Points Calculator for Australian Immigration If you are looking to move to Australia and work here on either a temporary or permanent residency basis under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program, you will need to qualify for your visa. To do that you will need enough “points”. Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) operate a points system and if you want to know if you have a chance of qualifying for one of these types of visa, a good place to start is to see how many points you might get.
There are lots of points calculators to be found on the Internet and some are quite whizzy. You know, answer some questions selecting your answers from the drop-down menus and all of a sudden, your points total appears at the foot of the page.
No such technology here, but not many of those websites will tell you this…
Australia opens its doors mainly to young, intelligent, skilled and qualified people, people with good English language skills, people that can offer something to Australia. It is a very selective process.
For older people, people without skills, people who do not speak good English, the answer is almost certainly “No”.
That is a very cold and hard view of how the system works, but it is probably a true reflection of how it is for the vast majority of people looking to move to Australia. That said, there are over 130 different types of visas and there will be, as there always have been in the past, exceptions to the above rules.
The list of exceptions is probably quite long, from refugees to the extremely rich. But for the vast majority, it’s all about points.
Points Calculator So, grab yourself a low tech pen and an even lower tech scrap of paper and work out how many points you might get right now.
Age
First, you get points for your age:
The basic requirement is that you are under the age of 50, but if you are…
Command of the English language:
If you hold a passport from the UK, the USA, Ireland, Canada or New Zealand, you automatically qualify as competent, but that still gives you zero points. If you need more points, you will need to sit the test. Even though competent doesn’t score you any points, you still need to prove your competency to continue.
Please be aware that there are two types of IELTS test; the General test and the Academic test. The Academic test, which is the more difficult of the two, is accepted by everyone; the General test is only accepted by some. The test that you take largely depends on what is required by the kind of work that you do and/or the requirement of potential sponsors.
Your skill
To apply for a Skilled Independent visa you do not require sponsorship, but your occupation must be on the Skilled Occupations List (SOL).
To apply for a Skilled Regional Sponsored visa your skill also has to be on the SOL mentioned above and you need to be sponsored by an Australian relative who lives in that area, or your job needs to be on the State/Territory Nominated Skilled list and you need to be nominated by the Australian state or territory government. In either of these two situations you will score an extra 10 points.
You may also want to keep an eye on this page which contains information about Recent Changes.
To apply for a Skilled Sponsored visa you will need nomination by a state or territory government and your skill must be on the above-mentioned State/Territory Nominated Skilled list. This will score you an additional 5 points.
Work experience in your nominated skill:
You can get extra points depending upon how much time you have spent being employed in your nominated skill. How many years experience do you have out of the last 10 years in your nominated occupation? This can sometimes include work in a closely related occupation.
If your work experience is from overseas…
There are several ways to earn extra points:
The current pass mark is 60 points.
There are lots of points calculators to be found on the Internet and some are quite whizzy. You know, answer some questions selecting your answers from the drop-down menus and all of a sudden, your points total appears at the foot of the page.
No such technology here, but not many of those websites will tell you this…
Australia opens its doors mainly to young, intelligent, skilled and qualified people, people with good English language skills, people that can offer something to Australia. It is a very selective process.
For older people, people without skills, people who do not speak good English, the answer is almost certainly “No”.
That is a very cold and hard view of how the system works, but it is probably a true reflection of how it is for the vast majority of people looking to move to Australia. That said, there are over 130 different types of visas and there will be, as there always have been in the past, exceptions to the above rules.
The list of exceptions is probably quite long, from refugees to the extremely rich. But for the vast majority, it’s all about points.
Points Calculator So, grab yourself a low tech pen and an even lower tech scrap of paper and work out how many points you might get right now.
Age
First, you get points for your age:
The basic requirement is that you are under the age of 50, but if you are…
- Age 45 – 49 you can apply but you get 0 points for your age.
- Age 40 – 44 = 15 points
- Age 33 – 39 = 25 points
- Age 25 – 32 = 30 points
- Age 18 – 24 = 25 points
Command of the English language:
- Superior = 20 points
- Proficient = 10 points
- Competent = 0 points
If you hold a passport from the UK, the USA, Ireland, Canada or New Zealand, you automatically qualify as competent, but that still gives you zero points. If you need more points, you will need to sit the test. Even though competent doesn’t score you any points, you still need to prove your competency to continue.
Please be aware that there are two types of IELTS test; the General test and the Academic test. The Academic test, which is the more difficult of the two, is accepted by everyone; the General test is only accepted by some. The test that you take largely depends on what is required by the kind of work that you do and/or the requirement of potential sponsors.
Your skill
To apply for a Skilled Independent visa you do not require sponsorship, but your occupation must be on the Skilled Occupations List (SOL).
To apply for a Skilled Regional Sponsored visa your skill also has to be on the SOL mentioned above and you need to be sponsored by an Australian relative who lives in that area, or your job needs to be on the State/Territory Nominated Skilled list and you need to be nominated by the Australian state or territory government. In either of these two situations you will score an extra 10 points.
You may also want to keep an eye on this page which contains information about Recent Changes.
To apply for a Skilled Sponsored visa you will need nomination by a state or territory government and your skill must be on the above-mentioned State/Territory Nominated Skilled list. This will score you an additional 5 points.
Work experience in your nominated skill:
You can get extra points depending upon how much time you have spent being employed in your nominated skill. How many years experience do you have out of the last 10 years in your nominated occupation? This can sometimes include work in a closely related occupation.
If your work experience is from overseas…
- Three years = 5 points
- Five years = 10 points
- Eight years = 15 points
- One year = 5 points
- Three years = 10 points
- Five years = 15 points
- Eight years = 20 points
- Doctorate degree = 20 points
- Bachelor degree = 15 points
- Australian Diploma or trade qualification = 10 points
- A successful authorised skills assessment in a recognised qualification = 10 points
There are several ways to earn extra points:
- Studying a course in Australia that meets certain requirements = 5 points
- By meeting the Australian Study Requirement (above) while studying in a regional area = 5 points
- NAATI accreditation = 5 points
- If your partner meets the basic requirements for a skilled migration visa = 5 points
- By completing a Professional Year course specified by the Minister = 5 points
The current pass mark is 60 points.