Skilled Visas

Visas > Australian Visas > Skilled Visas

To be eligible for skilled migration, applicants must have experience or qualifications in skilled job on Australia's Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Once this requirement is met, they must also satisfy further hurdle requirements.

The first requirement is age, as the applicant must be under 45 years of age at the time the visa application is lodged.

Secondly, applicants must apply to have their skills assessed as suitable for their nominated occupation (on the SOL) by the relevant authority in Australia. Skills assessment bodies and their requirements vary by job area (trades, nursing, accounting, IT, engineering, etc) and can be confirmed on the relevant website.

Thirdly, the applicant must also have a competent level of English, verified by sitting an International English Language Test or holding a certain passport.

Finally, the applicant must provide evidence of paid employment in any occupation on the SOL for at least 12 out of the 24 months immediately before visa application. Applicants do receive an exemption from this recent work experience requirement if they have met the "two years of study in Australia" requirement.

DIAC's website www.immi.gov.au provides more detail on the basic skilled migration requirements.

The general skilled migration scheme offers offshore and onshore visas, and the information below provides a snapshot of the offshore visas.

SKILLED INDEPENDENT (Permanent) - subclass 175

Once an applicant satisfies the basic requirements, he or she gains points for age, skill, experience and English (and bonus points where applicable, based on spouse skills, community language skills and prior study or skilled work in Australia). To be granted this visa, the applicant must meet the pass mark of 120 points. If he or she scores below the pass mark, but above the pool mark (100 points), the application will be held 'in the pool', for up to two years. If the applicant does not meet the pass mark of 120 points, rather than lodging an application that will sit in the pool, there are other visa options that he or she can consider.

SKILLED SPONSORED (Permanent) - subclass 176

This visa requires sponsorship from either a family member or an Australian state.

Family
This visa is for people who are related (or their spouse or partner is related) to a family member resident in Australia, who is either an Australian citizen, Australian permanent residence visa holder or eligible New Zealand citizen. The relative can be a non-dependent child, parent, sibling, niece or nephew, aunt or uncle. The relative can be living in any part of Australia. The applicant does not get any points from the relative's sponsorship, but the pass mark is 100 and the pool mark is 80.

State
This visa is for people who have experience in an occupation the skills shortage list in one of the participating states and territories. The state can nominate that applicant, and the application is required to live and work in the nominating state or territory for two years. The pass mark is 100 and the pool mark is 80.

SKILLED REGIONAL SPONSORED (Provisional) - subclass 475

This visa requires sponsorship from either a family member or an Australian state.

Family This three year provisional visa requires sponsorship from a family member of the applicant (or spouse) who lives in a designated postcode area of Australia. The applicant must live in the same designated area as the family member. In this case, the applicant or spouse can be related to the sponsor as a parent, sibling, non-dependent child, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, grandchild or first cousin. The applicant can apply for permanent residence on completion of two years of residence and one year of employment in the designated area. The applicant receives 25 points by having an eligible sponsor. The pass mark is 100.

State This visa is suited to people without family members in Australia, who do not reach the 175 Skilled Independent pass mark of 120 points, and whose skills are not on a 176 state or territory list. Each state or territory has a list of occupations they will sponsor on a provisional basis, and the applicant receives an additional 10 points towards their score based on obtaining this sponsorship. This is a three year visa and you can apply for a permanent visa after two years' residence and one year's employment in the region. The 475 visas do have a more lenient English language requirement. The pass mark is 100.