Find the Right Skills Assessing Authority for Your Occupation

Before you think about cost or timing, the most important thing is to identify the correct authority to assess your occupation. Getting this step right avoids most of the trouble that can follow.

Start from your ANZSCO occupation code

Everything is anchored to the ANZSCO occupation code you intend to nominate. The same real-world job can match several different occupation codes, and each code can lead to a different assessing authority. Choose the code that most closely matches the actual duties you have performed — not the one that sounds more impressive or seems easier.

From occupation code to authority

Each occupation code is assigned to a specific assessing authority. Some groups are easy to remember: information technology occupations usually go to ACS, engineering occupations to Engineers Australia, many trades to TRA, and nursing and midwifery to ANMAC. Many of the remaining professional and general occupations are handled by VETASSESS.

Why choosing wrong is the most costly mistake

If you lodge with the wrong authority, or assess under one occupation code and then lodge the visa under a different code, you may have to start over — losing both the fee and several weeks of waiting. For this reason, choosing the occupation code and authority deserves to be done carefully, ideally with a specialist reviewing it.

When the occupation code is unclear

Many cases genuinely sit on the boundary between two occupation codes, or involve experience spread across several roles. This is exactly when it is worth asking a registered migration agent (MARA): choosing the occupation code is a decision that affects your whole pathway, and it should not be guessed.