Visa guides · Processing times · Updated September 2026
Australian visa processing times — September 2026 (global processing times, all subclasses)
Every published Home Affairs processing time in one table — 482, 186, 494, 189/190/491, partner, student, visitor — as stamped by the Department on 29 September 2026 and checked by us on 6 October 2026. Then: what actually drives your own timeline, and how to shorten it.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed September 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - 482 nomination
- 64 days · 9 months
- 482 Core Skills visa
- 4 months · 9 months
- Partner 820 (onshore)
- 22 months · 30 months
- 186 Direct Entry
- 21 months · 25 months
- Figures published
- 29 September 2026
The migration agent that other migration agents learn from. WIDEN is an OMARA-approved CPD provider — our training is rated ★4.8 by 40+ registered migration agents.
About the CPD →MARN 1576536 · Verifiable at mara.gov.au
Current processing times (September 2026)
What moved since August 2026
32 streams slower, 20 faster at the 90th percentile, on the figures stamped 29 September 2026.
- Employer Nomination Scheme (186) — Direct Entry Pathway: 90% within 25 months (was 14 months, slower)
- Employer Nomination Scheme (186) — Transition Pathway: 90% within 25 months (was 15 months, slower)
- Temporary Activity (408) — Religious Work: 90% within 5 months (was 13 months, faster)
- Partner (801): 90% within 19 months (was 12 months, slower)
- Temporary Activity (408) — Research Activities: 90% within 17 months (was 12 months, slower)
The full September 2026 report → Get each month's changes by email: the form at the foot of this page.
The tables below are the Department of Home Affairs global visa processing times — the time within which 50%, 75% and 90% of recently finalised applications in each subclass and stream were decided. The Department stamped this set 29 September 2026; we checked it on 6 October 2026 and refresh this page monthly. Percentiles are for finalised applications: your own can take more or less, and a decision-ready lodgement is the single biggest factor you control.
Source: Home Affairs — global visa processing times. Where a stream shows “—”, the Department has not published a figure.
The short answers, as at 29 September 2026:
- 482 nomination: 50% within 64 days and 90% within 9 months. Sponsorship: 50% within 11 days and 90% within 57 days.
- 482 visa — Core Skills: 50% within 4 months and 90% within 9 months. Specialist Skills: 50% within 37 days and 90% within 78 days. Labour Agreement: 50% within 5 months and 90% within 9 months.
- 186 — Direct Entry: 50% within 21 months and 90% within 25 months. Transition (TRT): 50% within 21 months and 90% within 25 months.
- Partner — 820 onshore: 50% within 22 months and 90% within 30 months. 309 offshore: 50% within 21 months and 90% within 32 months.
- Skilled — 189: 50% within 61 days and 90% within 8 months. 190: 50% within 4 months and 90% within 16 months. 491 (state-nominated): 50% within 5 months and 90% within 18 months. 494: 50% within 8 months and 90% within 12 months.
- Student 500 — Higher Education: 50% within 16 days and 90% within 4 months. VET: 50% within 53 days and 90% within 7 months. 485 Post-Higher Education: 50% within 5 days and 90% within 55 days. 407 Training: 50% within 12 months and 90% within 20 months.
Timelines are set by the Department — lodgement quality is yours. A decision-ready application avoids the requests for information that add months. Tell us your visa and dates for a free first read.
