Skilled visas · After the invitation
Invited to apply for a 189, 190 or 491: the 60 days, what must be true at invitation, and every document to lodge
The invitation is the thing applicants wait years for and then nearly waste. It starts a clock of sixty calendar days that no one can extend, and it fixes the date on which every point claimed in the expression of interest has to be true and provable: a skills assessment that expired the week before, an English test that crossed three years, a partner who turned 45, each turns a valid invitation into a refused application. The application lodged inside the sixty days carries the evidence for every claim, and the health, police and character documents follow. This guide sets out what must be true at invitation, the full list of what to lodge and what can come later, the family members and the charges, the mistakes that lose invitations, and what to do if the sixty days are missed.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed October 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Deadline
- 60 calendar days from the invitation; no extension
- Points
- Every claim true and provable as at the invitation date
- Lodge with
- Identity, assessment, English, employment, qualifications, partner claims, nomination
- Can follow
- Health, police certificates, Form 80, translations
- Charge
- Paid at lodgement for every applicant
- Missed
- The invitation lapses; the EOI returns to the pool
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The sixty days
An invitation to apply, whether from a 189 round or on a state's nomination for the 190 or 491, is valid for sixty days from the date it is issued, and the regulations fix the period: the visa application must be made within it, and an application made after it is not a valid application. The days are calendar days. The Department does not extend the period for illness, for a missing document, for a public holiday or for an agent's error, and an invitation that lapses is gone; the expression of interest returns to the pool and may be invited again in a later round, or may not, depending on the score and the occupation. The sixty days is for lodging the application and paying the charge, and an application lodged on day fifty-nine with half the documents is valid; an application complete on day sixty-one is not. The SkillSelect guide covers how invitations are issued.
What must be true at invitation
The points-tested visas assess the points as at the time of invitation, and the Department awards the points the applicant actually met on that date, not the points claimed. Every factor is checked against the date: the skills assessment valid on that day; the English test taken within the three years before it; the employment periods completed by it, with the ten-year window counted back from it; the qualifications conferred by it, not merely completed; the applicant and any claimed partner under 45 on it; the partner's assessment and English current on it; the Australian study, the specialist education qualification, the professional year and the community language credential held on it; and the nomination, for the 190 and 491, in place. A factor that falls short produces a lower score, and if the lower score is below the score the invitation was issued on, the application is refused, because the applicant did not have the points claimed. The points refusal guide sets out how that ends.
The documents to lodge
- Identity: the passport biodata page for every applicant, birth certificates, any change-of-name documents, and a passport-style photograph where the form asks.
- The skills assessment, with its date and validity period.
- English: the test report, or the exempt passport.
- Employment: for every period claimed, a reference on letterhead stating the position, duties, dates and hours, with payslips, tax records, contracts or superannuation statements corroborating it; for self-employment, the registrations, contracts, invoices and tax returns.
- Qualifications: the award certificate and the transcript for each, and for the Australian study claim the completion letter and the course dates.
- The other claimed factors: the specialist education qualification, the professional year completion, the community language credential.
- Partner claims: the partner's skills assessment and English result, and the evidence of the relationship.
- Children: birth certificates, and where a parent is not migrating, consent or custody documents.
- The nomination for the 190 and 491, which the state transmits and the applicant confirms.
- Translations: a certified English translation of every document not in English, which the translations guide sets out.
What can follow lodgement
The health examinations for every applicant are arranged after lodgement through the HAP identifier the application generates, at a panel clinic, and are usually completed within weeks; the Department does not need them at lodgement. Police certificates from every country in which an applicant has lived for twelve months or more in the last ten years are provided after lodgement where they have not arrived, with the Australian Federal Police certificate for time in Australia. Form 80 is provided if the Department requests it, and many applicants provide it unasked. Documents that prove a fact which was true at invitation, a reference that an employer was slow to write, a transcript the university took a month to send, follow as they arrive. The Department assesses the application months after lodgement and everything uploaded by then is before it. The police checks guide and the medical guide cover the two that take longest.
Family members
The spouse or de facto partner and dependent children are included in the application as members of the family unit, each with their own identity documents, health and character, and each paying a charge. A partner claimed for points must be included. A partner in the relationship at invitation and omitted from the application by mistake can be added before decision; a partner whose relationship began after the invitation can be added before decision if it meets the de facto or marriage definition, without affecting the points, which were fixed at invitation. A family member left out and added after grant comes by a subsequent entrant application, which is slower and costs a further charge, and a family member who is a non-migrating dependant is still assessed on health and character. The partner points guide covers the partner claims.
