Applicants who need a VETASSESS Skills Assessment to support an application for permanent residency, are required to hold: a qualification which is assessed at the required educational level, in a field of study highly relevant to the nominated occupation, and at least one year of paid employment completed at an appropriate skill level in a field highly relevant to the nominated occupation. This employment can be completed anytime within the five years before the date of application to VETASSESS. For some occupations additional years of employment will be required if the qualification is at the required level but the major field of study does not match the nominated occupation. Applicants who need a Skills Assessment to support an application for a Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa only need a qualification assessment. Applicants will need to hold a qualification which is assessed as comparable to the required educational level on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) for the nominated occupation in a highly relevant field of study. After gaining one year of highly relevant employment, applicants may apply for a full Skills Assessment (qualifications and employment) to support an application for permanent residency under the skilled migration scheme. For more information on qualifications assessment for 485 visas,

To be eligible to apply for assessment, you must: currently be a permanent resident of a country other than Australia and wish to migrate to Australia under the General Skilled Migration (GSM), the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) program or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS), or be applying for a Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa. nominate a general professional occupation - a managerial, professional, technician, community work, personal service work, clerical or administrative occupation for which VETASSESS is the relevant assessing authority. hold post-secondary or higher educational qualifications at the required educational level, in a field highly relevant to your nominated occupation. have at least one year of paid employment out of the last five in a field highly relevant to your nominated occupation, at the same skill level as your nominated occupation. For some occupations, additional years of relevant paid employment may compensate for qualifications which are at the required level but lack content relevance. Please see nominating an occupation. If you have trade qualifications or skills, please see Assess my trade skills, as you will require a different assessment process.

VETASSESS Advisory Service provides advice to people considering an application to VETASSESS for a Skills Assessment for migration purposes with a nominated general professional occupation. The Advisory Service will: take you through the steps required to prepare an application for a skills assessment for your nominated occupation advise you whether the documents you are able to provide are sufficient for your application and provide you with information about the nominated occupation or other occupations which may be relevant to your application. A fee of AUD $130 is payable for each enquiry and AUD $50 discount applies to your first subsequent application to VETASSESS for a skills assessment. Click here for more information regarding Advisory Service

For all visa types You will need to ensure that you meet the assessment requirements for your nominated occupation for both the VETASSESS assessment, and for your visa. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that they nominate an appropriate occupation for their visa/sponsorship requirements. For information about visas applicants should first visit the DIAC website at www.immi.gov.au. For more specialised visa advice applicants may contact DIAC or a MARA registered migration agent. VETASSESS can only provide information regarding our assessment process, and cannot advise you which visa you should apply under, which state or territory list your occupation appears on, or whether you will meet the visa requirements.

ANZSCO is the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, which replaces the ASCO (Australian Standard Classification of Occupations). The occupations in ANZSCO have a 6 digit code and are grouped by occupation type: Major Group 1 Managers Major Group 2 Professionals Major Group 3 Technicians and Trades Workers Major Group 4 Community and Personal Service Workers Major Group 5 Clerical and Administrative Workers Major Group 6 Sales Workers Major Group 7 Machinery Operators and Drivers Major Group 8 Labourers DIAC has information about each occupation and the requirements for migration on their Australian Skills Recognition Information (ASRI) page. For information about the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), please see Australian Bureau of Statistics website. Please note that many occupations listed in ANZSCO may not be nominated for visa purposes.

All visa applicants to DIAC under the skilled migration program now need to nominate an ANZSCO occupation. DIAC will accept a VETASSESS Skills Assessment with a nominated occupation in ASCO provided that there is a corresponding ANZSCO occupation which may still be nominated for migration purposes

Yes, you will have to apply for a reassessment.

DIAC has advised that provided the occupation is still on the relevant SOLs assessments issued before 1 July 2010 will be accepted even if the ANZSCO skill level for the nominated occupation changed on 1 July 2010.

If the skills assessing authority for your nominated occupation has changed since you received your skills assessment from VETASSESS, and you have not yet submitted your visa application, DIAC may ask you to obtain a skills assessment from the new assessing authority. If VETASSESS is no longer the assessment authority for your occupation, and you wish to have a reissue or reassessment, you will need to go to the new assessing body.

DIAC have indicated that the SOLs will be reviewed every financial year. State Migration plans will also be regularly reviewed to ensure they are meeting the needs of the state and employers.

The full skills assessment is an assessment of qualification and employment, however, applicants who are applying for the on-shore Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa will only require a qualification assessment. After gaining one year of relevant employment, they may apply for the full Skills Assessment to support an application for permanent residency under the skilled migration program.

