financial year, with a projected figure of 245,000 for 2026 27, and a longer-term goal closer to 225,000.

The difference between current visa volumes and the government’s planned intake has become a point of public debate. Recent discussions about reducing migration levels are now reflected in policy changes, beginning with adjustments to how existing visa applications are prioritised.

That pressure is now translating into policy action, starting with how visa applications already in the system are processed.

Ministerial Direction 119

On 24 July 2026, Minister Burke signed Ministerial Direction 119 under section 499 of the Migration Act 1958, effective from 25 July.

It replaces the previous framework, Ministerial Direction 105, which had been in place since December 2023. For the first time, it brings the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa fully within a ministerial direction’s priority structure.

It does not change visa eligibility criteria, occupation lists, or approval outcomes. It only changes the order in which the Department of Home Affairs works through its queue of nomination and visa applications.

The new priority order is based on two factors: occupation and location at the time of application.

The five priority tiers under Direction 119 are, broadly:

Onshore applicants in law enforcement and defence occupations
Offshore applicants in law enforcement and defence occupations
Onshore applicants in construction, healthcare and teaching occupations
All other onshore applications
All other offshore applications

Onshore-first Processing

The strategy here is straightforward. The government wants to convert people who are already living and working in Australia into permanent residents, rather than adding to NOM by prioritising brand-new arrivals from overseas.

Onshore temporary visa holders are already counted in the resident population. Moving them to permanent status doesn’t add to net migration the way approving a new offshore applicant does.

Direction 119 applies not just to new applications but to the full stock of on-hand applications already sitting with the department, including those lodged before 25 July.