The 190 and 491: the nomination
For the state-nominated visas the invitation follows the state's approval of its nomination, and the nomination is a criterion of the visa: it must be in place at invitation and must not be withdrawn before decision. The state's conditions, the commitment to live in the state, any employment or settlement requirements, are the state's, and the applicant's undertaking to the state is given in the nomination application; the Department checks that the nomination exists and the state's identifier matches. A nomination that lapses, because the state withdrew it after learning something, or because the applicant's circumstances changed in a way the state's conditions do not allow, takes the invitation with it.
The charges
The visa application charge is paid in full at lodgement for the primary applicant and for each family member, at the rates in force on the day, and a surcharge applies to any applicant aged 18 or over who does not have functional English, payable before grant. The charge is not refunded if the application is refused on the points, which is the financial reason the invitation date is checked before the money is paid. The current charges are on the fees page.
The mistakes that waste an invitation
- A skills assessment that expired before the invitation, or that was for a different occupation from the one nominated.
- An English test older than three years at invitation, or a result that meets the overall score but not a component.
- Employment claimed that the references do not support at the skill level or the hours, or that falls outside the ten-year window counted from the invitation.
- A qualification claimed as conferred when only the course was complete.
- A partner claimed for ten points whose assessment or test had lapsed, or who was 45.
- The deadline, counted in working days instead of calendar days.
- Lodging a different subclass from the one invited, which is a different application.
If you miss the sixty days
An invitation that lapses cannot be reinstated, and an application lodged after the period is invalid and the charge is refunded. The expression of interest returns to the pool for the balance of its two-year life, and a further invitation depends on the score, the occupation and the rounds; an applicant whose score has risen since may be invited sooner, and one whose score has fallen, with a birthday or an expired test, may not be invited again. A state nomination that produced the invitation is usually exhausted by it and has to be sought again. An applicant who sees the deadline coming and cannot be ready lodges what they have on day fifty-nine; the one who lets it lapse starts over.
After lodgement
- Book the health examinations for every applicant as soon as the HAP identifiers appear.
- Apply for the police certificates that are not yet in hand, including the Australian Federal Police check.
- Upload the remaining documents as they arrive, and Form 80 for each adult.
- Keep the Department told of any change: address, passport, a new child, a change in relationship.
- Respond to any request for information inside the period it gives, and do not travel without checking the bridging visa if the application was lodged onshore.
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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Subclasses 189, 190 and 491 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, the invitation provisions in regulation 2.07 and Schedule 1, and the points test in Schedule 6D, as in force at the date above. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.
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How long do I have?
Sixty calendar days from the date the invitation is issued, counting weekends and public holidays, with no extension for any reason. The application must be lodged in ImmiAccount with the charge paid before the sixtieth day ends; an invitation that lapses cannot be revived, and the expression of interest returns to the pool, where it may or may not be invited again. The sixty days is for lodging, not for completing: documents can follow.
What must be true on the invitation date?
Everything the points were awarded for. The skills assessment must have been valid, the English result within three years, the employment periods completed, the qualifications held, the age under 45, the partner's assessment and English current, and any other claimed factor in place, all as at the day of the invitation. A score that was true when the expression of interest was lodged and had changed by the invitation, an expired assessment for instance, is an overstated score, and the application is refused on the points.
What do I need to lodge with the application?
The passport and identity documents for each applicant; the skills assessment; the English test result; evidence of each employment period claimed, references and payslips or tax records; the qualifications and transcripts; the partner's assessment and English if claimed; evidence of any Australian study, specialist education, professional year or community language credential claimed; the relationship evidence for a partner included; birth certificates for children; and, for the 190 and 491, the state's nomination. Health examinations, police certificates and Form 80 can follow lodgement, and usually do.
Can I add my partner after lodging?
A partner who was in the relationship at invitation and omitted from the application can be added before decision as a member of the family unit, with the relationship evidence and the charge; a partner who was claimed for points must be in the application. A new partner, whose relationship began after the invitation, can be added before decision if the relationship meets the definition, but cannot change the points. A partner left out and added later by subsequent entrant application after grant is the slowest and most expensive route.
I cannot get a document in time. What do I do?
Lodge anyway, with everything you have, inside the sixty days, and provide the rest after. The Department assesses the application when it reaches it, which is months later, and documents uploaded in the meantime are on file by then; a request for information gives a further period for anything still missing. The only things that cannot follow are the facts: a document that proves a fact that was true at invitation can arrive late, and a fact that was not true at invitation cannot be made true afterward.
What does the consultation cost?
A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes by video with Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536), credited in full if you engage WIDEN. An invitation in hand is the moment the session pays for itself: it checks every claimed point against the evidence as at the invitation date, and lists what to lodge and what can follow.
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