The three visas
Subclass 189 — Skilled Independent
Subclass 189, the Skilled Independent visa, is the one SkillSelect stream that needs no nomination: an EOI in this pool is ranked on points alone. That makes it the cleanest national picture of how crowded an occupation is. This article explains what the visa is, how it appears in the published statistics, and where to see the current 189 pool — open Occupation Trends for 189 when you want the live numbers.
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 subclass 189 is
Skilled Independent (subclass 189) is a permanent, points-tested visa. You lodge an EOI, the Department scores it, and it may be invited to apply — no state, territory or relative takes part in that decision. Eligibility depends on your age, English, skills assessment, work history and the occupation lists in force at the time, all of which change over the life of a pool.
The Department of Home Affairs subclass 189 listing is the only authoritative source for those criteria. This article does not restate the legislation; it explains what the visa looks like once the statistics are published.
In the EOI statistics
Because a 189 EOI carries no nominated jurisdiction, geography is not part of this pool. Views built on the nominated-state field, such as State Mix and the Australia Map, have little to say about 189. What matters instead is how large an occupation’s pool is, how it moves over time, and how points are distributed inside it.
With the visa filter on 189 and the status on submitted, the line you get is the number of 189 EOIs still in the pool for that occupation in each published month. It rises when more EOIs arrive than leave and falls when invitations, withdrawals and expiry clear more than arrive; the line itself does not say which of those happened.
In the dashboard
Occupation Trends opens with subclass 189 and Accountant (General) already selected, which is the part of the dashboard the guest trial covers. The figure below is a frozen example that shows what the view looks like, not the current month.
The guest trial covers 189 and 190 plus five occupations. Points Pressure, Queue by Points and the other deeper views ask you to sign in.
Reading these charts
Chart reading lives in the Guides library. Occupation Trends explains the lines themselves, Points Pressure explains how the points distribution shifts over time, and 189 / 190 / 491 in EOI data explains why the three streams are never plotted on one axis.
For applicants
The 189 pool answers one question well: how crowded is my occupation on this subclass, and is it getting more or less crowded? It cannot tell you whether you will be invited, and nothing here is a cut-off score.
If you want to see where a particular score sits, Queue by Points and My Outlook do that once you sign in. The points test article explains what those views are showing.
For migration professionals
189 is the simplest stream to brief on, because there is no nomination dimension to complicate the story. Show the client a 24-month submitted line for their occupation with the visa locked to 189, and say out loud that the count is of EOIs rather than people.
If the conversation turns to nomination, move to the 190 or 491 article rather than carrying 189 figures into it.
Related pages
- Subclass 190 — Skilled Nominated
- Subclass 491 — Skilled Work Regional
- 189 vs 190 vs 491: how the three differ
- The points test and the pool
- Guides: the three pools in EOI data
Common questions
What is a 189 visa in SkillSelect?
Skilled Independent (subclass 189) is a permanent, points-tested visa that needs no state, territory or family nomination. In the published statistics it appears as a single national pool of EOIs for each occupation.
How do I see the 189 EOI pool?
Open Occupation Trends in EOI Insights, keep the visa filter on 189 and choose your occupation. The guest trial includes 189, so you can look without an account.
Does a large 189 pool mean my occupation is hard?
Not on its own. Pool size measures how many EOIs are waiting, not how quickly invitations move through them. Read it alongside an invitation-oriented view such as Invite Activity.