The Northern Territory announced its skilled migration allocation on 20 August. The program opened the next day.
The headline is a bigger allocation. The detail is more mixed.
What changed from last year
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Subclass 190 places | 850 | 850 |
| Subclass 491 places | 800 | 1,000 |
| Total places | 1,650 | 1,850 |
| Program opened | 24 November | 21 August |
| Places ran out | Around May, about six months | Open now |
| Offshore Priority Occupation stream | Taking applications | Closed, backlog being cleared |
Three things in that table matter more than the total.
The permanent allocation did not move
850 places for the second year running.
Every extra place went into the 491, which is provisional. It runs for five years. You need to live and work in the Territory for at least three of them before a PR pathway opens.
So if you were hoping the bigger allocation means an easier run at permanent residence, it does not.
One of the main offshore doors is already shut
NT says it opened “all onshore and selected offshore streams”. The word selected is doing a lot of work there.
The Offshore Priority Occupation stream is closed to new applications. That is the pathway for people applying from overseas with no NT job offer and no family in the Territory. NT says it has a backlog still being assessed.
Two offshore streams stay open, and both need something extra.
- NT Job Offer needs a real offer from a business that has operated in the Territory for at least a year.
- NT Family needs a relative who has lived in the NT for at least twelve months.
If you are offshore with neither, there is no live pathway today.
There is no queue
NT does not run invitation rounds. No matrix, no ranking. You lodge an expression of interest, then apply directly to the NT Government.
In practice that means first in, first served against a fixed pool.
Last year the program opened on 24 November. The places were gone by around May. That was about six months.
This year it opened three months earlier. More runway, but the same race.
NT also says plainly that it cannot promise a decision before your current visa expires. If you are on a 485 with time running down, that is the line to pay attention to.
A detail people miss
Working remotely for an employer based outside the Territory will generally not meet the employment requirement.
Living in Darwin while working for a Sydney company is not the same as working in the NT.
If you are comparing states
The ACT has not announced its 2026/27 allocation yet. It is still being negotiated with the Commonwealth.
So if you are weighing Canberra against Darwin, you cannot compare the two properly today. Anyone telling you otherwise is guessing.
We will post the ACT numbers here as soon as they land.
Where these figures come from
The 850 and 1,000 split comes from the NT Government media release of 20 August 2026. The NT nomination website confirms it received full allocations but does not publish the numbers.
If you want to know whether the NT is realistic for you, or whether waiting on the ACT makes more sense, we are happy to talk it through.
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