20 August 2026 · Skilled migration · State nomination

The Northern Territory's offshore occupation list is closed to the only stream that uses it

MigrationNT has closed the Offshore NT Priority Occupation stream to new applications while it clears a held-over backlog. That leaves the 139 occupation NTOMOL unusable, and pushes every offshore 491 file into the Job Offer or Family streams, where the national list applies instead.

MigrationNT’s eligibility page carries one sentence that changes how an offshore Northern Territory file is built:

The NT Government has a large number of applications pending assessment under the NT Priority Occupation stream, held over from the last program year. As a result, this stream is closed to new applications, and any changes will be published on this website.

The Priority Occupation stream is the only one of the five NT streams that uses the Northern Territory Offshore Migration Occupation List. Close the stream and the list stops being an entry test for anyone.

That is worth saying plainly, because the usual first move on a state nomination file is to check the state occupation list. On the NT, as at 20 August 2026, that check answers nothing. The list still sits on the website, 139 occupations, page last updated 26 November 2025. No new application can be assessed against it.

What is actually open offshore

Two streams, and neither one looks at the NTOMOL.

NT Job Offer stream. A verifiable job offer in the nominated occupation, based in the NT, with a business that has been actively operating in the NT for at least 12 months. The offer must be full-time, at least 35 hours per week, with a contract of at least 12 months, and it must name the employer and their contact details.

NT Family stream. An eligible relative who is usually resident in the NT and has lived there at least 12 months, who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident, eligible New Zealand citizen, or holds a subclass 491, 494, 489 or 309 visa, or a bridging visa tied to a subclass 887 or 191 application. The relative signs a statutory declaration committing to settlement support. The relationship list is specific: parent, child or step-child, sibling, aunt or uncle, niece or nephew, first cousin, or grandparent, on either the applicant’s or the partner’s side.

Both streams carry the general offshore requirements: at least 2 years of post-qualification work experience in the nominated occupation in the last 5 years, a genuine commitment to live and work in the NT long term, and a declaration of financial capacity to settle. Offshore applicants will generally only be considered for a subclass 491 nomination.

The consequential detail is in one line on the eligibility page: applicants under the Family stream or the Job Offer stream can nominate any occupation on the national eligibility list. So the closure of the Priority Occupation stream does not narrow the occupation field for the streams that remain. It widens it, while narrowing the entry condition from “your occupation is on our list” to “you have an NT job offer, or an NT relative.”

That is a different kind of client. An occupation-list file is built from a skills assessment. A Job Offer or Family file is built from someone else’s documents, and both of those take weeks to obtain from third parties who have no deadline of their own.

A small discrepancy worth knowing before you promise anything

The eligibility page tells Priority Occupation applicants to “meet any additional work experience required for the nominated occupation as specified on the NTOMOL.” The published list has no such specification anywhere on it. Of its 139 rows, 52 carry a licence or registration note and the other 87 comment cells are empty. There is no additional-experience column entry against a single occupation.

If and when the stream reopens, expect the list to be republished before it accepts applications. Do not build a file on the current version’s silence about experience.

Onshore, the axis is time in the Territory, not points

MigrationNT states it directly: MigrationNT does not prioritise applicants by points score. The Department of Home Affairs minimum of 65 points is a gate, not a ranking. Points above it buy nothing here.

What is measured instead is duration.

NT Residents stream, minimum consecutive months immediately before applying

Residence in the NTFull-time NT employment

Subclass 190 nomination

Subclass 491 nomination

Source: MigrationNT, Eligibility, page last updated 20 August 2026. In both cases the employment must also be available for at least a further 12 months.

The gap between the two is the whole decision. A resident client at eighteen months in the Territory with a year of full-time work is comfortably inside the 491 and nowhere near the 190. Waiting six more months does not close it; the 190 wants two years of both, measured immediately before the application, and it wants the applicant to establish a greater connection to the NT than to any other Australian state or territory. The subclass 190 is the only permanent option the NT nominates for, and it is gated on that comparison rather than on anything in the points table.

For graduates the clock starts at course completion, which MigrationNT defines as the date the applicant was notified they had met all academic course requirements, not the date on the testamur. Two academic years, four semesters, at an NT institution, then either:

6 continuous months in the NT after completion on a subclass 485 or an associated bridging visa, while employed or holding a recent job offer in the nominated or a closely related occupation, or
12 continuous months in the NT on the same visa basis, with genuine and sustained efforts to obtain NT employment where the job has not landed.

