Subclass 190 English Requirement 2026: Competent English at Time of Invitation
The 190 visa requires at least competent English at the time of invitation, not at lodgement — what that means while you wait in the SkillSelect pool.
Yes — for the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190), competent English must already be held at the time you are invited to apply, not by the time you lodge. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) official page (as of the July 2026 official page), the English criterion is stated in one line: "At the time of invitation, you must have at least competent English." The same page's document checklist repeats it — you provide proof that you had at least competent English at time of invitation.
That single phrase — at time of invitation — is the whole reason timing matters more than most applicants expect. Booking a test after the invitation email arrives does not cure the gap.
Why "at time of invitation" is the decisive moment
The 190 is an invitation-driven visa. You submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect; the EOI is not a visa application and there is no fee to submit it. State and territory government agencies can see a completed EOI, and only if one of them nominates you will the Department invite you to apply.
Because the Department frames the English threshold as a condition that must be satisfied on the invitation date, an invitation issued to someone who does not yet hold competent English is an invitation they cannot validly act on. The natural reading for anyone still in the pool is therefore simple: treat the English requirement as something to clear before your name is drawn, not as part of the 60-day scramble that follows.
What happens in the 60 days after you are invited
Once invited, you have 60 calendar days to apply, and the page states this cannot be extended. During that window the job is evidentiary, not qualifying: you must show you can meet the points score stated on your invitation and can meet all other criteria. The documents section asks for proof of competent English at time of invitation, alongside identity, character, skills assessment and EOI claim evidence.
Practical implication: if you sit a test within the 60-day window, you are producing evidence of a result obtained after the date the requirement is assessed. Whether any particular result remains acceptable is a matter for the Department's competent English rules, and the safe planning assumption is the strict one — that the result must be in hand on the invitation date.
The invitation date does more work than you might think
English is not the only criterion pinned to that date, which is why the invitation date is worth diarising as the single reference point in the 190 process:
- Age: you must be under 45 when you are invited. Turning 45 after the invitation is fine; turning 45 after submitting the EOI but before invitation means you will not be invited. The page also notes the application will not be processed if you are 45 at the time of invitation.
- Skills assessment: the assessment must have been obtained in the 3 years before the date of your invitation (or within any shorter validity period stated on it). 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, though the Department reserves the right to argue in court that Thapa was wrongly decided.
- Registration and admission (specific professions): medical practitioners must be registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency at the time of invitation; barristers and solicitors must be admitted to practice at the time of invitation.
Seen together, the pattern is consistent: for the 190, the invitation is the moment your eligibility is frozen and later measured.
If you are waiting in the pool right now
The Department says you could receive an invitation up to two years after submitting your EOI. That is a long horizon for a test result to survive, and it is the strongest argument for separating two decisions people tend to merge:
- Clear the threshold early. Hold at least competent English before your EOI becomes competitive, so that an invitation arriving on any date is one you can use.
- Protect the claim you made. English language skills appear among the claims you may make in an EOI and must later support with documents. If a higher English level is part of your points calculation, the evidence has to back the claim when you apply, and your invitation will state the points you must score.
Consider a hypothetical applicant: they submit an EOI claiming points for skilled employment and English, then wait. If their English evidence lapses while the EOI sits in the pool, the exposure is not only to the threshold criterion but to the points claim that helped make the EOI competitive in the first place.
Two further mechanical points from the same page are worth knowing while you wait: if you do not apply after two invitations, your EOI is removed from SkillSelect; and if the state or territory agency that nominated you withdraws the nomination after you apply, your application becomes invalid.
The 60-day deadline also means that getting an invitation is not the finish line — the page is explicit that an invitation does not mean the visa will be granted, and the application charge is not refunded if the application is refused.
This article is general information about published visa criteria, not personalised advice about your circumstances, and outcomes depend on facts this page cannot see; rely on the official criteria as currently published and on qualified professional advice before you commit to a course of action.
Common questions
Do I need competent English before I submit my EOI?
The requirement is expressed as applying at the time of invitation, and the EOI itself is not a visa application and carries no fee. In practice, the risk-free approach is to hold competent English before your EOI is in a position to be selected, because an invitation can arrive with little warning.
Can I book an English test after I receive the invitation?
The criterion is that you have at least competent English at the time of invitation, so a test sat afterwards does not change what was true on that date. Planning should assume the result must be in hand beforehand.
Is competent English enough, or should I aim higher?
Competent English is the stated minimum for the 190. English language skills are also listed among the claims you may make in your EOI and must evidence when you apply, so a higher level can matter to the points score your invitation requires you to meet.
What if my test result expires while my EOI is still in the pool?
How long a test result remains valid, and what counts if it has passed that period, are set out in the Department's competent English rules — check those rules before you rely on a result, and plan to have a valid one in hand before your EOI is likely to be selected.
Does the invitation date affect anything besides English?
Yes. You must be under 45 when invited, your skills assessment must have been obtained within the 3 years before the invitation date (with the Thapa allowance for assessments obtained within the 60-day invitation period), and medical and legal practitioners must be registered or admitted at that time.
What happens if my nominating state or territory withdraws my nomination?
If the agency that nominated you withdraws the nomination after you have applied, your application becomes invalid. Nomination criteria are set by each state and territory agency individually, and they differ.