Visa guides · Processing times · Updated August 2026
Australian visa processing times — August 2026
Every published Home Affairs processing time in one table — 482, 186, 494, 189/190/491, partner, student, visitor — as stamped by the Department on 4 August 2026 and checked by us on 17 August 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 August 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - 482 nomination
- 5 days · 9 months
- 482 Core Skills visa
- 69 days · 10 months
- Partner 820 (onshore)
- 18 months · 32 months
- 186 Direct Entry
- 10 months · 14 months
- Figures published
- 4 August 2026
MARN 1576536 · Verifiable at mara.gov.au
Current processing times (August 2026)
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 4 August 2026; we checked it on 17 August 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 4 August 2026:
- 482 nomination: 50% within 5 days and 90% within 9 months. Sponsorship: 50% within 12 days and 90% within 4 months.
- 482 visa — Core Skills: 50% within 69 days and 90% within 10 months. Specialist Skills: 50% within 8 days and 90% within 43 days. Labour Agreement: 50% within 6 months and 90% within 9 months.
- 186 — Direct Entry: 50% within 10 months and 90% within 14 months. Transition (TRT): 50% within 11 months and 90% within 15 months.
- Partner — 820 onshore: 50% within 18 months and 90% within 32 months. 309 offshore: 50% within 17 months and 90% within 30 months.
- Skilled — 189: 50% within 7 months and 90% within 9 months. 190: 50% within 12 months and 90% within 17 months. 491 (state-nominated): 50% within 12 months and 90% within 18 months. 494: 50% within 7 months and 90% within 11 months.
- Student 500 — Higher Education: 50% within 15 days and 90% within 7 months. VET: 50% within 7 months and 90% within 7 months. 485 Post-Higher Education: 50% within 56 days and 90% within 4 months. 407 Training: 50% within 11 months and 90% within 18 months.
Employer-sponsored visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skills In Demand (482) | Labour Agreement | 6 months | 8 months | 9 months |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Core Skills | 69 days | 8 months | 10 months |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Specialist Skills | 8 days | 30 days | 43 days |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Nomination | 5 days | 4 months | 9 months |
| Skills In Demand (482) | Sponsorship | 12 days | 64 days | 4 months |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (186) | Direct Entry Pathway | 10 months | 12 months | 14 months |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (186) | Agreement Pathway | 8 months | 10 months | 10 months |
| Employer Nomination Scheme (186) | Transition Pathway | 11 months | 13 months | 15 months |
| Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (494) | Employer Sponsored | 7 months | 9 months | 11 months |
| Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (494) | Labour Agreement | 7 months | 8 months | 10 months |
| Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (187) | Transition Pathway | 73 days | 4 months | 5 months |
Skilled points-tested and regional visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled - Independent (189) | Points-Tested | 7 months | 8 months | 9 months |
| Skilled - Independent (189) | New Zealand | 53 months | 57 months | 61 months |
| Skilled - Nominated (190) | — | 12 months | 15 months | 17 months |
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (491) | State/Territory Government Nominated Regional | 12 months | 14 months | 18 months |
| Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (491) | Family Sponsored Regional | 3 months | 5 months | 6 months |
| Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (191) | Regional Provisional Visa | 7 months | 10 months | 13 months |
| Skilled - Regional (887) | — | 7 months | 16 months | 18 months |
| Global Talent (858) | — | 15 months | 18 months | 24 months |
| National Innovation (858) | — | 4 months | 5 months | 7 months |
Partner and family visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partner (820) | — | 18 months | 24 months | 32 months |
| Partner (801) | — | 5 months | 10 months | 12 months |
| Partner (Provisional) (309) | — | 17 months | 24 months | 30 months |
| Partner (100) | — | 10 months | 12 months | 19 months |
| Prospective Marriage (300) | — | 14 months | 22 months | 29 months |
| Child (101) | — | 26 months | 31 months | 33 months |
| Child (802) | — | 20 months | 22 months | 29 months |
| Dependent Child (445) | — | 24 months | 27 months | 30 months |
| Adoption (102) | — | 7 months | 11 months | 16 months |
| Orphan Relative (117) | — | 77 months | 87 months | 97 months |
| Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (870) | Visa Application | 7 months | 9 months | 10 months |
| Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (870) | Sponsorship | 73 days | 88 days | 5 months |
Student, graduate and training visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student (500) | Foreign Affairs or Defence Sector | 4 days | 11 days | 31 days |
| Student (500) | Postgraduate Research Sector | 27 days | 38 days | 3 months |
| Student (500) | Independent ELICOS Sector | 6 days | 21 days | 62 days |
| Student (500) | Schools Sector | 22 days | 41 days | 7 months |
| Student (500) | Vocational Education and Training Sector | 7 months | 7 months | 7 months |
| Student (500) | Higher Education Sector | 15 days | 40 days | 7 months |
