New FOI Data Reveals Skilled Visa Occupation Ceilings for 2025–26

This data, obtained through a third-party FOI request, offers valuable guidance for skilled migration applicants seeking to understand how invitation availability may vary across occupations.

What Are Occupation Ceilings?

Occupation ceilings are policy limits used by the Australian Government to manage the intake of skilled migrants.

They:

• Apply to Subclass 189 and family-sponsored Subclass 491 visas
• Do not apply to employer-sponsored or state-nominated visas
• Are based on labour market data and program priorities
• Do not guarantee visa grants

The Department emphasises that ceilings are policy guidance tools, not final migration outcomes.

Complete Occupation Ceilings — Subclass 189 (2025–26)

The FOI data shows significant variation in available places across occupations.

Occupations Where Visa Grants Have Already Exceeded the Ceiling

The FOI data shows that in several occupations, the number of visas granted during the 2025–26 program year has already exceeded the official occupation ceiling. This occurs where the “Remaining Places” column displays “–”, indicating that visa grants have gone beyond the planned allocation.

Engineering Occupations

• Civil Engineering Professionals (ANZSCO 2332)
  Occupation ceiling: 745
  Visas granted: 878
  
  
• Other Engineering Professionals (ANZSCO 2339)
  Occupation ceiling: 500
  Visas granted: 618
  
  
• Electrical Engineers (ANZSCO 2333)
  Occupation ceiling: 500
  Visas granted: 530
  
  
• Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers (ANZSCO 2335)
  Occupation ceiling: 500
  Visas granted: 574

Technical & Trade Occupations

• Motor Mechanics (ANZSCO 3212)
  Occupation ceiling: 1,097
  Visas granted: 1,145
  
  
• Chefs (ANZSCO 3513)
  Occupation ceiling: 604
  Visas granted: 742

ICT & Professional Occupations

• Software and Applications Programmers (ANZSCO 2613)
  Occupation ceiling: 912
  Visas granted: 1,102
  
  
• ICT Business and Systems Analysts (ANZSCO 2611)
  Occupation ceiling: 500
  Visas granted: 542
  
  
• Accountants (ANZSCO 2211)
  Occupation ceiling: 1,039
  Visas granted: 1,127
  
  
• Computer Network Professionals
  Occupation ceiling: 500
  Visas granted: 756
  
  
• Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers
  Occupation ceiling: 500
  Visas granted: 751
  
  
• Database and Systems Administrators, and ICT Security Specialists
  Occupation ceiling: 500
  Visas granted: 643

Why This Happens and What It Means for Applicants

Occupation ceilings are planning thresholds, not strict legal limits. As a result, visa grants can sometimes exceed the allocated ceiling for certain occupations.

This can occur due to:

• Invitations issued in previous program years but finalised later
• Processing backlogs being cleared
• Labour-market priority adjustments
• Administrative timing differences between invitations and visa decisions

For applicants, once an occupation exceeds its ceiling, it usually indicates that:

• New invitations become extremely limited
• Points thresholds typically increase
• Invitation rounds may pause temporarily
• Competition intensifies significantly

In practical terms, when an occupation exceeds its ceiling, it is effectively considered saturated for the remainder of the program year.