General Skilled Migration is the points-tested route to living permanently in Australia. Unlike employer sponsorship, nobody has to offer you a job first. Your profile does the work: your age, your qualifications, your English, your experience.
It covers three visas. The Subclass 189 is independent, with no sponsor at all. The 190 needs a state or territory to nominate you and grants permanent residence straight away. The 491 is provisional, requires regional nomination, and leads to permanent residency after three years through the Subclass 191.
Who Can Apply
Before points come into it, you need to clear four gates. You must be under 45 when you’re invited. Your occupation has to appear on the list that applies to the visa you want. You need a positive skills assessment in that occupation from the relevant assessing authority. And you need at least Competent English, which is IELTS 6 in each band or the equivalent.
Miss any one of these and points don’t matter.
How The Points Add Up
Age is the heaviest single factor. Applicants aged 25 to 32 get the maximum 30 points. It’s 25 points if you’re 18 to 24 or 33 to 39, 15 points from 40 to 44, and nothing at all from 45.
English is where most people can genuinely improve. Competent English scores zero. Proficient, roughly IELTS 7 across the board, is worth 10. Superior, around IELTS 8, is worth 20. Going from a 6 to an 8 is a twenty-point swing, which is more than most people gain anywhere else.
Work experience counts on a sliding scale, with Australian experience weighted more heavily than overseas experience. Qualifications bring points too, with a doctorate worth more than a bachelor’s degree. Then there are the smaller additions: an Australian study qualification, a Professional Year programme, a credentialled community language, study in a regional area.
Partners matter more than people expect. If you’re single, or your partner is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you claim 10 points. A partner with a skills assessment and the right age and English also brings 10. A partner with Competent English but no skills assessment brings 5. A partner with neither brings nothing, which effectively costs you ten points against applying alone.
Nomination is the last piece. A 190 adds 5 points. A 491 adds 15.
The Number Nobody Tells You
Sixty-five points is the minimum to submit an Expression of Interest. It is not the score that gets you invited.
Through the 2025-26 programme year, successful 189 applicants have generally needed somewhere between 85 and 95 points depending on occupation. If you’re sitting on 65 and waiting, you may be waiting indefinitely.
Where to Find More Points
Retake your English test. It’s the biggest controllable lever by a distance. Watch your birthdays, because age points are assessed when you’re invited, not when you lodge your EOI, and turning 33, 40 or 45 costs you real points. Get your partner assessed if they’re close to qualifying. And look seriously at state nomination, because 5 or 15 points changes the arithmetic completely.
Occupation lists and thresholds shift regularly, so check current settings before building a plan around them.