Get lodged decision-ready →Employer-sponsored visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skills In Demand (482) | Labour Agreement | 5 months | 7 months | 9 months |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Core Skills | 4 months | 8 months | 9 months |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Specialist Skills | 37 days | 51 days | 78 days |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Nomination | 64 days | 6 months | 9 months |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Sponsorship | 11 days | 28 days | 57 days |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (186) | Direct Entry Pathway | 21 months | 24 months | 25 months |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (186) | Agreement Pathway | 50 days | 12 months | 12 months |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (186) | Transition Pathway | 21 months | 24 months | 25 months |
| Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (494) | Employer Sponsored | 8 months | 11 months | 12 months |
| Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (494) | Labour Agreement | 4 months | 11 months | 12 months |
Skilled points-tested and regional visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled - Independent (189) | Points-Tested | 61 days | 8 months | 8 months |
| Skilled - Independent (189) | New Zealand | 54 months | 58 months | 61 months |
| Skilled - Nominated (190) | — | 4 months | 15 months | 16 months |
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (491) | State/Territory Government Nominated Regional | 5 months | 16 months | 18 months |
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (491) | Family Sponsored Regional | 4 months | 5 months | 7 months |
| Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (191) | Regional Provisional Visa | 8 months | 9 months | 10 months |
| Skilled - Regional (887) | — | 10 months | 11 months | 17 months |
| Global Talent (858) | Distinguished Talent / Global Talent (Independent) | 16 months | 19 months | 24 months |
| National Innovation (858) | National Innovation | 6 months | 7 months | 7 months |
Partner and family visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partner (820) | — | 22 months | 26 months | 30 months |
| Partner (801) | — | 8 months | 11 months | 19 months |
| Partner (Provisional) (309) | — | 21 months | 27 months | 32 months |
| Partner (100) | — | 9 months | 13 months | 21 months |
| Prospective Marriage (300) | — | 14 months | 20 months | 26 months |
| Child (101) | — | 24 months | 30 months | 33 months |
| Child (802) | — | 21 months | 29 months | 31 months |
| Dependent Child (445) | — | 25 months | 29 months | 32 months |
| Adoption (102) | — | 8 months | 12 months | 19 months |
| Orphan Relative (117) | — | 75 months | 85 months | 97 months |
| Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (870) | Visa Application | 7 months | 8 months | 9 months |
| Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (870) | Sponsorship | 89 days | 4 months | 4 months |
Student, graduate and training visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student (500) | Foreign Affairs or Defence Sector | 3 days | 10 days | 22 days |
| Student (500) | Postgraduate Research Sector | 17 days | 50 days | 55 days |
| Student (500) | Independent ELICOS Sector | 22 days | 34 days | 53 days |
| Student (500) | Schools Sector | 28 days | 57 days | 7 months |
| Student (500) | Vocational Education and Training Sector | 53 days | 7 months | 7 months |
| Student (500) | Higher Education Sector | 16 days | 49 days | 4 months |
| Student (500) | Non-Award Sector | 3 days | 18 days | 43 days |
| Temporary Graduate (485) | Post-Vocation Education Work | 52 days | 4 months | 5 months |
| Temporary Graduate (485) | Post-Higher Education Work | 5 days | 13 days | 55 days |
| Student Guardian (590) | — | 43 days | 5 months | 8 months |
| Training (407) | — | 12 months | 18 months | 20 months |
Temporary work, working holiday and visitor visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) (400) | — | 8 days | 20 days | 43 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Government Agreement | 12 days | 29 days | 45 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Foreign Government Agency | 50 days | 85 days | 4 months |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or Consular) | 27 days | 57 days | 78 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme | 15 days | 18 days | 30 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme (MATES) | 4 months | 4 months | 5 months |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Entertainment Activities | 23 days | 36 days | 47 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Research Activities | 15 months | 17 months | 17 months |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Religious Work | 3 months | 4 months | 5 months |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Special Programs | 31 days | 34 days | 56 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Invited for Other Social and Cultural Activity | 4 days | 11 days | 22 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Exchange Arrangements | 28 days | 41 days | 52 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Superyacht Crew | 7 days | 9 days | 35 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Sporting Activities | 16 days | 32 days | 4 months |
| Working Holiday (417) | — | 2 days | 12 days | 58 days |
| Work and Holiday (462) | — | 3 days | 11 days | 44 days |
| Visitor (600) | Tourist | 21 days | 26 days | 33 days |
| Visitor (600) | Sponsored Family | 40 days | 61 days | 3 months |
| Visitor (600) | Business Visitor | 7 days | 13 days | 19 days |
| Electronic Travel Authority (601) | — | under 1 day | under 1 day | under 1 day |
| eVisitor (651) | — | under 1 day | under 1 day | under 1 day |
| Medical Treatment (602) | — | 19 days | 62 days | 3 months |
| New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship (Temporary) (461) | — | 5 months | 5 months | 6 months |
| Transit (771) | — | 3 days | 7 days | 13 days |
| Three Month Resident Return (157) | — | 18 days | 45 days | 65 days |
| Five Year Resident Return (155) | — | under 1 day | 4 days | 6 days |
| Maritime Crew (988) | — | under 1 day | under 1 day | 3 days |
Business and investor visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (188) | Business Innovation Extension | 6 months | 9 months | 11 months |
| Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (888) | Business Innovation | 9 months | 9 months | 10 months |
| Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (888) | Investor | 5 months | 5 months | 6 months |
| Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (888) | Significant Investor | 4 months | 6 months | 8 months |
| Business Talent (132) | Significant Business History | 67 months | 69 months | 70 months |
All figures: Department of Home Affairs global visa processing times, stamped 29 September 2026, covering finalised applications to 31 August 2026. Checked 6 October 2026. Verify against the Department’s current figures before planning around a date.