| Student (500) | Non-Award Sector | under 1 day | 11 days | 21 days |
| Temporary Graduate (485) | Post-Vocational Education Work | 80 days | 89 days | 3 months |
| Temporary Graduate (485) | Post-Higher Education Work | 56 days | 3 months | 4 months |
| Student Guardian (590) | — | 41 days | 7 months | 8 months |
| Training (407) | — | 11 months | 15 months | 18 months |
Temporary work, working holiday and visitor visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) (400) | — | 7 days | 17 days | 26 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Government Agreement | 9 days | 21 days | 41 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Foreign Government Agency | 46 days | 82 days | 4 months |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or Consular) | 57 days | 63 days | 82 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme | 13 days | 14 days | 28 days |
| Temporary Work (International Relations) (403) | Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme (MATES) | 66 days | 80 days | 3 months |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Entertainment Activities | 14 days | 17 days | 20 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Research Activities | 75 days | 5 months | 12 months |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Religious Work | 90 days | 5 months | 13 months |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Special Programs | 24 days | 39 days | 54 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Invited for Other Social and Cultural Activity | 11 days | 19 days | 29 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Exchange Arrangements | 21 days | 28 days | 74 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Superyacht Crew | 6 days | 11 days | 34 days |
| Temporary Activity (408) | Sporting Activities | 9 days | 31 days | 50 days |
| Working Holiday (417) | — | under 1 day | 14 days | 25 days |
| Work and Holiday (462) | — | 9 days | 19 days | 36 days |
| Visitor (600) | Tourist | 13 days | 28 days | 35 days |
| Visitor (600) | Sponsored Family | 43 days | 79 days | 89 days |
| Visitor (600) | Business Visitor | 6 days | 14 days | 24 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) | — | 16 days | 55 days | 3 months |
| New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship (Temporary) (461) | — | 3 months | 4 months | 5 months |
| Transit (771) | — | 5 days | 18 days | 49 days |
| Three Month Resident Return (157) | — | 24 days | 44 days | 67 days |
| Five Year Resident Return (155) | — | under 1 day | 5 days | 6 days |
| Maritime Crew (988) | — | under 1 day | under 1 day | 2 days |
Business and investor visas
| Visa | Stream | 50% decided within | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (188) | Business Innovation | 52 months | 56 months | 59 months |
| Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) (188) | Business Innovation Extension | 5 months | 7 months | 9 months |
| Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (888) | Business Innovation | 5 months | 6 months | 7 months |
| Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (888) | Investor | 4 months | 4 months | 5 months |
| Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent) (888) | Significant Investor | 4 months | 5 months | 7 months |
| Business Talent (132) | Significant Business History | 67 months | 69 months | 70 months |
All figures: Department of Home Affairs global visa processing times, stamped 4 August 2026, covering finalised applications to 30 June 2026. Checked 17 August 2026. Verify against the Department’s current figures before planning around a date.
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
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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 12 days and 90% within 4 months), nomination (50% within 5 days and 90% within 9 months), then the visa (Core Skills 50% within 69 days and 90% within 10 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 · Free assessment
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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 4 August 2026: 50% of Skills in Demand (subclass 482) nominations were decided within 5 days and 90% within 9 months. Sponsorship (standard business sponsor) applications: 50% within 12 days and 90% within 4 months. 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 69 days and 90% within 10 months. Specialist Skills stream: 50% within 8 days and 90% within 43 days. Labour Agreement stream: 50% within 6 months and 90% within 9 months. Figures are the Department's global processing times published 4 August 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 18 months and 90% within 32 months. Offshore partner (subclass 309): 50% within 17 months and 90% within 30 months. The permanent stages — 801: 50% within 5 months and 90% within 12 months; 100: 50% within 10 months and 90% within 19 months. Prospective Marriage (300): 50% within 14 months and 90% within 29 months. Published by Home Affairs 4 August 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 10 months and 90% within 14 months. Temporary Residence Transition: 50% within 11 months and 90% within 15 months. Labour Agreement: 50% within 8 months and 90% within 10 months. Home Affairs figures published 4 August 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 4 August 2026; we checked it on 17 August 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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