ACS Australia Migration Skill Assessment

Australian Computer Society or ACS is the authorized skills assessment authority that evaluates the skills and qualifications of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) professionals interested in migrating to Australia.

At Visa2Immigration, we help you determine that you meet all the eligibility requirements when you apply for the ACS Skills Assessment Process. We also offer any specific information you need regarding any visa or migration requirement or process.

ACS is the Assessing Authority for the following Skilled Occupations in the ICT sector:

ANZSCO Code	Occupation
135111	Chief Information Officer
135112	ICT Project Manager
135199	ICT Managers nec
223211	ICT Trainer
261111	ICT Business Analyst
261112	Systems Analyst
261211	Multimedia Specialist
261212	Web Developer
261311	Analyst Programmer
261312	Developer Programmer
261313	Software Engineer
261314	Software Tester
261399	Software and Applications Programmers nec
262111	Database Administrator
262112	ICT Security Specialist
262113	Systems Administrator
263111	Computer Network and Systems Engineer
263112	Network Administrator
263113	Network Analyst
263211	ICT Quality Assurance Engineer
263212	ICT Support Engineer
263213	ICT Systems Test Engineer
263299	ICT Support and Test Engineers nec
313113	Web Administrator

ACS Skills Assessment Pathways

Applicants can apply for ACS skills assessment under one of these four pathways for migration purposes:

• Temporary Graduate (TG): It is meant for graduates who completed their Bachelor degree or higher with an ICT major in Australia and are applying for visa subclass 485. These applicants need to choose nominated occupations present on the 485 Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL).

• Post-Australian Study (PAS): People who completed their Bachelor degree or higher with an ICT major in Australia, and have completed their ACS Professional Year Program or have been in relevant ICT employment for a year after graduation can apply through this pathway.

1. Skills Assessment (Skills): The general skills assessment application evaluates your ICT employment and tertiary ICT qualifications. If you have a Bachelor degree or higher qualification with an ICT major, you should have:

• 2 years of relevant work experience in the past 10 years of work history, or
• 4 years of relevant work experience anytime in the past.

If you have a Bachelor degree or higher qualification with an ICT minor, you should have:

• 5 years of relevant work experience in the past 10 years of work history, or
• 6 years of relevant work experience anytime in the past.

1. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL): The RPL application is meant for people who do not hold any ICT qualifications and want to demonstrate that they have the required skills and knowledge for their job through their work experience. People with qualifications equivalent to AQF Diploma or higher with insufficient ICT content need to have 6 years of relevant work experience in the past. Those with no tertiary-level educational qualifications with at least 8 years of relevant work experience.

How to apply for ACS assessment?

If you meet the ACS migration skill assessment eligibility criteria, upload all the required documents into the online application form.

Document Checklist for online ACS application form

• Applicant details page of your passport,
• Name change evidence (if applicable)
• Degree or Award Certificate (with the title of degree, name of awarding institution or university, and date of the award)
• Degree or Award Transcript (with the name of subjects, and grades or marks achieved) of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications as applicable
• Payslips or other evidence of Paid Employment
• Employment References
• ACS RPL Form (if you apply for Recognition of Prior Learning),
• Resume, and
• Migration Agent authorisation form (if you hire one).

If your documents are not in English, you need to submit the original documents along with their translations. Translations should be done by authorized translators only.

Make sure that:

• You consolidate all pages for each qualification and each employment into one PDF document,
• Scanned copies are in colour and are of high quality (at least 300 dpi),
• The maximum file size of a PDF document is 3 MB, and
• The electronic documents you submit are verifiable and have your digital signatures.

Once you submit the form, you will receive a confirmation email at your email address. It will contain an ACS reference number and a password to track your online application status at any time.

ACS Migration Skills Assessment Fees

The application fee for ACS skills assessment is as follows:

Application Type	Fee (in AUD)
Temporary Graduate Visa or Visa 485 Skills Assessment	475
Post Australian Study Skills Assessment	500
General Application for Skills Assessment	500
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Skills Assessment	550
Review Application	395
Appeal Application	395

Do note that each ACS application includes fees of assessment of up to eight qualification or employment episodes. If you want to submit more than eight episodes, you have to pay AUD 50 for each additional episode.

Sometimes, ACS may recommend a change in your nominated ANZSCO code or skills application type while rejecting your application. If you accept their recommendation, you have to pay the Recommendation Fee of AUD 200.

Please note that following the recommendation does not guarantee ACS's approval of your application.

Once the ACS assessment process starts, you cannot withdraw the application and the fees cannot be refunded.

ACS Application Processing Time

ACS application processing time depends on the completeness of the application form. It usually takes four weeks for the ACS to process general applications. Priority requests may be processed within twin weeks.

If your Australia visa deadline is less than 12 weeks from the date of submitting the ACS online application, you can make a Priority Request. You need to make a priority request at least two weeks before the visa deadline. In this case, you need to upload an additional PDF document to showcase your visa deadline, such as:

• VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online) web page feature the date of visa expiry, or
• Visa grant letter issued by the DHA (Department of Home Affairs).

Visa2Immigration helps you with every step of the ACS migration skills assessment process. Contact us now to know more!