To be granted certain skilled migration visas to live and work in Western Australia, you must be nominated (invited) by an Australian state or territory through the State Nominated Migration Program.

WA Migration Services, on behalf of the WA State Government, provides WA State nomination to eligible applicants for two visa subclasses, which gives you extra points on the Department of Home Affairs points test:

• the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) — an extra five points
• the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) — an extra 15 points

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Features of the 2025—26 program
• Continuation of equal invitation ranking for interstate and overseas candidates
• Prioritised invitations for candidates with an occupation in a WA industry sector with critical demand for skilled workers
• Reduced employment requirements for candidates invited through a WA building and construction industry sector occupation
• Additional employment contract arrangements for General stream: WASMOL schedule 1
• Prioritised invitations for candidates with a building and construction trade occupation

2025-26 Eligibility requirements

If you would like to be considered for an invitation for State nomination, your occupation will need to be eligible under the following streams.

General stream — A skilled migration pathway for a range of occupations and industry categories. Eligible occupations are listed on the WA Skilled migration occupation list (WASMOL) Schedule 1 or 2
Graduate stream — A skilled migration pathway for eligible international students who are completing vocational education and training (VET) or higher education qualifications in WA. Eligible occupations are listed on the Graduate occupation list (GOL)

These occupation lists identify occupations that are considered a priority for WA and are therefore eligible for skilled migrants through State nomination.

Applicants who have a nominated occupation identified on the WASMOL or the GOL may be eligible for WA State nomination using one of the following visa subclasses:

• the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
• the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)

The WASMOL is available to applicants who intend to use the General stream WASMOL Schedule 1 or the General stream WASMOL Schedule 2.

Please note that the occupations identified in these streams, as detailed in the WASMOL and the GOL, do not relate to any specific job vacancies nor represent any guarantee of a job. Both lists are updated from time to time, in line with WA industry and workforce needs.

Overview of requirements
The following table provides an overview of the 2025-26 requirements for each stream of the State Nominated Migration Program, for each of the two eligible visa types.

Stream requirements	General stream WASMOL Schedule 1	General stream WASMOL Schedule 2	Graduate stream
Visa type	190	491	190
Meet Department of Home Affairs eligibility requirements for the intended visa subclass
Nominated occupation is available on the relevant list
Meet minimum English requirements
At least one year Australian or one year of overseas work experience in nominated (or closely related) occupation	-	-	-
Full-time employment contract in WA for a minimum of six months in the nominated (or closely related) occupation*	-	-	-
Have obtained a Certificate III level or above qualification from an accredited WA educational institution	-	-	-
Meet all of the Graduate stream study requirements	-	-	-

* Applicants invited through a WA building and construction industry sector occupation (as per the WA State nomination occupation lists) do not need to have a contract of employment.

2025-26 Stream-specific requirements
For specific details about each of these requirements for the General or the Graduate streams, please refer to the information below.

1. Nominated occupation on the relevant occupation list
The nominated occupation identified in your skills assessment must be:
• listed on the WASMOL Schedule 1 occupation list
• eligible for your intended visa subclass

2. Skills assessments
Your skills assessment must match the occupation you nominate in your EOI, and the occupation you are invited to apply for WA State nomination through.
A provisional skills assessment issued for a subclass 485 visa application cannot be considered.

3. Department of Home Affairs requirements
You must meet Home Affairs' requirements for your intended visa subclass, being:
• the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
• the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)

4. English language requirement
To meet the English language requirement, you must meet the minimum score listed for all four components, in a single sitting of one of the Home Affairs approved English tests listed below.

Table 1: Approved English tests taken on or before 6 August 2025.
Results of approved tests taken on or before 6 August 2025 can be used (within their three-year validity period) as evidence of English proficiency for visa purposes until 6 August 2028.

Competent English bands (test)	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking
International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Including One Skill Retake (OSR)	6	6	6	6
Occupational English Test (OET)	B	B	B	B
Test of English as a foreign language internet-based test (TOEFL-iBT)	12	13	21	18
Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic)	50	50	50	50
Cambridge C1 Advanced	169	169	169	169

Table 2: Approved English tests taken on or after 7 August 2025.

Competent English bands (test)	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking
Cambridge C1 Advanced Test	163	163	170	179
Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program General	7	7	7	7
IELTS Academic	6	6	6	6
IELTS General Training	6	6	6	6
LANGUAGECERT Academic Test	57	60	64	70
Michigan English Test	56	55	57	48
Occupational English Test*	290	310	290	330
PTE Academic	47	48	51	54
TOEFL iBT	16	16	19	19

*The OET scoring format was previously alphabetical; scoring changed to numerical as of 7 August 2025.

• The applicant must comply with the Department of Home Affairs requirements for English language tests. More information is available on the Home Affairs website.
• British National (Overseas) passports are not acceptable as evidence of competent English.

5. Work experience requirement
At the time you are invited to apply for WA State nomination application you must have:
• at least one year of Australian work experience in the nominated (or closely related) occupation over the last 10 years
or
• at least one year of overseas work experience in the nominated (or closely related) occupation over the last 10 years

Australian and overseas work experience in the nominated (or closely related) occupation cannot be combined to meet the one-year requirement.
Closely related means that the occupation shares the first four digits of the nominated occupation’s ANZSCO code.