189Federal
80- Est. Invitations
- 26–26
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- 28 Aug 2026
Physicist 234914
MLTSSLAssessed by VETASSESS / ACPSEM· Unit group 2349 Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals·New to this? Start here
As at November 2026, Physicist (ANZSCO 234914) is still invited through the subclass 189: the 15 October 2026 round invited it at 80 points, for EOIs with a date of effect up to 28 August 2026 (an estimated 26 invitations, 36.1% of its 72 EOIs at 65+). The October 2026 189 pool holds 49 EOIs (1 at 85+ points), with 97 in 190 and 99 in 491. Latest state cut-offs: 190 at 75 points (5 March 2026), community reported. Two states list the occupation for 190 or 491. The 189 cut-off ranged 80–95 over the last 6 rounds, easing.
An EOI is ranked by points, then date of effect. 190 and 491 cut-offs (state nomination) are community reported.
189Skilled Independent
Every round80pts
15 Oct · DOE 28 Aug 2026
25–37 visas 2025-26*
190State nominated
2 states list it75pts
5 Mar 2026 · ▼ from 80
3–12 visas 2025-26*
491Regional, state or family
2 states list it–pts
no round recorded
2–8 visas 2025-26*
186Employer sponsored
EmployerNo points test
485 → work → 482 or 186
7 visas 2024-25
Every pathway at a glance
October 2026 EOI pool. State rows count the 190 and 491 queues together, and one person can hold several EOIs. State scores are community reported.
| Pathway | In queue | At 85+ | Last invited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 189Eligible | 49 | 1 | 80 · 15 Oct 2026 |
| VICopen | 56 | 19 | – |
| WAopen | 51 | 19 | 190 · 75 · 5 Mar 2026 |
| NSWNot listed | 45 | 14 | – |
| ACTNot listed | 44 | 15 | – |
| SANot listed | 39 | 14 | – |
| QLDNot listed | 20 | 8 | – |
| TASNot listed | 13 | 3 | – |
| NTNot listed | 10 | 3 | – |
See who gets nominated → community-reported 190 and 491 invitations
Checking your access…
Where do you sit in the 189 queue?
What this means at your score and date of effect
- 80 or more118 EOIs at that score or higher.
- 75Your date of effect decides within the score.
- Below 75Below the recent 189 cut-offs. Check the state lists for nomination.
Subclass 189 wait estimates · October 2026 EOI pool
| 80 | 85 | 90 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahead | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Met the cut-off | 2/6 | 3/6 | 5/6 |
How these figures are worked outmethod and limits
Subclass 189 invitation rounds have paused since 15 October 2026, so a wait estimate can't be reliably projected while rounds are paused. The queue figures above are current; the wait will depend on when rounds resume.
"Met the cut-off" counts how many of the last 6 subclass-189 rounds your points would have been at or above the round's minimum.
Figures describe observed invitation rounds and the current EOI pool — indicative only, not migration advice.
189 rank can be estimated from points and DOE; 190 and state/territory-nominated 491 are selected by each jurisdiction under its own policy and priorities, so a national EOI queue rank doesn't apply.
Will I get a 189 invitation as a Physicist?
Likely at 80 points or more. Invited in 6 recent 189 rounds.
Last 189 round · 15 October 2026
- Cut-off
- 80 pts
- June: also 80
- Date of effect
- invited at 80 up to here
- Est. invited
- 26
- Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals: 49–51
- Queue invited
- 36.1%
- 26 of 72 at 65+
Cut-off and date of effect: Home Affairs. Invited and queue share: ImmiTrend estimates from the 1 Oct 2026 pool (queue = EOIs at 65+).
