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🇦🇺 Immigration guide

Australia Immigration from Pakistan: SkillSelect, 189, 190 and 491

Australian PR from Pakistan: skills assessment, SkillSelect and the 189, 190 and 491 visas, state nomination, employer sponsorship and what goes wrong.

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Last checked against official sources on 25 September 2026

QUICK ANSWER

How much does Australian permanent residency cost from Pakistan, and how long does it take?

The points-tested skilled visas cost A$6,135 for the main applicant on the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) and A$6,140 on the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190), and family members pay extra. Home Affairs decided 90% of recent applications within 8–18 months: 8 for the 189, 16 for the 190 and 18 for the state-nominated 491.

Checked on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Fees and times change, so confirm them on the linked page before you pay. Visa centre charges and any consultant's fee are extra.

Subclass 189
A$6,135
main applicant, Skilled Independent visa
Department of Home Affairs ↗
Subclass 190
A$6,140
main applicant, Skilled Nominated visa; the 491 is the same
Department of Home Affairs ↗
Processing time
8–18 months
for 90% of recent decisions: 189 in 8, 190 in 16, 491 in 18
Department of Home Affairs ↗

At a glance

What you are applying for

Australia is one of the few countries where you can apply for permanent residence from Pakistan without a job offer. The route is the points-tested skilled visas: you get your skills assessed, lodge an expression of interest in SkillSelect, and wait to be invited — by the Department of Home Affairs for the 189, or after a state or territory nominates you for the 190 or the regional 491.

What decides it is your occupation first and your points second. An occupation that is not on the relevant list ends the plan before it starts, and the score that wins an invitation changes with every round and every occupation, often well above the pass mark. Once you apply, applicants outside Australia now wait behind priority sectors and people already in the country.

Most refusals come down to one of four

  1. An occupation on the list
  2. Claims you can prove
  3. Genuine documents
  4. Under 45 at invitation
Sydney Opera House
Australia · Immigration
Main route from Pakistan
A points-tested skilled visa, after an expression of interest in SkillSelect
Before you can be invited
A skills assessment, at least competent English, and age under 45
Selection
65 is the pass mark; Home Affairs' rounds invite the highest scores first
State nomination
Each state and territory sets its own occupation lists and criteria
Processing order
Priority sectors first, then applicants already in Australia, then those outside it

Is this the right guide?

Who it is for

Applying on the wrong visa is one of the quickest ways to a refusal, so read both lists before anything else.

You’re in the right place if you are

  • In an occupation on the skilled lists

    Engineers, IT professionals, accountants, nurses, doctors and tradespeople whose occupation is on Australia's skilled lists and who can pass a skills assessment.

  • Strong in English

    Applicants with strong English, since better test scores earn more points.

  • On a state's own list

    People who fit a state or territory's own list and criteria, for the 190 or the regional 491.

  • Sponsored, heading for a 186

    Workers already sponsored on a Skills in Demand visa, or with a direct offer, heading for the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186).

  • Holding an exceptional record

    Researchers, founders and others with an internationally recognised record of exceptional achievement — the National Innovation visa (subclass 858).

Wrong visa — take this route instead

Document checklist

Documents you will need

The base list for this visa. Your own checklist is built around your case — a salaried applicant and a business owner do not submit the same file.

0 / 11ready in your file

Tick as you gather — saved on this device.

Get my checklist on WhatsApp

Before your expression of interest

After an invitation

Health

Step by step · with timings

How to apply, and how long it takes

In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.

  1. First

    Check your occupation and its list

    Your occupation must be on the list for the visa you want, and the 190 and 491 also depend on each state's own list. Choose the occupation code that matches what you actually did, because the skills assessment and every later document are checked against it.

  2. 1–4 months

    Get your skills assessed

    Apply to the assessing authority for your occupation. It checks your qualifications and experience against Australian standards, and a Pakistani degree or job title is not always assessed the way you expect. An assessment counts for three years, or less if the authority says so.

  3. 1–3 weeks

    Take the English test

    Competent English is the minimum, and proficient and superior scores add points. The Department changed its approved tests and score tables on 7 August 2025, so book a test from the current list.

  4. Up to 2 years

    Lodge your expression of interest

    The EOI in SkillSelect uploads no documents and gives you an indicative score, but every claim must be provable later. An EOI can receive an invitation for up to two years.

  5. Pursue state nomination

    States and territories can see your EOI, and many also take applications through their own portals. A nomination adds points, and it is the only way to be invited for a 190 or a state-nominated 491.

  6. 60 days

    Apply within 60 days of an invitation

    The invitation states the score you must prove. Lodge the complete application — forms, police certificates, family documents — within 60 days, then do the health examinations when asked.

  7. Months to a year+

    The decision and your first entry

    Home Affairs decides in its published order of priority. If you are outside Australia when the visa is granted, your permanent residence starts when you first enter, and the visa lets you travel in and out for five years.

Rather have it handled?Permanent residency and skilled migration pathways.Our Immigration & PR service

Money

What it costs

The official figures are in the quick answer at the top, as checked on 13 October 2026. They change without notice, so each line here says what a cost depends on and where the current figure is published.

  • Paid with the application

    The visa application charge

    The visa application charge is paid for the main applicant, with a further charge for each family member. The Visa Pricing Estimator on the Home Affairs site gives the current amounts.

    FIGUREVisa Pricing Estimator
  • Only if granted

    The second instalment

    A second instalment is charged for each adult family member without functional English, and only if the visa is going to be granted.

    FIGUREHome Affairs
  • Paid to third parties

    Assessments, tests and certificates

    Skills assessments, English tests, health examinations, police certificates and translations are paid to the organisations that provide them.

    FIGUREEach provider
  • If you pay an adviser

    Registered agents only

    If you pay anyone for immigration assistance, Home Affairs says they must be a registered migration agent, a lawyer or an exempt person.

Where the current rules and figures are published

LAST CHECKED 25 SEP 2026

This is general guidance. Rules change, sometimes without notice, and your case will have specifics this page cannot know about. Check anything decisive on the official pages, or send us your situation and we will tell you where you actually stand.

Read before you apply

Why Australia immigration applications are refused

The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.

  • Claims you cannot prove

    Claims the documents do not prove — experience letters without duties, hours or pay, or points the skills assessment does not support. You must prove the score stated on your invitation.

  • False or misleading documents

    False or misleading documents, including manufactured experience letters, which can lead to refusal and a bar on further applications for years.

  • The wrong or expired assessment

    A skills assessment for a different occupation from the one you were invited for, or one that expired and was not replaced within the 60-day invitation period.

  • Turning 45 before an invitation

    Turning 45 before an invitation is issued. Nobody aged 45 is invited, however high the score.

  • A missing police certificate

    A police certificate missing for a country where you spent 12 months or more, or a conviction left undeclared.

  • A family member's health or character

    A family member who does not meet the health or character requirement — including, when asked, one who is not migrating with you.

  • Already been refused?

    Send us the refusal letter before you do anything else. It states the grounds, and they decide whether applying again is worth it or would just cost you the fee a second time.

    Send the letter

Start here

Ask us about your case

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Straight answers

Australia immigration questions

What people ask us before they apply.

Ask us something else

Yes. The 189, 190 and 491 do not need one: you need an eligible occupation, a skills assessment, competent English, age under 45 and enough points to be invited. Some state streams ask for an offer, and the Employer Nomination Scheme always needs one.

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