VETASSESS has categorised its general occupations into groups A, B, C, D, E and F for assessment purposes. You can find out more about our assessment criteria

VETASSESS will assess your application against the requirements for your nominated occupation. DIAC has information about each occupation and the requirements for migration on their Australian Skills Recognition Information (ASRI) page. For information about the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), please see Australian Bureau of Statistics website. Please note that many occupations listed in ANZSCO may not be nominated for visa purposes.

Some occupations assessed by VETASSESS are listed as 'nec' which means 'not elsewhere classified'. Examples are 134499 Education Managers (nec) and 234399 Environmental Scientist (nec). If nominating one of these occupations, applicants must ensure that their qualifications and employment are highly relevant to one of the occupation titles given in the ANZSCO description for the particular occupation. Other specific occupation titles which cannot be found elsewhere in ANZSCO will be considered on a case by case basis so long as they are relevant to the 'nec' codes. The employment in these nominated occupations should not better match another ANZSCO code (whether assessed by VETASSESS or not). When considering whether to nominate a 'nec' occupation, applicants should consider the sub major group description and whether their skills best fit this category.

A highly relevant field of study is a major which matches your nominated occupation or is in a closely related field of study which is assessed as suitable for employment in your nominated occupation in Australia. To determine whether a qualification is in a field of study highly relevant to the nominated occupation VETASSESS considers: whether you hold a specialised qualification or whether your qualification has a major area of study which VETASSESS has identified as being suitable for the occupation in Australia the number of units completed in the related field (for example, this is usually 33% for a three year Bachelor degree course, or 25% for a four year Bachelor degree course) the depth (progression) and breadth of study in the major, especially in the final years of the course. the employment outcomes of the qualification in the country concerned course requirements - thesis, major projects, internships/work placements

The qualification to be assessed must be at the educational level required for your nominated occupation. For example, for the nominated occupation Actuary 224111, you require a qualification assessed at Australian Bachelor degree or Australian higher degree level. Please click here to see the occupations and requirements for each group.

If you do not meet the requirements for your nominated occupation, you will be issued with a negative outcome letter. If you disagree with the outcome, you should discuss your case with the assessor who will advise you about options for a reassessment.

For some occupations, evidence of additional years of highly relevant employment at the skill level for your nominated occupation may compensate for a lack of a highly related field of study. Please click here to see the occupations and requirements for each group

Applicants who are applying for a skills assessment to support an application for permanent residency require a qualifications and employment assessment. For the employment assessment, VETASSESS requires that applicants provide evidence of at least one year of employment in a field highly relevant to their nominated occupation. If an applicant lacks sufficient highly relevant employment experience at an appropriate skill level, the application for a skills assessment will be unsuccessful. Please check the VETASSESS assessment criteria for each occupation group before nominating an occupation.

In calculating years of paid employment, VETASSESS will count employment of at least 40 hours per fortnight. We will not consider weeks of less than 40 hours per fortnight even if the average hours of your employment was 40 hours per fortnight or more. It is important to note, however, that the employment should be paid, in a highly relevant field and at the same skill level as the nominated occupation. Generally, the employment needs to be post-qualification to be at the required skill level. Pre-qualification employment may sometimes count for occupations in Groups B, C, D and F provided that it was completed after the required skill level was achieved: Five years of relevant employment meets the skill level for Group B Three years of relevant employment meets the skill level for Groups C, D and F Additional years of highly relevant employment can only compensate for lack of content in the qualifications in some cases. All applicants are still required to hold a qualification at the required educational level for their nominated occupation.

VETASSESS requires that applicants provide evidence at least one year of employment from anytime in the last 5 years. Employment that was completed before this is not applicable for skills assessment purposes.

Yes, please see the employment section for details of what documentation is required.

Applicants who are applying for a GSM visa may also wish to apply for an Advisory Letter to DIAC for Points Test purposes. You can submit this advisory letter, along with your positive Skills Assessment to DIAC when you apply for a GSM visa. Points Test Advice is provided in addition to and not in place of the Skills Assessment. The advice is an opinion of: the comparative educational level of your qualifications against the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) your employment which has been undertaken in the nominated or closely related occupation in the 10 years before your application to VETASSESS. The Points Test Advice is an opinion only, and will be taken into consideration by DIAC when assessing your eligibility for points. The Points Test Advice provided by VETASSESS is not binding on DIAC and DIAC may undertake further investigations to verify the qualification and employment claims made. A successful Skills Assessment from VETASSESS is not a guarantee that you will meet the Points Test requirements. Also note that Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa or Employer Nomination Scheme visa applicants do not require a Points Test Advice from VETASSESS. People who can apply for Points Test Advice may include: New VETASSESS applicants who have not previously applied for a Skills Assessment and now wish to assessed under an occupation for which VETASSESS is the designated skills assessing authority Applicants with a Skills Assessment in progress with VETASSESS Applicants who have received a Skills Assessment from another Assessing Authority and have been referred to VETASSESS by their skills assessing authority and/or DIAC for Points Test Advice Previous VETASSESS applicants

If you are successful VETASSESS will issue an assessment outcome letter that states you have met the pre-migration skills assessment requirements. This letter can be submitted to the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to support your visa application.

