The Australian Computer Society (ACS) is the skills assessing body for IT roles on the Department of Home Affairs’ skilled occupation list such as ICT Business Analyst, Multimedia Specialist, ICT Security Specialist, ICT Support Engineer, and more, spread across the Medium to Long Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) and Short-term Skilled Occupation List. On 15 April 2024, ACS implemented changes on their application process, application fee, and how outcomes are presented to successful applicants.
This article intends to provide an overview of the changes and discuss its practical implications on the applicants.
- Verification of Identity and Selection of Tasks
Applicants whether they are represented or not, will have to go through verifying their identity themselves and selecting the tasks they perform directly on the ACS portal.
Before the changes were implemented, applicants provided their identity documents such as passport or driver’s licence by uploading the documents on the portal. In this new process, the applicant will show physical evidence of their identity online as per the instructions provided by ACS.
All the tasks for each ACS assigned roles will be shown on the portal and the applicants can choose the tasks that they perform in their current and previous IT roles. ACS will then match the tasks selected to the nominated occupations and then recommend the roles that fit applicant.
This means that applicants should actively engage in the early stages of their application and cannot fully rely on their representative to manage their skills assessment application as before. It is also important that applicants have a solid understanding of the tasks they perform in their IT role/s so that they can choose the tasks that will lead to their most suitable nominated occupation.
- Maximum of Three Nominated Occupations Can Be Selected
Many IT roles have similar tasks even though they are not in the same ANZSCO Group Code. Before the changes were implemented, applicants were left to choose just one nominated occupation that would best match their experience or the role where they can maximise their work experience points or their chance of getting invited to apply for their Permanent Residency visa under the General Skilled Migration stream.
Anyone who have up to three nominated occupations have more chances of getting an invitation on their Expression of Interest (EOI) application as they can have up to three EOI applications with one nominated per EOI application.
For example, you have worked as a Developer Programmer for five years and then moved on to working as an ICT Business Analyst for another five years. You can then have two skills assessment outcomes from ACS for each of these roles and then apply for a separate EOI for each one.
This change brings more opportunities for applicants in enhancing their chance to be invited for a Permanent Residency visa application under the General Skilled Migration stream and more flexibility in choosing a role that matches the requirements for Employer Sponsored Visa (ENS 186 Direct Entry stream).
- Skills Assessment Fee Increase and Improvement On Application Processing Time
The new ACS Skills Assessment fee is $1,450 which increased almost three times from its previous fee of about $500. This makes sense as ACS can now provide up to three outcome letters (on for each nominated occupation) and that claim that they can process applications with complete documentation in fifteen days.
There are Registered Migration Agents and Immigration Lawyers who can assist with skills assessment applications. If you are unsure of this new application process or your eligibility, it is recommended that you seek advice or assistance from Registered Migration Agents or Imm