top of page

My Skills Assessment Expired. Now what?

Skills assessments are valid for three years from the date of assessment unless a shorter period is specified on the assessment, which means:


  • If no validity is shown on a skills assessment: is valid for 3 years from date of issue,

  • If the validity shown is less than 3 years: is valid for the period stated on the assessment,

  • If the validity shown is more than 3 years: is valid for three years from date of issue.




Assessing Authorities can provide renewal of Skills Assessment Outcome Letter but the process, and most importantly the lead time, varies a lot between them.


It is responsibility of the applicant to ensure they have a valid Skills Assessment linked to their EOI in SkillSeletc. That is because, your skills assessment must be valid at the time you are invited to apply for a points tested visa. If the applicant is invited to apply after the relevant expiry date, the skills assessment will not satisfy the requirement for the visa and the visa may be refused.


It is important to note that once an applicant receives an invitation to apply for the visa, they have 60 days to lodge the application. This means renewing a Skills Assessment in within these 60 days (after invitation and before lodging the visa) would not satisfy the requirement f the visa and lead to a refusal.


However, on 15 February 2023, the Department “reluctantly” announced that they will now accept a suitable skills assessment for an applicant’s nominated skilled occupation which has been obtained within the 60-day invitation period based on a court decision in 2021 (known as Thapa).


My advice? Don’t let your future rely on you managing to renew your skills assessment during those 60 days! Make sure your Skills Assessment is always up to date while you have a submitted EOI.



Need migration advice, contact us today: visas@journeymigration.com


 











Font:

Migration Regulations 1994

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skills-assessment


Comments


bottom of page