Tasmania’s 2026–27 Skilled Migration Program Is Open: What You Need To Know

Tasmania has reopened its skilled migration nomination program for the 2026–27 program year, giving skilled workers a fresh opportunity to secure state nomination for permanent or provisional residency. Migration Tasmania began accepting new Registrations of Interest (ROIs) on 17 August 2026, with weekly invitations to apply for nomination starting on Thursday 20 August 2026.

If you’re weighing up a Tasmanian nomination this year, here’s a plain-English rundown of the numbers, the changes, and what they mean for your application.

How many places are on offer this year?

Tasmania has been allocated 2,050 nomination places for 2026–27, split as follows:

• 1,250 places for the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
• 800 places for the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491)

That’s a meaningful number of places, but with weekly invitation rounds and a points-based selection process, timing and eligibility still matter. The earlier you have a strong ROI in the system, the better positioned you are as invitations roll out.

A key change: the subclass 491 Overseas pathway is paused

This is the change most likely to affect people currently living outside Australia. Migration Tasmania has confirmed that no invitations are planned for the subclass 491 Overseas Skilled Occupation Profiles pathway in 2026–27. This follows the Australian Government’s broader push to prioritise visa processing for people who are already living and working in Australia.

In practice, this means the 2026–27 program is far more geared toward onshore applicants — people already in Australia on a skilled, graduate, bridging, or other eligible visa — than toward candidates applying from overseas. Overseas applicants aren’t necessarily locked out of every pathway, but the practical opportunities this year sit predominantly with the onshore cohort.

What else has changed for 2026–27

A few scoring and process changes are worth knowing before you submit or update an ROI:

Clearer priority attribute wording. Migration Tasmania has revised the wording of its priority attributes to make eligibility criteria easier to understand and self-assess against.

More weight for longer employment. The scoring criteria now better recognise applicants with longer periods of continuous employment in Tasmania, rather than just current job status.

A stricter bar for TSE Gold. The Tasmanian Skilled Employment (TSE) Gold priority attribute now requires employment of at least 30 hours per week in at least one job. If your case relies on TSE Gold points, it’s worth checking your hours against this threshold before you rely on it in your ROI.

Updated income thresholds. Income-based priority attributes have been benchmarked against Australian median and average earnings, rather than fixed historical figures. The Priority Income Level remains $57,000 per year (or $28.85 per hour).

A new application fee. The service fee to apply for nomination has increased to $387 ($425.70 including GST). There is still no charge to submit an initial ROI — the fee applies once you’re invited to lodge a nomination application.

A new portal address. The Migration Tasmania Application Gateway — where ROIs are submitted and nomination applications are lodged — has moved to a new domain: apply.migration.tas.gov.au. If you’ve used the portal before, make sure you’re bookmarking the new address rather than relying on an old link.

What this means if you’re considering applying

If you’re already living in Australia and working toward a subclass 190 or 491 nomination, this program opening is good news: Tasmania has a solid allocation this year, and the government’s current settings favour onshore applicants like you. That said, the revised scoring — particularly the TSE Gold hours requirement and the updated income benchmarks — means it’s worth revisiting your ROI to make sure it still reflects your strongest possible score under the new rules.

If you’re applying from overseas, the picture is more limited this year given the pause on new 491 Overseas invitations. It’s still worth understanding which pathways, if any, remain realistically open to you before investing time in an ROI.

Migration Tasmania also ran an information webinar on 13 August 2026 covering these changes in more detail, which may be worth reviewing if a recording is made available.

Getting the details right matters

State nomination programs like Tasmania’s are competitive, points-based, and subject to change from one program year to the next — this year’s changes to TSE Gold and income thresholds are a good example of how quickly the goalposts can move. Before submitting or updating an ROI, it’s worth getting a clear read on how the new criteria apply to your specific circumstances.