Home/Australia/Skills Assessment Acs Vetassess Tra Guide

Migration Skills Assessment

Australia Migration Skills Assessment 2026 | ACS, VETASSESS, TRA & Engineers Australia

Comprehensive Statutory Overview

A migration skills assessment is an assessment of an applicant's qualifications and, where required, skilled employment against the requirements of a nominated occupation. The relevant assessing authority depends on the occupation and visa subclass. For points-tested skilled visas such as subclasses 189, 190 and 491, applicants generally need a suitable skills assessment in their nominated occupation before submitting the SkillSelect Expression of Interest. Different professional and trade occupations are assessed by different bodies, including the Australian Computer Society (ACS), VETASSESS, Engineers Australia, Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) and occupation-specific assessing authorities. The assessing authority determines whether the applicant's qualifications, employment and other evidence meet its own assessment criteria; Home Affairs then applies the separate visa eligibility rules.

What Skills Assessment Means

Definition:A skills assessment determines whether an applicant's qualifications, skills and/or employment are suitable for a nominated occupation under the criteria of the relevant assessing authority.

Why Needed:For SkillSelect visas 189, 190 and 491, Home Affairs requires applicants to obtain a skills assessment in the nominated occupation before submitting the EOI. The EOI records the assessment date, assessing authority and reference or receipt number.

Not Visa Approval:A positive skills assessment does not grant a visa and does not guarantee an invitation. Home Affairs separately assesses visa eligibility, points, English, health, character, nomination and other requirements.

Occupation First:The applicant should identify the occupation and visa pathway before choosing an assessing authority. Home Affairs publishes the applicable skilled occupation lists and legislative instruments specifying occupation codes and assessing authorities.

Anzsco Versions:Home Affairs currently uses ANZSCO 2022 for certain visa programs including the Skills in Demand subclass 482 and Employer Nomination Scheme subclass 186 occupations covered by the CSOL, while ANZSCO 2013 remains applicable to other skilled visa programs such as the relevant 189, 190 and 491 lists.

Assessing Authorities

Australian Computer Society (ACS)

Occupations: ICT, data science and cyber-security occupations covered by the ACS migration assessment framework.

Assessment Focus: ACS assesses the applicant's qualifications and/or professional ICT experience against the nominated ANZSCO occupation and the chosen assessment pathway.

PRocessing: ACS currently states that applications that do not require additional documentation or information generally take about 4–6 weeks.

Pathways: The assessment pathway depends on the applicant's education, work experience and circumstances. ACS has multiple pathways and applicants should select the one applicable to their evidence.

VETASSESS

Occupations: A large range of professional and other non-trade occupations, with occupation-specific qualification and employment criteria.

Assessment Focus: VETASSESS evaluates both qualification relevance/level and employment relevance where the occupation requires both.

PRocessing: Current VETASSESS guidance lists approximately 7 weeks for professional-occupation migration skills assessments, although complex or incomplete cases can take longer.

PRiority: Priority Processing is available for eligible professional/general applications and is stated at 10 business days after an application is confirmed eligible for priority processing.

2026 Fee Note: VETASSESS professional-assessment fees changed from 9 September 2026. Fees differ depending on occupation, applicant tax status and service selected.

Engineers Australia

Occupations: Engineering occupations assessed through the applicable Engineers Australia migration skills-assessment pathway.

Assessment Focus: The assessment considers the applicant's engineering qualification and the applicable pathway, with relevant skilled employment assessed where that service is included or required.

PRocessing: Engineers Australia currently states that standard migration skills assessment applications generally take about 15 weeks to be assigned to an assessor, and final processing depends on document quality and whether further information is required.

Trades Recognition Australia (TRA)

Occupations: Trade occupations covered by TRA's particular migration assessment programs.

Assessment Focus: TRA assesses trade qualifications, employment and competency evidence under the requirements of the specific TRA program.

PRograms: TRA operates multiple programs, including the Migration Skills Assessment Program, Offshore Skills Assessment Program, Provisional Skills Assessment and other occupation/program-specific pathways.

Current PRocessing: TRA currently states that Migration Skills Assessment Program applications are typically processed within 120 days after submission where all required documentary evidence has been provided.

