Booklet 6 - Department of Immigration & Citizenship

General Skilled
Part 1: Basic requirements
PART 1
Basic requirements
For General Skilled Migration to Australia, you must be able to satisfy the following basic
requirements.
Age
You must be under 45 years of age when you apply.
English language
To work in a skilled occupation in Australia you need to have good English. Applicants
for a General Skilled Migration visa are required to have ‘competent’ English. A further
exception applies to applicants for provisional visas who will meet the English language
threshold if they have ‘concessional competent’ English and are sponsored by an eligible
relative or a participating state or territory. For some professional occupations, the
assessing authority will require a higher level of English as part of their skills assessment
process.
You have up until the time of decision to provide evidence that you meet the English
language requirement. However, it is advisable to provide evidence that you meet the
English language requirement at the time you apply as a decision on your application
will not be delayed if evidence does not accompany the application. A decision on the
application may be made soon after the application has been received based on the
evidence on hand.
You also meet the English language threshold if you hold a valid passport from, and are
a citizen of, one of the following countries:
• the United Kingdom;
• the United States of America;
• Canada;
• Ireland; or
• New Zealand.
Important: This information is only for clients who applied for Skilled – Independent (subclass 175),
Skilled – Sponsored (subclass 176) or Skilled – Regional Sponsored (subclass 475) before 1 July 2011.
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