Queensland State Nomination 2026–27: 190/491 ROI Now Open – Eligibility, Pathways, Tax Return Rule and Fees

Queensland state nomination for 2026–27 is open: Migration Queensland has published its 2026–27 State Nominated Migration Program (SNMP) and began accepting Registrations of Interest (ROIs) for the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) on 6 November 2026. Three things define this year's program: applicants living outside Australia can register with as little as 1 year of skilled experience in the last 3 years, applicants already in Queensland must have lodged their 2025–26 tax return and hold an ATO Notice of Assessment (NOA) before they can submit an ROI, and the nomination fee is A$573.00 for offshore applicants or A$630.30 for onshore applicants. Queensland's 190 and 491 allocation for 2026–27 had not been published as at 6 November 2026.

This guide is written for skilled workers abroad, whether in Latin America, South Africa, Europe or elsewhere, as well as international graduates already working in Queensland. It covers the core eligibility rules, the five nomination pathways, how the ROI works and how Queensland selects candidates, the tax return rule, fees and documents, the occupation lists, and what "regional Queensland" actually means. Every figure comes from the Migration Queensland and Department of Home Affairs websites, current as at 6 November 2026.

One caveat up front: Migration Queensland states that the program is highly competitive, that submitting an ROI does not guarantee an invitation, and that it does not primarily rank candidates by points. Meeting the criteria gets you into the pool; section 4 explains what Queensland actually looks at.

Table of contents

• 1. Queensland state nomination 2026–27 at a glance
• 2. Who is eligible for Queensland 190/491 nomination?
• 3. The five nomination pathways compared
• 4. How does the ROI work and how does Queensland select?
• 5. The tax return rule: 2025–26 Notice of Assessment for onshore applicants
• 6. Fees, documents and timing after an invitation
• 7. Which occupations are on the Queensland lists?
• 8. What counts as regional Queensland for the 491 visa?
• 9. Advice for international readers
• Frequently asked questions

1. Queensland state nomination 2026–27 at a glance

Migration Queensland announced the 2026–27 program on 30 October 2026, noting that program requirements had been updated and asking candidates to re-read the pathway criteria, occupation lists and document checklist before registering. The key facts:

While the state figure is pending, the national picture is set. The Department of Home Affairs' 2026–27 Permanent Migration Program totals 185,000 places, 132,240 of them in the Skilled stream. State/Territory Nominated (190) rises to 35,500 nationally (33,000 in 2025–26), Skilled Independent (189) rises to 21,090 (from 16,900), but the Regional stream (491/494) falls to 14,110 from 33,000. Home Affairs describes it as an onshore-focused program. In practice, expect 190 places to be stable or slightly up and 491 places to be much tighter in every state. For a state-by-state comparison, see our overview of Australian state nomination for 2026–27.

2. Who is eligible for Queensland 190/491 nomination?

Queensland nomination requires you to satisfy two separate sets of criteria: the Department of Home Affairs visa requirements and Migration Queensland's own nomination requirements. The Queensland side, common to all pathways, looks like this:

Competent English: who is exempt and what scores count

This is where international readers differ. Home Affairs treats citizens holding a valid passport from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland as having competent English without a test. Everyone else, including applicants from Latin America, continental Europe and South Africa, must show a test result. Home Affairs changed the approved tests and scores on 7 August 2025, and which table applies depends on your test date:

Competent English is only the floor. English proficiency, and your partner's English, are explicit Queensland selection factors, and some occupations on the offshore list carry higher registration-related English requirements in the list's "Additional information" column (teachers, for example). Check the list entry for your own occupation.

3. The five nomination pathways compared

You must register under the one pathway that best matches your circumstances, and you can only select one visa subclass (190 or 491) per ROI. The pathways differ mainly on where you live and how much Queensland work experience is required:

Note that people living in Australia but outside Queensland cannot use either the onshore or the offshore pathway. Someone in Sydney or Melbourne would need to relocate to Queensland and build up the required period first.

Pathway 1: Skilled workers living offshore

For most readers of this English edition this is the relevant pathway. You apply from your home country, against the offshore occupation list (97 occupations, covered in section 7), with at least 1 year of skilled experience within the last 3 years. Only experience you have declared in your SkillSelect EOI as related to your nominated occupation is considered. There is no requirement to hold a job offer or to be employed when you register, when you are invited or when you are nominated. If invited, you will need employer reference letters on letterhead for every skilled job claimed, and up to 3 payslips per employer; any document not in English requires a certified translation, and translations done by the applicant are not accepted. The residence commitment is 2 years in Queensland (190) or 3 years in regional Queensland (491), counted from your arrival in Australia.

