Victorian Points Test 2026-27: How Victoria Now Ranks 190 and 491 ROIs

Most people hoping for Victorian nomination have already spent months on a skills assessment, an English test and an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect. Then, on 13 October 2026, Victoria changed how it picks them.

It published the Victorian Points Test, a score out of 950 that ranks every Registration of Interest (ROI) for the Subclass 190 and Subclass 491 visas.

For anxious applicants, the first fact matters most. Eligibility hasn’t moved, and the 65-point federal test still applies. The new score only decides who Victoria invites first.

For the first time, the weighting is public. Age is worth up to 300 points, English 200 and Victorian earnings 150. Experience, education, occupation and partner skills add the last 300.

Below are the points for each factor, three scores worked out in full, the new fees and the points an applicant can still gain before the 2026-27 program opens.

Applicants who want their score checked by a MARA-registered agent can book a consultation with The Migration.

What did Victoria change on 13 October 2026?

Victoria made four changes to its skilled nomination program for 2026-27. It published a points-based ranking, split invitations into two lanes, added fees and ended the carry-over of old ROIs.

The ranking itself isn’t new. Victoria already compared ROIs on age, English, experience and earnings, but it never said how much each one counted. Applicants were guessing.

The details sit on the official Live in Melbourne Victorian Points Test (VPT) page. The biggest of the four changes is the points table, so that comes first.

How are the 950 VPT points split across seven factors?

Age carries almost a third of the total at 300 points. English is next at 200, then Victorian earnings at 150. Experience and education give up to 100 each, and skill level and partner skills give up to 50 each.

Victoria builds each total from two places: the ROI on Live in Melbourne and the applicant’s EOI in SkillSelect. An EOI with an old English result or a missing job will score lower than it should.

Three factors have conditions that the table hides. They decide whether an applicant gets the points at all.

Partner points: all three conditions or nothing

The 50 partner points are much harder to get than the 10 partner points in SkillSelect.

• The applicant must have claimed the 10 partner skill points in their EOI.
• The partner must be included in the subclass 190 or subclass 491 visa application.
• The partner’s occupation must be on Victoria’s current priority occupation list.
• Single applicants and those whose partner is an Australian citizen or permanent resident score 0.

Earnings points: current skilled work in Victoria only

Earnings count only from the applicant’s current skilled job in Victoria, so offshore applicants score 0 here.

• The scale starts at 8 points for $80,000 to $84,999 a year.
• Each $5,000 band adds about 8 points: $100,000 gives 39, $120,000 gives 71, and $150,000 gives 118.
• $170,000 and over gives the full 150.
• Victoria points applicants to its Annual Earnings Estimation guide for working out the figure.

Skill level and experience: two quiet gaps

These two factors look simple, but each has a gap applicants should know about.

• Skill level comes from the Home Affairs skilled occupation list. Nurses, engineers and teachers are skill level 1. Most trades are skill level 3 and score 0.
• Experience counts only in the nominated occupation, not in related work.
• The experience table jumps from “6-7 years” to “More than 8 years”. It doesn’t say where exactly 8 years falls, so an applicant at that mark shouldn’t count on 100.

Of all seven factors, age moves the most points, and it does so on a schedule nobody can change.

How fast do age points fall after 29?

Age points hold at 300 from 20 to 29, then drop by 14 to 16 points a year until 40. From 41, the drop doubles to 30 points a year.

The VPT starts cutting earlier than the federal test, which keeps its maximum age points until 32. A 31-year-old with full SkillSelect age points has already lost 30 VPT points.

Victoria has also said it won’t prioritise anyone because of their age or an expiring visa. So an applicant turning 41 soon gets no special treatment, even though a birthday at that point costs 30 points.

Age weighs heavily, but it doesn’t decide the outcome alone. The federal score has even less say.

Is 65 SkillSelect points still enough for Victoria?

Sixty-five points still makes an applicant eligible, but it no longer says much about their chances. Victoria ranks eligible applicants on the VPT instead, and the two scores are never added together.

The two tests work like two gates. The first is the 65-point minimum on the Home Affairs points table, which decides eligibility. The second is a VPT total high enough to be invited in a given round.

