New Ministerial Directions put onshore Family and Skilled applicants first

Official release date: 29 July 2026 · Family/partner

From 25 July 2026, new Ministerial Directions changed processing priorities, with Direction 117 giving top priority to Family visa applicants who apply onshore for onshore-grant visas.

Picture this: you and your partner lodged a partner visa application from within Australia, and you have been wondering where your file sits in the queue. A set of new Ministerial Directions that took effect on 25 July 2026 may help answer that question.

What has changed

Three new Ministerial Directions commenced on 25 July 2026. Their stated aim is to prioritise applicants who are already in Australia across the Skilled and Family programs, and to help reduce Net Overseas Migration.

For Family visas, Direction 117 replaced Direction 102. Here's the thing: it creates two broad tiers. Applications made onshore, for visas that can be granted onshore, receive the highest priority. Applications where the applicant was offshore, or must be offshore at the time of grant, receive lower priority.

Within each tier, the processing order is:

• Ministerial intervention cases
• Partner and dependent child visas
• Orphan relative visas
• Contributory parent visas
• Carer visas
• Parent and other family visas

Direction 120 covers Class BX subclass 858 applications, which include the National Innovation visa as well as the closed Distinguished Talent and Global Talent streams.

Who is affected

If you have a family visa application on foot, particularly a partner or child visa, these Directions affect the order in which your application is considered. Onshore applicants for onshore-grant visas are likely to feel the benefit most. Offshore applicants are still processed, but in a lower priority tier.

For skilled applicants, it is worth knowing that the skilled priorities introduced on 25 July 2026 were later replaced by Directions 121 and 122 on 19 September 2026, so the current skilled settings come from those later Directions.

How it compares

Under the earlier Direction 102, family processing priorities did not draw the same sharp line between onshore and offshore applicants. The new approach puts much more weight on where you are when you apply and where you will be when the visa is granted.

What you should do

Priority processing is helpful, but it never replaces meeting the visa requirements. If you are onshore, make sure your current visa or bridging visa remains valid and that you follow its conditions, such as any travel or work limits. Leaving Australia at the wrong time, or breaching a condition, can affect your eligibility, your priority, or even your lawful status, and may lead to refusal. Keep your contact details, circumstances and relationship evidence up to date with the Department.

If you would like to talk through how this applies to you, our registered migration agents and lawyers at Auzworld Lawyers & Immigration are here to help.

Official source: Department of Home Affairs