Graduates of a Queensland university

This pathway is for high performing graduates, who have graduated from a Queensland university in a PhD or Doctorate, Master’s Degree or Bachelor’s Degree – and are currently onshore in Queensland.

You must complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) on Skillselect before submitting a Graduate Pathways Assessment Form for this visa.

Features and eligibility

Migration Queensland criteria requires Graduate applicants to:

• have a point test result of 80 or higher (for the 190 visa) or 65 points or higher (for the 491 visa), inclusive of state nomination;
• provide evidence of employment with a Queensland employer registered in Australia in their nominated occupation (or a closely related occupation) (excludes PhD and Doctorate Graduates);
• meet the minimum English language requirement of PROFICIENT
• meet the additional criteria for qualification level detailed below.

Invitations will go to the highest points per occupation (other requirements may be considered where there are a large number of EOI’s for certain points ie regional location, years of work experience etc). EOI’s will remain in our queue based on the points when they were originally lodged.   

PhD and Doctorate Graduates (190 and 491)

Applicants must: 

• be living onshore in Queensland 
• have completed 100% of the PhD or Doctorate at a Queensland-based institution
• have had a decision on thesis and graduated in the last 2 years
• have an occupation on LIN 19/051
• no job required

Masters Graduates (190 and 491)  

Masters 190 nomination criteria

Applicants must:

• be living onshore in Queensland 
• have completed 100% of Master’s degree (by research or coursework) at a Queensland-based institution
• have graduated in the last two years
• have a Master’s Degree and skills assessment in a STEM field (fields listed below):

Natural and physical sciences

• biological sciences
• chemical sciences
• earth sciences
• mathematical sciences
• natural and physical sciences
• other natural and physical sciences
• physics and astronomy

Information technology

• computer science
• information systems
• information technology
• other information technology

Engineering and related technologies

• aerospace engineering and technology
• civil engineering
• electrical and electronic engineering and technology
• engineering and related technologies
• geomatics engineering
• manufacturing engineering and technology
• maritime engineering and technology
• mechanical and industrial engineering and technology
• other engineering and related technologies
• process and resources engineering.
• Be employed full-time (35 hours per week minimum) in Queensland in the nominated or closely related STEM occupation (as per list above).

Masters 491 visa criteria

Applicants must:

• be living onshore in regional Queensland 
• have completed 100% of the Master’s degree (by research or coursework) at a Queensland-based institution
• have graduated in the last two years
• have an occupation on LIN 19/051
• be employed full-time (35 hours per week minimum) in Queensland in the nominated or closely related occupation in a regional area

Bachelor Graduates (491 only)

Applicants must:

• be living onshore in regional Queensland 
• have completed 100% of the Bachelor’s degree at a Queensland-based institution
• have graduated in the last two years
• have a grade point average of 5.5 (or equivalent) or higher 
• have an occupation on LIN 19/051
• be employed full-time (35 hours per week minimum) in regional Queensland in the nominated or closely related occupation. 

Labour hire employment

If you are employed through a labour hire company, make sure that they are registered in Queensland. All labour hire providers operating in Queensland must be licensed under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017, including those based interstate or overseas who supply workers in Queensland.

You will be required to provide evidence that your labour hire company complies with these registration requirements. Your Statement of service must be written by the company you have been placed within.

Application process

Step 1

Review your eligibility criteria, visa conditions, and document checklist on the Department of Home Affairs website and the Migration Queensland website. Ensure that you meet both the Home Affairs criteria and Migration Queensland criteria and that you have all your documentation (see document checklist below) – including proof of registration, if required for your occupation – ready before you apply.

Step 2

For Queensland state nomination, submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) with SkillSelect. Ensure that all information, such as work experience, is included in your EOI. Only those who select “Queensland” as their nominating state of choice will be selected.

Step 3

Graduate applicants must submit an online form to enable Migration Queensland to identify you as a Queensland graduate after submitting an EOI.

Step 4

Migration Queensland assesses all EOIs and online forms that meet the above Home Affairs and Migration Queensland criteria. If you are successful, you will receive an email invitation to lodge an application and be requested to provide the documents required.

Note: You must upload these documents digitally through the Document Portal link in your invitation email. Migration Queensland no longer accepts documents sent by email or post. You can only upload one document per file. If you have multiple documents, merge, and save them as one file.

Step 5

When you have received your invitation from Migration Queensland:

1. upload the required documents, and
2. pay the non-refundable application fee to finalise your application. Do not pay the fee until you have been invited to apply and all your documents have been uploaded. Migration Queensland will then review your application and may request any further information.

Note: You will be given 14 days to finalise your application from the date of invitation. If you are unable to provide the relevant information within this time frame, your application will be closed and you will need to submit a new EOI if you wish to seek Queensland nomination again.

Step 6

Once Migration Queensland has received and approved your completed application, you will receive an invitation from the Department of Home Affairs to lodge your visa application. You will be given 60 days to lodge your application with them.

Note: If you realise that you have made a mistake on your submitted EOI after receiving a nomination, or if you miss the lodgement date, you will have to wait 6 months before applying again.

Migration Queensland documentation

Please ensure that you:

• familiarise yourself with the application process,
• meet both the Home Affairs criteria and Migration Queensland criteria for your chosen visa, and
• have the following documentation prepared prior to lodging an EOI.

If you meet Queensland state nomination requirements, you will be invited by Migration Queensland to lodge documentation.

Please do not inform us when you have lodged your documents or paid the processing fee as MQ is able to see this.

If you do not meet requirements you will not receive an invitation and will need to speak with an Australian Registered Migration Agent or immigration lawyer about other possible visa pathways.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• You will receive copies of the State Nomination Application, Settlement Funds Declaration forms and onshore commitment statement, if Migration Queensland invites you to lodge an application.

If you are eligible for both the 190 and the 491 visas, please submit one EOI and select both visa classes. Please do not submit multiple EOI’s – if you do, we will select the first one in the queue and close the rest. You will be offered one invitation only.

Even if you have more than one skills assessment, please only submit one EOI for the occupation that best meets your current employment.

• Responses to enquiries about where your application is in the queue will not receive a response.
• Responses to enquiries about when you will receive an invitation will not receive a response.
• Priority will not be given to invitations where documents or visas are expiring.
• An explanation email from client or employer is no longer required and will not form part of the assessment of your EOI (This was a 2020-21 requirement when there was not a specific occupation list). 
• It may take several months before you hear from us in relation to an invitation or a decision on an application. Please ensure that you have sufficient time left on your current visa (if onshore), or have explored other temporary visa options prior to lodging an EOI.