On 13 October 2026, Live in Melbourne published an update to Victoria's skilled visa nomination program for 2026–27. The notice sets fees for a Registration of Interest and for a nomination application, and it points to a Victorian Points Test that will rank those registrations for the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491). The program is not open. The points-test page says it will open soon, and that eligibility criteria and further details will be published when it opens. The news post says information about the opening will appear on the Live in Melbourne website when it is available.
The test is a ranking tool for Registrations of Interest. It is not the points test the Department of Home Affairs uses, and Live in Melbourne says an applicant still has to meet both the Australian Government's visa eligibility requirements and Victoria's nomination requirements. On the Australian test, the Victorian page says every applicant must score at least 65 points. Victoria then builds a separate total from the SkillSelect Expression of Interest and from the Victorian Registration of Interest, and ranks registrations from highest to lowest on that total. The page says the Victorian test prioritises younger, highly qualified applicants with higher levels of English.
Two ways into an invitation round
Applicants in all eligible occupations can submit a Registration of Interest, and every registration is ranked on the Victorian Points Test. Live in Melbourne describes two ways to be invited, and says a registration is considered under both. In the first, called most competitive, each invitation round invites the registrations with the highest totals across all eligible occupations in the pool at that time. In the second, called priority industry, certain occupations are set aside to meet critical skills needs, and each round invites the highest totals within each priority industry in the pool at that time. Invitations go out in regular rounds. The page says the result depends on how competitive the pool is when the round is run, and on the limited number of nomination places. There is no published calendar of round dates for 2026–27.
There is no fixed pass mark. Live in Melbourne draws the contrast itself: unlike the Australian Government's points test, the Victorian test does not have a score that, once reached, produces an invitation. Invitations go to the highest totals in that round. An applicant's position depends on their total relative to other applicants, and on how many places are available. The page says Victoria cannot say how likely an invitation is, and cannot say how one total compares with the others in the pool. An invitation to apply for nomination, and a successful nomination, are not guaranteed. Victoria also says it cannot give priority for personal circumstances, including age, or the expiry of a current visa or of supporting documents. Age still changes the score. It is not a separate reason to be moved up the list.
The seven factors, and the published weights
Each Registration of Interest receives one total. Live in Melbourne says that total is calculated from seven weighted factors: age, English language, years of experience in the nominated occupation, educational qualification, occupation skill level, a partner's skill where it applies, and annual earnings from skilled employment in Victoria where that applies. The figures below are the rows published on the Victorian Points Test page. Adding the highest figure in each factor produces 950. That addition is arithmetic on the published rows. Victoria does not publish 950 as a ceiling, and it does not publish it as a pass mark.
Age
The age rows run from 18 to 44. A single row covers ages 20 to 29, and that row is the highest age score on the page, 300 points. Age 18 is 265 and age 19 is 282. From 30 the score falls: 286 at 30, then 270, 256, 240, 226, 210, 196, 180, 166 and 150 at 39. Age 40 is 136. From 41 the published drop is 30 points a year: 106 at 41, 76 at 42, 46 at 43, and 16 at 44. The page does not publish a row for 45 or older.
- 18: 265
- 19: 282
- 20–29: 300
- 30: 286
- 31: 270
- 32: 256
- 33: 240
- 34: 226
- 35: 210
- 36: 196
- 37: 180
- 38: 166
- 39: 150
- 40: 136
- 41: 106
- 42: 76
- 43: 46
- 44: 16
English
English is the widest gap on the test after age. Competent English is published as 0. Proficient English is 100. Superior English is 200. That 200 is the second-highest single figure on the page, behind only the 300 for ages 20 to 29. A move from Competent to Superior is 200 points, twice the top of the experience scale and twice a PhD.
- Competent: 0
- Proficient: 100
- Superior: 200
Experience in the nominated occupation
Experience is scored only in the nominated occupation, and the page publishes six labels. Zero years is 0. One year is 20. One to three years is 40. Three to five years is 60. Six to eight years is 80. More than eight years is 100. The labels meet at one year, and again at three years and at five years. The page does not say which label applies on a shared year. The top of this factor, 100 points, is half the Superior English score and one third of the top age score.
