Introduction To Skilled Visa Points System

If you are looking to migrate to Australia as a skilled migrant, you must be well-versed with the skilled visa points system. All three types of skilled visa, i.e. Skilled Independent (189), Skilled Nominated (190) and Skilled Regional (489) require that you score pass mark to be invited to lodge the visa application.

What is Points system?

Australia attracts a lot of talent from all over the world due to various factors. Hence, DIBP has laid out certain parameters for people to qualify their entry to Australia. Consider skilled visa points system as a funnel which allows people with desired skills to pass through to the next stage in the immigration process.
There are broadly six pillars of the Points system:

Age

Australia favours young talent when it comes to visa. If you are in your late forties and thinking of immigrating to Australia, you are going to lose almost all points in this regard. Of course, there are other avenues to gain points to satisfy minimum score but this is one of the major constituents of the total points. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to do anything to gain points here.

Age (in years)	Points
18 – 24	25
25 – 32	30
33 – 39	25
40 – 44	15
45 and above	0

Verdict: The Younger, the Better!

English Proficiency

Australia is primarily an English-speaking country (though some of it may not sound familiar to you), which is the reason for this criteria. If you can’t communicate well in English, life won’t be easy for you in Australia. As a skilled migrant, if you can’t converse in English, you can face some struggle in your job search. Your English proficiency is determined by your score in an either one of four international English tests which are IELTS, PTE-A, TOEFL iBT, OET, and CAE. Depending on which exam you choose, you may have to score different grades to gain points towards English proficiency. Here’s how many points you get depending on your English ability:

English Proficiency	Points
Competent	0
Proficient	10
Superior	20

Here is how the score in various exams translates to either Competent, Proficient or Superior level in skilled visa requirement:

English Ability	IELTS	PTE-A	TOEFL iBT	OET	CAE
Competent	6 in each module	50 in each module	Listening – 12, Reading – 13, Writing – 21, Speaking – 18	B in each module	169 in each module
Proficient	7 in each module	65 in each module	Listening – 24, Reading – 24, Writing – 27, Speaking – 23	B in each module	185 in each module
Superior	8 or above in each module	79 or above in each module	Listening – 28, Reading – 29, Writing – 30, Speaking – 26	A in each module	200 in each module

Verdict: The Higher, the Better!

Qualification

If you hold the relevant qualification which is recognized by an assessing authority, you can score some points in this area. Two important keywords here are – relevant and recognized. The qualification that you submit for assessment must be relevant to the skilled occupation you are applying under. As an example, if you are applying as a software engineer (261313) and shown MBA in Finance as your highest qualification, it may not help you much towards gaining points for the visa. Secondly, the institute from which you got your degree/diploma must be of a recognized standard. What this means is that your course contents must be at par with that of an equivalent Australian course. To prove this, you will have to submit both, your scorecard as well as the list of course subjects to the assessing authority.

Qualification	Points
Doctorate	20
Bachelor degree	15
Diploma/Trade qualification	10
Any other recognized qualification	10

Verdict: The Higher, the Better!

Experience

You can claim certain points for your skilled employment, provided you submit supporting proofs. Important thing is that your job must be closely related to the skilled occupation you are applying under. You can claim points for either employment in Australia or outside of Australia or both, but the maximum you can claim is 20 points. Another important thing to note is that assessing authority usually reduces your skilled employment by a certain number of years (usually two years) as a time required for you to become a skilled professional. This reduction can be more if your qualification and field of employment don’t closely match.

In Australia

Employment (out of past 10 years)	Points
Outside Australia
Less than 3	0
3 – 4	5
5 – 7	10
8 and above	15
In Australia
Less than 1	0
1 – 2	5
3 – 4	10
5 – 7	15
8 and above	20

Verdict: The More, The Better (especially if you had Australian employment)

Australian Study

If you have studied in Australia and awarded any qualification by Australian institute, you can claim additional 5 points.

Verdict: If yes, Great!

Other factors

If despite all of the above, you still can’t satisfy minimum score, don’t be disheartened. There may still be hope for you especially if you are falling short by 5 or 10 points only. Two common avenues are the state nomination and partner skills assessment. If you can get state nomination, you can claim additional 5 points (10 points for regional visa). Please note that state nomination may have its own criteria with respect to English competency, qualifications and experience. Similarly, if you can get your partner skills assessed, you can claim additional 5 points though this is much longer router since your partner has to undergo English test as well as skills assessment.

Verdict: Look for these only if you fall short by a small margin

What is the minimum score?

Currently, you need to score a minimum of 60 points if you are to be invited to apply for the skilled visa. Please note that this is bare minimum score and does not guarantee an invitation. In general, if you score higher, your chances of getting invited are higher (and earlier), though it depends on the nominated occupation too. You can use any of the online Points calculators to see if you satisfy minimum score, such as the one here.

UPDATE: According to the SBS article, from 1st July 2018 all the general skilled migration visas i.e Skilled Independent (189), Skilled Nominated or State Sponsored (190) and Skilled Regional visa (489) will now require a minimum of 65 points instead of 60 points.

Another thing to remember is that your points can change after you lodge the EOI. This means that certain factors such as age or work experience can change the points based on when you receive an invite. In case of age, your points might be reduced as you no longer fall in the bracket when you filed EOI.