MD115 to replace MD111 from Friday 14th of November
The government announced today that Assistant Minister Julian Hill MP has signed into effect Ministerial Direction 115. This new directive repeals and replaces MD111 as of Friday 14th of November.
This announcement has been long expected as MD111 was specific to 2025 and needed to be replaced with new directions relating to 2026. It also needed to address a number of changes to the system, some previously announced and others only announced today.
The two instruments are largely the same with MD115 being based on the same principles and mechanisms as MD111. That is, it establishes priority levels for providers based on the proportion of their NOSC allocations that they have filled to date. It instructs the student visa team at immigration to prioritise the processing of student visa applications to each provider accordingly. Priority Level 1 applicants benefit from the fastest processing times.
Crucially for English Australia members, all ELICOS Only applications remain fixed at Priority Level 1 as these applicants are excluded from being counted toward a provider’s NOSC count and are excluded from the National Planning Level. In MD115, the same exemption applies to applicants for school programs, non-award programs, all TAFE courses, postgraduate research courses, and several other types of applicants, including students in approved transnational education programs.
Applicants for student visas for other VET and HE courses will be classed as Priority 1 until the provider they are applying to reaches its prioritisation threshold. That is, until it reaches 80 per cent of its indicative NOSC allocation.
Once a provider reaches that 80% mark, subsequent applicants will be processed as Priority 2 applicants. That is, these applicants wait considerably longer to receive a visa application decision than Priority 1 applicants.
MD115 also introduces the new level of ‘Priority 3’. This applies when a provider reaches its ‘upper threshold’. This refers to the provider reaching 115 per cent of its indicative NOSC allocation.
While no indications have been provided to date regarding how long Priority Level 3 applicants will need to wait or whether the creation of this third level will lead to a shortening in the wait time for Priority Level 2 applicants. Time will tell.
Members are encouraged to get in touch with me directly should they have enquiries regarding this new Directive.
Read the Ministerial press release
Sincerely,
Ian Aird
Chief Executive Officer
English Australia