There are two narrow exceptional-circumstances alternatives to the employment condition at the six month mark: three months of employment in a regional or remote area outside Greater Darwin, meaning outside the City of Darwin, City of Palmerston and Litchfield Shire local government areas, or employment in a designated critical sector, listed as energy, defence, agriculture, mining, health, aged or disabled care, education, tourism and construction.

Graduates aged over 35 who cannot get a subclass 485 have their own 190 pathway, with the same study requirement and the employment condition but no post-completion residence period attached.

The employment definition is where onshore files fail

Every claimed position for an onshore applicant, under both the Graduates and Residents streams, must clear all of this:

NT employer, 35 hours per week, full-time or the equivalent assembled from more than one part-time position.
The majority of time in the role spent on tasks aligned to the nominated occupation.
The employer has traded in the NT for at least 12 months.
Market salary.
A letter of support from the employer attesting to genuine efforts to recruit locally and why this person is the most suitable, or a detailed statement explaining why that letter cannot be obtained.

Two of these read as administrative and are not.

Remote work generally does not count. MigrationNT states that working remotely for an employer based outside the NT will generally not meet the employment requirements, unless the duties involve servicing NT clients. Positions based at serviced offices or involving hot-desking arrangements “will generally not be considered favourably.” A client who moved to Darwin and kept their Sydney job has, on the face of the guidance, a residence claim and no employment claim.

A 482 or 457 holder needs their sponsor’s signature. The letter of support must say the sponsor supports the nomination and understands the applicant will not be tied to their business once the 491 or 190 is granted. That is a conversation with an employer about losing leverage over a worker, and it has to happen before lodgement. MigrationNT may contact the employer directly.

Hard edges that decide files before they are assessed

These are stated flatly on the MigrationNT pages, and none of them are discretionary in the way applicants tend to assume.

Interstate dependants disqualify the application. If the applicant or any migrating dependant is currently living interstate, the applicant is not eligible for NT nomination. Not weakened. Not eligible.

An unfinished course disqualifies. An applicant or migrating dependant on a student visa who has not completed the studies connected to that visa is not eligible.

A previous NT 489 or 491 nomination blocks a 190 nomination. Someone the NT already nominated onto a provisional visa cannot come back for the permanent one through this program.

The 190 to 491 fallback depends on the EOI, not the application. MigrationNT will consider an ineligible 190 application for a 491 nomination, but only if the SkillSelect EOI includes the 491. An EOI marked for 491 only is assessed for 491 only. This is a two minute check in SkillSelect that decides whether a refused 190 has anywhere to land.

No release letters, under any circumstances. The NT commits the nominee to live and work in the Territory in the nominated or a closely related occupation for at least 3 years from visa grant, and states it will not issue release letters for transfer to another state. The commitment is signed as a declaration at nomination, and the NT Government runs its own compliance checks and surveys on top of any Home Affairs reporting.

One application at a time, one nomination per applicant, $300 each time. The fee is AU$300 plus GST where applicable, non-refundable, and charged again on any fresh application. MigrationNT’s own view of resubmission is blunt: a new application is highly unlikely to succeed unless circumstances have changed and new information is available.

60 days from invitation. A successful nomination produces a SkillSelect invitation, and the visa application must be lodged within 60 calendar days or the nomination is invalid.

Priority processing exists, and it is narrower than it sounds

MigrationNT will consider priority processing only for an applicant residing in the Northern Territory who meets at least one of three conditions, each on a 30 day horizon:

a visa expiring within the next 30 days, or
turning 45 within the next 30 days, or
losing points on an age change within the next 30 days that would take them below 65 points and out of eligibility for a 491 nomination.

Evidence of the urgency goes to migration@nt.gov.au. Nothing here helps an offshore applicant, and nothing here helps a file that is merely old.

Financial capacity is a declared number

The published net asset guidance:

Family composition	Minimum value of net assets
Individual applicant	AU$35,000
Applicant and spouse	AU$50,000
Applicant and spouse plus one child	AU$60,000
Applicant and spouse plus 2 children	AU$65,000

Offshore applicants declare this. Onshore applicants are separately asked for 12 months of bank statements immediately before the application, showing day-to-day spending in the NT, as evidence of actually having lived there. That is a residence test conducted through a spending pattern, and it is the document most likely to contradict a tenancy agreement on a file where the client was away for a stretch.

