Overseas and Australian Skilled Employment and Australian Study Requirement

Skilled employment

You will be awarded points for employment in a skilled occupation, gained over the past ten years either in Australia or overseas. To claim points for skilled employment, the experience that you claim must be in your nominated occupation, or in a closely related occupation. You can claim points for both Australian skilled employment and overseas skilled employment and this may be from a combination of both Australian and overseas employment experience provided it was undertaken in the last 10 years.

The maximum number of points that can be awarded for Australian or overseas employment experience or combinations of both is 20 points.

Points awarded

Overseas skilled employment in your nominated occupation or a closely related occupation.

Points	Length of employment
5	Three years
10	Five years
15	Eight years

Australian skilled employment in your nominated occupation or a closely related occupation

Points	Length of employment
5	One year
10	Three years
15	Five years
20	Eight years

Your relevant Assessing Authority which undertook your skills assessment may also provide an opinion on your skilled employment experience. The department will consider the Assessing Authority’s opinion when awarding points.
See: Australian Skills Recognition Information (ASRI)

Note: For the purpose of awarding points, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship considers skilled employment in the nominated occupation or a closely related occupation to be at least 20 hours every week. In determining whether an your skilled employment is closely related to their nominated occupation, the department will take into consideration the occupations within one unit group classified under Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

Australian study requirement

To meet this requirement, you must have completed in no less than 16 calendar months either:

• a single qualification requiring at least two academic years study
  or
• more than one qualification resulting in a total period of at least two academic years study.

Points awarded

Points	Requirement
5	Minimum two years full-time.

The two academic years study must contribute towards the award of an acceptable qualification that is closely related to the occupation you nominate on your General Skilled Migration application. Check the registration of your course(s) on Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) website.
See: www.cricos.deewr.gov.au

The 92 weeks of study could contribute towards the award of one or more acceptable qualification. In this instance, the courses of study need not have been undertaken within a 24 month period. It is possible to have a break between completing the first course and commencing the second.

The department will use CRICOS to determine the standard duration of a course. A course that has a registered duration of 92 weeks is considered to meet the two academic years requirement.

What is meant by two academic years study?

Two academic years study is defined as 92 weeks of registered study.

It is a measure of the amount of study you have completed rather than how long it took you to complete the study. The requirement that you complete two academic years study does not mean that you need to study full-time to meet the Australian study requirement.

You can take longer to complete those requirements if you so choose. That is, if you take 92 weeks to complete a course registered with CRICOS for only 78 weeks, that course will still only count for 78 weeks towards meeting the Australian study requirement.

There is no upper limit on how long you can take to meet the Australian study requirement. It is a measure of the amount of study you have completed rather than how long it took you to complete the study. Only study successfully completed counts towards the two academic years.
Example: You cannot fail a subject with the hope of counting the same subject twice.

If you are given credit for prior learning it will reduce the amount of study you have completed. In such a situation the exempted units can not be counted towards meeting the Australian study requirement if:

• they are already being used towards meeting the Australian study requirement as part of another course
  Example: Periods of study can not count more than once towards meeting the Australian study requirement
• the credit was granted on the basis of study undertaken either overseas or within Australian in a non-CRICOS registered course.

This means that credit granted on the basis of study undertaken in Australia in a course registered with CRICOS may contribute towards meeting the Australian study requirement, but only once.

Example 1:
If a course is CRICOS registered for 138 weeks (three years) and consists of 24 equal weighted units, you will have completed two academic years when you have successfully completed 16 units of that course. That means that if you are enrolled that course can be given credit based on non-CRICOS registered study of up to eight units and still complete two academic years of study.

Example 2:
If a course is CRICOS registered for 92 weeks (two years) and consists of 12 equal weighted units, you would be required to complete all 12 units to meet the Australian study requirement.

If you were granted credit based on study in another course also registered with CRICOS, then these exemptions could still contribute towards meeting the Australian study requirement regardless if a qualification was awarded for this other course.

