← Australia · 2026

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Reduction of Regional Category Visa Allocation for FY 2026–27

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryAustralia
Operative dateJuly 1, 2026
Categorynumerical_caps
Policy toolquota
Affected groupRegional visa applicants (including subclass 491)

Policy effect

Under the officially set 2026-27 Permanent Migration Program planning levels, the regional visa allocation (such as subclass 491 and 494) has been heavily reduced to 14,110 places from 33,000 in the previous year.

Conditions and exceptions

Applies across the State and Territory Regional category within the Skilled Migration Program.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

| Regional | 33,000 | 33,000 | 14,110 | …
homeaffairs.gov.auPermanent Program planning levels by financial year table, Regional category rowOpen official source
Retrieved from https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels

Review method

Official-source daily scan followed by independent Gemini 3.8 Flash exact-claim and materiality verification.

Automated source validation is not independent human legal review. The finding should not be treated as legal advice. Record fcp-c52e68fb2f51a0d3c79e. Something wrong? Flag this record.

Other Australia changes operative in 2026