Skilled visa refused: when the points in the EOI could not be proven

MARN 1576536

The criterion

An applicant for a 189, 190 or 491 must have, at the time of invitation, a score under the points test that is at least the score on which they were invited. Every claim in the expression of interest is tested against evidence as at the invitation date. A shortfall of a single point fails the criterion; the visa is not granted at the lower score, because the invitation was issued in a round where the lower score might not have been invited at all. The decision record sets out each claim, the points the Department accepted, and the reason for any it did not, and that record is the document every step below starts from.

Employment

• Before the deemed-skilled date. Many assessing authorities state in the outcome letter the date from which the applicant is considered skilled, after deducting a qualifying period. Employment before that date does not count, whatever the duties. This is the single largest cause of points refusals for applicants assessed by the Australian Computer Society and some trades authorities, and it is visible in the letter before the EOI is lodged.
• Not at the required skill level. The duties shown in the references must match the nominated occupation at the skill level the occupation carries. A reference that lists a title and dates, or duties of a lower-level role, does not establish skilled employment.
• Not verified. The Department contacts employers. An employer who does not respond, who cannot be found at the address given, or who describes the role differently, leaves the claim unproven. Overseas employment with a reference signed by a relative is checked hardest.
• Not full time, or not continuous. Part-time employment counts pro rata where the hours are shown; employment with unexplained gaps is counted by the periods evidenced, not the period claimed.
• Self-employment without business registration, tax records and client evidence is the hardest category to prove and the one most often reduced; the self-employed evidence guide sets out what it takes.

English

Proficient and superior English are claimed by component, not by overall score, and a single component below the threshold drops the claim to the next level down: ten points at proficient become none, twenty at superior become ten. A result older than three years at the date of invitation does not count at all. A test sat after the invitation cannot be used for that application. The by-component thresholds for each test are on the English test scores page, and the EOI is checked against them before it is lodged, not after.

Skills assessment

The skills assessment must be valid at the date of invitation and must be for the occupation nominated in the EOI. An assessment that expired between lodging the EOI and receiving the invitation fails the criterion for the visa itself, not merely for points. An assessment for a related occupation with a different code fails the nomination. Where the authority's letter sets out the deemed-skilled date or recognises only part of the employment or qualification, the Department follows the letter; it does not re-assess in the applicant's favour.

Qualifications

Points for a qualification are given at the level the Department recognises it as comparable to under the Australian framework, which is usually the level the assessing authority stated. A degree that the authority assessed as comparable to a diploma earns diploma points. Australian study points need the two academic years in a registered course to be shown with transcripts, and regional study points need the campus and the residence to be shown with addresses. A doctorate claimed as a research qualification needs the award, not enrolment.

Partner points

Points for a partner's skills need the partner's own positive skills assessment, competent English and age under 45, each evidenced at invitation; points for a partner's competent English need the test result; points for having no partner or an Australian partner need the status shown. A partner who was added after invitation, or whose assessment arrived after it, provides none of these for that application. The partner claims are the second most common place a score falls, because they are the ones the primary applicant checks least.

Age

Age points are those for your age on the date of invitation, and the age limit of 45 applies on that date too. An EOI that still claims the points of a younger bracket after a birthday is invited on a score the applicant no longer holds. The Department does not adjust the EOI for birthdays, and the invitation does not wait for them. It is the simplest refusal to avoid and one of the commonest.

What the refusal costs

• The visa application charge, which is not refunded on refusal.
• The invitation, which is spent; a new one needs a new EOI and a new round.
• For an applicant in Australia without another substantive visa, the section 48 bar on most onshore applications, so that the next points-tested application, other than a 190, 491 or 494 with a nomination, is lodged from outside Australia. The section 48 guide sets out the exceptions.
• The refusal on the file, read against every later claim.
• Where the Department found the overclaim was purposeful or a document bogus, the three-year exclusion under PIC 4020, which is the one that matters most and is argued first.

Review

An applicant who was in Australia when the application was made can usually apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal within the period on the decision letter, and holds a bridging visa while it runs. The Tribunal decides the same points criterion on the evidence as at invitation, so review succeeds where the evidence of the points existed and was misread or not considered, and fails where it did not exist. An English result or an employment reference obtained after the invitation does not help. For an applicant outside Australia, a 189 refusal generally carries no review right, and a 190 or 491 refusal carries one only through the nominating state's involvement; the decision record states the position. The ART review guide covers the process.

Rebuilding the EOI

A new expression of interest can be lodged at once. It claims the points the decision record accepted, plus any that have genuinely been earned since: a new English result, a further year of employment after the deemed-skilled date, a partner's assessment now in hand. It nominates the occupation the skills assessment names, with the assessment renewed if it will lapse. It is consistent with what the Department found, because the next decision-maker reads both files, and an EOI that quietly reinstates a rejected claim is the fastest route to a second refusal with a worse letter. Whether the honest score is competitive is a question for the rounds data, and the EOI guide sets out how to keep it that way.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. The points test in Schedule 6D and the criteria for subclasses 189, 190 and 491 in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994, 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.