- 0 years: 0
- 1 year: 20
- 1–3 years: 40
- 3–5 years: 60
- 6–8 years: 80
- More than 8 years: 100
Education
Education does not start at zero. The row labelled Other is 25 points. A bachelor degree, including honours, is 50. A masters degree is 75. A PhD is 100. The step between each published row is 25 points, so the span from Other to a PhD is 75 points.
- Other: 25
- Bachelor and honours: 50
- Masters: 75
- PhD: 100
Occupation skill level
Only a skill level 1 occupation scores on this factor, and it scores 50. Skill level 2 and skill level 3 are both published as 0. Live in Melbourne points readers to the skilled occupation list on the Department of Home Affairs website for the skill level of an occupation. The 50 points for skill level 1 is the same figure as a bachelor degree, and the same figure as the partner score described below.
- Skill level 1: 50
- Skill level 2: 0
- Skill level 3: 0
A partner's skill
A partner score of 50 is published only when three conditions are all met. The applicant has claimed 10 points for partner skills on the SkillSelect Expression of Interest. The partner will be included in the state-nominated visa application. And the partner's occupation is a current priority-industry occupation. If any of those is missing, the published score is 0. Live in Melbourne also gives that 0 to an applicant who is single, who has an Australian partner, or who does not meet the three conditions. The page points to the Department of Home Affairs points table for how partner points are claimed on an Expression of Interest.
Earnings from skilled work in Victoria
The last factor is annual earnings from current skilled employment in Victoria, and the page marks it as applying where it applies. The published bands start at $80,000 to $84,999 for 8 points. They then rise, mostly in steps of 8 points and sometimes 7, through the $100,000s and $150,000s, to $170,000 and over at 150 points. There is no published band below $80,000. The top earnings score, 150, is larger than a PhD or a full experience scale, and smaller than Superior English. Live in Melbourne refers readers to its Annual Earnings Estimation guide for how that figure is calculated. The points-test page does not reprint that guide.
- $80,000–$84,999: 8
- $85,000–$89,999: 16
- $90,000–$94,999: 24
- $95,000–$99,999: 32
- $100,000–$104,999: 39
- $105,000–$109,999: 47
- $110,000–$114,999: 55
- $115,000–$119,999: 63
- $120,000–$124,999: 71
- $125,000–$129,999: 79
- $130,000–$134,999: 87
- $135,000–$139,999: 95
- $140,000–$144,999: 103
- $145,000–$149,999: 111
- $150,000–$154,999: 118
- $155,000–$159,999: 126
- $160,000–$164,999: 134
- $165,000–$169,999: 142
- $170,000 and over: 150
Who is in the priority pool
The priority track does not replace the open ranking. Registrations in each priority industry, or industry subgroup, are still ordered by the Victorian Points Test, and the highest totals inside that group are invited. A registration that is not in a priority occupation can still be invited on the most-competitive track, because that track takes the highest totals across all eligible occupations in the pool. The 2026–27 priority lists are occupations with ANZSCO codes, not whole industries in the loose sense. The page says certain occupations in Victorian industries are prioritised.
Healthcare is the longest list. It names diagnostic radiography, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine technology and sonography; optometry; hospital pharmacy; orthotics and prosthetics; occupational therapy, physiotherapy and podiatry; audiology and speech pathology; a run of specialist physicians, from general medicine through oncology, intensive care, neurology, paediatrics, cardiology, haematology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, renal medicine, rheumatology and thoracic medicine; surgeons, including cardiothoracic, neurosurgery, orthopaedic, ear nose and throat, paediatric, plastic and reconstructive, urology and vascular; psychiatry, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, ophthalmology and pathology; midwifery; nurse educators, researchers, managers and practitioners; the registered-nurse specialties from aged care through paediatrics, plus registered nurses not elsewhere classified; and dental technicians.
Social assistance is shorter: clinical, organisational and educational psychologists, psychologists not elsewhere classified, social workers, and welfare workers. Education is split. The teachers subgroup is middle-school teachers, secondary-school teachers, special-needs teachers, and special-education teachers not elsewhere classified. The early-childhood subgroup is a single occupation, Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher, ANZSCO 241111. For that subgroup, Live in Melbourne says registrations with one or more years of relevant work experience and Proficient or Superior English will be prioritised for invitation. That extra line is not repeated for the other education occupations, or for healthcare, social assistance or construction.
