190 Schedule 1 Validity 2026: Practitioner Checks Before Lodgement

A Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated) application only becomes a real application if it clears the Schedule 1 validity requirements first. According to the Department of Home Affairs "Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)" official page (as at the July 2026 official page), an onshore applicant must hold a substantive visa or a Bridging visa A (subclass 010), B (subclass 020) or C (subclass 030) at the time of lodgement, must hold a valid invitation, and must declare a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation; the same page confirms that an application is not valid if the applicant is in immigration clearance, or if the nominating state or territory agency withdraws its nomination after lodgement. The Schedule 1 item list in the Migration Regulations 1994 and in PAM3 adds two further lodgement-day bars — the Section 48 limitation and No Further Stay conditions 8503 and 8534 — so both points should be checked against the current legislative text and the Department's current guidance before lodgement.

The distinction that matters most in practice is between validity and merits. Schedule 1 asks whether the application may be received at all. Schedule 2 asks whether the applicant should be granted the visa. A Schedule 1 failure produces an invalid application rather than a refusal, and PAM3 provides that there is no merits review of that outcome. A Schedule 2 failure produces a refusal, usually after a natural justice step. Practitioners therefore run two different checklists, and the first one is short, mechanical and unforgiving.

Is the applicant inside or outside Australia at the moment of lodgement?

Location drives the whole first branch of the check. The Department's official page states that an applicant may be in or outside Australia when applying and when the application is decided, but not in immigration clearance. Immigration clearance is the narrow window at the border before a person is taken to have entered; an application made inside that window fails on validity regardless of how strong the nomination is.

If the applicant is outside Australia, there is no requirement to hold any particular visa at lodgement. If the applicant is in Australia, the visa- status requirement bites immediately.

Does the onshore applicant hold one of the four permitted visa types?

The official page lists the permitted holdings exhaustively: a substantive visa, or Bridging visa A (subclass 010), Bridging visa B (subclass 020), Bridging visa C (subclass 030). Anything else — including a bridging visa outside those three subclasses, or no visa at all — means the application will not be valid.

Practitioners should verify this on the day of lodgement rather than the day the file was opened. Bridging visas come into and cease to be in force on the basis of other decisions, and a BVA that was in force when the invitation arrived may have ceased by the time the form is submitted. A bridging visa that is in force but is not one of the three listed subclasses does not satisfy the requirement.

Where do Section 48 and No Further Stay conditions fit?

This is the part of the checklist that most often turns a strong file into an invalid one, and it is the part most likely to be missed because the applicant's visa history sits in a different system from the EOI.

The Migration Regulations 1994 and PAM3 include the Section 48 limitation among the Schedule 1 checks: an applicant who is in Australia without a substantive visa and whose visa history includes a refusal or cancellation can be barred from lodging the 190 onshore. PAM3 brings No Further Stay conditions into the validity stage — conditions 8503 and 8534 prevent the holder from making a further substantive application while in Australia unless the condition is waived, and PAM3 records a policy position that subclass 590 Student Guardian holders should be granted the 8534 waiver. Both rules sit in the Migration Act and the Migration Regulations 1994, and the waiver policy can change. Before advising an applicant in this position, read the current legislative text and the Department's current published position.

A practical consequence: for an applicant whose onshore status is uncertain for any reason, lodging offshore is not a workaround that can be applied casually, because location also interacts with other criteria such as where the grant takes effect and the permanent residency start date for citizenship purposes.

Is there a live invitation, and does it still match the file?

The official page is explicit that an applicant can only apply if invited. The pathway runs through SkillSelect: submit an EOI, be nominated by a state or territory government agency, and then be invited. There is no invitation without nomination.

Two matching points follow. First, the nominating agency must not have withdrawn the nomination — the official page states that withdrawal after lodgement makes the application invalid, which is worth flagging to applicants because it puts withdrawal on the validity side as well: the Migration Regulations 1994 also list non-withdrawal of the nomination (190.215) as a Schedule 2 criterion, and PAM3 records that withdrawal during processing means the visa must be refused, so the risk sits at both stages. Second, PAM3 records that the nominated occupation is locked once the application is lodged against an invitation, and that changing it means abandoning the invitation, updating the EOI and waiting for a new one. PAM3 also describes a 60-day lodgement window after the written invitation; the official page independently refers to a 60-day invitation period in the context of the skills assessment, discussed below.

Is the skills assessment valid at the time of invitation?

The official page requires the applicant to declare a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation, and sets the currency rule: the assessment must have been obtained in the three years before the date of invitation, or within the shorter period stated on it if one was stated.

The same page records a change of approach following Thapa v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2021] FCCA 686: delegates will accept a suitable skills assessment for the nominated occupation obtained within the 60-day invitation period. The page also states that the Minister administers the Regulations in accordance with that decision while reserving the right to argue in a court that Thapa was wrongly decided, so the position should be checked again before lodgement rather than assumed settled.

Three further official sub-rules matter in the file review:

Where the assessment relied on an Australian qualification obtained while the applicant held a student visa, the course must have been registered on CRICOS.
For medical practitioners, full, unconditional or general registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency is accepted as proof, as is conditional specialist registration that allows practice in the specialty with no further training or supervision.
For legal practitioners, admission to practice in the relevant state or territory is accepted.

PAM3 adds that the assessment must be a full skills assessment for the nominated occupation rather than a provisional or subclass 485-style assessment, and that professional association membership cannot substitute for it.

