If you are applying for a General Skilled Migration Visa, you must have an occupation on the SOL at the time you lodge your application.
Current SOL
MODL
The Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) lists the occupations and specialisations identified by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) that are in short supply.
From 8 February 2010 the MODL no longer applies. Therefore, all applicants who lodge an application on or after this date will not be eligible for the award of MODL points unless the applicant:
• holds a subclass 485 (Skilled-Graduate) visa or has applied for a subclass 485 (Skilled Graduate) visa and is yet to apply for a permanent or provisional General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa
or
• on 8 February 2010 had a pending application for a GSM visa.
Note: Applicants must lodge their GSM applications by 31 December 2012.
State or Territory Sponsored Lists:
State or Territory Sponsorship is a form of General Skilled Migration which you may be able to utilise if your occupation is on a state list.
State and Territory governments may nominate visa applicants who have an occupation that is in shortage in their particular State or Territory.
Visit the below websites for further information on the applicable State or Territory Sponsored List:
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- Northern Territory
- Australian Capital Territory
Skilled Migration Points Test
Visa Applications for General Skilled Migration visas are assessed against a points test.
Included below is the list of points tested General Skilled Migration Visas and the current pass marks, which you will need to score to be eligible for a visa:
| Category | Pass mark |
| Skilled – Independent (Migrant) visa (subclass 175) | 65 |
| Skilled – Sponsored (Migrant) visa (subclass 176) | 65 |
| Skilled – Regional Sponsored (Provisional) visa (subclass 475) | 65 |
| Skilled – Independent (Residence) visa (subclass 885) | 65 |
| Skilled – Sponsored (Residence) visa (subclass 886) | 65 |
| Skilled – Regional Sponsored (Provisional) visa (subclass 487) | 65 |
You can claim points under a range of different factors, which includes:
- Age
- Skills / Qualification
- English Proficiency / Competency
- Australian Work Experience
- Australian Qualifications
- State or Territory Nomination
- Designated Language
- Designated Area
- Partners Skills
Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (Second Edition) published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Assessing Authority
An assessing authority is a professional body or organisation with the expertise and knowledge to decide what skills are required for working in a particular skilled occupation. Applicants need to obtain a skills assessment for their nominated occupation from the relevant assessing authority. To identify the relevant assessing authority for your skilled occupation see the Skilled Occupation Lists (SOL) on the department's website.
Australian Study Requirement
To meet the Australian study requirement you must have completed course work for the award by an Australian educational institution, one or more degree, diploma or trade qualification. The course or courses must:
-
be registered on CRICOS as being a total of at least 92 weeks duration;
-
be completed in no less than 16 calendar months
-
have been undertaken while in Australian; and
- have had all instruction conducted in English.
A type of temporary visa that provides the holder with status as a lawful non-citizen. It can only be granted in Australia.
Certified Copy
Copy of a document authorised, or stamped as being a true copy of the original, by a person or agency recognised by the law of the person's home country. In Australia, this means a copy which is authorised as a true copy by a person before whom a Statutory Declaration may be made. Such authorised persons include the following: magistrate, Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Affidavits, solicitor, registered medical practitioner, bank manager, postal manager, an Australian Public Service Officer with 5 years or more service. The department also accepts documents certified by a registered migration agent.
Close Relative
Your partner, children (including adopted), parents and siblings and step relatives of the same degree.
Date of Completion
The date of completion of an Australian qualification is the first date on which the tertiary institution publicly notifies you that you have met the requirements for the award. This notification can occur by letter, on the internet, by publication in a newspaper, by e-email, or by bulletin board at the tertiary institution. It is not the date of conferral of your award. The date of conferral is the date that you actually receive your degree.
De Facto Relationship
A person is in a de facto relationship with another person (whether of the same sex or a different sex) if they are in a genuine and continuing relationship with a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others. The couple must live together or have been living together and now reside separately on a non-permanent basis; and have been living together for a 'reasonable' period of time. For Partner visa applications and any permanent residency applications, applicants must have been living together for at least 12 months immediately prior to lodgement of an application. Other temporary visa applications only require that applicants have been living together for at least 6 months.
Dependant
A person who is wholly or substantially reliant on a family member for financial support to meet their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing; or wholly or substantially reliant on their family member for financial support due to being incapacitated for work because of the total or partial loss of bodily or mental functions.
Dependent Child
A child or step-child who has not turned 18 years of age, or, if aged 18 years or over, is a dependant. A dependent child must not have a spouse or de facto partner, or be engaged to be married.
Eligible New Zealand Citizen
An eligible New Zealand citizen is a person who at the time of last entry to Australia would have met health and character checks and;
-
held a Special Category (subclass 444) visa on 26 February 2001; or
-
held a Special Category (sublcass 444) visa that was in force for at least one year in the 2 years before 26 February 2001; or
- has a certificate, issued under the Social Security Act 1991, that states the citizen, for the purposes of the Social Security Act 1991, was residing in Australia on a particular date (note that Centrelink stopped accepting applications for these certificates in February 2004)
Positions nominated under the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) must correspond to an occupation that is on the Employer Nomination Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL). This list is available on the department's website.
ETA
Electronic Travel Authority. Further information on the ETA is available on the department's website.
IELTS
International English Language Testing System. For more information about IELTS please visit the IELTS website.
Offshore Visa
Applicants for an offshore visa are currently residing outside Australia. An offshore visa can only be granted when the applicant is outside Australia.
Onshore Visa
Applicants for an onshore visa are usually temporarily residing in Australia. An applicant usually needs to currently hold a substantive visa, usually a qualifying visa, at the time they make the application for an onshore visa. If the applicant no longer holds a substantive visa, the substantive visa should have expired no later than the specified period for the onshore visa they are applying for. An onshore visa can only be granted when the applicant is in Australia.
Qualifying Visa
A qualifying visa is a visa that applicants may be required to hold, or last held no more than a specified period, prior to making an application for an onshore visa.
Relative
A close relative or grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew or step equivalent.
Statutory Declaration
This declaration must be made before a person authorised by the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 and Regulations, which include the following: magistrate, Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Declarations, Commissioner for Affidavits, solicitor, registered medcal practitioner, bank manager, postal manager, an Australian Public Service officer with 5 years or more service.