Pathway 2: Skilled workers living in Queensland

The qualifying period (9 of 12 months for 190, 6 of 9 months for 491) is counted backwards from the day you submit the ROI, and you must keep meeting the "living and working in Queensland for a Queensland-based employer" condition when you register, when you are invited and when you are nominated. Working from home is fine if the employer has a physical presence in Queensland; remote work for an interstate or overseas employer does not count. For 491, your employer must confirm in the Statement of Service that your work address is in a designated regional area.

Pathway 3: Building and construction workers

Migration Queensland links this pathway directly to major infrastructure projects and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The experience threshold drops to 3 continuous months in Queensland's construction industry, the threshold is the same for 190 and 491, and Queensland says it aims to nominate eligible construction workers for 190 wherever possible so they can work anywhere in the state. 48 occupations on the onshore list are flagged for this pathway, including Carpenter, Electrician, Plumber, Bricklayer, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanic, Welder, Fitter, Construction Project Manager and various engineering technicians and draftspersons.

Pathway 4: Queensland university graduates

Three features make this pathway attractive for international graduates: your Queensland degree does not need to relate to your nominated occupation, there are no priority fields of study, and Queensland's work experience requirement can be met with any Skill Level 1 occupation (one that generally requires a bachelor's degree or higher). Two cautions: you can still only claim EOI points for work related to your nominated occupation, and the residence and work period is the same as for pathway 2. Student visa (subclass 500) holders and their dependants with work rights can register, provided they already hold a valid skills assessment. If you are weighing this against the Temporary Graduate visa, see our guide to the 485 visa.

Pathway 5: Small business owners in regional Queensland

This pathway is being wound down. The Business Purchase stream is closed; businesses started after 19 September 2025 are not eligible, and businesses started before 1 June 2024 are no longer eligible. Only businesses started between 1 June 2024 and 19 September 2025 remain, and the ROI must be lodged before 30 April 2027. Businesses started between 1 May 2025 and 19 September 2025 that cannot reach 2 years of operation by then are exempted from the 2-year rule but must still show a profit and A$200,000 turnover in the preceding 12 months. The occupation only needs to be on Home Affairs' LIN19/051, not on the Queensland list; you must own 100% (or jointly with your spouse or de facto partner); home-based businesses, passive investments and daigou businesses are excluded.

4. How does the ROI work and how does Queensland select?

The ROI is lodged on the Migration Queensland website and sits alongside, not instead of, your SkillSelect EOI. The full sequence:

1. Confirm your occupation and skills assessment. Queensland will not consider ROIs or EOIs for occupations that are not on its list.
2. Update your SkillSelect EOI. Your State of Interest may be "any" or several states, but must include Queensland. Your Usual Country of Residence must be the country where you actually live. Queensland will not consider an EOI with fewer than 15 days before expiry; if yours is expiring, lodge a new EOI and then a new ROI.
3. Onshore applicants: obtain the 2025–26 NOA (section 5).
4. Lodge one ROI under one pathway for one visa subclass. You can hold only one valid ROI at a time; it cannot be edited after submission; if your circumstances change, lodge a new one and only the most recent counts. Everyone, including last year's registrants, must lodge a new ROI for 2026–27.
5. Save a copy immediately. The only chance to save your ROI is the confirmation screen (three-dot menu, top right); Migration Queensland does not supply copies later.
6. If invited, lodge within 14 days and pay the fee. Miss the deadline and the application is closed and not reconsidered that program year.
7. Nomination processing often takes 2–4 weeks from a complete application and payment. Once nominated, you apply to Home Affairs for the visa itself.

What Queensland actually looks at

Migration Queensland does not primarily select on the points score claimed in your EOI. It runs its own selection process over EOI and ROI data to find candidates best positioned to meet Queensland's economic and workforce priorities, and lists these factors:

• Skills and qualifications
• Work experience, salary, and ability to secure and maintain employment
• Location of employment within Queensland
• Age
• English proficiency
• Partner's skills and English proficiency
• Current workforce demand and skills shortages, particularly in regional, rural and remote areas

That is why Queensland's own FAQ addresses the question "my friend has the same occupation and fewer points but was invited and I was not". A higher salary, a regional work location or an occupation in acute shortage can outweigh a few extra points.

5. The tax return rule: 2025–26 Notice of Assessment for onshore applicants

New for 2026–27: anyone registering under an onshore pathway must already have lodged their 2025–26 tax return (1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026) and received the ATO's Notice of Assessment before submitting the ROI. The ROI asks for the figure shown on the NOA as "Your taxable income is", and it must match exactly. Offshore applicants are not affected.

1. Log in to myGov (linked to the ATO) or the ATO app.
2. Under Tax, select Lodgements, then Income tax.
3. Open History and select the 2025–26 financial year.
4. Select View details, then Notice of assessment, to download it.

