Skills You Need For Immigration to Australia as an Engineer

Skills Testing for Engineers from all backgrounds is achieved by analysis of CDR pathway. Thousands of engineers plan to apply for Australia immigration every year.

Migration Skills Assessment process goes through the CDR path for all engineers who don’t have required Australian qualifications or qualifications from Washington Accord.

CDR means a Competency Demonstration Report in which engineers seek to demonstrate on the Australian authority that they have all the requirements and expertise they are looking for – in their level of engineering and are therefore qualified for skilled migration to Australia.

The Employers publishes from time to time the Skills Assessment manual, which contains all the details about the assessment process and the CDR writing guidelines. Despite the detailed information booklet provided by Australia evaluation engineers, many engineers are still seeing their CDR being rejected and are unable to obtain the migration visa due to failure to meet the employer requirements.

Why Engineers Choose Australia

Australia embraces professionals and gives them incredible social and family opportunities that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. It has excellent weather, free education and medical services for all, and above all a large number of engineering job opportunities. 

Engineers are choosing Australia so they can live a better life and secure their children’s future. The biggest hurdle you might face when you migrate to Australia as a skilled person is to write the CDR that is positively evaluated by the employers and win a visa approval for you.

Basic Requirements of Engineers for Immigration

Educational Qualifications

Fours years of Bachelors Engineering Degree.

Professional Experience

Although it may be challenging to demonstrate the skills by referring to the credentials of your undergraduate professional engineering and the elements of your university research project/work experience. So it’s better if you are a working professional and have some years of working experience.

Language Score

You need to score six or above in general IELTS or TOEFL iBT (Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking) modules. Alternative tests of English are not accepted.

Subsequent applicants may be exempted from IELTS requirements:

• Applicants who speak Native English;
• Applicants who have completed an Australian engineering degree or a 2-year Masters or PhD at an Australian university.

Assessment Process

The Skills Assessment process for migration usually takes about 4 to 7 months, typically. It is essential that your engineering discipline is listed in the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) at the time you apply to migrate to Australia under the Skilled Migration Scheme.

If your engineering discipline is included in the SOL list, you must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) via Skill Select. 

You’ll need to show you have the skills and qualifications you need for your nominated job. All engineers have separate ANZSCO Occupancy Codes, and they have to select the respective codes and get the assessment done.

Employers are responsible for reviewing the technical skills and qualifications and forwarding their report to the Select Skill team. If you can get the minimum number of points, i.e. at least 60 points, you will be asked to apply for a visa within 60 days of the evaluation process.

Those under the age of 45 are eligible for migration. To demonstrate your English skills, you’ll need an IELTS score of 6 or more in each of the four exam components (Reading, Writing, Listening, and Talking) or at least 12 for Listening, 13 for Learning, 18 for Speaking, and 21 for Testing English as an Internet-based Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) Exam. 

Remember that as far as assessment is concerned, the test scores are valid for only three years.

The Categorisation of Engineers for Immigration

For the Australian Immigration, the Engineers are categorised into four according to their skillsets.

• Professional Engineer  
• Engineering Technologist 
• Engineering Associate
• Engineering Manager

Engineers who do not have Australian or Washington Accord credentials need to apply a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) to show they meet an Australian engineer’s requirements and skillsets.

The Need for CDR or Competency Demonstration Report

A CDR is composed of the following:

Continuous Professional Development List

The list shows everything you did to develop as an engineer after completing your field degree. It could include books you’ve read, computer conferences and workshops that you’ve attended, and training programs that you’ve attended.

Three Episodes of Career

Employers lists skills it is searching for engineers with various skill levels. The writing of the Career Episode allows you to exhibit that. All three narratives need to be very carefully crafted. It would be best if you had technical consistency and the ability to follow the style sheet to penetrate good career episodes strictly.

Statement of Summary

A summary statement is no ordinary synopsis. In your Career Episodes, you have to fish out exactly where you highlighted a specific competency that employers are looking for. 

Therefore, the paragraphs of your Career Episodes must be numbered as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3; 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; and 3.1, 3.2, 3.3. You can then list those numbers in your Summary section.

Processing Time of Assessment

You must apply with all relevant documents plus an evaluation charge. Under the normal process, evaluation can take up to 11 or more weeks from the date of receipt. Once you have received a positive assessment of your skills, you can apply for a visa. 

Once your application for a permit is approved, you can move to Australia with your family. For further detailed information regarding immigration and assessment always refer Australian Government website.

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Shobha Vats

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