Western Australia’s state-nomination program issued its March 2026 invitation round overnight, publishing detailed cut-offs for each occupation only hours after emails landed in applicants’ inboxes. The seven-page release shows 420 invitations across the Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) and Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visas, with priority again given to candidates already living and working in WA. Health, social-assistance and building-trades occupations accounted for nearly 60 percent of invites. Among the standout figures: Maintenance Planners required a staggering 100 points, the highest of any listed occupation, reflecting construction-sector demand ahead of the 2032 Perth WorldExpo bid.
![Western Australia releases March invitation round – healthcare and construction dominate skilled-migration picks]()
For would-be Maintenance Planners—and anyone else eyeing a WA nomination—VisaHQ can ease the administrative burden. Its online portal walks users through each step of Australia’s visa requirements, offers document-check tools and live support, and lets you track progress in real time; visit https://www.visahq.com/australia/ for details.
Medical roles remained competitive; Cardiac Technicians and Emergency-Medicine Specialists received invitations with 90 and 85 points respectively, despite a national cap on medical practitioner visas introduced in December. Registered-Nurse specialities hovered at the 80-point mark, underscoring hospitals’ continued reliance on international recruits to plug workforce gaps created by pandemic burnout. The data confirm a geographic preference hierarchy. Applicants “currently residing in Western Australia” were ranked first, followed by those offshore, then by points score and EOI age. For global mobility managers the message is clear: relocating staff into WA on temporary visas markedly improves their chance of securing state nomination later. Several multinational mining houses have already begun rotating graduate engineers through Perth for precisely this reason, bundling paid study leave for the mandatory English-language testing now required for most engineering ANZSCO codes. From a policy perspective, the publication reinforces Perth’s divergence from the planned federal ‘one-click’ expression-of-interest portal due later this year. While Canberra talks of streamlining, WA continues to fine-tune sector-specific levers to head-hunt nurses, teachers and tradies. Migration agents expect April’s round to widen priority sectors to include information security after the state parliament’s cyber-resilience report highlighted a shortage of 3,000 practitioners. For employers, the practical takeaway is timing. Expressions of Interest lodged after February 2026 did not receive invitations in this round unless the applicant’s points score exceeded 90. Companies sponsoring staff should lodge EOIs early and consider salary-linked points (e.g., high-income bonuses) to remain competitive. Successful invitees now have 28 days to upload documents and pay nomination fees—miss the window and the invitation lapses, pushing applicants to the back of the queue. With New South Wales temporarily pausing nominations until its post-budget review in May, WA’s aggressive schedule positions the state as a key entry point for skilled migrants seeking a faster pathway to permanent residence in Australia.
For would-be Maintenance Planners—and anyone else eyeing a WA nomination—VisaHQ can ease the administrative burden. Its online portal walks users through each step of Australia’s visa requirements, offers document-check tools and live support, and lets you track progress in real time; visit https://www.visahq.com/australia/ for details.
Medical roles remained competitive; Cardiac Technicians and Emergency-Medicine Specialists received invitations with 90 and 85 points respectively, despite a national cap on medical practitioner visas introduced in December. Registered-Nurse specialities hovered at the 80-point mark, underscoring hospitals’ continued reliance on international recruits to plug workforce gaps created by pandemic burnout. The data confirm a geographic preference hierarchy. Applicants “currently residing in Western Australia” were ranked first, followed by those offshore, then by points score and EOI age. For global mobility managers the message is clear: relocating staff into WA on temporary visas markedly improves their chance of securing state nomination later. Several multinational mining houses have already begun rotating graduate engineers through Perth for precisely this reason, bundling paid study leave for the mandatory English-language testing now required for most engineering ANZSCO codes. From a policy perspective, the publication reinforces Perth’s divergence from the planned federal ‘one-click’ expression-of-interest portal due later this year. While Canberra talks of streamlining, WA continues to fine-tune sector-specific levers to head-hunt nurses, teachers and tradies. Migration agents expect April’s round to widen priority sectors to include information security after the state parliament’s cyber-resilience report highlighted a shortage of 3,000 practitioners. For employers, the practical takeaway is timing. Expressions of Interest lodged after February 2026 did not receive invitations in this round unless the applicant’s points score exceeded 90. Companies sponsoring staff should lodge EOIs early and consider salary-linked points (e.g., high-income bonuses) to remain competitive. Successful invitees now have 28 days to upload documents and pay nomination fees—miss the window and the invitation lapses, pushing applicants to the back of the queue. With New South Wales temporarily pausing nominations until its post-budget review in May, WA’s aggressive schedule positions the state as a key entry point for skilled migrants seeking a faster pathway to permanent residence in Australia.
