Skills Assessment authorities are the ones who issue a relevant skill assessment to the applicants. It is an organisation that oversees checking the skills of an applicant if they meet the standard set by the relevant occupation in the working environment.

It is an applicant’s responsibility to contact the relevant skill assessing authority for the occupation and request the skills assessment (if required). Timeframes and procedures can vary depending on the skill assessing authority.

Following are the Visas for which you might need to apply for skills assessment:

• Temporary Skill Shortage Visa (TSS)

• Temporary Graduate Visa (Subclass 485)

• Employer-Sponsored Visa

• General Skilled Migration Visas (GSM)

Getting a skills assessment involves two steps.

Step 1: Contacting the skills assessing authority

• First check if the skills assessing authority if they are the correct ones for the nominated occupation

• You should do the above step before applying for the visa

• The timeframe and the procedures are different for all the skills assessing authorities so you should do your due diligence before applying for the skills assessment

Step 2: The application

• Scanned and certified copies of the suitable skills assessment are required for the visa application

• Getting a positive skills assessment is very important as it is needed to apply for a skilled migration visa