All 159 occupations in this round →We predicted 85 for this round. See the scorecard →
189 places this financial year
FY2026-27 · estimatedShared by all 5 occupations in Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals, not just Physicist
500est. ceiling441est. 189 places390–392est. left after 15 Oct
11–12%
59 to 186 / 190 / 49149–51 invited by 189open
15 Oct cut-off for the whole group: 80–90 pts · DOE 25 Aug – 28 Aug 2026
Who shares these places · 5 occupations
| Occupation | Est. invited this FY | EOIs ≥ 80–90 pts | In pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physicist234914THIS | 26 | 6 | 49 |
| Metallurgist234912 | 12–14 | 4 | 105 |
| Natural and Physical Science Professionals nec234999 | 9 | 3 | 16 |
| Meteorologist234913 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
| Conservator234911 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2349 total | 49–51 | 13 | 194 |
ImmiTrend estimate — official figures not yet published. FY2025-26 official: 500 ceiling, 441 remaining · How we estimate · All occupation ceilings →
If a round is heldcut-off by round size, custom number, full prediction row
If 10 invited
75DOE ≤ Sept 25
If 20 invited
75DOE ≤ Sept 26
If 50 invited
All invited (49)
If 100 invited
All invited (49)
If 200 invited
All invited (49)
If 500 invited
All invited (49)
If 1000 invited
All invited (49)
Or calculate a custom number
189 prediction — full row
| Last round | Cutoff | Oct 26 | Spots left (FY) | If floor invited | If anchored invited | Active EOIs | At/above | Ceiling remaining |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26 | 80 | 26–26 | 390–392 | 70DOE ≤ Feb 26 | 70DOE ≤ Feb 26 | 49 | 6 | 441 |
More 189 chartsqueue age, invitations per round, points gauge
Points reality gaugeyour points against those invited
Point Reality Gauge
- Points are easing. The minimum invited score has moved from 85 to 80 over the past 3 rounds — this can reflect round size, occupation allocation or EOI pool changes.
- Still 15 points above the EOI minimum. Despite easing, Physicist remains competitive. Applicants significantly below 80 points are unlikely to receive invitations soon.
- 1 round so far in 2026-27. Physicist has been invited in 1 invitation round this financial year. The round count alone doesn't indicate future demand or guarantee invitations.
Which state could nominate a Physicist?
Two states list Physicist for 2026-27: VIC and WA are open.
Program status 2026-27
OpenOnshore onlyOpeningPaused or closedNot listed
VictoriaOpen
190 · since 26 Oct 2026
- This occupation
- Listed for 190 and 491
- 190 + 491 queue
- 56 EOIs · 19 at 85+ · most at 90+
- Last invited
- No Physicist report yet
- Next expected
- Rounds through the year; no set dates
- Places 2026-27
- 190: 900 places, 0 used · 491: – places, 0 used
- Grants 2024-25
- 1 × 190 · 0 × 491 · 2 × 186 · 2 × 189
- Note
- First round expected in November, then roughly monthly (15 Oct briefing). ROI $60, once per program year; nomination $180.
Sign in to get an alert when VIC invites a Physicist, with your position, the points distribution and the monthly series.Sign in
Status from state program pages. Queues: SkillSelect, 10/2026. An EOI can nominate several states, so state queues add up to more than the national totals.
All states as a tablestatus, listing, queue, last cut-off, places, grants
| State | Status | Listed | 190 queue | 491 queue | 85+ | Last cut-off | State places 190 / 491 (all occupations) | 190 + 491 grants | State page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| open | Not listed | 30 | 15 | 14 | – | – / – | 2 | All NSW data | |
| open | 190, 491 | 37 | 19 | 19 | – | 900 / – | 1 | All VIC data | |
| open | Not listed | 10 | 10 | 8 | – | – / – | 0 | All QLD data | |
| open · onshore only | Not listed | 19 | 20 | 14 | – | – / – | 2 | All SA data | |
| open | 190, 491 | 23 | 28 | 19 | 190 · 75 · 5 Mar 2026 | – / – | 2 | All WA data | |
| open | Not listed | 6 | 7 | 3 | – | 1,250 / 800 | 1 | All TAS data | |
| closed | Not listed | 3 | 7 | 3 | – | – / – | 0 | All NT data | |
| open | Not listed | 23 | 21 | 15 | – | – / – | 2 | All ACT data |
Per-state queue chartspoints distribution, queue trend, invited and lodged
Pick a state above to see its three charts
All eight states · 24 charts
Who gets nominatedcommunity-reported 190 and 491 invitations
No community-reported 190 or 491 invitations for Physicist yet.
