For the Skilled Independent Subclass 189 visa, the Australian Department of Home Affairs does not publish an exact future calendar for each individual invitation round, so the precise date of the next 189 invitation round cannot be confirmed in advance.

What is known right now

  • For the 2025–26 program year, migration advisers report that after the big November 2025 round, further 189 invitation activity is expected from January 2026 onward.
  • Some guidance suggests that 189 invitations are being structured around a quarterly cycle (July–Sept, Oct–Dec, Jan–Mar, Apr–Jun), which implies at least one round in the January–March 2026 window, but not the exact day.

Why no exact date is published

  • The Department of Home Affairs typically announces invitation rounds only when they occur (and then later publishes results), rather than listing all future 189 dates.
  • Advisory sites and forum-style trackers sometimes predict “monthly from January 2026” or similar, but these remain estimates and can change with operational or policy decisions.

Practical expectations

  • Given the November 2025 round and official commentary about quarterly timing, the next 189 invitation round is most likely to fall sometime between January and March 2026 , with many agents expecting activity in late January or February, but this is not guaranteed.
  • The safest approach is to treat all dates as tentative and focus on having your EOI fully accurate and up to date (points, skills assessment, English, work experience), so you are ready whenever the next round occurs.

Tips while you wait

  • Monitor reputable migration news pages and the official Home Affairs updates, as they usually post results shortly after each round.
  • Consider following professional migration advisory blogs and data trackers (for example, those summarising the August and November 2025 rounds) to see trends in points and occupations, which can help you judge your competitiveness once the next round happens.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.