Points-tested skilled visas (189, 190, 491) score you across a fixed set of categories. You claim a score when you lodge your expression of interest, and the Department verifies every claim if you are invited to apply. The gap between what people claim and what the evidence proves is where applications die.

The categories

  • Age. Points peak in the 25 to 32 band and step down after that. Age is scored at invitation, so a birthday during a long wait can change your score.
  • English. Higher test bands mean more points, but only from an accepted test, taken within validity, with every component at or above the threshold. One component below the line drops the whole claim.
  • Skilled employment. Australian and overseas experience score separately, with different maximums. The trap is that only employment in your nominated occupation or a closely related one, at the required skill level, after you met the occupation's skill requirement, counts. Years of genuine work can score zero because they fall before your qualification, or in a different occupation than the one you nominated.
  • Qualifications. Scored at the level of your highest relevant award, from a doctorate down. Overseas qualifications count only as the assessing authority recognises them.
  • The add-ons. Australian study (two academic years), regional study, a professional year, an accredited community-language credential, and a research-based STEM postgraduate degree each add points, every one with technical conditions that must be met exactly.
  • Partner points. A skilled partner with their own assessment and English adds points, a partner with competent English adds fewer, and applicants who are single, or whose partner is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, claim a set amount. Partner claims are among the most miscounted items on the whole test.
  • Nomination. State nomination (190) and regional nomination (491) add points, which is why those visas can be reachable when 189 isn't.

Where the count goes wrong

The recurring failures are employment counted from the wrong start date, partner points claimed without every element evidenced, English scores that lapse before invitation, and study claims that miss a technical condition. When the Department scores you lower than you scored yourself, that is not rounding. Under the points system an overclaim can sink the application outright rather than just reduce it.

If a refusal like this has already happened, read your options after a refusal. If it hasn't, talk to a registered agent first.