If you are unsuccessful, we will issue an assessment outcome letter that states that you have not met the pre-migration skills assessment requirements. The letter will indicate the assessment components where your application did not meet the requirements.

All Skills Assessments issued from May 2013 do not have an expiry date.

If your skills assessment outcome was issued by VETASSESS prior to May 2013 and has expired or is due to expire, please submit a Reissue request form (SRGO3).

VETASSESS does not require evidence of English language proficiency for its skills assessment for general professional occupations. However, for information about DIAC's English language proficiency requirements

Please click here for a list of the documents that are to be submitted with your application.

It is preferred that you submit original documents relating to your employment and certified copies of documents relating to your personal information, training/qualifications and other documentation. Please note that neither certified copies nor original documents will be returned. Refer to required documents for further information.

VETASSESS prefers original documents so that we can check the integrity of the evidence received.

As part of the assessment process, VETASSESS will telephone some applicants to clarify information in the application, and to discuss the applicant's occupational skills. No additional charge will apply for a technical interview.

When certifying a proof of identification document use the following words: “This is a true copy of the original document, sighted by me [name], [signature], [date], [qualification you have to certify documents – e.g. JP],[Qualification Number – e.g. JP ID].” The person who certifies your documents must be contactable by telephone during normal working hours. This person may be: a justice of the peace or a bail justice an Australian lawyer a member of the police force a sheriff or deputy sheriff a councillor of a municipality a senior officer of a council a medical practitioner a dentist a veterinary practitioner a pharmacist a principal in the teaching service the manager of an authorised deposit-taking institution a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia or the Australian Society of Accountants or the National Institute of Accountants the secretary of a building society a minister of religion authorised to celebrate marriages a fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives (Victoria) a public notary a member or former member of either House of the Parliament of Victoria a member or former member of either House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth police officer optometrist chiropractor nurse patent attorney psychologist physiotherapist. How should each document be certified? Copies of documents Each copy of every page of the original document must be certified separately and must show clearly: the words "certified true copy of the original" the original signature of the certifying officer the name and address or provider and the registration number (where appropriate) of the certifying officer legibly printed below the signature. Photographs Each photo should include: the wording "This is a true likeness of [candidate’s full name]" the certifier’s details the certifier’s signature and dated. We do not accept: photocopies or faxes of certified copies certification by a company certification where the identity of the certifying officer is unclear or illegible certification made by persons not authorised to certify documents. Please note: Copies of documents will not be returned Do not send original documents You should keep a copy of all documents submitted.

You must supply sufficient evidence of the employment you have completed which is related to your nominated occupation. You should also submit a Résumé or Curriculum Vitae with your application. Employment documents For each position, you must provide evidence of employment which shows the employer's name, the period of employment, the position held, the main tasks and hours of work. If you have listed more than one position or job on your application form, attach a cover sheet to the relevant employment documents which states the position to which the documents relate. All employment documents must be: colour scans of certified copies or, if you are submitting the documents via post, certified copies or original documents supported by certified English translations compiled by a registered translation service if originally issued in a language other than English. If your evidence is insufficient we will contact you to obtain further information. Evidence of employment includes, but is not limited to, the documents listed below. If you worked for an employer: a) Evidence of tasks performed at the skill level of your nominated occupation a Statement of Service from the employer (work reference) a Statement of Service or Reference Letter from your employer for the required information for this document a Statutory Declaration if you are unable to obtain a Statement of Service as described above. This should be verifiable and supported by other evidence such as Appointment Letter, Official Position Description and evidence of paid employment. A Statutory Declaration on its own will not suffice as evidence of tasks performed. an organisational chart if nominating a managerial occupation. b) Evidence of paid employment - at least one of the following: payslips payment summaries for taxation taxation records of assessment which show the company name superannuation records. If you worked in your own business: a) Evidence of tasks performed at the skill level of your nominated occupation a statement from your accountant or lawyer that verifies the name of your business and the position that you held. This must be written on letterhead and signed by the practitioner. a Statutory Declaration listing your main duties and other relevant employment information. This should be verifiable and supported by other evidence. your business registration details. b) Evidence of paid employment - at least one of the following: payslips payment summaries for taxation taxation records of Assessment which show the company name your company taxation records. c) Supplementary employment evidence - optional for all applicants In addition to the above required evidence of employment you may provide other evidence of employment to support your application such as: licence or registration documents and details of the requirements for obtaining the licence or registration organisation chart (on company letterhead) highlighting your duties evidence of professional development completed during your employment prizes/certificates or other forms of commendation if you were self-employed, contracts with clients or suppliers if you were self-employed, statements from clients that state the name of your business, the position you held and the business that was conducted by you (e.g. title of project, duration, tasks completed). Missing documents If you do not have your original documents, try to obtain the required documents from the relevant employer organisation or authority. Most employer organisations and registration authorities keep relevant records and will reissue these documents if requested. In some circumstances we will accept a statutory declaration or other sworn affidavit in place of the required documents but assessment cannot be issued on the basis of statutory declarations only. If you cannot obtain the required documents, contact us for advice. Your assessment will not begin until all your documentation is received. If missing documents are not received within 30 days after we have sent you a Final Notice letter requesting documentation, your application will expire. You must then submit a new application and pay another application fee.