• Tax returns, tax receipts, payment summaries and income statements are not accepted as substitutes.
• If you were not required to lodge a return for 2025–26 (for example, you arrived after 30 June 2026), enter $0 as taxable income; no NOA is needed.
• If you still need to lodge, do it now: the NOA is only issued after the ATO processes the return, and the ROI cannot be lodged before you have it.
• The taxable income figure is read alongside your contracts, payslips and Statement of Service, and salary is one of Queensland's selection factors, so make sure everything is consistent.

6. Fees, documents and timing after an invitation

Nomination application fees

The fee is paid when you lodge the nomination application after an invitation, and assessment only begins once documents are uploaded and payment is made. It is non-refundable under any circumstances, including a change of mind, a change in your circumstances or a visa refusal by Home Affairs. GST applies to any payment made within Australia, whether by you or your agent. Queensland no longer requires proof of settlement funds.

What offshore applicants must provide

• State Nomination Application Form (issued with the invitation), colour scan of your passport bio page matching the ROI (old and new if renewed).
• Valid skills assessment, or current registration for medical and some allied health occupations.
• Up to 3 payslips per employer relied on (start, middle, end or most recent).
• Employer reference letters on letterhead for each skilled job claimed in the EOI, with contact details, period and location, position and weekly hours, duties and tools or software used, and the referee's name, position and signature; a letter for current employment must be dated within one month of lodging.
• Certified English translations of anything not in English.

What onshore applicants must provide

• Application form, passport bio page, a recent VEVO statement, skills assessment or registration.
• Proof of Queensland address: a residential lease or a utility bill (electricity or water) issued within the last 3 months; bank statements, phone and internet bills are not accepted. Otherwise a Commonwealth statutory declaration stating your address, move-in date and why no accepted document is available.
• Complete employment contracts for all Queensland jobs used for the qualifying period, showing at least 20 paid hours per week in the nominated or a closely related occupation.
• A Statement of Service signed by each employer (supervisor or HR); for labour-hire placements, signed by the host organisation; gaps and unpaid leave declared.
• Up to 3 payslips per employer, and the 2025–26 ATO Notice of Assessment.
• Graduates pathway: graduation certificate or completion letter showing qualification, study location and completion date.

Documents do not need to be certified copies. Queensland does not re-nominate the same person within a program year, including where points were claimed incorrectly in the EOI, so verify your points before lodging.

7. Which occupations are on the Queensland lists?

Queensland uses the 2013 ANZSCO classification and publishes separate onshore and offshore lists. The onshore list has 209 occupations, all eligible for 491, 170 of them also for 190, and 48 flagged for the Building and Construction pathway. The offshore list has 97 occupations, 90 of them eligible for 190. If your occupation is not on the relevant list, you are not eligible for Queensland nomination in 2026–27. Here is the offshore list by broad category:

Two common questions: Accountant is not on either list, and general software development is not on the offshore list; the onshore list does include Software Engineer, Developer Programmer, Analyst Programmer and ICT Security Specialist for 190 and 491. Chefs and cooks appear only on the onshore list and only for 491 (not if working in takeaway or fast food). The onshore list additionally carries Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Teachers, Child Care Centre Managers, Social Workers, Pharmacists, and 491-only hospitality and automotive roles such as Cafe or Restaurant Manager, Hotel or Motel Manager and Motor Mechanic. For a full breakdown, see our Queensland 190 and 491 skilled occupation list guide.

8. What counts as regional Queensland for the 491 visa?

"Regional Queensland" follows the Department of Home Affairs' designated regional area postcodes. The eligible Queensland postcodes are 4019–4022, 4025, 4037, 4074, 4076–4078, 4124–4125, 4133, 4183–4184, 4207–4275, 4280–4287, 4300–4301, 4303–4498, 4500–4512, 4514–4519, 4521, 4550–4575 and 4580–4895.

In practice, central Brisbane and most of its inner suburbs are not regional, while the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Cairns and Townsville all fall within eligible postcodes. For offshore applicants choosing 491, this is where you will need to live and work for at least 3 years after arrival. Further points:

• Working from home in a regional postcode for a Brisbane-based company does not generally meet the 491 requirement, unless the employer confirms in the Statement of Service that the role is located in a designated regional area and requires your physical presence there.
• 491 holders and their dependants must live, work and study in an eligible postcode for at least 3 years to qualify for the subclass 191 permanent visa; Home Affairs also asks for ATO notices of assessment for 3 of the 5 income years on the visa.
• Queensland's commitment is 3 years in regional Queensland for 491 and 2 years anywhere in Queensland for 190.

