Skilled Migration
Australia's skilled migration categories are specifically targeted at skilled migrants who are able to contribute skills and experience to Australia. There are many skilled visas available, but all have basic criteria. For general skills migration to Australia, you or your spouse must be able to satisfy the following basic requirements:
Basic Requirements
Age
When you apply, you must be under 45 years of age.
English language
You must have a certain standard of English language ability. Active
Migration Australia will give you further details on this requirement.
Qualifications
You should have qualifications or relevant work experience in your
occupation or trade. Your qualifications and work experience must be
assessed first by the relevant skills assessing authority before you
can lodge a skilled visa application. Active Migration Australia will
compile and lodge your skills assessment prior to lodging the
visa application.
Nominated Occupation
You must nominate an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL).
This occupation must be relevant to the qualifications and work
experience that you have. It can be difficult to know which occupation
on the (SOL) is best suited to you. Active Migration Australia will
provide you with detailed descriptions of these occupations and help
to find the relevant occupation.
Recent Work Experience
Depending on which occupation you have nominated, you will be required
to have "recent work experience" for a certain period of time
immediately prior to lodging the visa application. Active Migration
Australia will provide you with this information once we have
established your nominated occupation.
Skills Assessment
Before you are able to lodge a skilled visa application, you must have
had a skills assessment done. There are many different skills assessing
authorities that vary depending on which occupation you have nominated.
Each assessing authority has different criteria for the assessment.
Active Migration Australia has a vast amount of experience with the
various assessing authorities and will provide you with the criteria of
the applicable skills assessing authority.
Skilled Categories available are:
- Independent Skilled Migration
- Skilled – Australian Sponsored
- Skilled – Designated Area Sponsored
- Skilled – State/Territory nominated Independent
- Skill Matching
- Skilled Independent Regional
- Overseas student skilled independent
- Overseas student family sponsored
- Overseas student designated area sponsored
- Graduate Temporary Visa (temporary visa for students)
Independent Skilled Migration
This visa category is for skilled migrants of professional or trade related or other occupations. To apply for this category, you must:
- Satisfy the basic requirements
- Pass a points test
- Nominate a skilled occupation from the SOL
Please complete the free assessment to see if you qualify.
Skilled - Australian Sponsored
This visa category is for people who have relatives in Australia that are willing to sponsor them. The relative must be close family. Active Migration Australia will explain the requirements for family relationship. To apply for this category, you must:
- Meet the basic requirements
- Nominate a skilled occupation from the SOL or if your sponsor lives in certain areas in NSW, nominate an occupation from the SSASSL
- Have a sponsor and be related to that sponsor
- Have an assurer
An assurance of support will also be required by either the Australian resident sponsor or another party. Active Migration Australia will provide you with the support that will be required for your application.
Please complete the free assessment to see if you qualify.
Skilled – Designated Area Sponsored
This category is not points tested but you must have a relative living in a designated area of Australia who is willing to sponsor you. This relative must be close family. Active Migration Australia will explain the requirements for family relationship and the designated areas that are acceptable. To apply for this category, you must:
- Meet the basic requirements
- Nominate a skilled occupation from the SOL
- Have a sponsor who lives in one of the designated areas
- You or your spouse must be related to the sponsor
- Have an assurer
An assurance of support will also be required by either the Australian resident sponsor or another party. Active Migration Australia will provide you with the support that will be required for your application.
Please complete the free assessment to see if you qualify.
Skilled – State/Territory Nominated Independent
This visa is also for skilled migrants of professional or trade related or other occupations. To apply for this category, you must:
- Satisfy the basic requirements
- Meet the pool mark for the points test
- Nominate a skilled occupation on the SOL
- Be nominated by a participating State or Territory
Please complete the free assessment to see if you qualify.
Skill Matching
To apply for this category, you must:
- Satisfy the basic requirements, although lower English levels are accepted and there is a lesser recent work experience requirement
- Nominate a skilled occupation from the SOL
Please complete the free assessment to see if you qualify.
Skilled Independent Regional Visa (SIR)
This visa has been developed together with some State/Territory Governments. The main aim of the SIR visa is to assist the development of regional Australia through higher levels of skilled migration. This visa allows a temporary stay of 3 years during which time you must live and work in regional Australia. After living in regional Australia for at least 2 years and being employed for at least 12 months, you are then eligible to apply for permanent residence through a range of existing regional visas. Active Migration Australia will provide you with the applicable regional areas.
To apply for the SIR visa, you must:
- Satisfy the basic requirements
- Pass the points test
- Nominate a skilled occupation form the SOL
- Hold sponsorship from the relevant State or Territory authority
Please complete the free assessment to see if you qualify.
Overseas student – skilled independent
Overseas student – family sponsored
Overseas student – designated area sponsored
To apply for these visas, you must:
- Be the holder of a substantive student visa or
- Have held a substantive student visa at some time in the 6 months immediately before making the application
- Studied in Australia at an Australian educational institution for at least 2 years full time
- Completed an Australian degree, diploma or trade qualification
- All tuition was conducted in English
- Qualification is relevant to the occupation nominated
In conjunction with the above, you must also:
- Satisfy the basic requirements
- Pass the points test
- Nominate a skilled occupation from the SOL
- Hold a positive skills assessment in a 60 point occupation (unless you have completed an Australian Doctorate)
For the family sponsored category you must also:
- Nominate either 50 or 60 point occupation
- Have a sponsor that you are related to
- Have an assurer
For the designated Area Sponsored category you must also:
- Have a sponsor who lives in one of the designated areas
- Be related to the sponsor
- Have an assurer
- There is no points test under this category.
An assurance of support will also be required by either the Australian resident sponsor or another party. Active Migration Australia will provide you with the support that will be required for your application. Active Migration Australia will explain the requirements for family relationship.
Please complete the free assessment to see if you qualify.
Graduate Temporary Visa
This visa is a temporary visa that is applied for at course completion. You need to have a genuine intention to apply for Australian permanent residency through one of the Overseas Student Categories.
This visa acts as a bridging visa, allowing time for your skills to be assessed before lodging your Australian permanent residency. This visa allows you to remain in Australia for 6 months from course completion before lodging your permanent residency.
Skills Assessments
For the skilled visas, a skills assessment is required. There are many occupations on the skilled occupation list and each of these occupations has a different assessing authority. Each assessing authority has different criteria for a successful application.
At Active Migration Australia we have experience with every skills assessing body and are fully conversant with the criteria that is needed for a successful application. We will provide you with a comprehensive checklist of documentation that is required for your skills assessment. We will then compile it and ensure that it is to the standards required by the assessing authority. Active Migration Australia will liaise with the Skills Assessing Authority on your behalf.
Contact us now for more information or complete the Free Assessment for a detailed report on your options for migration to Australia.
