Want to Migrate to Australia in 2021? You Can’t Skip This! How to Tell Whether Your Work Experience Actually Counts for Migration

Work experience and Australian migration today

Australia’s skilled migration program now places growing weight on applicants’ work experience,whether you’re stacking points for a Subclass 189 or applying for a Subclass 190 or 491 state nomination,an invitation depends on meeting the work experience requirements.Employer-sponsored visa work is, of course, an even more hardcore requirement for the application.

So if you want to migrate via either of these pathways, there’s simply no getting around work experience.

What kind of work experience actually counts?

We hope that after reading this article you’ll be able to work out for yourself whether your current job will actually earn you points towards migration down the track.

This article walks through, visa category by visa category, how work experience is assessed and what’s required.

As everyone knows, if you want to migrate via the skilled independent Subclass 189, you need to max out your points. Competition for 189 is fierce, and the 5 points for work experience play a critical role — without them, you have basically no hope of an invitation (assuming, of course, your other points are also maxed out).

Points for local Australian work experience: 1–3 years earns 5 points, 3–5 years earns 10 points.Most applicants go for the straightforward 5 points from 1 year of work. But these points come with conditions — many people mistakenly assume that as long as you’ve worked for 1 year, any job qualifies for the 5 points. That’s not correct,

first, the job you’re claiming points for must be highly relevant to your nominated occupation — that is,the occupation on your “skills assessment”. And you need to satisfy“Skilled Level”the required work experience for it to count towards points.

For example: Accountant – 221111

Most accounting graduates have their skills assessed under this code, 221111. So if you land a related job after graduating and want to use it for points, the role and duties must fall within the scope of an Accountant, or at least an Assistant Accountant.Any lower-skilled role — such as “Accounts Clerk, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bookkeeper, Payroll Officer” and similar duties — does not count towards points.

Second,there’s a minimum hours requirement — at least 20 hours a week. Part-time work is fine,but casual work is not recognised. If you change employers partway through, can the hours from both companies be combined? Yes — but both periods of work experience still need to meet the requirements above.

The 5 points for work experience described above apply across the board, on every skilled migration points table.

What we’re covering now is how each state and territory government assesses and requires work experience.

If you can’t reach the full points for 189 and want a quicker state nomination invitation for a Subclass 190 or 491, the current invitation data from each state shows that local work experience in that state directly affects how quickly you get invited.

Let’s look at the hard work experience requirements a few states set for applicants.

First, check which state occupation list(s) your occupation appears on

For example: Software Engineer – 261313

NSW 190:On the list, at least 1 year or more of relevant work experience (NSW’s 190 invitation mechanism only selects the highest scorers — current invitations are all at 95 points)

NSW 491:On the list for most regional areas. If you’re not already in a NSW regional area and want to apply for NSW 491, you need a 1-year full-time job offer in one of the following regions (Central Coast, Central West, Far South Coast, Hunter, Orana, Riverina, Southern Inland). NSW’s 491 policy is currently very generous — you don’t need to already have relevant work experience, as long as you have theJob offer

Canberra (ACT) 190:among other requirements, you need 6 months of relevant local full-time work experience

Canberra (ACT) 491:among other requirements, you need at least 20 hours a week of relevant work experience for 3 consecutive months

Victoria 190:not on the 190 list

Victoria 491:requires 3 months of relevant local work experience at 20 hours a week

Queensland 190:requires that you’re already working locally for 6 months and have secured an additional 12-month work contract

Queensland 491:requires that you’re already working in a Queensland regional area for 3 months and have secured an additional 12-month work contract

South Australia:currently unavailable

407:at least 1 year of full-time relevant work experience within the 2 years before lodging; part-time is fine, casual doesn’t count

482:requires at least 2 years of full-time relevant work experience; part-time is fine, casual doesn’t count

186:requires 3 years of full-time work experience after your relevant qualification — full-time is best, part-time may be accepted in some cases, casual doesn’t count

407, 482 and 186 form a progressive visa pathway,and the work experience requirements for 407 and 482 are somewhat more relaxed than for 186 — the job just needs to be related to your nominated occupation.This 1 or 2 years of work experience can involve career progression and promotion — for example, moving from Assistant Accountant to Accountant.

Standard supporting documents, and the crucial issue of reasonable salary

The documents typically required to verify work experience include:an employer letter, employment contract, payslips, tax records, and bank transfer records

Finally, a reasonable salary is also crucial evidence —first, the salary must not be below the statutory minimum wage,and the salary actually paid should be benchmarked against the market rate for that occupation and industry,without deviating too far from the market hourly rate.

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Here, there’s always a Plan B to suit your occupation!Click “Original Link”, to see Q&A on regional areas by state!