What is the 858 priority order?
The 858 priority order is the five-group sequence in section 8(2) of Ministerial Direction 120:
| Priority | Who is in it | Direction 120 provision |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Global experts with top-of-field international awards | s 8(2)(a) |
| 2 | Nominated by an expert Australian Government or state or territory government agency on Form 1000 | s 8(2)(b) |
| 3 | Exceptional and outstanding achievements in a tier 1 sector | s 8(2)(c) |
| 4 | Exceptional and outstanding achievements in a tier 2 sector | s 8(2)(d) |
| 5 | All other applications | s 8(2)(e) |
Ministerial Direction 120, formally “Order for considering and disposing of Class BX visa applications, and assessing exceptional and outstanding achievement”, was given under section 499 of the Migration Act 1958, signed 24 July 2026 and effective 25 July 2026. Home Affairs publishes it as a PDF; no Federal Register entry was found as at 3 October 2026.
Under section 4, the order covers the current 858 visa and Global Talent and Distinguished Talent applications still awaiting final determination. It excludes remitted or substituted tribunal cases, applications that would fail the criteria and later-joining family members. Use priority for the five groups and tier only for the sector bands.
Priority 1: top-of-field awards (Schedule A)
Direction 120 Schedule A identifies these top-of-field international awards:
- Nobel Prizes
- Breakthrough Prizes
- Rousseeuw Prize
- Eni Award
- Institution of Electrical Engineers Medal of Honor
- Fields Medal
- Chern Medal
- Abel Prize
- L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
- Turing Award
- ACM Prize in Computing
- Pulitzer Prize
- International Booker Prize
- International Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal
- Olympic Gold Medal
- Laureus World Sportsman or Sportswoman of the year
Schedule A says awards “may include but are not limited to” those listed. Priority 1 also requires an exceptional applicant who is a global expert.
Home Affairs’ published invitation quarters show Priority 1 receiving zero to fewer than five invitations per quarter; all four quarters preceded Direction 120.
Priority 2: government agency nomination
Priority 2 holds candidates from any sector nominated on Form 1000 by an expert Australian Government agency or a state or territory government agency, under Direction 120 section 8(2)(b). Agency nomination is the route into this group—not an invitation.
Home Affairs’ EOI submission guidance requires Form 1000 with Part A completed by the agency, plus its supporting statement explaining how the candidate’s expertise is expected to contribute in line with the agency’s priorities.
The Home Affairs EOI form requires the representative to have legal authority, usually at senior executive level, and reminds candidates that the nominator—including an agency—needs a national reputation in the area. Home Affairs does not publish a list of expert Australian Government agencies that nominate.
On the state programs’ published routes, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland use registrations of interest, while Victoria and Tasmania use agency referrals; Migration Queensland says its 2025–26 program is closed, with no reopening date announced as at 3 October 2026.
State nomination does not guarantee an invitation or visa, as the state programs explain. Their routes and dated status are covered under 858 visa state nomination.
Priorities 3 and 4: tier 1 and tier 2 sectors
Direction 120 sections 8(4) and 8(5) define the sector bands for applicants with exceptional and outstanding achievements:
| Tier | Sectors | Priority it earns |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Critical technologies; renewables and low emission technologies; health industries | Priority 3 |
| Tier 2 | Agri-food and AgTech; defence capabilities and space; education; financial services and FinTech; infrastructure and transport; resources | Priority 4 |
Home Affairs’ “National Innovation visa priorities” describes critical technologies as “potentially transformative enabling technology”, including AI, advanced robotics and cyber. Education includes senior university management and senior academics and researchers at Level D or E, or equivalent.
The sector guide explains the tier 1 858 sectors and six tier 2 sectors, with invitation counts by sector.
Priority 5: every other 858 applicant
Priority 5 means “all other visa applications”, under Direction 120 section 8(2)(e).
Candidates fall here if they do not qualify for Priority 1 or 2 and their achievements sit outside the nine sectors. That includes sport and the arts unless a higher priority applies; Home Affairs’ EOI sector options include Sport, The arts and Other.
Home Affairs’ priorities page omits Priority 5, and its published invitation figures have no Priority 5 column. Ranking last does not itself make an application invalid: the Migration Regulations 1994 eligibility criteria still govern.
Indicators of exceptional achievement in Direction 120
Section 9 of Direction 120 guides assessment of exceptional achievement; section 8 sets the order. Tribunal members apply section 9 too, but not the processing order.
For every applicant, section 9(3) identifies:
- A national research grant, such as ARC, Department of Education Accelerator, UKRI, European Commission, US NSF or similar.
- A highly influential PhD record: leading journals such as Nature, Lancet or Acta Numerica; an h-index high for career stage—for example, 14 for an early-career researcher; a top-100 Times Higher Education university.
- A recent keynote at a high-profile international conference.
- Recognised intellectual property, such as international patents.
- Current earnings, or a written Australian job offer, at or above the Fair Work high income threshold.
The Fair Work Commission’s high income threshold is $190,100 from 1 July 2026.
