5 STEPS TO Permanent Residency through General Skilled Migration
In this article we discuss the 5 initial steps that are necessary when deciding if someone is eligible to apply for Permanent Residency through General Skilled Migration.
During a consultation, these are the general steps taken to determine the eligibility for General Skilled Migration Visas (Subclass 189, 190 or 491).
However, this is a very simplified version of the process. We recommend contacting immigration or a migration agent for your specific circumstances.
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. The first step is to identify an eligible occupation that best matches your qualifications and work experience. Each skilled visa has specific occupation requirements, so it’s important to check whether your nominated occupation is eligible for the visa you’re considering.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 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 meets the Australian Standards. Every occupation will have a specific skill assessor. For example, for trade occupations, you will get your skills assessed by Trades Recognition Australia. Engineering Occupations have their skills assessed by Engineers Australia. You can check the relevant skill assessor for your occupation on the relevant occupation lists. You then review the skill assessment requirements on the skill assessor websites.
Each occupation has a different set of Education Requirements and Work Experience Requirements and potentially other requirements such as English.
3. Check State Occupation Lists/Visa Requirements
This step is very important 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 suitable skills assessment and have reviewed the relevant visa and, where applicable, state or territory nomination requirements, you can look at submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect.
These visas are points-tested, with 65 points being the minimum threshold. However, meeting the minimum does not guarantee an invitation. Invitation outcomes depend on factors such as the visa subclass, occupation, points score and, for the 190 and state-nominated 491 visas, individual state or territory nomination requirements.
You can take a mock points test to calculate your points.
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
If you receive an invitation to apply, you can then lodge your visa application within the required timeframe. For subclass 190 and the state or territory-nominated subclass 491, you will also need to meet the relevant nomination requirements through your immigration account. You will need to provide personal documentation, education documentation work experience evidence etc.
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 have a consult with a registered migration agent to discuss your situation further.
As always, any questions please never hesitate to contact the team at Pathway to Aus on the phone, website Facebook, or Instagram Thanks!
