( For skilled professionals )
Skilled migration
Advice and application support for professionals and tradespeople who want to live and work in Australia.
( The situation )
Who this service is for
For professionals and tradespeople, onshore or overseas, weighing up whether an Australian skilled visa is realistic for their occupation, experience and stage of life.
General information only. This is not immigration assistance and does not take your circumstances into account. Migration law changes frequently. Confirm the current position before acting.
Shoreline Migration · Registered Migration Agent · MARN 2619597
( How we can help )
- An assessment of your occupation, qualifications and points position
- Comparison of the skilled options that may apply to your circumstances
- A written strategy covering timing, requirements and responsibilities
- Preparation of the application, where you engage us
Occupation lists
Skilled visas are tied to occupation. Your occupation must sit on the list that applies to the visa you are aiming at, and the list decides which skills assessing authority applies.
Check your occupation in the Occupation Library( The pathways )
Three roads into skilled migration
Skilled migration has three main routes: on your own points, with a state or territory nomination, or with an employer sponsor. Which one suits you depends on your occupation, your points, and whether a state, territory or employer has reason to back you.
Your occupation, your skills and your points
- 01On your own points
Skilled Independent (189)
No nomination and no sponsor. You lodge an Expression of Interest in SkillSelect and the Department invites the highest-ranked candidates in each occupation in periodic rounds. The visa is permanent on grant. It is competitive, and how competitive depends on the occupation.
Our part
We work out your points as the Department would before anything is lodged, prepare the skills assessment and the Expression of Interest, and lodge the application inside the invitation window.
- Permanent
- Points-tested
- Invitation rounds
- 02Backed by a state or territory
Skilled Nominated (190) and Skilled Work Regional (491)
A state or territory nominates you under its own criteria, which change through the year, and the nomination adds points. Subclass 190 is permanent. Subclass 491 is a five-year regional visa with a pathway to permanent residence through subclass 191.
Our part
We match your profile to the states and territories nominating your occupation, prepare the nomination application, and run the nomination and the visa in the right order.
- 190 permanent
- 491 provisional
- State criteria
- 03Backed by an employer
Employer sponsored (482, 186, 494)
An approved employer nominates you for a genuine position. Skills in Demand (482) is temporary, with a pathway to permanent residence; the Employer Nomination Scheme (186) is permanent; subclass 494 is the regional route. Occupation lists, salary thresholds and the employer’s obligations all apply.
Our part
We advise you and the employer together: the occupation, the stream, the salary, and the sequence from sponsorship to nomination to visa.
- 482 temporary
- 186 permanent
- 494 regional
The points
The score that is invited depends on the occupation and the round.
Sixty-five points lets you lodge an Expression of Interest. Whether you are invited depends on your occupation, the visa, and the scores of the other people in the round, and that changes from round to round. Before any road is chosen, we work out your score as the Department would, where it sits for your occupation, and what would change it.
How the points test works( The visas in this area )
Skilled migration: the subclasses
The subclasses this practice area works within, grouped the way the Department of Home Affairs lists them. The colour says what kind of visa it is.
Skilled
- Permanent
- Provisional
( The pathway )
The skilled pathway, end to end
From skills assessment to visa: how points-tested migration typically flows.
- Stage 1 of 5
Skills assessment
Your occupation authority verifies your qualifications and experience.
- Stage 2 of 5
Expression of Interest
Your claims go into SkillSelect, ranked by points.
- Stage 3 of 5
Invitation
The Department issues invitations in competitive rounds, by occupation and score.
- Stage 4 of 5
Visa application
You apply with full evidence inside the invitation window.
- Stage 5 of 5
Decision
A successful grant may be permanent or provisional by subclass.
( Talk it through )
Speak with us about skilled migration
Telephone or email the office with a question, or book an initial consultation for advice on your circumstances.
Governing law
Advice on skilled migration rests on the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, and on the legislative instruments made under them. What applies in your case depends on the visa, your circumstances and the law in force when you apply and when the decision is made.
- Migration Act 1958 (Cth)
- Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth)
( Related services )
Initial consultation
Discuss your immigration matter
Book an initial consultation, or send an enquiry that sets out your circumstances.