What to do now

0 of 6 done

Stop assessing offshore NT files against the NTOMOL. The stream that uses it is closed to new applications. Ask instead whether the client has an NT job offer or an eligible NT relative, because that is the only offshore question that has an answer right now. Check the SkillSelect EOI covers the 491 on every 190 nomination application. Without it there is no fallback, and the $300 buys a single assessment against the harder test. Count residence and employment in consecutive months ending at the lodgement date. 24 and 24 for the 190, 12 and 6 for the 491. A gap in either sequence resets the count that MigrationNT will measure. Ask a remote-working client who their employer is and who they service. An out-of-NT employer generally fails the employment requirement unless the duties involve servicing NT clients, whatever the client's postcode says. Raise the sponsor letter with 482 and 457 holders early. It has to state the sponsor understands the client will not be tied to the business after grant. If it cannot be obtained, the substitute is a detailed written explanation, drafted before lodgement rather than in response to a request. Order the 12 months of bank statements before anything else. They are the residence evidence, they are slow to obtain, and they are the document most likely to contradict what the client has told you about the period.

The one line to keep in view is the release letter policy. Every other requirement on these pages is a test the client either passes or does not. The 3 year commitment is the one that is signed while it is still hypothetical and enforced after the visa is granted, on a client whose circumstances by then are not the ones you assessed.

This is general information, not migration or legal advice. Requirements and stream availability were accurate at publication and can change without notice. MigrationNT states that its guidelines are subject to change at its discretion, that each application is assessed on its own merits, and that meeting the guidelines does not guarantee a nomination. Confirm the current position on the MigrationNT website before lodging.

Sources:

Common questions

Is the NT Priority Occupation stream open?

No. As at 20 August 2026 MigrationNT states that it has a large number of applications pending assessment under the NT Priority Occupation stream, held over from the last program year, and that the stream is closed to new applications. Any change will be published on the MigrationNT website.

Does the NT Offshore Migration Occupation List still matter if the Priority Occupation stream is closed?

Not for a new application. The NTOMOL applies only to offshore applicants under the Priority Occupation stream. Offshore applicants under the NT Job Offer stream or the NT Family stream can nominate any occupation on the national eligibility list for the subclass 491 visa.

Which NT nomination streams are open to offshore applicants?

The NT Job Offer stream and the NT Family stream. Both require at least 2 years of post-qualification work experience in the nominated occupation in the last 5 years, and offshore applicants will generally only be considered for a subclass 491 nomination.

How long must you live and work in the NT to qualify under the NT Residents stream?

For a subclass 190 nomination, at least 2 consecutive years of residence in the NT and at least 2 consecutive years of full-time NT employment immediately before applying, with the employment available for a further 12 months. For a subclass 491 nomination, 12 consecutive months of residence and 6 consecutive months of full-time employment on the same terms.

Does MigrationNT rank nomination applications by points score?

No. MigrationNT states that it does not prioritise applicants by points score. The Department of Home Affairs points test minimum of 65 points still applies as an eligibility threshold, but points above it do not improve ranking.

Will a subclass 190 nomination application be considered for a subclass 491 if it is refused?

Only if the SkillSelect expression of interest includes the subclass 491. MigrationNT will consider an ineligible 190 application for a 491 nomination provided the EOI covers that subclass. If the EOI is marked for 491 only, the application is assessed for 491 only.

How much does an NT nomination application cost?

AU$300 plus GST where applicable, for both subclass 190 and subclass 491 applications. The fee is non-refundable and is charged again for each new application.

Can an NT nominee move interstate after the visa is granted?

No. Accepting NT nomination commits the applicant to live and work in the NT for at least 3 years from visa grant, and the NT Government states it does not issue release letters under any circumstances.

What financial capacity does MigrationNT expect?

MigrationNT publishes minimum net asset guidance of AU$35,000 for an individual applicant, AU$50,000 for an applicant and spouse, AU$60,000 with one child and AU$65,000 with two children.

Can an applicant previously nominated by the NT for a 491 apply for a 190 nomination?

No. MigrationNT states that an applicant previously nominated by the NT Government for a subclass 489 or subclass 491 visa is not eligible for a subclass 190 nomination.

Centrio is migration & education agent software for Australia — applications, ImmiAccount auto-fill and client accounting in one place.

See how it works