For media & republishing
Journalists and publishers covering Australian migration are welcome to cite these figures. The underlying numbers are the Department of Home Affairs' own; this page collates them into one dated table, refreshed every month. Please attribute to WIDEN Migration Experts and link back to this page so readers reach the current set.
Australian visa processing times
As published by the Department of Home Affairs — 29 September 2026
| 482 Core Skills visa | 4 months · 9 months |
| 482 nomination | 64 days · 9 months |
| 186 Direct Entry | 21 months · 25 months |
| 189 (points-tested) | 61 days · 8 months |
| 190 (state-nominated) | 4 months · 16 months |
| Partner 820 (onshore) | 22 months · 30 months |
Each figure: 50% · 90% of finalised applications decided within. Source: Department of Home Affairs. Compiled by WIDEN Migration Experts (MARN 1576536) · widen.com.au
Suggested citation
WIDEN Migration Experts, “Australian visa processing times — September 2026,” widen.com.au/visa-processing-times-australia/ (figures published by the Department of Home Affairs, 29 September 2026).
Media enquiries. Keshab Chapagain, Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1576536), is available for comment on Australian visa processing times, policy changes and skilled-migration pathways. Contact info@widen.com.au or via our contact page.
How the official numbers work
The Department publishes processing times as percentiles, not averages: “50% within 69 days” means half of the recently finalised Core Skills 482 visas were decided within 69 days — and the other half took longer, some far longer. The 90% figure is the more useful planning number if a date matters. The Department refreshes the set roughly monthly, usually in the first week; the stamp on this page tells you which release you are reading.
Home Affairs — global visa processing times →
Not sure if you qualify? Check your points — free
Estimate your points for the 189, 190 and 491 skilled visas in two minutes, then get a free, personalised assessment from a registered migration agent.
What actually affects your timeline
- How decision-ready you lodge. The single biggest factor you control. Everything the case officer needs — evidence for every criterion — provided up front.
- Requests for more information (section 56). Every request-and-wait cycle adds weeks or months. A complete application avoids them.
- Health and character checks. Front-footing your medicals and police certificates stops them becoming the bottleneck.
- Document verification. External checks on qualifications or employment can extend timelines — clean, verifiable evidence helps.
- Peak periods, ceilings and priorities. Lodgement volumes, occupation ceilings and any priority-processing arrangements shift the queue.
How to shorten your own timeline
- Lodge decision-ready. Address every criterion with evidence — don't leave the case officer needing to ask.
- Prepare health and police checks early so they're not the thing everyone's waiting on.
- Respond to any request immediately and completely — a fast, full response is the difference between weeks and months.
- Get it right the first time. A refusal or re-lodgement costs far more time than careful preparation ever does.
Notes by visa subclass
Different visas are paced by different things. The figures are in the tables above; these notes explain what moves an application between the 50% and 90% ends.
Subclass 482 — nomination, sponsorship and visa
Three decisions in sequence: sponsorship (50% within 11 days and 90% within 57 days), nomination (50% within 64 days and 90% within 9 months), then the visa (Core Skills 50% within 4 months and 90% within 9 months). The nomination spread — days at one end, most of a year at the other — is almost entirely about document quality: a nomination with a defensible Genuine Position Statement, reconciled salary evidence and compliant Labour Market Testing is decided without an RFI; one with gaps waits for one. See 482 nomination processing time and the nomination checklist.
