The Department of Home Affairs has officially released the 2025–26 Migration Program planning levels. The overall quota remains exactly the same as last year, with only minor adjustments in specific streams.

�� Key Changes

124 Distinguished Talent and 858 Global Talent Independent (GTI) visas have now been merged into a new 858 National Interest Visa (NIV) category, with a combined allocation of 4,300 places.

Business Innovation & Investment visas are no longer separately listed, with only 1,000 places retained to process backlog applications.

 Skilled Migration Breakdown

Employer Sponsored: 44,000

Skilled Independent (subclass 189): 16,900

Regional (491 visa): 33,000

State/Territory Nominated (190 visa): 33,000

 Family Migration Quotas

Partner visas: 40,500

Parent visas: 8,500

Child visas: 3,000

Other family visas: 500

⚠️ Points to Note

The state and territory nomination allocations (190 & 491) are not yet finalised and may be updated later.

The Government stressed that the Permanent Migration Program has limited short-term impact on housing and infrastructure.

Data shows that in the last program year:

61% of skilled migrants were already onshore in Australia when granted PR.

47% of family migrants were also already in-country.

Policy focus will remain on tightening temporary visa settings, especially those that significantly influence Net Overseas Migration (NOM).