Two applicants on 80 SkillSelect points can end up hundreds of VPT points apart. It depends on how each one reached 80.

Which SkillSelect points count for nothing in the VPT?

Five common SkillSelect claims add nothing to a VPT total. Each one helps an applicant reach 65, but none of them lifts their rank in Victoria.

• Australian study: 5 SkillSelect points, 0 on the VPT.
• Study in regional Australia: 5 SkillSelect points, 0 on the VPT.
• Professional Year: 5 SkillSelect points, 0 on the VPT.
• Credentialled community language: 5 SkillSelect points, 0 on the VPT.
• Specialist education: 10 SkillSelect points, 0 on the VPT.

Nomination points don’t carry over either: 5 for a subclass 190 visa and 15 for a subclass 491 visa.

One gap runs the other way. SkillSelect gives a Master’s degree the same 15 points as a bachelor’s degree, but the VPT gives it 25 more. For onshore graduates who built their 65 from study, the Professional Year and a community language, English is now the factor that moves their rank most.

Once an applicant knows their total, the next question is who they’re competing against. Victoria now has two answers.

Who competes against whom in Victoria’s two invitation lanes?

Every ROI is considered in two lanes at once. In the most competitive lane, everyone competes against everyone. In the priority lane, people compete only against others in their own industry.

• Most competitive lane. In each round, the highest VPT totals across all eligible occupations are invited.
• Priority industry lane. In each round, the highest totals within each priority industry, or its subgroup, are also invited.

This matters most for trades. A carpenter in skill level 3 can’t get the 50 skill-level points, so the most competitive lane is hard to win. In the construction trades subgroup, though, none of the competitors gets those points either.

Whether an applicant has that second lane depends entirely on their occupation code.

Which occupations are in Victoria’s 2026-27 priority industries?

Victoria named four priority industries for 2026-27: healthcare, social assistance, education and construction. Education and construction are each split into two subgroups.

The list goes by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) code, and near matches are left out. Primary school teachers, for example, aren’t in the teachers subgroup. Applicants should check their exact code on the official page.

The numbers make more sense on real profiles, so here are three.

What do real VPT scores look like? Three profiles worked out

The three profiles below score 540, 686 and 371. They’re examples built from the official tables, not predictions, because Victoria doesn’t publish cut-off scores.

What the three scores show

Each profile shows a different side of the test.

• The engineer beats the nurse by 146 points. The engineer is six years older, but Superior English, a master’s, and Victorian earnings add 180 points the nurse’s profile doesn’t have.
• The nurse has the stronger position overall. The nurse’s 540 also competes in the healthcare lane, where the engineer’s occupation has no place.
• The carpenter’s 371 is not a lost cause. It is ranked against other trades, most of whom also score 0 for skill level.

None of these totals is fixed. Several factors can still move before the program opens.

Where can an applicant still gain 100 or more VPT points?

English is the largest factor an applicant can still change. Moving from Proficient to Superior adds 100 points, more than the 74-point age gap between 29 and 34.

• English retest. Proficient to Superior adds 100. Competent to Proficient also adds 100. For the carpenter above, a Proficient result lifts 371 to 471.
• Experience milestones. Reaching 1, 2, 4, 6 or more than 8 years each adds 20 points. An applicant a few weeks short of a band can wait to lodge.
• Victorian earnings. Every $5,000 of skilled pay in Victoria above $80,000 adds about 8 points. A move from $112,000 to $120,000 lifts the engineer by 16.
• Partner points. A partner in a priority occupation with a positive skills assessment can add 50.
• An accurate EOI. Points the applicant has earned but not entered in SkillSelect don’t count.

Age is the only factor nobody can change, and Victoria won’t make an exception for it. For applicants in their late 30s, English usually does more for their rank than any other step. The Migration’s guide on increasing PR points covers the federal side.

What do the new $60 and $180 Victorian fees cover?

The $60 fee covers one ROI for one program year. The $180 fee covers one nomination application, and it’s charged only after an invitation. GST is added only when the applicant is in Australia at the time of payment.

