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Commonwealth of Australia

Home Affairs — Department of Home Affairs (Australia)

The Department of Home Affairs is the Australian federal body that decides every Australian visa application and manages border operations through the Australian Border Force (ABF). It was formed in December 2017 by consolidating the former Department of Immigration and Border Protection with several national-security functions.

Parent ministry

Commonwealth of Australia

Established

2017

Last reviewed

20 April 2026

Scope

  • Issues all subclass visas, from visitor (subclass 600, 601, 651, 462, 417) to skilled (189, 190, 491, 482, 186, 494) and family routes.
  • Runs SkillSelect — the expression-of-interest system for General Skilled Migration points-tested visas.
  • Visa refusals are merits-reviewed by the independent Administrative Review Tribunal (ART, since 14 October 2024) — Home Affairs is the respondent agency, not the reviewer.
  • Publishes the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), ceiling allocations, and the bi-annual SkillSelect invitation rounds.

Procedural quirks

  • Processing times are published as 25th/50th/75th/90th percentile decisions — not a flat "typical" figure — so expect wide variance.
  • The Specialist Skills Pathway (high-salary 482) was introduced in December 2024 with a 7-day median processing-time target. Core Skills and Essential Skills streams take substantially longer.
  • Visa Application Charges (VACs) are indexed each 1 July; ImmiAccount fees are non-refundable even if an application is withdrawn before a decision.

Primary service channels

Routes administered

Home Affairs decides the following Australia visa routes covered on Visa Atlas:

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