457 visa skills assessments and the Victoria University Consortium

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Created on Tuesday, 27 August 2013 15:45

Written by Editorial staff

As part of your application for a 457 (temporary work - skilled) visa, you will need to demonstrate that you possess the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the role you are being sponsored for.

According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), if you are planning to enter Australia in order to work in some form of trade, you may have to undertake a skills assessment.

This also applies to anyone who has been nominated for the occupation of "Project and Program Administrator or Specialist Manager (not elsewhere classified)".

It should be noted that even if you have already undertaken a VETASSESS skills assessment and have been granted a 485 (skilled general - temporary) visa, you may still need to take another one as part of the 457 visa application process.

If you are currently looking for somewhere to undertake your skills assessment, you may be interested to know that Victoria University and Western Australia's Department of Training and Workforce Development have just banded together to create the Victoria University Consortium.

It provides skills assessment services in both Melbourne (the location of Victoria University) and Perth (the location of Skills Assessments International).

This Consortium has been approved by Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) and can be located on the TRA website with the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) finder.

The Victoria University Consortium is allowed to conduct skills assessments for those looking to apply for 457 visas or enter Australia through any number of "permanent migration" programs.

These include the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program, the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS).

Only people from nominated countries can have their skills assessed by the Victoria University Consortium. These are: Brazil, China, Fiji, India, Iran, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

The Consortium is able to provide skills assessments for people from a range of both licensed and non-licensed trades, including electricians, plumbers, carpenters and fitters.

For the full list of trades, visit the Migration Alliance website. We are now ranked 325 out of all the websites in Australia - far higher than any other peak professional association.

This is why the Victoria University Consortium and other businesses in the migration sector have chosen to advertise on our website.

If you have any questions or concerns about the different migration visas available for skilled workers or skills assessments, you may want to consider contacting one of Australia's registered migration agents.