Partner visas — Subclass 309 and Subclass 820
Partner applications are decided on the strength and completeness of relationship evidence, so the timeline you experience depends heavily on what you lodge. Files that arrive complete — evidence across the financial, household, social and commitment pillars, plus health and police checks — move differently from files that trigger requests for further information. See our partner visa guide for what the evidence needs to cover.
Subclass 887 — Skilled Regional (Permanent)
The 887 turns on eligibility evidence rather than queue position: you must show two years living in a designated regional area and twelve months of full-time work there. Timelines stretch when the address history and the work evidence don't line up — payslips, tax records and tenancy documents covering the same periods. Assemble those before lodging.
Subclass 804 — Aged Parent (onshore)
The 804 is different from every other visa on this page: the binding constraint is the annual planning level set for parent visas, not the Department's processing capacity, which is why it doesn't appear in the processing-times tool at all. A queue date matters more than a processing estimate. See our parent visa guide.
Standard Business Sponsorship
Sponsorship approval sits ahead of nomination and visa in the chain, so it sets the pace of everything that follows. Accredited sponsor status carries priority processing; first-time sponsors without it should plan for the full sequence — see how to become an approved sponsor.
Related: 482 nomination processing time · Points calculator · All visa guides · Book a consultation
Already waiting longer than the published time?
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Questions we get asked first
How long does a 482 nomination take to be approved right now?
As published by the Department of Home Affairs on 29 September 2026: 50% of Skills in Demand (subclass 482) nominations were decided within 64 days and 90% within 9 months. Sponsorship (standard business sponsor) applications: 50% within 11 days and 90% within 57 days. The wide spread is the point — a complete, consistent nomination sits at the fast end; one that draws a request for information sits at the slow end.
How long does the 482 Skills in Demand visa take in 2026?
Core Skills stream: 50% within 4 months and 90% within 9 months. Specialist Skills stream: 50% within 37 days and 90% within 78 days. Labour Agreement stream: 50% within 5 months and 90% within 9 months. Figures are the Department's global processing times published 29 September 2026, for finalised applications; the visa is decided after the nomination, so add the nomination time if it hasn't been lodged yet.
How long does a partner visa take in Australia in 2026?
Onshore partner (subclass 820): 50% within 22 months and 90% within 30 months. Offshore partner (subclass 309): 50% within 21 months and 90% within 32 months. The permanent stages — 801: 50% within 8 months and 90% within 19 months; 100: 50% within 9 months and 90% within 21 months. Prospective Marriage (300): 50% within 14 months and 90% within 26 months. Published by Home Affairs 29 September 2026. Relationship evidence quality is what moves an application from the 90% end towards the 50% end.
How long does the 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa take?
Direct Entry: 50% within 21 months and 90% within 25 months. Temporary Residence Transition: 50% within 21 months and 90% within 25 months. Labour Agreement: 50% within 50 days and 90% within 12 months. Home Affairs figures published 29 September 2026. The 186 nomination is assessed alongside the visa; incomplete nomination evidence is the usual cause of the slow end.
Where do these processing times come from and how are they calculated?
They are the Department of Home Affairs global visa processing times — the time within which 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% of recently finalised applications in each subclass and stream were decided. The Department stamped the current set 29 September 2026; we checked it on 6 October 2026 and refresh this page every month. Your own application can take more or less; the figures describe recent decisions, not a promise.
Why is my visa taking so long?
The most common causes are within reach: an application that wasn't decision-ready at lodgement (missing documents, an incomplete skills assessment, unaddressed criteria), slow responses to a request for more information (a section 56 request), pending health or character checks, external verification of documents, and peak lodgement periods or occupation ceilings. A decision-ready application — everything the case officer needs, addressed up front — is consistently the biggest factor you control.
Can I speed up my visa application?
You can't buy priority for most visas, but you can materially shorten your own timeline: lodge decision-ready with every criterion evidenced, front-foot health and police checks, and respond to any departmental request immediately and completely. Some streams have priority processing arrangements (for example accredited sponsors, and certain regional or critical-sector nominations). Whether any of those apply to you is exactly the kind of thing a personalised assessment answers.
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