Do Australian employers need work experience to sponsor immigrants?

Employers' guarantee schemes in remote areas recognize some other occupations besides full-time jobs. Citizens in many countries rely on various income strategies to make a living. Let's answer your questions. Do Australian employers still need work experience to sponsor immigrants?

The rule of two years' compulsory work in remote areas was abolished. Therefore, as long as the applicant has a qualification certificate of Grade 4 or above, VET International Certification Department no longer requires two years of full-time work experience. This change is a very positive measure, which will bring benefits to thousands of international students and local enterprises.

Post qualification requirements

If applicants are not exempted or nominated as skilled workers, they must prove that they are qualified to be included in the list of immigrant occupations as necessary occupations. If the application relies on overseas qualifications to meet the technical requirements, according to the policy, they should provide a written basis for overseas qualifications. The visa officer will assess whether the qualification meets the corresponding Australian standards and related occupations. Visa officers can use the data of AEI-NOOSR national education to verify the equivalent qualifications. If they think that the authenticity of professional qualifications needs to be tested, they will refer to the relevant documents of overseas work verification under the case reference procedure.

on-the-job training

The following two certificates are of the same level. Australia's third-class certificate has two years of on-the-job training. If there is no on-the-job training, then an Australian third-class certificate will provide two years of work experience. The only exception is that the Australian Level 3 certificate is awarded through short courses and provides two years of on-the-job training. RPL is not enough unless you have two years of working experience in Australia to prove it.

The basic premise is that the three-level certificate immigration occupation list requires at least two years of on-the-job training, and the training should be related to the apprenticeship/formal training qualification obtained in Australia; In other words, on-the-job training must be part of the qualification process. If this is not the case, the policy stipulates that qualified personnel must have two years of work experience.

If the qualification period of the course is less than two years, including on-the-job training (which can be regarded as a combination of actual apprenticeship and full-time school training of not less than 35 hours per week), then the course will not meet the requirements. Therefore, if a cooking course is qualified in a short time, no matter how hard the course participants try to complete the course (for example, 20 hours a week), it does not meet the requirements of two-year on-the-job training. It is precisely because such courses do not include formal apprentices (or do not meet the requirements of two-year on-the-job training) that two years of work experience is necessary. Alternatively, the list of immigrant occupations (skill requirements for primary school teachers) allows people who can prove three years of relevant experience to replace formal qualifications.

If the above requirements of two years' qualification experience or three years' relevant part-time work experience are met, the visa officer will require part-time work to have a certain technical level, which is equivalent to two years' full-time work (35 hours per week) or as work experience.

Work experience requirements

In the list of immigrant occupations, some occupations with certain years of relevant experience can replace formal qualification certificates. If the applicant relies on Australian or overseas work experience to meet the technical requirements, the visa officer will assess whether the work experience is related to the corresponding qualifications. Applicants may need to submit proof of previous work experience, including letters of recommendation from previous employers. It is pointed out in the reference list of immigrants' occupations that relevant work experience that has passed the occupation evaluation is regarded as professional work experience. For example, three years' relevant work experience is equivalent to the formal AQF qualification of the occupation with technical level 2 in the list of immigrant occupations.

Employers' guarantee schemes in remote areas recognize some other occupations besides full-time jobs. Citizens in many countries rely on various income strategies to make a living. In Australia, part-time jobs and flexible working hours are becoming more and more common. This will affect how to calculate work experience.

If the working years refer to full-time jobs, then for part-time jobs, the working years can be calculated in proportion. This means that if the relevant requirement is 3 years of relevant full-time work experience, then the number of years of part-time work is twice that of full-time work, that is, the applicant must be able to prove that he has worked part-time in this profession for 6 years. If visa officers think that overseas work experience needs to be tested, they will refer to the relevant documents of overseas work experience verification under the case reference procedure.

Volunteer work experience

Volunteer working hours are generally not considered as the technical work experience of visa applicants. The reason for this is the following：

Because if there is no reward, it is more about the information provided by the referee about the work and technical level.

Since there is no formal payroll or employment contract, the proof of working hours is limited.

If voluntary work is equivalent to full-time work, then during this time, applicants need to engage in other paid jobs to make a living, which means that their professional skills are used in other fields.

The list of immigrant occupations defines "work" as a person who completes the tasks assigned by the employer (including self-employment), and in return, the employer pays remuneration.

Australian academic certification

If the applicant uses the Australian qualification certification, then this certification must conform to the occupation description in the Australian Skilled Migrant Occupation List (ANZSCO). For example, if the nominated occupation is a chef (Anzsco351411), then the applicant must:

Hold a certificate equivalent to AQF level 4 or

Hold a third-class certificate equivalent to AQF and receive at least two years of on-the-job training in this profession, or

At least three years relevant working experience.

If the third-level certificate is obtained without formal on-the-job training, the applicant must have at least two years of full-time or equivalent part-time work experience after obtaining the qualification to meet the skill requirements. Two years of post-qualification work experience is regarded as equivalent to on-the-job training.

This is to ensure that the qualifications are required by the occupation and that the applicant really has the practical experience needed to perform the task. In ANZSCO, there is no requirement for two-year on-the-job training for holding a level 4 qualification certificate. The specific situation of each applicant will be evaluated by the representative one by one and a final decision will be made. In their evaluation, officials must pay attention to qualification certification, and applicants must have relevant work experience in designated occupations.