State Nominated Migration Program

1: Nominated occupation on the relevant occupation list 

The nominated occupation identified in your skills assessment must be:

• listed on the:
  • WASMOL Schedule 1 occupation list; or
  • WASMOL Schedule 2 occupation list.
• eligible for your intended visa subclass.

View eligible occupations

2: Skills assessments

Your skills assessment must match the occupation you nominate in your EOI, and the occupation you are invited to apply for WA State nomination through.

A provisional skills assessment issued for a subclass 485 visa application cannot be considered.

3: Department of Home Affairs requirements

You must meet Home Affairs' requirements for your intended visa subclass, being:

• the Skilled nominated visa (subclass 190)(opens in a new tab); or
• the Skilled work regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)(opens in a new tab).

4: English language requirement

To meet the English language requirement, you must meet the minimum score listed for all four components, in a single sitting of one of the Home Affairs approved English tests listed below. 

5: Work experience requirement

You must have:

• at least one year of Australian work experience in the nominated (or closely related) occupation over the last 10 years; or
• at least one year of overseas work experience in the nominated (or closely related) occupation over the last 10 years.

You can only count work experience gained after you received your qualification, in paid employment, where you have worked at least 20 hours per week. 

Evidence of relevant work experience may include:

• records of Payment/Payslips to demonstrate paid employment in the occupation or closely related occupation. The Record of Payment/Payslip must include the Employer’s name and ABN (or overseas equivalent), the name of the employee, the pay period, date the payment was issued, gross and net pay including any loadings, penalties or allowances, deductions and tax withheld.
• a letter from an employer that provides evidence of employment, including the employee’s name, job title, location of employment, duties performed and period of employment and the salary/hourly rate paid to the employee. The letter must include the business details, including company name and ABN (or overseas equivalent) and name and contact details of the employer for verification purposes.

Further evidence of work experience may be requested during the application process.

6: Contract of employment 

You must have a contract of employment in your nominated (or closely related) occupation for full time employment in Western Australia, for at least six months from the date of your application for State nomination. Full time employment is defined as an average of at least 35 hours work per week. You are able to provide two contracts of employment to make up the 35 hours. The contract must include:

• full names of both the employer and the employee;
• start and end date (if permanent, only start date is required). The start date must be within three months of your application;
• job title and related ANZSCO code;
• job description;
• terms and conditions of employment (such as salary, hours of work, leave entitlements and superannuation) which must be no less favourable than those that would apply to an Australian citizen or permanent resident doing equivalent work. If your contract does not describe your terms and conditions of employment, you can provide the enterprise agreement or industrial award for your occupation;
• location of employment;
• a statement that confirms “work specified in the employment contract must be performed by the employee and not contracted out to a third party”;
• dated signatures from the employer and the employee; and
• be drafted by the employer and not by the employee.

We will also assess whether: 

• an appropriate salary will be paid for the specified occupation, based on market salary rates;
• the business employing you is genuine and operating in the location specified; and
• as the employee, you will bear no financial risk and be provided with the relevant tools and equipment to successfully undertake the tasks required.

Independent contractors, self employment and sole traders

Employment contracts submitted by an independent contractor or for self-employment do not meet the above requirements and are not suitable to apply for WA State nomination. Employment contracts submitted by a sole trader will be considered in the following circumstances only:

• the sole trader is not the stated applicant of the State nomination application; and
• the employment contract meets all the above requirements.

View the Employment contracts(opens in a new tab) and Independent contractors(opens in a new tab) information available on the Fair Work Ombudsman or Austrade website(opens in a new tab).

1: Nominated occupation on the relevant occupation list 

The nominated occupation identified in your skills assessment must be listed on the Graduate stream occupation list and eligible for your intended visa subclass.

2: Skills assessments

Your skills assessment must match the occupation you nominate in your EOI, and the occupation you are invited to apply for WA State nomination through.

A provisional skills assessment issued for a subclass 485 visa application cannot be considered.

3: Department of Home Affairs requirements

You must meet Home Affairs' requirements for your intended visa subclass, being:

• the Skilled nominated visa (subclass 190)(opens in a new tab); or
• the Skilled work regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)(opens in a new tab).

4: English language requirement

To meet the English language requirement, you must meet the minimum score listed for all four components, in a single sitting of one of the Home Affairs approved English tests listed below. 

5: Study requirements

To meet the study requirements You must be able to demonstrate that you meet the following five study components:

• gained at least one qualification (at the levels listed below) in WA; and

• studied in WA:
  • at an accredited WA educational institution; and
  • full time; and
  • in a face to face learning environment (on campus study); and
  • for a period of at least two academic years.

Qualifications

You will need to have gained at least one of the following qualifications from a WA educational institution that meets the accreditation requirements (outlined below) at the time of your study.

• a university or higher education qualification.
  • a PhD or Masters degree;
  • higher degree (Bachelor Honours Degree, Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma); or
  • Bachelor; or

and/or

• a vocational education and training (VET) qualification at a Certificate III level or above.

 You can use study from different WA qualifications to make up the two-year study requirement component.

