Queensland's skilled nomination program is closed as this is written — every one of the 1,850 subclass 190 places and 750 subclass 491 places in the 2025-26 allocation has been filled, and Migration Queensland is waiting on the Australian Government to confirm 2026-27 allocations before it can reopen. No opening date has been announced.
That closure is not a reason to switch off. It is the single best window you will get to prepare — because when the program opens, Registrations of Interest move fast, and the nominations go to people whose files were ready on day one.
2025-26 is done. Queensland's full allocation — 1,850 × 190, 750 × 491 — was committed, and ROIs are closed. Nationally the 2025-26 state-nominated program ran to 20,350 places.
2026-27 allocations are not yet published. Migration Queensland says it is awaiting advice from the Australian Government on future program settings. Invited applicants with nominations already lodged will be finalised once new places arrive — they do not need to act.
Timing signal: last program year, state allocations were set in early November, and Queensland's program moved quickly after that. Treat spring as the likely window and be ready before it.
Why "ready on day one" decides outcomes
Queensland nominates from its ROI pool — and the pool is competitive. When places are limited and demand is not, the difference between nominated and not-nominated is rarely the occupation. It is whether your evidence was complete, current and consistent at the moment it was assessed:
a skills assessment that is current (validity is tested at invitation — a stale assessment kills an otherwise perfect file)
an English test result at Competent or better, in date
for the onshore pathway, a clean 9-month Queensland work history in your nominated occupation — 20+ hours per week, post-qualification, matching the first three digits of your ANZSCO code, and continuing right through ROI, invitation and nomination
an EOI in SkillSelect with points claims you can prove — every point in your Expression of Interest must survive evidence at the visa stage
The onshore advantage — if you protect it
Queensland's onshore 190 pathway requires living and working in the state for the nine months immediately before your ROI. If you are working in Brisbane, Logan or anywhere in Queensland now, you are building that history today. Two things break it: changing to a role that no longer matches your nominated occupation's ANZSCO group, and dropping below 20 hours a week. If a job move is on your horizon, check the ANZSCO alignment before you accept.
Two exclusions worth knowing: chefs and cooks working in fast-food or takeaway settings do not qualify, and current 491 holders (or 491 applicants) cannot use the 190 pathway.
The offshore pathway
Applicants outside Australia need an occupation on Queensland's offshore list and at least one year of skilled employment in the nominated or a closely related occupation — still current at invitation and nomination. Offshore files are won on employment evidence: reference letters with duties, payslips, and consistency with your EOI.
A preparation checklist for the closure period
- Confirm your occupation sits on the relevant Queensland list (lists can change when the program reopens — check again on opening)
- Renew or obtain your skills assessment if it will be near expiry
- Sit or re-sit English if your score is borderline or ageing
- Audit your Queensland work history against the 9-month rule (onshore) or your skilled-employment evidence (offshore)
- Build the points evidence file now — one document per claimed point
- Lodge or update your EOI so your date of effect is working for you
- Decide your fallback: 189 if your points are strong, 491 if regional Queensland fits your life
Where Migration Vision fits
From our office in Slacks Creek, Logan City, we run exactly this preparation: occupation and ANZSCO audit, points modelling against real program behaviour, evidence mapping, and ROI/EOI strategy timed to the program's reopening. When Queensland opens, our clients' files are already sitting at decision-ready.
The full nomination criteria and current program status are on our Skilled Nominated visa 190 guide, with figures verified against Migration Queensland and the Department of Home Affairs.
Reviewed by Dr Asad Muhammad Khan, Registered Migration Agent, MARN 2619525. Updated 18 August 2026 — program status and allocation figures verified against migration.qld.gov.au and the Department of Home Affairs state-allocations page on that date. This article is general information, not migration advice for your circumstances.
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