When submitting your documents to us, you should include a résumé which details your employment history and qualifications, along with evidence to support it. Your résumé can be in any format, but should be no longer than 4 pages, and should include the following details: Personal Details (Name, date of birth and contact details) Employment History (Hint - List the jobs you have held over the last five years. For jobs you held more than five years ago, mention them only briefly, emphasising what you learned, or listing them without further description.) Each separate job listing should include the following components: job title company name and location reference to previous employers by their complete business name. If you have worked interstate, overseas or in a different region, include the city and state in which the business was located dates of employment or involvement responsibilities and duties one or two sentences to describe generally what you did in each job including the major tasks, types of technology, tools, programs, instruments and materials you used achievements. Educational qualifications Include dates, majors, and details of degrees, training and certification. qualifications - secondary school, post-secondary vocational qualifications, university, graduate school, post-doctoral training licences/certificates. Professional development You can include: (Hint - Don't list every training course ever attended. Include only the most relevant to your nominated occupation.) courses completed professional associations of which you are a member licences/registrations you hold in-service training certificates workshops, seminars, conferences other professional training. Referees For each referee, please include: the referee's name title employing company work phone number and/or mobile email address a brief statement explaining how the referee knows you. Competencies / key work skills It is useful to provide a list of key competencies and skills you have, with examples of how these are used in your work. This may also expand on the detailed tasks in your application form. These competencies should be verifiable from your references and employment documents. For example, instead of just "sales", this could state what your actual results were with sales, "Increased sales of X product by 30% in my region by using online marketing campaign." Formatting hints use plain text only - no italics, bolding or underlining choose a common font, such as Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Garamond or Times New Roman the size should be 10-14 points don't add graphics, fancy borders, decorative lines, or shading.

If you are not in Australia at the time of lodging the application you may be exempt from paying the GST component. You need to provide evidence for this exemption if one of your addresses in the forms is an Australian address. Acceptable evidence includes: a Statutory Declaration a notarial certificate a statement signed by a registered migration agent. This letter must clearly state that "the applicant was not in Australia at the time of lodging the application" and be written on company letterhead, and be signed by the individual RMA/lawyer making the statement (not a representative).

For applicants who are currently in Australia on a temporary visa please note that for immigration purposes, you are not considered a resident of Australia if you hold a tourist visa or working holiday visa (or any other visa that has allowed you to be in Australia for a period of time as either a tourist or short term worker). Therefore, if you are a resident of one of the nominated countries and work in one of the trades listed, and are in Australia on a tourist visa or working holiday visa you are considered to be a resident of your country of origin. You are therefore required to seek a skills assessment from VETASSESS. Immigration status: You should direct any matters relating to your immigration status to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) on 131 881 or refer to the immigration website at www.immi.gov.au. VETASSESS and TRA do not provide immigration assistance or advice to potential applicants. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are making a valid application that is applicable to your individual circumstances. Your country of residence will be determined by a case officer when you lodge your migration application. If you have obtained a skills assessment from the incorrect assessing authority, it may be invalid for immigration purposes and your migration application may be refused.

Some of the benefits are: Successful applicants will have more certainty that they will be able to work in their nominated occupation upon arrival in Australia Applicants in the licensed electrical and plumbing occupations will receive an outcome that will entitle them to a provisional licence which will allow them to work under supervision without having to undertake additional skills testing once they arrive in Australia Applicants in non-licensed occupations will receive an Australian qualification that demonstrates that they have the full range of skills of the trade Unsuccessful applicants will be provided with a detailed assessment outcome. This will provide them with guidance on additional training and/or employment required to meet the standard.

The occupation of Carpenter and Joiner (331211) requires applicants to meet the assessment requirements for the qualification that covers both occupations of Carpenters and Joiners. The separate occupations only require applicants to meet the requirements of the relevant qualification for that occupation.