The requirement of every skilled visa is to have a number of years of experience in your nominated occupation. While it is quite easy to calculate your own work experience it is crucial to work out how many years of ‘skilled’ work experience you actually had.
For example, for subclass 482 you only need one year of relevant work experience while for subclass 186 (ENS) it will be 3 years. What you will not find out on Immi website that is that such work experience needs to be ‘at skilled level’.
So, what does it really mean?
If I wanted to put it in simple words, your ‘skilled’ level of work experience is experience that starts not on the first day when you begin working in your nominated occupation but when:
– you meet the visa requirements of both relevant education and work experience OR,
– you meet the visa requirement of work experience + work experience equivalent of education as per ANZSCO description (if you don’t have necessary qualification). I will explain this scenario further down below.
– the day you obtained your licence or registration (for licensed occupations such as plumber or electrician)
So now you know when skilled work experience starts but how do you calculate it?
The answer will come from either ABS website (www.abs.gov.au) and its ANZSCO list or from your skills assessment authority (if you have done your skills assessment).
You will also need to look at:
– visa you are applying for (points tested or employer sponsored) as some have more ‘strict’ requirements than the others
– your relevant qualification (if you have one)
Let’s check some examples below.
Scenario 1 – Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa
Pablo has been working as Tiler for his employer in Adelaide for 2 years. Pablo’s boss loves his job and wants to offer him sponsorship on 482 visa. Pablo holds Bachelor of Business and he recently obtained IELTS 7.0 in each module. He meets all other requirements for the visa. Can employer go ahead with their nomination?
We are not going into too much detail so for simplicity let’s focus on his work experience only. It seems like Pablo exceeds work experience requirement as he has documented Tiler work experience of 2 years while 482 visa requires only one year. So, both he and his employer have a green light to go ahead, right?
Well, not really..
Although he has 2 years of work experience he will not meet the requirement of ‘skilled’ work experience.
How do I know that?
Simple reference to ANZSCO list will give us the answer:
In Australia, Wall and Floor Tilers, to be considered ‘skilled’, need to hold Certificate III including at least two years of on-the-job training, or Certificate IV. Alternatively, at least three years of relevant experience may substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
As you can see in Pablo’s scenario, he does not hold Certificate III in Wall and Floor tiling (or similar). We can’t also use his years of experience as substitute of Certificate III (that is 3 years mentioned in ANZSCO).
To summarise, if Pablo decides not to complete any relevant qualification in future, he will need to wait until he reaches 4 years of work experience in total to apply for 482 visa (3 years as per ANZSCO + 1 year as per 482 visa requirement).
Nomination application lodged based on above scenario would very likely be refused.
Scenario 2 – Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186 visa) – Direct Entry stream
Patrick is a Telecommunications Technician (ANZSCO code 342414) with 6 years of full-time work experience. He holds a Diploma of Business Management from Australian college and successfully passed skills assessment at TRA. He is willing to apply for 186 visa (Direct Entry stream). Let’s check work experience requirements as per ANZSCO.
Similarly to above example Patrick needs to have a relevant qualification (minimum Certificate III with 2 years on-the-job training or Certificate IV) or 3 years of relevant work experience.
He does not have a relevant qualification, therefore we are using 3 years of experience as equivalent of his qualification. For 186 visa he needs additional 3 years of full time work experience ‘at skilled level’. In total he has a sufficient number of years (6) to apply for 186 visa (assuming all other requirements are met).
It is important to note that 186 visa requires work experience after qualification (or meeting ANZSCO requirement as above).
Scenario 3 – Skilled Independent (Subclass 189 visa)
Abby is a University Lecturer (ANZSCO 242111) and has obtained positive skills assessment from VETASSESS as part of her visa application requirements. VETASSESS stated in their letter that Abby is ‘deemed skilled’ as of 1st July last year. As a result, when calculating her points score, Abby will be able to claim points for work experience starting from 1st July last year.
Please note that not every skills assessment authority puts ‘deemed skilled’ date on their letter. If they don’t, you will need to establish such date yourself (like in the examples above). Alternatively, if your organisation offers such service, you can apply for Points Test Advice where for a fee they will calculate it for you.
Work experience and RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning)
Qualification obtained as RPL is not treated equally compared to standard stationary course.
If, for example, you hold Certificate III in Bakery obtained through RPL this qualification might be perfectly fine to pass your skills assessment at TRA but for the purpose of calculating your skilled work experience it will be generally not considered. In other words, calculate your years of work experience as if you had no relevant formal qualification.
