Were You an International Student Who Returned Home? Have Years of Work Experience in China? Australia’s Skilled Migration Is Opening Up — How Engineers Can Take Their First Step!

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Subclass 189 is warming up —engineering occupations across the board can receive invitations at 65 points.What does that mean? If an applicant studied two years of undergraduate or postgraduate study in Australia, is aged 25–32, is single or has one qualified spouse, and completes a community language qualification (NAATI/CCL), there is a real pathway to permanent residency!

This invitation landscape will no doubt reignite hope for manywho studied in Australia, and then returned home, orengineers who have always been based in China,about Australia’s skilled migration pathway!

“Igraduated and returned to China back in 2019 — can I still apply for the Engineering Subclass 189 migration pathway?”  A question from student Z, who completed a Master of Civil Engineering at the University of New South Wales back in 2019.

“Ihave never been to Australia, and completedan undergraduate engineering degree in China — can I apply for skilled engineering migration?” – A question from student L, who graduated with an engineering bachelor’s degree from a Chinese university.

If you want to find out whether you can still pursue skilled engineering migration through
the Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa or other skilled migration pathways,

the first step is to obtain a skills assessment from Engineers Australia(EA).Today we’ll focus on how to approach this assessment for different engineering occupations, different qualification levels, and different work histories.

Of course, once you have a skills assessment, it’s not justthe Subclass 189,state nomination and other pathways are also available to you.Engineers are in demand right across Australia, and states such as Victoria and Western Australia also offer excellent opportunities.

Contact us for a one-on-one assessment.

Skills Assessment Categories for Engineers

Are You a ‘Professional Engineer’, ‘Engineering Technologist’, or ‘Engineering Associate’?





Australia’s skills assessment framework has four main categories, each covering specific engineering occupations and corresponding qualification requirements.

Professional Engineer
Common occupations include:
Civil Engineer (ANZSCO: 233211)
Mechanical Engineer (ANZSCO: 233512)
Mining Engineer (ANZSCO: 233611)
Telecommunications Engineer (ANZSCO: 263311)
Electronics Engineer (ANZSCO: 233411)
Qualification requirement: completion of schooling equivalent to Australian Year 12, plusa four-year bachelor’s degree in engineering.

Engineering Technologist
Common occupations include:
Engineering Technologist (ANZSCO: 233914)
Qualification requirement: completion of schooling equivalent to Australian Year 12, plusa three-year bachelor’s degree in engineering technology.

Engineering Associate
Common occupations include:
Civil Engineering Draftsperson (ANZSCO: 312211)
Electronic Engineering Draftsperson (ANZSCO: 312411)
Mechanical Engineering Draftsperson (ANZSCO: 312511)
Telecommunications Network Planner (ANZSCO: 313213)
Qualification requirement: completion of schooling equivalent to Australian Year 12, plusa two-year Advanced Diploma or Associate Degree in engineering.

Engineering Manager
Engineering Manager (ANZSCO: 133211)
Qualification requirement: completion of schooling equivalent to Australian Year 12,completion of a relevant undergraduate or higher qualification in an engineering field, plus at least five years of professional engineering experience and more than two years of engineering management experience.




So, how exactly does the EA skills assessment work?
In simple terms, there are only two pathways for EA skills assessment recognition:
1. Holding anEA-accredited qualification (Accredited Qualification) → canapply directly
after graduation.2.Non-EA-accredited qualification + evidence of the professional competencies required for the nominated occupation





(CDR).

What kind of

qualification and technical evidence is required?






Accredited qualification
【Holding an EA Accredited Qualification】
There are three important points to note:
1. EA only recognises undergraduate engineering qualifications.EA requires applicants to hold
an undergraduate engineering qualification or engineering degree.If the undergraduate degree isin a non-engineering field but the postgraduate degree is in engineering,orthe applicant does not hold an engineering degree but works in an engineering-related role,

additional evidence of the professional competencies required for that occupation will be needed.
2. EA-accredited qualifications are not limited to Australian qualifications.
EA-recognised qualifications include:
(a) Australian Qualifications
(b) Washington Accord Qualifications;
(c) Sydney Accord Qualifications;

(d) Dublin Accord Qualifications;Chinabecame a full signatory to the Washington Accord in 2016, which means that many graduates withundergraduate engineering degrees completed in mainland Chinamay hold an EA-accredited qualification. You can check via the following link:
https://www.ceeaa.org.cn/gcjyzyrzxh/gcjyzyrzjlcx/index.html

For graduatesfrom Hong Kong, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, or South Korea,you can check whether your qualification is EA-accredited via the following links:
Washington Accord qualifications: https://www.ieagreements.org/accords/washington/signatories/
Sydney Accord qualifications: https://www.ieagreements.org/accords/sydney/signatories/
Dublin Accord qualifications: https://www.ieagreements.org/accords/dublin/signatories/



What kind of

qualification and technical evidence is required?

Notan accredited qualification






Not all Australian qualifications are EA-recognised — you can check whether your programme is an EA-accredited course via the list below.
https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2021-12/Web%20List%20-%20V46%20-%20211223.pdf


【Non-EA-Accredited Qualification + Evidence of Professional Competencies】
If your qualification is not EA-accredited, you will need to provide additional evidence of your professional competencies — that is, a CDR (Competency Demonstration Report). Applicants write a CDR to describe their engineering-related education, work, and project experience, demonstrating their professional knowledge and practical skills in the relevant field.
A CDR consists of three components:
1.    Continuing Professional Development statement (1 document)
2.    Career Episodes (3 documents)
3.    Summary Statement


【CPD — Continuing Professional Development Statement】
This statement focuses on describing the ongoing learning activities and academic engagements you have undertaken since completing your bachelor’s degree in order to expand your professional knowledge and relevant skills.
Word limit: no more than one A4 page.
Format: table format (including: title, date, duration, location, organising body).
Content includes:
1. Postgraduate and doctoral study
2. Professional skills training, professional courses, and short courses
3. Professional conferences, academic seminars, and industry forums
4. Papers published in academic journals
5. Reading professional publications, online engagement…
6. Volunteer engineering work…

【Career Episodes (3 documents)】
Each episode: 1,000 to 2,500 words.
Describe three engineering projects, focusing on a specific technical aspect of each project or activity.
Projects may include a thesis, internship project, work project, assignment, or reflection on a challenging engineering problem…
Content may include:
1. Introduction, significance, and objectives of the activity or project you participated in
2. The responsibilities you held, the work you carried out, the problems you solved, and the theories and skills you applied
3. Your creative thinking, reflections, conclusions, and any methods that could potentially improve or enhance certain aspects of the work
You may include relevant engineering diagrams, tables, flowcharts, or photos to illustrate your work process or outcomes.

【Summary Statement】
The Summary Statement consolidates the information from the three Career Episodes into the table provided on the EA website.




Engineering migration requires a tailored, one-on-one plan
covering both skills assessment and visa selection.
Get in touch with us directly!

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