Other Authorities

Description: Not every occupation is assessed by ACS, VETASSESS, Engineers Australia or TRA. Depending on the nominated occupation, Home Affairs may specify another assessing authority such as a health, legal, medical, teaching, nursing, social-work or other profession-specific body.

Rule: Always check the current Home Affairs occupation-and-assessing-authority instrument for the exact occupation and visa subclass.

Eligibility And Evidence

Occupation Match

Requirement: The nominated occupation must correspond to the occupation listed for the intended visa pathway, and the qualifications and/or employment claimed must satisfy the applicable assessing authority's criteria.

Duties: Employment evidence must reflect the applicant's genuine duties. Simply copying an ANZSCO occupation description into an employer letter does not establish that the applicant actually performed those duties.

Skill Level: Assessing authorities use their own occupation-specific rules to determine whether qualifications and employment meet the required skill level.

Qualification Evidence:

Degree, diploma, trade qualification or other credential relevant to the nominated occupation where required.
Academic transcripts or subject records where required.
Evidence of accreditation, registration or professional recognition where the occupation requires it.
Translations or verification documents where the assessing authority specifies them.

Employment Evidence:

Employer reference or statement of service.
Exact employment start and end dates.
Position title and employment status.
Working hours or full-time/part-time information.
Detailed genuine duties performed.
Salary or remuneration evidence where required.
Independent supporting evidence such as payslips, tax records, bank evidence, Social Security records or equivalent documentation where the authority requires verification.

Country Specific Requirements:Some authorities have additional documentary verification, English-language, licensing, identity, qualification-recognition or country-specific evidence rules. These must be checked against the authority's current applicant guidelines.

Fees And PRocessing

Important Rule:There is no single Australia-wide skills-assessment fee or processing time. Fees and processing periods are set by individual assessing authorities and often vary by assessment type, occupation, applicant location, tax status and optional priority services.

ACS

General Skills: ACS's current published fee schedule should be checked at the time of application. The General Skills pathway fee listed in its current information is subject to the applicable GST treatment and fee schedule.

PRocessing: Approximately 4–6 weeks for applications that do not require additional information.

VETASSESS

PRofessional Assessment: From 9 September 2026, VETASSESS lists AUD $1,260.60 for applicants applying from within Australia where GST applies and AUD $1,146 for applicants who are not Australian tax residents, for the Full Skills Assessment for professional occupations.

PRiority: The 2026 VETASSESS Priority Processing fee is AUD $949.30 including GST for Australian tax residents and AUD $863 excluding GST for applicants who are not Australian tax residents, in addition to the assessment fee.

PRocessing: Professional-occupation migration assessments are currently listed at approximately 7 weeks, with a priority service targeting 10 business days after eligibility confirmation.

TRA

Migration Skills Assessment PRogram: TRA currently lists AUD $795 for the Migration Skills Assessment Program, with additional fees possible for certain subsequent assessment stages.

PRocessing: TRA currently states approximately 120 days for this program after required evidence is provided.

Engineers Australia

Fee Rule: Engineers Australia's 2026–27 fees vary by assessment pathway, including international-accredited qualification assessments and combinations involving relevant skilled employment or other assessment services.

PRocessing: Standard migration skills assessment applications are currently taking around 15 weeks to be assigned to an assessor.

Validity And Skill Select

Validity:A positive skills assessment does not have one universal national validity period. The assessing authority may state an expiry date or validity period, and some visa pathways impose additional requirements concerning when the assessment must have been obtained.

Expiry Before Invitation:Applicants should monitor their assessment outcome date and expiry information because a skills assessment that is no longer valid or no longer satisfies the relevant visa requirement can affect a later visa application or points claim.

Skill Select:Home Affairs requires a suitable skills assessment before an EOI for subclasses 189, 190 and 491 can be submitted. The EOI includes the assessment date, assessing authority and reference/receipt number.

Invitation:Meeting the minimum points threshold does not guarantee an invitation. Home Affairs states that the points-tested skilled visa process is invitation-based.

Work Experience Points:A positive skills assessment and recognized skilled employment are related but separate concepts. The assessing authority can determine whether employment is suitable for the nominated occupation, while Home Affairs applies its own rules when calculating points and assessing visa eligibility.

Important Rules

PRe Qualification Experience:There is no universal rule that all assessing authorities automatically disregard every period of employment before completion of a qualification. ACS, VETASSESS, TRA and profession-specific authorities apply different occupation and pathway rules. Whether pre-qualification experience is counted or considered skilled must therefore be checked with the nominated authority.

