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; the Department verifies every claim if you're 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 25–32 band and step down after that. Age is scored at invitation, so a birthday during a long wait can genuinely 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: 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; 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 — the reason those visas can be reachable when 189 isn't.

Where the count goes wrong

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

If a refusal like this has already happened, read your options after a refusal. If it hasn't, check your numbers first: eligibility check.