How the pool works
Invitation rounds and the invited EOI pool
An invitation round and an invited snapshot are two different numbers, and treating them as one is how imaginary cut-offs get published. Rounds are events the Department announces; the invited figures in EOI Insights are a monthly count of EOIs that were holding an invitation when the snapshot was taken. This article keeps the two apart.
Key terms. SkillSelect is the Australian government’s online system for skilled migration. An Expression of Interest (EOI) is the form you lodge in it, and it is not a visa application. An EOI counted as submitted was still sitting in the pool when the monthly snapshot was taken; one counted as invited was holding an invitation at that moment. ANZSCO is the occupation-code list SkillSelect uses. Every figure on this site counts EOIs rather than people, because one person can lodge more than one.
What an invitation round is
An invitation round is the moment the Department, or a state or territory for nominated subclasses, invites EOIs to apply for a visa. Rounds have dates, volumes and a lowest invited score, and the Department announces them separately from the monthly statistics.
Federal rounds cover subclass 189. Subclass 190 and 491 invitations follow each jurisdiction’s own nomination process, on its own timetable, which is why a national round announcement says nothing about a state pool.
In the EOI statistics
EOI Insights does not collect round announcements. What it charts is the invited status inside each monthly snapshot: the EOIs that were holding an invitation on the day the snapshot was taken. That is a stock, not a flow — it is not the number of invitations issued during the month, and it is certainly not a round result.
Mixing the two invents a cut-off that nobody published. If you need round dates, totals or minimum scores, take them from the Department. If you want to know how many EOIs are currently invited in an occupation, that is what these snapshots show.
In the dashboard
Occupation Trends is the trial doorway. The invitation-oriented views — Invite Activity, Invite Radar and Invited vs Queue — ask you to sign in. The bars below show the largest pools in an example month, not a round result table.
The guest trial covers 189 and 190 plus five occupations. The invitation-oriented views are behind sign in.
Reading these charts
Invite Activity sets pool size against the invited pool for each occupation, Invite Radar highlights where invited counts moved between months, and Invited vs Queue compares the two points distributions.
For applicants
A rise in the invited count for your occupation means invitations were happening around that snapshot. It does not tell you the score they were issued at, and it is not a promise that the same will happen next month.
For where scores sit, see the points test article. For the official round record, go to the Department.
For migration professionals
Label the number every time: “EOIs holding an invitation in the September snapshot”, not “invitations issued in September”. Clients conflate the two immediately if you let them.
Keep round announcements and snapshot charts in separate slides. Putting them side by side implies a relationship between two numbers that were never measured the same way.
Related pages
- The points test and the pool
- What a SkillSelect EOI is
- 189 vs 190 vs 491
- Guides: Invite Activity
- Guides: Invite Radar
Common questions
Does EOI Insights publish official round results?
No. It charts the invited status recorded in the monthly SkillSelect snapshots. Official round results — dates, totals and minimum scores — are announced by the Department of Home Affairs.
How do I see invitation activity here?
Start with Occupation Trends, which is in the guest trial. Invite Activity and Invite Radar then compare pool size with the currently invited pool, and both are behind sign in.
Are 190 and 491 invitations issued in the same rounds as 189?
No. Federal rounds invite 189 EOIs, while 190 and 491 invitations follow each state’s or territory’s own nomination process and timetable.