However, if you are enrolled in this course and given any credit based on non-CRICOS registered study you will not have completed two academic years study and would fail to meet the Australian study requirement.

If you fall short of the 92 weeks of study due to exemptions you have received, you have several options to meet the Australian study requirement. Options could include:

• have the university rescind the exemptions so you must now successfully complete these subjects to be awarded your qualification
• complete additional units that are at the same level as the exempted units (or higher) and which are accepted by the university as award units for the qualification, such as an elective unit.
  Note: If the education provider specifies the units as 'Non-Award' units, then these units will not be able to count towards meeting the Australian study requirement. Also the additional units would need to be of sufficient registered CRICOS duration to take you to a total of 92 weeks of registered study.
  Also note: The academic transcript should indicate that the elective is contributing towards the award of the degree for this unit to be counted towards meeting the Australian study requirement to ensure that there is no doubt about the electives being part of the award of the qualification
• complete an additional qualification that is closely related to the occupation you nominate on your General Skilled Migration application. This additional qualification must be of sufficient CRICOS registered duration to make up for the exempted units from the students course(s).

Course requirements

Each qualification that you have completed and are relying on to meet this requirement must:

• be either a degree (a bachelor or any higher degree), a diploma, an advanced diploma, or a trade qualification
• have been undertaken at an Australian educational institution in Australia
• have been conducted in English
• be registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).

Note: English language proficiency courses cannot be used to meet the Australian study requirement.

Qualifications must be closely related to nominated occupation

The completed Australian qualification/s you have completed must be closely related to your nominated skilled occupation. This means that the subject matter and the skills gained from your qualifications can be applied at the level you achieved them in your nominated skilled occupation.

Examples:

• Diploma in Business and Certificate IV in carpentry would be consistent with nominating carpenter as your occupation as applicants could find those qualifications genuinely useful in operating their own business as a carpenter.
• Masters in IT and Certificate III in carpentry would not be consistent with nominating carpenter as your occupation as you have attained skills at a significantly higher level in a professional field and skills at that level will not have any practical application in working as a carpenter.

What if you have completed study outside Australia?

If you have undertaken study whilst not physically present in Australia, this study cannot be used to satisfy the Australian study requirement.

Example: If you have studied at an overseas campus of an Australian educational institution, or undertaken study online or by correspondence with an Australian educational institution while outside Australia, this study will not be accepted. This is because all study must be undertaken while you are physically present in Australia.

Evidence to attach to your application

The evidence that you need to supply depends on whether you are meeting the skilled employment requirement or the Australian study requirement.

Overseas or Australian skilled employment:

• Certified copies of your work references for any positions held during the relevant period. Your work experience references must meet the following requirements:
  • the reference should show the official letterhead of the company or government department providing the reference
  • the letterhead should indicate clearly the full address of the company and any telephone, fax numbers, email and website addresses
  • the name and position of the person authorised to sign the employment reference should be typed or stamped below that person's signature – a reference with an illegible signature will not be accepted
  • the direct contact number of the person writing the reference should be included in the letter
  • the letter should indicate the exact period of employment, including whether permanent or temporary, full or part time, position/s held, the main five duties undertaken, and the salary earned – positions should not be described by generic titles (for example, research officer, public servant) but according to the nature of the duties undertaken (for example, research chemist, accounts clerk)
• a payslip from your current employment should also be included – this is especially important for applicants working in government departments.

Other documents which may assist you in evidencing your work experience claims could include, but are not limited to:

• contracts
• pay slips
• tax returns
• group certificates
• superannuation information.

Two years study in Australia

• certified copy of completion letter from your educational institution, including:
  • the date that the course commenced and ended
  • the date that course requirements were met
  • the location of campus where the study was undertaken
  • whether the study involved any distance learning
  • the language in which instruction was given
• certified copies of course transcripts.

Before lodging an application, please read all related requirements.

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