Getting a positive skills assessment is a mandatory part of skilled migration under the general skilled migration and employer sponsor visa programs in Australia. Skills assessments refer to assessing an applicant’s qualification and/or employment against the suitability of a nominated occupation.

Below is the list of some of the visas which require an applicant to provide a positive skills assessment:

• Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186)
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa (subclass 187)
• Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) – Points-tested stream
• Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489)
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)
• Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 494)
• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
• Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482)

There are different assessing bodies to evaluate the suitability of different occupations. For example, if an applicant wants to get a skills assessment for an Accounting degree, either CPA, CA or IPA can provide this assessment. For some occupations, work experience is mandatory upon completion of the degree or qualification while for others this may not be compulsory.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to obtain the required skills assessment. Each assessing body will have its own assessment process, procedures, criteria, timeframes and charges.

We understand how important getting a positive skills assessment is to apply for eligible visas. We also know how complicated the process can be when lodging an application for the first time. That’s why our pool of experienced registered migration agents is here to assist you through the entire process from preparing the documents to lodging the assessment application and eventually receiving a positive outcome.