9. Advice for international readers

Whether you are an engineer in Bogotá, a nurse in Johannesburg or a tradesperson in Dublin, the 2026–27 rules point to a few practical moves:

1. Start with the offshore list, not the onshore list. The offshore list is narrower (97 occupations) and weighted towards engineering, health, teaching and trades. If your occupation is only on the onshore list, you would need to be living and working in Queensland first.
2. One year of experience is the floor, not the target. Queensland weighs work experience, salary and employability. More years, a clear record in your nominated occupation and strong employer letters make your ROI more competitive than a bare 12 months.
3. Get your skills assessment and English test done before you register, not after. Both must be in hand when you submit the ROI, and Queensland cannot fast-track invitations because a document is about to expire.
4. Passport holders from the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland skip the English test, but should still consider sitting one: English proficiency is a selection factor and higher scores can add points to your EOI. Everyone else must meet at least the competent English scores in section 2.
5. Construction and engineering professionals: watch the 2032 Games pipeline. Queensland explicitly ties its building and construction demand to the Olympic and Paralympic Games and infrastructure program. Offshore, most construction trades and engineering roles qualify for 190, and once in Queensland the 3-month pathway becomes available.
6. Decide 190 versus 491 carefully. You can only pick one per ROI and cannot change it afterwards. 491 means at least 3 years in a regional postcode (Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast included, Brisbane excluded); national 491 numbers are also down sharply this year.
7. Already studying in Queensland? Use the graduates pathway once you have graduated, hold a skills assessment and have built 9 of 12 months (or 6 of 9 regional) of Skill Level 1 work; it may be prioritised.
8. Keep Queensland in your EOI, but keep other states open too. Queensland no longer requires you to select it alone as State of Interest. Victoria's 2026–27 program is covered in our Victoria state nomination guide.

Frequently asked questions

Q1: How many 190 and 491 places does Queensland have for 2026–27?

Not published as at 6 November 2026. Neither the Migration Queensland website nor the Department of Home Affairs' State and territory nomination allocations page lists Queensland's 2026–27 190 and 491 allocation. Nationally, 2026–27 provides 35,500 State/Territory Nominated (190) places and 14,110 Regional (491/494) places, compared with 33,000 and 33,000 in 2025–26. We will update this article when Queensland's figures are released.

Q2: Can I apply for Queensland state nomination from outside Australia?

Yes. The Skilled workers living offshore pathway is open to people currently living outside Australia whose occupation is on the Queensland offshore skilled occupation list (97 occupations). You need a valid skills assessment, 65 points, competent English and at least 1 year of skilled employment in the last 3 years in your nominated or a closely related occupation. You do not need a job offer and do not need to be employed when you register, are invited or are nominated. People living in Australia but outside Queensland cannot use this pathway.

Q3: Do I need an English test for Queensland nomination?

You must have at least competent English as defined by Home Affairs. Citizens holding a valid passport from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland meet this without a test. All other applicants need a test result, for example IELTS 6 in each component, or PTE Academic 47 listening, 48 reading, 51 writing and 54 speaking for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025. English proficiency is also one of Queensland's selection factors, so higher scores help.

Q4: What is the 2025–26 tax return (NOA) rule and does it apply to offshore applicants?

From 2026–27, applicants registering under an onshore pathway must have lodged their 2025–26 tax return and received an ATO Notice of Assessment before submitting an ROI, and the taxable income entered in the ROI must match the NOA exactly. Tax returns, payment summaries and income statements are not accepted as substitutes. Applicants who were not required to lodge a 2025–26 return enter $0. The rule does not apply to applicants living outside Australia.

Q5: How much is the Queensland nomination fee and is it refundable?

The nomination application fee for both subclass 190 and subclass 491 is A$573.00 for offshore applicants (GST not applicable) and A$630.30 for onshore applicants (including 10% GST). It is paid after you are invited, within 14 days, and is not refundable under any circumstances, including if Home Affairs later refuses the visa. Nomination processing often takes 2 to 4 weeks.

Q6: Is Brisbane regional for the 491 visa?

Central Brisbane and most inner suburbs are not within Queensland's eligible regional postcodes, so the 491 pathway is not available to people living and working there; they would use the 190 pathway. Eligible postcodes are 4019–4022, 4025, 4037, 4074, 4076–4078, 4124–4125, 4133, 4183–4184, 4207–4275, 4280–4287, 4300–4301, 4303–4498, 4500–4512, 4514–4519, 4521, 4550–4575 and 4580–4895, which include the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Cairns and Townsville.

Further reading

• Queensland 190 and 491 Skilled Migration List 2025/2026
• Australian State Nomination Overview 2026–27
• Victoria 190/491 State Nomination 2026–27

Disclaimer: This article is based on the Migration Queensland website (2026–27 SNMP announcement, skilled visa pathways, Registration of Interest, application fees, occupation lists, ATO Notice of Assessment, FAQs) and the Department of Home Affairs (Migration Program planning levels, Competent English). It is general information only and not migration law advice. Allocations, pathway criteria and fees may change at any time; the official pages prevail, and meeting the criteria does not guarantee an invitation, nomination or visa grant. Information current as at 6 November 2026; official sources accessed 6 November 2026.