DHA invited a massive 500 EOIs to lodge 491 applications in the 11th February 2020 round
This high number we believe was as a result of the following perfect storm of circumstances
– The first ever 491 invite round was 11th December 2019 (as the visa only opened on 16/11/2019)
– Not many of the 200 invited in that round would have accepted the invite as a 491 grant will prevent a person who later gets more points for a 189 , being able to be also granted a 189 (or 190) for 3 years. So they would decline to lodge a 491.So those EOIs will reopen for a second invite before the 11th Feb 2020 round
– Similarly the 300 invites for the 491 in the 10th January 2020 round would also have had a low uptake number.
– These people who do not accept a Dec 2019 or Jan 2020 invite can for NO FEE lodge a new 491 EOI each month, keep getting a new invite, and so have insurance should they never get the more lucrative 189 or 190 invite
So we believe DHA have seen the VERY POOR uptake of the 491 invites and had to increase the monthly invite numbers from 200, 300, 300 now 500 in this new category
I expect DHA will continue to invite 491s in VERY HIGH numbers so they can get actual visa applications to show how “well” they are doing with this new regional visa