Case 1: The clientcompleted a domestic bachelor’s degree in IT and only received the degree certificate in January 2022, having graduated with a diploma in 2019,and had worked in software development ever since finishing the diploma. The client is married with children and was looking into migrating to Australia for the sake of the children’s future education and the family’s living environment.

After reviewing the client’s basic situation, unfortunately we found thathis work background could not support a skills assessment— even with four 8s in English, there would be no way to apply for Australian skilled migration from offshore.

Case 2: This client also held a domestic diploma,started working after graduating in 2009, and has been employed in aircraft maintenance, and wanted to migrate to Australia.

After reviewing his basic details, the answer was that hecould absolutely prepare from within his home country and apply for Australian skilled migration directly。

Take Case 1, for example: the client did not meet the skilled-migration requirements,and the reason came down to the very first step — the skills assessment. Bear in mind that the first step of Australian skilled migration is also one of the most critical: you can only proceed once you have obtained a skills assessment for an occupation that appears on Australia’s migration occupation list. Every occupation hasits corresponding assessing authority, and each assessing authority has different application requirements. The Case 1 client’s occupation falls within the IT field,which corresponds toACS (Australian Computer Society), the relevant assessing authority。

ACS’s assessment rules state that:

the work experience it recognises must be relevant experience gained after the qualification was completed. If the qualification is an IT degree obtained outside Australia, the skills assessment deducts anywhere from 2 to 4 years of work experience. Some might ask: the client has a diploma — doesn’t the work experience after that count? The client graduated with the diploma in 2019, so counting from when work began there are 4 years to date.For diploma graduates with a relevant ICT background, ACS requires that, within the past 10 years, the applicant provide5–6 years of relevant work experience。

So this client did not meet the skills-assessment criteria, could not pass it, and therefore could not apply to migrate directly from offshore.

So what’s Plan B?

A common option to consider isstudy-and-migrate: go to Australia to complete a master’s degree in a migration-eligible field (an IT major), and then apply for Australian skilled migration after graduating.

Alternatively, this client could alsocontinue building up relevant IT work experience, in order to satisfy the work-experience requirements attached to a diploma or bachelor’s qualification.

The Case 2 client doesn’t need to take such a roundabout route — they can apply for skilled migration directly from their home country and secure permanent residency, or provisional residency, for the whole family.

The Case 2 client’s work experience corresponds toTRA (Trades Recognition Australia), the relevant assessing authority, and the occupation the client can be assessed for isAircraft Maintenance Engineer. Forthis occupation, TRA’s qualification requirement is met by a diploma alone, and an application can be lodged with 3 or more years of relevant work experience after graduation。

Conference and Event Organiser

Subclass 190 invitation, Canberra — EOI 65+5 points, matrix 60 points

Quantity Surveyor

Financial Investment Manager

Property Manager

Subclass 491, NSW — EOI 60+15 points

Project Administrator

Financial Investment Manager

Engineering Technician

More articles worth revisiting

Working in marketing / advertising / PR overseas? You can move to Australia with ease too — here’s how to check your own eligibility!

The new financial year’s first state-nomination stream opens on 7 July! Recent skills-assessment case studies

2023