General Skilled Migration

The following basic requirements must be met in order to qualify for Skilled Migration:

Age

The applicant must be under 45 years of age at the time of application.

English Language

The applicant must have at least a vocational level of English language.

Qualifications

The applicant must have post secondary qualifications such as a university degree, diploma or a trade qualification. The applicant's skills must also be assessed by the relevant assessing authority as suitable for the applicant's nominated occupation.

Nominated Occupation

The applicant must nominate an occupation which is listed on the Skilled Occupation List at the time of application. The nominated occupation must be aligned with the applicant's qualifications and work experience.

Recent Work Experience

If the applicant's nominated occupation is worth 60 points it must be demonstrated that the applicant has worked in paid employment in a skilled occupation for at least 12 of the 18 months immediately before application.

If the applicant's nominated occupation is worth 40 or 50 points it must be demonstrated that the applicant has worked in paid employment in a skilled occupation for at least 2 of the 3 years immediately before application.

Skill Assessment

The applicant must have received a skill assessment from the relevant Australian assessing authority for their nominated occupation.

The different General Skilled Migration categories are as follows:

Skilled - Independent

The applicant must satisfy all basic requirements and meet the pass mark on the Skilled Migration Points Test.

Skilled - State Territory Nominated Independent

The applicant must satisfy all basic requirements and meet the pool mark on the Skilled Migration Points Test. The applicant must also be nominated by a participating State or Territory. State or Territories aim to select skilled migrants who have a sound chance of gaining employment in that State or Territory within a short time of their arrival.

Skilled Independent Regional (SIR)

This is similar to the Skilled Independent as the applicant must satisfy all basic requirements and meet a pass mark on the Skilled Migration Points Test. This pass mark is lower than the Skilled Independent Visa and the SIR is a temporary visa valid for three designed to encourage migrants to live and work in regional Australia. Once the applicant and family have lived in a regional area for at least 2 years and have been working in the regional area for one year, they can then apply for permanent residence under one of the existing regional migration visas. Please contact us for more information.

Skill Matching

The applicant must satisfy basic requirements for skill and age have a functional level of English language and a lesser recent work experience requirement (6 months out of 12 months before application).

The Skill Matching category of visa has been designed to help overcome skill shortages in various areas of Australia. This is done by placing the applicant's details into a skill matching database which is made available to State and Territory Governments and employers who may then nominate an applicant for migration. The applicant's details are held in the database for a period of up to 2 years. If a State or Territory Government or employer wishes to nominate an applicant out of the database, a nomination application would be made with the Department of Immigration & Multicultural Affairs in Australia.

Skilled - Australian Sponsored

The applicant must meet all basic requirements, have a sponsor who is related to the applicant or applicant's spouse and is resident in any part of Australia, have an assurer and meet the pass mark on the Skilled Migration Points Test.

Skilled - Designated Area Sponsored

The applicant must meet all basic requirements, have a sponsor who is related to the applicant or applicant's spouse and who is resident in one of the designated areas of Australia and have an assurer.

Under the Skilled Migration Points Test, points are awarded for:

• Skill - Age - English language ability
• Specific work experience
• Occupation in demand (and job offer)
• Australian qualifications
• Spouse skills
• Relationship (for Skilled - Australian Sponsored only)

The applicant can also be awarded bonus points for either capital investment in Australia, Australian skilled work experience, or fluency in one of Australia's major community languages (other than English).