These figures come from the Live in Melbourne fees page, as at 20 October 2026. Several rules come with them:

• An ROI is valid only for the program year it is lodged in, which runs from 1 July to 30 June.
• Withdrawing an ROI and lodging a corrected one in the same year carries no second fee.
• Each nomination application carries a new $180 fee.
• Fees are generally non-refundable, including when an ROI isn’t invited, or a nomination is refused.
• Each applicant may hold only one Live in Melbourne account. A second account can mean a second ROI fee that isn’t refunded.
• The Home Affairs visa application charge is separate.

Correcting an ROI within the same year costs nothing, which is useful. An applicant who lodges and then gets a better English result can update their EOI and lodge a fresh ROI at no extra cost.

What has Victoria not confirmed yet?

As at 20 October 2026, Victoria hasn’t confirmed the opening date, the number of nomination places or the full nomination requirements for 2026-27. Sensible preparation still works without them.

• Opening date. Victoria says it will publish this on Live in Melbourne.
• Nomination places. The 2026-27 numbers for the subclass 190 and subclass 491 visas haven’t been released.
• Nomination requirements. The Live in Melbourne pages for the subclass 190 and subclass 491 visas are offline during a site rebuild. The rules on residence and regional work for 2026-27 aren’t published yet.
• Earnings rules. The earnings calculator page is also offline, so the exact income rules can’t be checked yet.
• Age date. Victoria hasn’t said whether age is read when the ROI is lodged or at each round.

Until these are published, the safe work is the same for everyone: update the EOI, retake English if needed and gather payslips.

Which ROI mistakes cost applicants VPT points?

Most lost points come from six avoidable mistakes. Each one either lowers the total or causes trouble at the nomination stage.

• An EOI that doesn’t match the ROI. Different job dates or qualifications in the two can lower the score and raise questions later.
• An old English result left in the EOI. A new Superior result counts only once it has been entered.
• Claiming experience the skills assessment won’t support. The points may count in the ranking, but the claim can fail at nomination.
• Guessing earnings. The figure should follow Victoria’s earnings guide and match payslips.
• Relying on last year’s ROI. It doesn’t carry over into 2026-27.
• Choosing an occupation by habit. An applicant who could be assessed in two occupations may find that only one has a priority lane.

Applicants unsure whether their EOI and ROI match can ask a MARA-registered agent at The Migration (MARN 2619480) to review both before lodging. Reviews can be arranged through the consultation page.

How The Migration helps applicants with the Victorian Points Test

The Migration works out each applicant’s VPT total from their own documents: English test reports, payslips and skills assessments. It then checks that their EOI and ROI both support it. That way, the ROI goes in once and at its real value.

• Score check. The total is calculated factor by factor, with any gaps in evidence flagged before lodging.
• EOI and ROI review. Dates, qualifications and claims are matched across both before lodging.
• Lane strategy. Where an applicant could fit more than one occupation, the team looks at which one has a priority lane.
• Visa choice. The team weighs the subclass 190 visa against the subclass 491 visa. A side-by-side view is in the 491 and 190 comparison.
• After the invitation. The team prepares the nomination application and then the visa application.
• What the team can’t do. No one can predict a cut-off score or promise an invitation, because Victoria publishes neither.

Every file is handled by a MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2619480), which anyone can check on the MARA register. The Migration has 7+ years of practice in Australian migration. Since the VPT was published, the question skilled clients at its Harris Park office raise most is whether their age has ruled them out. For most applicants in their 30s, the answer is no.

Victorian Points Test 2026-27: what it means for 190 and 491 applicants

The Victorian Points Test ranks every 190 and 491 ROI out of 950, and the highest totals are invited in each round. Applicants still need 65 points in SkillSelect to be eligible.

Age gives the most points, but English, a Master’s, and Victorian earnings can outweigh several birthdays. The program hasn’t opened yet, so there’s still time to fix the EOI and lodge one accurate ROI.

Applicants who want their total checked can book a consultation with The Migration’s MARA-registered team (MARN 2619480). The steps for lodging are in the Victoria ROI guide, and the difference between the two forms is explained in EOI vs ROI.

Frequently asked questions