5 steps to getting PR in Australia
Today I am going to discuss the 5 initial steps that I go through when deciding if someone is eligible to apply for Permanent Residency through General Skilled Migration.
During consults with clients, these are the general steps I undertake to determine the eligibility only for General Skilled Migration Visas (Subclass 189, 190 or 491). This a very simplified version of the process
* Please note, all information provided is general in nature.
5 steps:
1. Choose your Occupation
The very first step is to identify which occupation best suits your previous education and work experience. Immigration has a list of occupations on certain lists (MLTSSL, STOL or ROL) that may be eligible to apply for General Skilled Migration Visas. It is important that you correctly identify which occupation matches closely with you. For certain occupations that can be very simple, but for other occupations, this can be quite confusing. A great resource for this is ANZSCO Occupation Description.
2. Skill Assessment
In order to apply for any General Skilled Migration Visa, you must first obtain a positive skill assessment. Without this, you will never be able to apply for these visas.
The skill assessment ensures that your education and work experience meet the Australian Standards. Every occupation will have a specific skill assessor. For example, trade occupations will have your skills assessed by Trades Recognition Australia, whereas, engineering occupations have their skills assessed by Engineers Australia. You can check the relevant skill assessor for your occupation on the relevant occupation lists.
Each occupation has a different set of Education Requirements and Work Experience Requirements and potentially other requirements such as English. It is important that you check the website to find out what is necessary for your desired occupation.
- For example, some trades require relevant Certificate III trade qualification + 3 years of full-time work experience but have no English requirement whereas, others do.
- For a positive skill assessment as a primary school teacher, you must have a minimum of four years full-time (or part-time equivalent) higher education (university) level study + at least 45 days of placement. You do not need any post-qualification work experience, but you do need to meet the English requirement.
The point is that each skill assessor has different requirements, so be sure to check and confirm you can meet these.
3. Check State Occupation Lists/Visa Requirements
This step is essential if you are looking to apply for the State Nominated or Regional Nominated Visa.
If there is a shortage of individuals skilled to work in that particular profession, the State or Territory governments may choose to nominate a visa holder to fill these roles. Each state may have their own list of occupations that they are interested in inviting and specific requirements for these occupations. It could be useful to review the individual state or territory websites listed below to see which professions are required and what are the requirements for the individual states.
For example, QLD may be inviting Accountants, but NSW may not be. Or Western Australia may only be inviting onshore applicants who are living and working in that occupation. If you are offshore, South Australia may require you to have at least 8 years of work experience to be eligible.
The point is that no state list is the same, and no state has the same requirements, so be sure to review the individual state lists and requirements. We also have separate videos on the individual state migration process, so check these out.
4. Lodge an Expression of Interest/Points Test
Once you have a Full Skill Assessment, and have reviewed the state lists to ensure you meet the requirements, you will then look to lodge an Expression of Interest (this is commonly referred to as the points test).
In order to receive an invitation to apply for the visa all applicants must pass a points test. You would need 65 points to submit an expression of interest for general skilled migration, but generally speaking the higher the points you score the higher the chance you will receive an invitation.
You can take a mock point test below to calculate your points – https://pathwaytoaus.com/points-test/
- You will receive points for attributes such as Age, English Ability, Work Experience, Education, Relationship Status etc.
- On the Expression of Interest, you can also indicate which visa or visas (189, 190 or 491 – yes you can put down all 3), you want to apply for and which state you would like to be invited by.
5. Lodge Visa Application
Finally, once you receive the state nomination, you can then aim to lodge the actual visa application through your immigration account. You will need to provide personal documentation, education documentation work experience evidence etc.
I think you will find that the actual visa application is not as complex as the process of receiving the invitation.
I hope you found this information useful. This was a very simplified version of what can be a very confusing process. Please note, the information provided is general in nature, so be sure to book a consult with a registered migration agent to discuss your situation further.