Cut-off history
Where it ranks · 189
Outside top 50 by volume
of 170 occupations invited
▲ Rising
⋯
This occupation · most invited →least invited
116 invites last 2 FY · busiest 8,043 · typical 52
Most consistently invited
invited 4 of 4 roundsOccasional
oldest → newest · filled = invited
Year over year
90last FY · 3 rounds
26so far · 1 round
▼ −13% per roundRound to round · last 2 FY
18
28
44
26
90858080
▲ Rising · invites per round · number under a bar = 189 cut-off
Minimum points invited, by source
Dashed line = the 65-point pass mark
Round History
| Date | Subclass | Source | Points | Est. Invitations | Salary | DOE / EOI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Oct 2026 | 189 | Federal | 80 | 26–26 | — | 28 Aug 2026 | |
| 4 Jun 2026 | 189 | Federal | 80 | 38–44 | — | — | |
| 5 Mar 2026 | N/A | WAOfficial | 75 | — | — | — | |
| 1 Feb 2026 | N/A | WAOfficial | 80 | — | — | — | |
| 13 Nov 2025 | 189 | Federal | 85 | 24–28 | — | — | |
| 21 Aug 2025 | 189 | Federal | 90 | 15–18 | — | — | |
| 7 Nov 2024 | 189 | Federal | 90 | 7–11 | — | — | |
| 5 Sep 2024 | 189 | Federal | 95 | 5–6 | — | — |
- ··
- 189Federal80
- Est. Invitations
- 38–44
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- —
·· - N/AWAOfficial75
- Est. Invitations
- —
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- —
·· - N/AWAOfficial80
- Est. Invitations
- —
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- —
·· - 189Federal85
- Est. Invitations
- 24–28
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- —
·· - 189Federal90
- Est. Invitations
- 15–18
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- —
·· - 189Federal90
- Est. Invitations
- 7–11
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- —
·· - 189Federal95
- Est. Invitations
- 5–6
- Salary
- —
- DOE / EOI
- —
··
FederalSkillSelectOfficialState governmentCommunityCrowdsourced
How many Physicist visas are actually granted?
29 skilled visas for Physicist in 2024-25, the 191st most of 581 occupations. 2025-26, provisional: 25–37 × 189, 3–12 × 190, 2–8 × 491 (186 and 494 not yet published).
25-26* is provisional: the full year to June 2026 for 189, 190 and 491 from a Home Affairs data release. The official release with every visa is expected in late 2026.
| Visa | Share of total | 2024-25 | 2025-26* | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | — | — | ||
38% | 1125–37* | 25–37 | — | |
24% | 7 | — | — | |
24% | 72–8* | 2–8 | — | |
10% | 33–12* | 3–12 | — | |
3% | 1 | — | — |
494 includes the closed 187 (peak 8 in 2016-17). — means last year had fewer than 20 grants. Tap a colour to show or hide its line. The grey area is the total.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Total | 186 | 190 | 491 | 189 | 494 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 64 | 9 | 35 | 1 | 12 | 7 |
| 2016-17 | 69 | 13 | 34 | 0 | 14 | 8 |
| 2017-18 | 41 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
| 2018-19 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 2019-20 | 26 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| 2020-21 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021-22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022-23 | 22 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023-24 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024-25 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| 2025-26* | — | — | 3–12 | 2–8 | 25–37 | — |
Where they were granted
Planned place to live, 2024-25. Coloured by how each state's share of Physicist 189 grants compares with its usual share of all 189 grants.
