Skills Assessment for PR

A skills assessment is a formal evaluation conducted by a relevant skills assessing body to assess your qualifications and experience. If you have a positive outcome, it will mean that your qualifications and experience meets the Australian standards and if you have a negative outcome it would mean that you will have to rectify certain shortcomings to meet the Australian standards.

In Australia there are different skills assessing bodies for assessing different skills. It’s important that you do your skills assessment through the correct skills assessing body. Because doing your skills assessment through the wrong skills assessing body will waste your valuable time and money. You can check for the relevant skills assessing body by accessing the skilled occupation list in the Department of Home Affairs webpage. It has the list of the eligible occupations and also the relevant skills assessing body for your occupation. You can watch the video here to find your skills assessing body.

A skills assessment is usually necessary for PR visas and visas that would lead you to PR. The types of visa categories that usually require you to have a skills assessment are:

1.General Skilled Migration visas

• Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) — Points tested stream

• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)

• Skilled Work Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 491)

2. Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)

A skills assessment is mandatory for this visa if you are applying through the Direct Entry Stream. But if you are applying through the Temporary Residence Transition stream or the Labour Agreement stream then a skills assessment is not mandatory. However the case officer who is making the decision on your visa can request you to provide a skills assessment on his discretion.

3. Skilled Employer sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (SC 494)

This visa requires you to have a mandatory skills assessment conducted through the relevant skills assessing body. You will be exempted from having to do a skills assessment in the following circumstances:

• If you hold a SC 457 or a SC 482 visa and in order to be granted that visa, you were required to do a skills assessment.

• If you are nominated as an academic (University Lecturer or Faculty Head at academic Level A, B, C, D or E) by an Australian university.

• You have held a Special Category visa (subclass 444) or New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa (subclass 461) visa for the last 3 years immediately before you apply and have worked for the employer who nominated you, in the nominated occupation, for at least 2 years during that time.

4. Skills in Demand visa

• A skills assessment for SC 482 visa is not mandatory. However some applicants will have to undergo a skills assessment as a part of the visa application process. The government has listed 25 occupations that require a skills assessment depending on from where your passports are from.

5. Temporary Graduate visa (SC 485)

If you are an international student who completed your studies with an associate degree, diploma or trade qualification and are intending to apply to the post study work visa then the eligible visa stream for you will be the Post- Vocational Education Work Stream of the SC 485 visa. This stream requires you to have an occupation in the MLTSSL which closely relates to your studies and its mandatory to be assessed by the relevant skills assessing body. The other streams of the SC 485 visa doesn’t require applicants to have a skills assessment.

The relevant skills assessing authority/body will be conducting the skills assessment. The skills assessing authorities are the organisations that assess whether the skills that you possess meet the Australian standards to work in the relevant occupation. There are 43 skills assessing authorities that assess diverse occupations in Australia they are:

You will typically need to submit the following documents:

• Identity documents: This can be your passport, Birth certificate, driving license, name change documents etc
• Educational qualifications: You can submit certified copies of your degree or diploma. You may also have to submit certified copies of your transcript and course completion letter.
• Work experience documents: You can include refence letters from your past and present employers detailing the job title you held, employment dates and your duties. You may also have to include your pay slips, employment contract and organisational charts if necessary
• Skills and licenses: This can be your professional certifications, evidence of membership with professional bodies, proof of licensing and registrations for regulated occupations
• English language proficiency: Some skills assessing bodies require you to have proof of your English language proficiency and you may submit your IELTS, PTE, TOEFL or any other valid test result. At times you can also request for an exemption if you have studied for a certain amount of time in Australia.

Some assessing authorities have specific requirements:

Engineers Australia requires a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR)

Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) may involve practical assessments or a Job-Ready Program(JRP).

Australian Computer Society (ACS) may require RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) documentation for non-IT degree holders.