Skilled Migration Process

Skills Assessment ACS

Skills Assessment ACS

Australian Computer Society (ACS) is an association for ICT professionals and a peak body representing Australia’s ICT sector. ACS was formed by merger of several state based societies and in 2016 it celebrated its 50th birthday. ACS is responsible for just over 20 occupations or about 5% of all the occupations on the combined current list of eligible occupations.
Australia Skills Assessment ACS

Process

Both educational qualifications and work experience need to be at the professional ICT level and closely related to the nominated occupation for successful skills assessment for migration purposes.

Qualifications

Qualifications are firstly assessed to determine the comparability with AQF standards.

After comparability is established, the course units are assessed further to ascertain the ICT content of qualification and to assign qualifications to one of three groups:

  • ICT Major:
    • Diploma, Advanced Diploma or Associate degree with at least 50% of ICT content
    • Bachelor degree with 33% ICT content for a 3 year course, 25% ICT content for a 4 year course or 20% ICT content for a 5 year course
    • Post graduate qualifications (Graduate Diploma or Masters) with separate complex criteria not covered in this post
  • ICT Minor:
    • Bachelor or higher qualification where ICT content is at least two thirds of the ICT Major requirements
  • Insufficient ICT Content:
    • All qualifications with ICT content less than the ICT Minor requirement
  • The third step involves calculating the percentage of ICT units that are considered closely related to the nominated occupation. In all qualifications, 65% of the ICT content must be closely related to the nominated occupation in order to meet the suitability criteria.

    The outcomes of the above three steps will determine the amount of relevant work experience that is required to meet the suitability criteria for qualifications:

    ICT Major
    Bachelor Degree or higher
    Closely related to the nominated occupation
    2 years ICT work experience completed in the last ten years or 4 years ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history
    Bachelor Degree or higher
    Not closely related to the nominated occupation
    4 years relevant ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history
    ICT Minor
    Bachelor Degree or higher
    Closely related to the nominated occupation
    5 years ICT work experience completed in the last ten years or 6 years ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history
    Bachelor Degree or higher
    Not closely related to the nominated occupation
    6 years relevant ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history
    ICT Major
    Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Associate Degree
    Closely related to the nominated occupation
    5 years ICT work experience completed in the last ten years or 6 years ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history
    Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Associate Degree
    Not closely related to the nominated occupation
    6 years relevant ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history

    Certifications

    At this stage, only the following vendor certifications are accepted by the ACS as comparable to graduate outcomes of an ICT Major at the AQF Diploma level:

    • Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert
    • Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer
    • Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) – All tracks
    • Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP)
    • Cisco Certified Voice Professional (CCVP)
    • Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP)
    • Cisco Certified Internetwork Professional (CCIP)
    • Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) – All tracks
    • Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE)
    • Cisco Certified Architect
    Certifications must be valid at the time of submission.

    RPL

    Applicants who either have no tertiary qualifications or have qualifications with insufficient ICT content, may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process if they have sufficient ICT work experience.

    The presence or absence of tertiary qualifications will determine the amount of relevant work experience that is required to meet the suitability criteria:

    Insufficient ICT Content
    Non-ICT Diploma or higher
    N/A
    6 years relevant ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history
    No Qualifications
    N/A
    8 years relevant ICT work experience completed anytime in past work history

    Skilled Date

    The Skill Level Requirement Met Date will be stated on ACS result letter. All relevant work experience completed after the Skill Level Requirement Met Date is eligible for points under the skilled migration points test.
    The work experience required to meet the suitability criteria is NOT included as Skilled Employment and is not eligible for points under the skilled migration points test.

    For applicants who obtained ICT Major qualification in Australia, the length of work experience required to meet the suitability criteria is less then in other cases:

    ICT Major
    Australian Bachelor Degree or higher
    Closely related to the nominated occupation
    1 year ICT work experience gained after the award of the Australian qualification or completion of an ACS Professional Year Program

    Employment

    Work experience must be at a professional ICT level and relevant to the nominated occupation in order to be assessed as suitable.
    At least 65% of the responsibilities described in the employment reference must be relevant to the nominated occupation for the work experience to be considered closely related to the nominated occupation. Only one work experience can be considered for any given period of time and any work experiences that are less than 20 hours per week will not be considered.

    Timeframes

    Generally, it takes between 8 to 10 weeks to receive ACS assessment result letter. Outcomes of the assessment can be reviewed or appealed within 60 days from the date on the result Letter. Review or appeal process takes between 3 to 4 weeks, however, additional documentation can only be submitted with review application.

    Follow the Yellow Pattern Road for a free visa assessment


    Follow the Yellow Pattern Road for a free visa assessment