Decision Ready vs. Non-Decision Ready – Does it matter?

We often get a lot of enquiries asking about the Decision Ready vs Non-Decision Ready and if it does matter. The simple answer is no. As of late December 2013 the Department has completely removed the option for Registered Migration Agents (RMA) to lodge applications decision ready. This means that if you are applying for a visa under the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (subclass 186) or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (subclass 187) using a RMA, they will no longer have to choose between lodging your application decision ready or not. Instead, applications under these two schemes will be queued and allocated by date of lodgement.

This change means that your RMA no longer has to tell the Department whether or not you have all documents ready at the time of lodgement; however you should always try to have all required documentation available before lodging an application. If you lodge an application without all of the required documents you are risking your visa application being refused due to a lack of information provided. The Department is not required to send out a request for further information, your case officer can make a decision based on the documents at hand.

If you would like more information about applying for an ENS or RSMS visa, please contact a member of our migration team.