Can Australia 190 Visa Be Refused If State Nomination Is Withdrawn in 2026?

Plain-language guide · general information, not immigration advice

Yes. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190) page (as of the July 2026 version of that page), if the state or territory agency that nominated you withdraws your nomination after you have applied, your application becomes invalid. The Migration Regulations provision summarised as 190.215 — "the nominating State or Territory government agency has not withdrawn the nomination" — is a criterion the application must keep meeting, and a withdrawal during processing removes the one requirement a 190 applicant cannot supply on their own.

This is general information about published rules, not advice on any individual case. Nomination criteria are set independently by each state and territory and change over time, so the official current pages and the legislation are what govern your situation.

What exactly does the official rule say?

The Home Affairs page states it in one sentence with no qualifications: a nomination withdrawn after you apply makes the application invalid. There is no "explain the circumstances" step and no discretionary rescue in the published text — the nomination belongs to the state or territory agency, not to you, and only that agency can hold it in place.

Two related points from the same page set the context:

You can only apply for a 190 if you are invited, and "we will only invite you to apply for this visa if you are nominated."
Each state and territory government agency has its own criteria for deciding who it nominates, published on its own migration site.

So the chain is: EOI in SkillSelect → nomination by a state or territory → invitation to apply → application. Break the middle link and the rest of the chain has nothing to hold.

Why is nomination the load-bearing part of a 190?

Every other requirement in the 190 is something you personally produce: a suitable skills assessment for your nominated occupation, at least competent English at the time of invitation, a score at or above the points on your invitation (with 65 as the qualifying line), aged under 45 when invited, health, character, and the Australian values statement. A state or territory nomination is the one criterion produced by somebody else, and it is the criterion that distinguishes this visa from the independent points-tested stream.

The official page also makes the consequence explicit for downstream steps: after an invitation you have 60 calendar days to apply, and that time cannot be extended. An invitation is not a visa, and "getting an invitation does not mean you will be granted the visa."

Invalid, or refused — which is it?

Both descriptions appear, and they apply at different points in the process.

At the validity stage, the official consequence is invalidity: the application no longer meets what is required of it and cannot be decided on its merits.
At the decision stage, if the application has already been taken into substantive assessment, the nomination criterion is tested again against the regulations. The Migration Regulations and the Department's Procedures Advice Manual (PAM3) record 190.215 as a substantive criterion, and note that where a nomination is withdrawn while the application is being processed, the visa must be refused.

For the applicant the practical result is the same in one respect — no visa — but the published consequences are stated for a refusal: "we will not refund the application charge if we refuse your application," and the decision letter tells you why it was refused and whether you have a right to review.

Can you rescue it by getting nominated again?

Not inside the same application. A nomination is attached to the invitation that produced it, and an invitation is attached to the EOI and occupation behind it. The Department's Procedures Advice Manual (PAM3) notes that once you have been invited and have applied, the nominated occupation is effectively locked — changing it means giving up the invitation, updating the EOI and waiting for a new one.

In practical terms, a withdrawal sends you back to the start of the chain: a fresh or updated EOI in SkillSelect, a fresh nomination decision by a state or territory agency under its own current criteria, a new invitation, and a new application. Submitting an EOI itself is free, and an invitation may arrive up to two years after submission; if you are invited twice and do not apply, the EOI is removed from SkillSelect.

Suppose an applicant holds a nomination from one state, applies, and then moves to a different state and stops meeting the commitment the nominating agency relied on. If that agency withdraws, the Home Affairs consequence above applies regardless of how strong the rest of the file is — the points, English, skills assessment and health checks do not substitute for the missing nomination.

What makes a state or territory withdraw?

The Home Affairs page does not publish a list of withdrawal triggers, and this article will not invent one. What is documented is that each agency sets and administers its own nomination criteria, and that those criteria commonly include commitments about living and working in that state or territory. A nomination granted on the basis of a commitment can therefore be at risk if the facts behind it change.

That is also why the official instructions after you apply matter: you are expected to tell the department about changes such as your contact details, marital or de facto status, or the birth of a child.

What can you actually control while the application is pending?

Three things, all drawn from the official pages:

Keep the nomination's basis true. The commitments and claims that won you the nomination are the same ones the agency continues to rely on.
Keep your information accurate and consistent. Correct mistakes as soon as possible; claims in the EOI must be provable at assessment, and the department "may make a decision on your application without requesting more documents."
Stay lawful and reachable. If you are in Australia, hold a valid visa while the application is processed, and keep your contact details current so that any request reaches you.

If it is refused, what comes next?

The decision letter tells you the reason and whether you have review rights. Beyond that, the published path is a new EOI and, if a state or territory nominates you again, a new invitation and application. Any second attempt has to be re-tested against the criteria in force at that time — age under 45 at invitation, competent English at invitation, a skills assessment obtained in the 3 years before the date of invitation (with the department now accepting an assessment obtained within the 60-day invitation period, following the Thapa decision), and the points stated on the new invitation.

Frequently asked questions

Is a 190 refusal automatic if the state withdraws my nomination?

The official Home Affairs page says the application becomes invalid if the nominating agency withdraws your nomination after you apply, and the Migration Regulations record 190.215 as a criterion that must continue to be met. There is no published mechanism for keeping the application alive without that agency's nomination.

Can the same state re-nominate me after it has withdrawn?

Nothing in the official material promises that. A new nomination is a fresh decision by that agency under its own current criteria, and a new nomination leads to a new invitation and a new application rather than reviving the old one.

Do I get my money back if the application fails this way?

The Home Affairs page states that the application charge is not refunded if the application is refused; it does not state a refund outcome where an application becomes invalid, so check the department's written notice for your own case.

Can I switch to another visa while my 190 is being processed?

This article covers only the 190, so it does not describe other subclasses. What is documented is that a 190 requires its own nomination-linked invitation; a different pathway would need its own eligibility rules checked against the official page for that visa.

How long do I have to apply after getting an invitation?

60 calendar days from the date of invitation, and the department states it cannot extend this. If you do not apply after two invitations, your EOI is removed from SkillSelect.

If my 190 is refused, can the decision be reviewed?

The Home Affairs page states that if it refuses your visa it will tell you why it refused the visa and whether you have a right to a review of the decision.