Concurrent Evidence:Where employment is claimed, provide independent evidence consistent with the employment statement and the authority's requirements. One employer reference alone may not be sufficient if the authority requires corroborating evidence.

Occupation Change:Changing the nominated occupation can require a new or different assessment. A positive result in one occupation should not automatically be assumed to cover another ANZSCO occupation.

Visa List Difference:An occupation can appear under one visa's occupation framework but have different treatment under another visa. Always check the current legislative instrument for the specific subclass.

Employer Sponsored Difference:Employer-sponsored visas have their own skills-assessment rules and exemptions. A blanket statement that every employer-sponsored applicant must first obtain the same migration skills assessment used for a 189 EOI is incorrect.

E O I Difference:SkillSelect EOI submission and visa application are separate steps. The EOI does not itself constitute a visa application and no supporting documents are uploaded at the EOI stage in the normal process.

Step-by-Step Application Roadmap

Choose the Visa Pathway

Determine whether the intended pathway is subclass 189, 190, 491, 186, 482, 494 or another visa. Different visa subclasses can use different occupation lists, ANZSCO versions and assessing-authority rules.

Select the Correct Occupation

Use the current Home Affairs skilled occupation list and applicable legislative instrument to identify the occupation code and designated assessing authority.

Check the Authority's Criteria

Read the current ACS, VETASSESS, Engineers Australia, TRA or other authority guidelines for the exact occupation and assessment pathway before preparing documents.

Prepare Evidence

Collect identity, qualification, transcript, employment and any registration, professional-license or verification documents required by the relevant authority.

Submit and Pay

Lodge the assessment through the assessing authority's official portal and pay the applicable current fee. Fees differ substantially among authorities and assessment pathways.

Receive the Outcome

Review the assessment outcome carefully, including the occupation assessed, the date of the outcome, any employment period recognized and any expiry or validity information stated by the assessing authority.

Use the Outcome for Migration

For SkillSelect visas, enter the skills-assessment details into the EOI. A positive assessment does not itself create an invitation or visa grant.

Frequently Asked Questions (Home Affairs FAQs)

Yes. Home Affairs states that applicants need a skills assessment in the occupation they are nominating before submitting a SkillSelect Expression of Interest for subclasses 189, 190 and 491. The EOI records the assessment date, assessing authority and reference or receipt number.

It depends on the nominated occupation and visa subclass. Home Affairs' skilled occupation framework identifies the applicable assessing authority. ACS covers relevant ICT occupations, VETASSESS covers many professional occupations, Engineers Australia assesses engineering occupations and TRA assesses specified trade occupations, while other occupations can have different designated authorities.

Processing varies by authority and application type. ACS currently allows about 4–6 weeks for applications that do not require additional information. VETASSESS currently lists about 7 weeks for professional migration assessments, while TRA's Migration Skills Assessment Program is currently tracking at about 120 days. Engineers Australia states that standard applications generally take about 15 weeks to be assigned to an assessor.

There is no single national fee. The amount depends on the assessing authority and assessment pathway. For example, VETASSESS professional Full Skills Assessment fees changed from 9 September 2026, TRA lists AUD $795 for its Migration Skills Assessment Program, and Engineers Australia has different fees by engineering assessment pathway.

It depends on the assessing authority, occupation and assessment pathway. There is no universal Australian rule that every authority automatically excludes all pre-qualification work. ACS, VETASSESS, TRA and other authorities apply their own criteria, so the relevant occupation guidelines must be checked before claiming the experience.

There is no single validity period that applies to every Australian skills assessment. The assessing authority's outcome letter and current migration rules determine the relevant validity or age requirement. Applicants should verify the assessment remains acceptable when they submit the EOI or later visa application.

Official Statutory References

Cross-referenced directly with official Australian government sources:

Australian Department of Home Affairs - Skilled Occupation List

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au

Australian Department of Home Affairs - Legislative instruments specifying occupations and assessing authorities

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au

Australian Department of Home Affairs - SkillSelect Expression of Interest

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au

STATUTORY BENCHMARK METRICS

189 / 190 / 491

A suitable skills assessment is required before submitting the SkillSelect EOI

Assessing Authority