Also for agency-nominated candidates, section 9(4) identifies:
- Top-of-field sports and arts awards.
- Innovative business activity, including significant angel investment or leading companies to an IPO.
- Promising entrepreneurial activity leading to Australian commercialisation.
- Exceptional service to the Australian community.
- Achievements serving the nominating agency’s priorities.
Direction 120 section 9(1) says these factors are “not a checklist”; section 9(5) requires assessment on balance, including unfavourable information. Income is an indicator, not a legal criterion or a test assigning your priority group.
How many invitations each 858 priority group receives
No invitation figures under Direction 120 have been published yet: the four published quarters, July 2025 to June 2026, were all issued before it took effect on 25 July 2026, while Direction 112 applied.
Home Affairs’ “Current invitation round” and the dated archived copies report:
Invitations by priority group, July 2025 to June 2026 (issued before Direction 120)
| Quarter | Invitations | Priority 1 | Priority 2 | Priority 3 | Priority 4 | Direction then in force | Home Affairs page date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July–September 2025 | 122 | <5 | 17 | 84 | 20 | Direction 112 | Updated 7 October 2025; archived 7 December 2025 |
| October–December 2025 | 226 | <5 | <10 | 166 | 52 | Direction 112 | Updated 16 January 2026; archived 17 January 2026 |
| January–March 2026 | 146 | 0 | 15 | 113 | 18 | Direction 112 | Updated 15 April 2026; archived 11 July 2026 |
| April–June 2026 | 248 | <5 | <20 | 192 | 38 | Direction 112 | Updated 24 September 2026; current page |
“<5”, “<10” and “<20” are Home Affairs’ small-count labels, not exact figures. The figures have no Priority 5 column.
The priority labels are the Department’s labels at the time. Direction 112’s text is not available in the published material used here, so these groups cannot be reliably compared with Direction 120’s.
Priority 3 received the most invitations each quarter, including 192 of 248 in April–June 2026. Home Affairs says rounds run monthly. Wider EOI, grant and annual-place figures appear on the 858 statistics page.
What changed from Direction 112 to Direction 120
The dated record shows:
- 4 November 2019: Direction 85 commenced for Distinguished Talent visas, prioritising seven target sectors with a high-income test, as recorded in Home Affairs FOI release FA 20/10/01156.
- 17 December 2020: Direction 89 replaced seven sectors with ten, according to Home Affairs’ Report on the Migration Program 2020–21.
- 6 December 2024: Direction 112, the first National Innovation visa direction, took effect with the new visa.
- 24–25 July 2026: Direction 120 was signed on 24 July and took effect on 25 July, revoking Direction 112.
Direction 112’s exact clause-by-clause differences cannot be listed without its text. What is clear is that Direction 120 has five priorities, while Home Affairs’ priorities page, updated 30 September 2026, lists four.
Home Affairs’ June 2026 The Administration of the Immigration Program, 16th edition, still cites Direction 112. Direction 120 superseded it and also orders Global Talent and Distinguished Talent applications still on hand.
Is there an 858 occupation list?
No. Part 858 of the Migration Regulations 1994 names no occupation, and the priority order, not a list, decides who is invited first; the detailed explanation answers is there an 858 visa occupation list.
How the 858 priority order affects your wait
Home Affairs’ National Innovation visa page says processing time varies with alignment to Direction 120, application completeness, checks and available places.
Before invitation, monthly rounds follow the same order. Home Affairs’ after-submission guidance says an EOI remains active for 2 years, receives no progress updates and then expires. If the Department does not invite you before expiry, a new EOI is needed.
After lodgement, Home Affairs’ processing-time tool publishes no figure by priority group. Its two 858 series do not clearly settle which figures apply to new National Innovation visa applications. The guide to how long does the 858 visa take explains that uncertainty.
Frequently asked questions
Who is on the visa priority list for the National Innovation visa?
Direction 120 orders five groups: top-of-field award recipients, government-agency nominees, tier 1 sector achievers, tier 2 sector achievers, then everyone else.
Is there an income threshold for the 858 priority order?
No income threshold assigns a group. Direction 120 uses earnings as one indicator; the Fair Work Commission threshold is $190,100 from 1 July 2026, and the indicators are not a checklist.
Does Direction 120 have a Priority 5?
Yes. Section 8(2)(e) covers “all other visa applications”, although Home Affairs’ priorities page lists only Priorities 1 to 4.
Do the 2025–26 invitation figures show Direction 120 at work?
No. All four published quarters preceded its commencement on 25 July 2026.
Does a state nomination guarantee Priority 2 and an invitation?
A qualifying state or territory government agency nomination on Form 1000 places the candidate in Priority 2 under Direction 120. State programs say nomination does not guarantee an invitation or visa.
Ask an Australian migration lawyer to check the EOI’s awards, agency nomination and sector answers against the Direction 120 order before submission. Home Affairs’ EOI submission guidance says information and documents cannot be added afterwards.
Considering a priority-order check? The site enquiry form accepts questions addressed to Australian Migration Lawyers. A reference appears only after the email send is accepted and its status recorded.