Are age, points and English measured at the right moment?

All three are anchored to the invitation, not to the EOI and not to the decision.

Age: the applicant must be under 45 when invited. Turning 45 after invitation is fine; turning 45 after submitting the EOI but before invitation means no invitation.

Points: 65 is the floor for an invitation, and the invitation states the score the applicant must reach at assessment — a score that may be higher than 65 depending on the claims made. Supporting evidence is required at lodgement.

English: at least competent English is required at the time of invitation.

Because all three are fixed at invitation, the pre-lodgement exercise is retrospective: reconstruct the applicant's position on the invitation date and confirm it with dated evidence, rather than checking the position today.

Does the applicant hold a 491 or 494 visa?

The official page addresses this directly. If the applicant currently holds, or their last substantive visa was, a Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) or a Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (subclass 494), they must have held that visa for at least three years at the time they apply, subject to the exceptions in regulation 190.215A. This is a common file-killer because the applicant's own timeline often assumes that nomination alone unlocks the 190.

What still has to be declared or supported even though it sits on the merits side?

These are not validity items in the Schedule 1 sense, but a file that lodges without them generates avoidable delay and avoidable requests:

The occupation must be on the relevant skilled occupation list for the 190.
Applicants and accompanying family members must meet the health requirement; non-accompanying family members may also be asked to meet it.
Applicants and family members aged 16 and over who apply with them must meet the character requirement; non-accompanying family members must also meet it.
Any debt owed to the Australian Government by the applicant or by family members — including those not applying — must have been repaid or arrangements made to repay it.
Applicants aged 18 or over must have read, or had explained to them, the "Life in Australia" material and must confirm respect for the Australian way of life and obedience to Australian laws by signing the Australian Values Statement.

PAM3 also notes the Department's practice of giving the applicant a chance to respond to adverse information before refusal, through a section 56 request or a natural justice letter, and that PIC 4020 breaches can lead to a ban of three years or longer.

A working pre-lodgement checklist

Check	Requirement	Source status
Location at lodgement	In or outside Australia, but not in immigration clearance	Official page
Onshore visa held	Substantive visa, or BVA 010, BVB 020, BVC 030	Official page
Section 48 bar	Onshore, no visa, prior refusal or cancellation — bar to onshore lodgement	Migration Regulations 1994 / PAM3
No Further Stay 8503 / 8534	Must be waived before onshore lodgement	Migration Regulations 1994 / PAM3
Invitation	Written invitation required; nomination not withdrawn	Official page
Skills assessment	Suitable, obtained within 3 years before invitation (or shorter stated period); 60-day invitation period accepted post-Thapa	Official page
Age	Under 45 at invitation	Official page
Points	Invitation score, at least 65 at invitation stage	Official page
English	Competent English at time of invitation	Official page
491 / 494 history	Held that visa at least 3 years at time of application	Official page

The pattern in that table is consistent: nearly every hard item is measured at the moment of invitation or the moment of lodgement, not across the life of the EOI. Files fail when a practitioner checks against the wrong date. This article describes published requirements at a general level and is not advice on any individual case; where PAM3 conflicts with the current legislative text or the Department's current published position, the official text controls.

Frequently asked questions

Is an invalid application the same as a refused application?

No. An invalid application fails a Schedule 1 requirement and, under PAM3, carries no merits review, so there is nothing to argue on the facts. A refusal follows a Schedule 2 assessment and is generally preceded by an opportunity to respond to adverse information. The practical difference is that validity errors are usually unrecoverable, while merits problems are at least arguable.

I am in Australia on a Bridging visa C — can I lodge a 190 onshore?

Yes, on the visa-status requirement. The official page lists Bridging visa C (subclass 030) alongside BVA (010) and BVB (020) as an accepted holding for onshore lodgement. It does not displace the other checks, including the Section 48 limitation.

My skills assessment expires soon. Does that make my application invalid?

Currency is measured at the invitation date, not at lodgement or decision. The official rule is that the assessment must have been obtained in the three years before the date of invitation, or within a shorter stated period if one applies. The official page also records that a suitable assessment obtained within the 60-day invitation period is accepted following Thapa.

What happens if my nominating state withdraws after I lodge?

The application becomes invalid. The official page states this directly. It is one of the few post-lodgement events that destroys validity rather than merely being weighed on the merits, and it means nomination conditions attached by a state or territory agency have to be monitored for the whole period the application is on foot — the Migration Regulations 1994 also treat non-withdrawal (190.215) as a Schedule 2 criterion, so withdrawal during processing can also produce a refusal.

I hold a subclass 491 visa. Can I apply for a 190 as soon as I am nominated?

Only if you have held the 491 — or the 494, if that was your last substantive visa — for at least three years at the time you apply, subject to the exceptions in regulation 190.215A. Nomination and invitation do not shorten that period.

Does a No Further Stay condition always stop an onshore 190 application?

Under PAM3, conditions 8503 and 8534 must be dealt with before an onshore lodgement, usually by waiver. PAM3 also records a policy position favouring waiver for subclass 590 Student Guardian holders, so confirm the current waiver policy before acting on it.

Can I change my nominated occupation after lodging?

Not inside the one application. PAM3 states the occupation is locked once the application is lodged against an invitation; changing it means abandoning the invitation, updating the EOI and waiting for a new invitation.