Australia Subclass 190 Age Limit 2026: Must You Be Under 45 When Invited?
Your age for subclass 190 is tested on the day you are invited, not on the day you lodge your EOI — what that means if you turn 45 in between.
Yes — you must be under 45 on the day the invitation arrives, and nothing about the date you lodged your Expression of Interest (EOI) changes that. Under the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) page, as published as at July 2026, you must be aged under 45 when they invite you to apply, but you can still apply if you turn 45 after the invitation. Turn 45 in the gap between lodging your EOI and being invited, however, and you will not be invited at all. For applicants already living in Australia and waiting on a state nomination, that single distinction tends to decide whether a year of preparation becomes an application or nothing at all. What follows is general information about how the published criteria operate, not advice about your own circumstances; your position should be checked against the official page and whichever professional advice you choose to rely on.
Where does the subclass 190 age rule actually bite?
The criterion attaches to the invitation, not to your EOI. The eligibility criteria state plainly that you must be aged under 45 when they invite you to apply, and the steps section repeats the point from the other direction: they will not process your visa application if you are 45 at the time of your invitation.
This matters because an EOI is not an application. The official page describes an EOI as a way to let the Department know you want to apply; it is submitted through SkillSelect from inside or outside Australia, it carries no fee, and SkillSelect simply estimates your points based on the claims you make. To even be considered for an invitation you need an estimated score of at least 65 points, but a high score does not lock anything else in — least of all your age.
What happens if I turn 45 at different points in the process?
The date of your 45th birthday relative to the EOI and the invitation produces three genuinely different outcomes.
| If you turn 45… | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Before you lodge your EOI | You are already 45 when any future invitation would land, so the invitation route is closed to you for this visa. |
| After lodging your EOI but before the invitation | No invitation will be issued. The page states directly that if you turn 45 after submitting your EOI but before they invite you, you will not be invited to apply. |
| After the invitation has been issued | You may still apply. You were under 45 on the date that counts, and turning 45 afterwards does not undo it — but you have 60 calendar days to lodge, and that period cannot be extended. |
A hypothetical shows how thin the line is. Suppose an applicant lodges an EOI at 44 years and ten months, is nominated by a state twelve months later at 45 years and ten months, and receives the invitation the following week. The EOI effectively dies at the birthday: no invitation can follow. If instead the invitation had arrived eleven months earlier and the birthday fell after it, the applicant could lodge within 60 days and the application would be processed.
Why is the wait itself the risk for onshore applicants?
Because invitations are not prompt, and nobody commits to a timeline. The steps page notes that places are allocated to meet the Australian Government's migration planning levels, and that you could receive an invitation up to two years after submitting your EOI. It also warns that an invitation does not mean you will be granted the visa.
A two-year window is more than enough to cross a 45th birthday, which is why the eligibility date should be read backwards from the invitation rather than forwards from your EOI date. Note too that if you do not apply after two invitations, your EOI is removed from SkillSelect — another way a long wait can end without an application. None of this is a processing time estimate, and no processing time should be assumed from it.
What else is fixed at invitation rather than at EOI?
Age is not the only criterion tested on that date, and preparing for one while neglecting the others is a common way to lose an invitation you waited years for.
- English. You must have at least competent English at the time of invitation.
- Skills assessment. You must declare a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation, and it must have been obtained in the three years before the date of your invitation. Where the assessment was issued for a shorter validity period, that period must not have passed. Following the decision in Thapa v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2021] FCCA 686, delegates will also accept a suitable skills assessment obtained within the 60-day invitation period, with the Department reserving its position on that decision. If the assessment rests on an Australian qualification gained while you held a student visa, the course must have been registered on CRICOS.
- Occupation and nomination. Your occupation must be on the relevant skilled occupation list for the 190 visa, and you must have been nominated by a state or territory government agency — separate from the invitation itself. Each agency sets its own nomination criteria. If the nominating agency withdraws your nomination after you have applied, your application becomes invalid.
- Points claimed. The invitation states the number of points you must score, which may be higher than 65 depending on your claims, and you then have to prove every one of those claims with documents when you lodge.
What does this mean if I am applying from inside Australia?
Two practical points sit alongside the age rule for onshore applicants.
First, to apply while in Australia you must hold a substantive visa, or a Bridging visa A (subclass 010), B (subclass 020) or C (subclass 030). Once you lodge a valid application you are granted a Bridging visa A, which comes into effect if your current visa expires before a decision is made. Do not ask to have your current visa cancelled; doing so leaves you unlawful and ceases the bridging visa.
Second, if you currently hold, or your last substantive visa was, a Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) or Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (subclass 494) visa, you must have held that visa for at least three years at the time you apply for the 190. That three-year qualifying period has to be served before you can apply, so for regional provisional holders the effective deadline is earlier than the birthday itself: both the holding period and the age test must still be satisfied by the relevant dates.
The remaining standard criteria — health, character, repaying any debt to the Australian Government, and signing the Australian Values Statement if you are 18 or over — apply as set out on the official page.
Frequently asked questions
Does lodging my EOI before I turn 45 protect my age?
No. The age criterion is assessed on the invitation date, so an EOI submitted while you were 44 does not preserve eligibility past your 45th birthday. The official page states that if you turn 45 after submitting your EOI but before you are invited, you will not be invited to apply.
I turned 45 the day after my invitation arrived. Can I still lodge?
Yes. Because you were under 45 on the date you were invited, the criterion is met, and the page confirms you may still apply if you turn 45 after the invitation. You must lodge within 60 calendar days of the invitation, and that deadline cannot be extended.
My birthday is next month and my EOI has been in SkillSelect for a year. What should I expect?
If you turn 45 before any invitation is issued, no invitation will follow. Invitations can arrive up to two years after an EOI is submitted, so the gap is long enough that the birthday is a real constraint rather than a technicality. Check your own eligibility date against the requirements published most recently by the Department.
Can the 60-day invitation period be extended?
No. The steps section states you have 60 calendar days to apply and that this time cannot be extended. If you receive an invitation and do not apply, that counts towards the two invitations after which your EOI is removed from SkillSelect.
Is my skills assessment tested at the same moment as my age?
Yes, in substance. You must declare a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation, and it must have been obtained within the three years before the date of your invitation — or within the 60-day invitation period, given the Department's approach following the Thapa decision. English is tested at invitation as well, at a minimum of competent English.
Does the 45 rule apply to my partner or children?
The official page states the under-45 requirement as a criterion for you as the applicant; it does not set out how that rule applies to partners or children. Where the page does address children, it deals with their documentation: consent to migrate is required from anyone who has a legal right to decide where the child lives and is not coming to Australia (or you must instead show an Australian court order, or that your home country's laws allow the child to migrate), and a child aged 18 or over must be over 18 but not yet turned 23 and dependent on you or your partner, or over 23 and unable to earn a living to support themselves because of physical or cognitive limitations and dependent on you or your partner. Family members who apply with you must meet the health requirement, and family members aged 16 years and over who apply with you must meet the character requirement; how these are assessed is set out on the official page.