Construction is also split. The professionals subgroup names geotechnical engineers, geophysicists, hydrogeologists, construction project managers, surveyors, and other spatial scientists. The trades subgroup names glaziers, bricklayers, stonemasons, general plumbers and the air-conditioning, draining, gasfitting and roof-plumbing trades, carpenters, joiners, building inspectors, general and special-class electricians, air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, sheet-metal workers, metal machinists, electrical engineering technicians, solid plasterers, wall and floor tilers, roof tilers, toolmakers, metal fabricators, general motor mechanics, and automotive electricians. Inside each of these groups the ordering rule is the same as everywhere else on the page: the highest Victorian Points Test totals in the pool at the time of the round are the ones invited.
What the new fees cover, and what they do not buy
From 2026–27, Live in Melbourne is charging for the Registration of Interest and for the nomination application. The fees page and the 13 October notice publish the same table. A Registration of Interest is $60 excluding GST, or $66 including GST. A subclass 190 nomination application is $180 excluding GST, or $198 including GST. A subclass 491 nomination application is the same, $180 or $198. GST of 10 per cent applies if the applicant is in Australia when the payment is made, and it is calculated when the form is completed. The nomination fee is payable only if the applicant is invited to apply for nomination and then submits that application. Submitting a Registration of Interest does not, by itself, trigger the $180.
The Registration of Interest fee is charged once in a program year. Withdrawing it and submitting another in the same program year does not incur the fee again. A nomination application is different: a new fee applies each time a nomination application is submitted. A Registration of Interest is valid only for the program year in which it is submitted. Live in Melbourne defines that year as beginning on or after 1 July and ending on 30 June the following calendar year, and says registrations and nomination applications for a year may close before 30 June, on a date to be published. Only Visa and Mastercard are accepted. The charge appears on a bank statement as VIC Migration. Amounts are in Australian dollars. A bank may add its own fee if the payment is processed outside Australia or in another currency. The fees page says the figures are current at publication and may be reviewed.
The fees are generally not refunded. Live in Melbourne says a fee will not be refunded merely because the Registration of Interest does not produce an invitation, including where the applicant meets the eligibility criteria; because a nomination application is refused, again including where the criteria are met; because no further correspondence arrives; because the registration or the application is withdrawn; because the applicant changes their mind; or because an invitation arrives and the applicant does not apply. A fee is also not refunded merely because a successful nomination is declined, because the registration or application was incomplete or inaccurate, because identity could not be verified, because more than one Live in Melbourne account was used for the same applicant, because eligibility or the ranking information changes without notice, because Victoria withdraws a nomination, or because an incorrect location meant GST was charged. A refund may be made where there has been an administrative or technical error, or where the service cannot be provided. Any refund goes back to the card that paid, including where a migration agent or another third party made the payment. Payment terms and the refund policy sit on separate Live in Melbourne pages linked from the fees page.
The program year has a test, and no opening date
None of the published machinery is an open program. The points-test page says the 2026–27 program will open soon for Registrations of Interest, and that eligibility criteria and further details will be published when it opens. The 13 October news post says information about the opening will be published on the Live in Melbourne website when it is available, and that enquiries go through that website. Anyone who lodged a Registration of Interest in an earlier program year, and who wants to be considered in 2026–27, has to log in to the Live in Melbourne portal and submit a new Registration of Interest when the program opens. The old registration does not carry forward. That follows from the fees page as well: a registration is valid only for the program year in which it was submitted.
The visas the test is ranking are the two Live in Melbourne already describes on its skilled-migration page. Subclass 190 is a permanent visa to live and work anywhere in Victoria. Subclass 491 is a provisional visa of five years, with a pathway to permanent residence after living and working in regional Victoria for at least three years. The same page says an invitation to apply for Victorian nomination starts with an Expression of Interest in SkillSelect, and then a Registration of Interest for Victorian nomination. The points test published on 13 October is the ranking Victoria says it will use, once that Registration of Interest is open, to choose which of those registrations to invite. It does not, on the pages published that day, set the day the portal will take them.
The same figures are on the EOI Insights dashboard. 189 vs 190 vs 491 explains the subject.
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