- 1NSWToo few to saytoo few to compare6
- 2VICToo few to saytoo few to compare2
- 3QLDToo few to saytoo few to compare1
- 4WAToo few to saytoo few to compare1
- 5SAToo few to saytoo few to compare0
- 6TASToo few to saytoo few to compare0
- 7ACTToo few to saytoo few to compare0
- 8NTToo few to saytoo few to compare0
- More than usual (1.3× or more)
- About usual
- Less than usual (under 0.75×)
- Too few to say (under 10)
Who was granted
Country of citizenship, 2022-23 to 2024-25 combined.
- 1India22.1%
- 2United Kingdom10.3%
- 3Iran7.4%
- 4Nepal7.4%
- 5Pakistan7.4%
Data: July 2015 to June 2025, main applicants only. Occupation is recorded only for main applicants in the Skill stream, so partner, parent, business and 858 visas can't appear here, and temporary visas such as 482 aren't in this data. Source: Department of Home Affairs, BP0068 (CC BY). The views expressed are those of ImmiTrend and not necessarily those of the Department.
Your next step
Before you can submit an EOI you need a positive skills assessment from VETASSESS / ACPSEM, an English test result and at least 65 points. Study and graduate (485) time in Australia count.
Questions
What points do you need for Physicist subclass 189?
Physicist last invited (189) 15 October 2026 at 80 points; ranged 80–95 over its last 6 invited rounds. At 80 points, EOIs with a date of effect up to 28 August 2026 were invited.
Was I invited in the 15 October 2026 189 round as Physicist?
In the 15 October 2026 round, Physicist EOIs at 85 points or more were invited; at 80 points, those with a date of effect on or before 28 August 2026; at 75 or less, none. ImmiTrend estimates 26 invitations to this occupation (49–51 to unit group 2349), 36.1% of its 72 EOIs at 65+ points.
Is the Physicist subclass 189 cut-off rising or easing?
Easing: across the last 6 189 rounds the Physicist cut-off ranged 80–95, from 95 (5 September 2024) to 80 (15 October 2026).
Is 85, 90 or 95 points enough to be invited for Physicist (subclass 189)?
Over Physicist's last 6 invited 189 rounds (latest 15 October 2026) cut-offs ranged 80–95. Met: 95: 6 of 6, 90: 5 of 6, 85: 3 of 6, 80: 2 of 6. 75 or below: none. At 80 points, EOIs with a date of effect up to 28 August 2026 were invited.
What are the latest 190 and 491 cut-offs for Physicist?
For Physicist: subclass 190 was last invited at 75 points (5 March 2026). subclass 491 was last invited at 85 points (8 December 2022).
How do I compare to applicants who got invited for Physicist?
States and territories issue 190 and 491 invitations under their own policies, not national EOI queue order. Check My Score compares your profile with community-reported invited samples for Physicist; samples may be incomplete.
Which states nominate Physicist for 190/491?
Physicist is on the current 190/491 state nomination lists of: VIC, WA. State lists and quotas change each program year — check each state's official list.
How many subclass 189 places are likely left this FY2026-27 for Physicist?
About 390–392 subclass 189 places are estimated left in FY2026-27 after the 15 October 2026 round for Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals, the unit group's 5 occupations together, Physicist included, of 441 for the year. Home Affairs has not yet published FY2026-27 occupation ceilings, so the places are an ImmiTrend estimate.
How often are Physicist invitation rounds held?
Subclass 189: 1 federal round so far in FY2026-27 (15 October 2026); Physicist received invitations in 1 of them. State nominations in FY2025-26: subclass 190 invitations on 2 round dates and subclass 491 on none (WA; 75–80 points).
How many Physicist visas were granted in 2024-25?
29 main applicants: 11 through 189, 7 through 186, 7 through 491, 3 through 190 and 1 through 494.
Last updated 2 November 2026Sources:OfficialEstimatedCommunity-reported
EOI snapshot October 2026
Community-reported and estimated figures are indicative and may be incomplete — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee. Official figures come from Home Affairs / SkillSelect.
General information only — not migration advice.
Compiled by ImmiTrend from official SkillSelect data.