Migration skills assessment

Learn how to get a skills assessment for migration.

If you want to migrate to Australia as an engineer, you need to have your skills formally assessed. Engineers Australia is authorised by the Australian government’s Department of Home Affairs to assess your qualifications, skills and experience to work in Australia.

You’ll need a migration skills assessment outcome letter from us before you can apply for a visa to come to Australia.

Applying for a skills assessment is a six-step process

Your qualification is the main factor in choosing the right assessment pathway. It’s determined by:

  • the country you received it
  • the type of qualification
  • whether it’s accredited.

Accredited qualifications are engineering qualifications which are recognised through agreements known as Accords. There are three relevant Accords – the Washington Accord, Sydney Accord and Dublin Accord. We’ll recognise your qualifications under these Accords if:

  • It was completed after, or in the same year in which the country was accepted as a full signatory under the Accord.
  • Your program falls within the time period specified as accredited on the signatory’s website for your country. This may be referred to as a program’s intake, commencement or graduate year.
  • Your program is listed as fully accredited, provisional accreditation isn’t sufficient.

Use the qualification checker on the International Engineering Alliance website to check if your qualifications are accredited.

If you completed your qualification in Australia and it’s listed in Engineers Australia’s list of accredited programs, then you can apply directly through the Australian qualifications pathway.

Engineers Australia recognises four occupational categories for skilled migration:

  • Professional engineer
  • Engineering technologist
  • Engineering associate
  • Engineering manager.

Based on your qualifications and skills, you will work in Australia in one of these occupational categories.

If your qualification is accredited, you can choose between four assessment pathways or types:

  • Australian qualification
  • Washington Accord
  • Dublin Accord
  • Sydney Accord

If you have a French qualification, you can apply under the Washington Accord.

You can apply via the Australian qualification pathway if:

If you have an Australian provisionally-accredited qualification, apply through the competency demonstration report (CDR) assessment pathway.

If your qualification isn’t accredited, apply through the CDR pathway. In this case, your knowledge, skills and competency are assessed against internationally benchmarked factors.

In the online application for the CDR pathway you’ll be asked to choose your engineering occupation (or qualification) from a dropdown list. Currently there are 31 engineering occupations listed which are determined by the Australian government.

If your assessment is successful, both your occupational category and your engineering occupation will be reflected on the outcome letter.

Use the quiz tool to help you choose the right assessment pathway.

  • Current Step 1
  • Step 3
  • Complete

My qualification is obtained the same year or after the country became a Signatory to the relevant Accord

You can start your online application and save and exit at any point and then return to complete it.

Read through the requirements in the online application for the assessment type you’ve chosen. Then gather all the documents you’ll need and read the detailed information on how to Prepare your migration skills assessment application. This downloadable publication explains the:

  • full list of documents you need to provide for the assessment pathway you’ve chosen
  • English language requirements
  • ethical standards you must follow in your application.

Be sure to read this material thoroughly to ensure your assessment has the best outcome.

To apply online, you’ll need to create an account in the portal. You’ll receive your account ID via email once you’ve created your account.

When you receive your account ID, login and select migration skills assessment from the menu. Select your assessment pathway, upload all the required documents and submit your application. The online application is easy to follow, but if you need help refer to the online application guide.

You’ll receive an email confirmation when your application has been successfully submitted.

Assessment processing times

Migration skills assessment applications submitted for standard assessment generally take 15 weeks to be assigned to an assessor. This doesn’t mean you’ll receive an outcome in this timeframe. The time it takes to process your assessment depends on the quality of the documents you provide and whether we need to ask you for more information.

Login to your account on the portal to check the status of your application. Online status updates appear throughout the assessment process until finalised. You can also email us to request an update on the status of your application.

Assessment fees

The fee for apply for migration skills assessment is detailed on the assessment fees and additional services page.

You’ll receive an email from us to let you know if your application has been successful or not. If your application is successful, you’ll also receive a migration skills assessment outcome letter which you can use for migration purposes. You can verify your outcome letter by logging into the EA portal.

Your assessment letter is valid for an indefinite period with Engineers Australia. You’ll need to check the Department of Home Affairs website for how long your letter is valid for migration visa applications.

Note that Engineers Australia is not allowed to give you migration advice. We also do not award the points for migration as part of our process. Contact the Department of Home Affairs for all questions about migration or visa-related issues. We can’t help you with these matters.

You can request a review of your assessment outcome within three months of receiving it. Reviews are conducted by an independent assessor and we’ll advise you of the outcome via email. A review may take up to eight weeks.

If you’re not satisfied with the results of the review you can then lodge an appeal. You must lodge an appeal within six months of receiving your original outcome. You can only lodge an appeal after you’ve received an unsuccessful review.

Your appeal will be conducted by an independent review panel of professional engineers. We’ll advise you of the outcome via email.

Note that the outcome of an appeal is final.

Fees for reviews and appeals are listed on the assessment fees and additional services page.

Contact us if you have any questions about the migration skills assessment process.