The step-by-step plan for Australia

Australia has three main routes for skilled migrants. Which one fits you decides your whole journey. You'll recognise them by their number:

• The 189 (Skilled Independent). Permanent and without obligations: you may live and work anywhere.
• The 190 (State Nominated). Also permanent, but a state nominates you: that state puts you forward and expects you to live there for the first two years. You get 5 extra points for it.
• The 491 (Regional). A provisional visa for five years, with 15 extra points. You live in a regional area for three years and can then apply for permanent residence.

Those points come from the points system, which you work out later in this phase. The rule of thumb: the more points you bring yourself, the more independent the route you can choose.

One thing the official sites don't make clear. The official minimum is 65 points. With that you may take part, but that's not yet an invitation. And only with an invitation may you apply for your visa. The threshold for an invitation is higher and differs per occupation: in the June 2026 round it ran from 65 points for sought-after trades to 100 for the most crowded occupations.

That difference between "may take part" and "gets invited" is where most people lose time and money.

This step tells you whether there's a route to Australia for you. If your occupation isn't on the skilled occupation list, the official occupation list of Home Affairs, there's no route. So this is your very first check, before you do anything else.

How to find out:

• Look up your occupation via the ANZSCO classification, the way Australia classifies occupations for this purpose.
• Look at the task description, not at your job title. A Dutch job name doesn't always translate one-to-one.
• Check which list your occupation is on. For the 189 it has to be on the MLTSSL. For the 190 and 491 broader lists apply.

If your occupation is only on the broader lists, you know right away what to aim for: state nomination (the 190) or regional (the 491).

This step shows you how good your chances are, and which of the three routes fits. The points system counts, among other things, your age, your level of English, your work experience and your education. You only reach the maximum for age if you're under 33.

Be strict with yourself. Points you hope to get don't count. Then you'll quickly see where you stand:

• If you come out well above 85, the independent 189 route is realistic.
• If you're between 65 and 85, look seriously at the 190 (5 extra points) or the 491 (15 extra points).
• Below 65 the journey isn't feasible in its current form. Better that you know that now than after thousands of euros in assessments (the official reviews of your qualifications and work experience, phase 2).

Two hard limits to know. The first: you have to be under 45 at the moment you're invited. The second: your partner situation counts.

• A partner with their own skills assessment and Competent English yields 10 points.
• A partner with Competent English alone yields 5 points.
• As a single applicant you get 10.

Competent English is the lowest English level, and also the entry requirement (phase 3 explains the levels).

If your partner is also on the occupation list, work out both scenarios. Who becomes the main applicant can make the difference.

This is an indication, not a guarantee. Your points are only officially determined at your application.

In this step you see what the journey is going to cost you, before you go further. The calculator for Australia works with your own moving choices, not with an average family. It shows three cost blocks:

• The application phase. Assessments, tests, translations and visa fees (the cost of the visa application itself). For a family that's quickly a few thousand euros.
• The move. Depending on your choices: from almost nothing to well over ten thousand euros.
• The landing period. Deposit, temporary rent and bridging until you have an income. This block is often underestimated.

A rule of thumb that makes the journey less stressful: only start spending once you can carry the whole application block without borrowing.

This is the step without forms, and yet this is where most journeys fail. Emigrating isn't something you do alone, even if the papers are in one name. With this step you know whether the whole family stands behind the choice.

Going alone? Then have this conversation with the people you leave behind. The questions below work for them too.

Take three evenings. One conversation is too short for a decision like this. Agree on three evenings, a week apart:

• Evening 1, why. What do we hope to find in Australia? What are we leaving behind here? Would that really be different there?
• Evening 2, what we give up. Who and what will we miss? What are we dreading most? What do we do if it disappoints?
• Evening 3, the conditions. What has to be in place for each of us to say yes? When do we check together whether it's going well, for example after six and after twelve months? And what would be a reason for us to go back?

Write the conditions down. On the kitchen-table card it all fits on one A4.

Divide the work. Agree who takes on which part of this plan: the papers for the visa, the house and the cancellations, the school, the move. That way not one of you carries everything. Invite your partner into your plan; then you both see what's done.

Work for the partner. A practical point that's often forgotten: the partner who isn't the main applicant needs a working life there too. Check now whether your partner's occupation has prospects there.

Is one of you going without an income of your own? Whoever lives in Australia and doesn't work in the Netherlands usually no longer builds up AOW, the Dutch state pension. For every year you're not insured, you later get 2 percent less AOW. You can insure yourself voluntarily with the SVB. You have one year for that, counted from the moment you're no longer insured. Also discuss whether that partner keeps an account and money of their own, and how you decide together on large expenses.

Married, registered or living together? That can make a difference for your partner's residence permit, for co-insurance in healthcare and for inheritance. Australia also lets a partner come along whom you live with without being married: a de facto relationship. Then you do have to prove that you've been together for at least twelve months before you apply, for example with joint accounts and the same address. So start on that now. Check at the visa further on in your plan what applies to you.

Are children coming? How you tell them depends on their age:

• Up to about four. Tell them shortly before the move and keep fixed routines, such as the bedtime ritual and the cuddly toy in the hand luggage.
• Primary school. Tell them well in advance and let them look along: photos of the school, the neighbourhood and the house. Let them choose something, such as their room.
• Teenagers. Involve them in the decision itself. For them, saying goodbye to friends weighs the most. Agree how they keep in touch and when they'll see their friends again.

How school in Australia works, and what it costs per visa, is in the article about school with this step.

Who learns the language, and when? You probably speak English already. But a job interview, a rental contract or a parents' evening is something else than a holiday. Often the partner without work needs the language most, and that's exactly the one without colleagues to practise with. Plan it together, preferably before you leave.

Take your time for this. All the following steps are easier with a family that really stands behind the choice.

Close the orientation phase with a target date for departure. Not as a deadline — as a compass. The tool counts back from now: which step has to start when to keep that date feasible, and where there's slack. A realistic picture: from start to visa, this journey takes most people 12 to 24 months, depending on assessment lead times and invitation rounds.

You fill it in below in this card, and filling it in is completing the step. You can always adjust your target date — the planning adjusts with it.