Study gained through an English language program can be used to meet the study requirement, if you have also gained at least one of the qualifications listed above.

WA Educational Institution accreditation requirements

The WA Educational institution/s where you completed your studies must have:

• been accredited at the time of your studies; and
• a campus in WA where students study full time, on campus, through face to face delivery.

To be considered accredited, the educational institution (including providers of English language programs) must be: 

• registered with the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS)(opens in a new tab); and
• have a campus in WA where students study full time, on campus, through face-to-face delivery. 

In addition: 

• a university or higher education institution must also be registered as an Australian higher education provider with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)(opens in a new tab)  to be considered an accredited educational institution; and
• a vocational education and training (VET) institution must also be registered with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) or the WA Training Accreditation Council (TAC)(opens in a new tab)  to be considered accredited. You can check if your institution is registered on the training.gov.au website(opens in a new tab).

Full time study

The educational institution determines whether a course is full time or part time based on the number of subjects a student studies per semester / trimester.

If study from your full time course was completed at a reduced study load, you will need to provide evidence demonstrating:

• this was approved by your awarding education provider; and
• details of the advanced standing or recognition of prior learning used to reduce your study load.

Credits, advanced standing or recognition of prior learning for study completed outside of Western Australia can not be used to meet the WA State nomination study requirements.

Face-to-Face

An environment where a teacher and class of students meet for group learning, on campus, at a set time in a set place is considered face-to-face learning.

For the purpose of WA State nomination, study used to meet the face-to-face study requirement component must be completed on campus, in WA.

Online study is not eligible unless you were required to complete some of your studies online due to COVID-19. In this case, you will need to show evidence that you were enrolled as an onshore WA student during this period. 

Two years of academic study

You must complete a minimum two year period of academic study in WA, contributing to the completion of one or more qualification/s to meet the two year study requirement component.

Credits, advanced standing or recognition of prior learning for study completed outside of Western Australia cannot be used to meet the WA State nomination study requirements.

The onus is on the applicant to provide evidence to show two years of living and studying in WA. Additionally, the awarding institution must have met the accreditation requirements.

Evidence required 

You will need to provide the following evidence:

• award certificate/s;
• a record of your results, such as transcript/s or a statement of attainment showing two years full time study in WA; and
• a letter from your education provider confirming your study duration and study load, start and completion date. If you studied at multiple institutions, to fulfil the two-year study requirement, a letter must be provided from each education provider. 

If you were studying under an Australian student visa, you will also need to provide confirmation of enrolment/s (COEs) and/or student visa grant notice for the duration of your two years of WA study.

If your institution is not listed below, you can search on the training.gov.au website(opens in a new tab) or TEQSA website(opens in a new tab) to see if it was accredited at the time of your studies.

Listed below are the current WA accredited educational institutions with a WA campus, and whether they are accredited as an English language program provider (ELP); or for vocational education and training (VET); higher education (HE); or university (U).

SkillSelect is Home Affairs online platform that enables skilled workers to express interest in applying for a skilled migration visa, to live and work in Australia. Lodging an expression of interest (EOI) through SkillSelect is the first step. Your EOI must include the following details.

• Whether you are seeking nomination from:
  • Western Australia; or 
  • another Australian state or territory.
• Indicate that you are younger than 45 years of age.
• A score of at least 65 points in the Home Affairs points test(opens in a new tab). 
• Evidence of a skills assessment suitable for migration in your nominated occupation. See the Home Affairs website for more information(opens in a new tab) on skills assessments and skills assessing authorities. 
• Nomination of an occupation that is available for your intended visa subclass on the WA Skilled migration occupation list (WASMOL) Schedule 1 or 2 for the general stream; or the Graduate occupation list (GOL) for the graduate stream.
• If you are using the graduate stream, the details of your WA study, including the address and postcode of the WA campus of the educational institution, must be included in your EOI. View our Graduate stream requirements for more information.
• Show that you meet the English language requirements. If you have a passport from the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, the United States of America or Ireland, you are not required to sit an English exam to be eligible for WA State nomination.  

Please check the accuracy of the information entered in your EOI on SkillSelect. The information provided in your EOI will be examined and verified by WA Migration Services. If you provide false or misleading information as part of your State nomination application, your application may be declined. Read the Terms and conditions for more information. 

If your EOI is amended during the application process, resulting in a reduction of your points score, evidence must be provided to substantiate the points claimed in your EOI.

You will need to provide documents to support your WA State nomination application, to show you meet the WA State nomination criteria.

WA residency evidence

Applicants receiving a prioritised invitation based on residing in Western Australia must be able to substantiate this claim by providing evidence such as a residential property lease agreement, bank or mortgage statement, recent utility account (such as gas, electricity, internet or phone account), registration or drivers licence renewal notice. Please note if you are providing an internet or phone account, you will be required to submit a second piece of supporting evidence to substantiate your claim. 

Document verification

Verification checks will be undertaken for the documents provided by applicants during the application and assessment process. This includes contacting employers and institutions directly to confirm information and documents provided are genuine.

Applicants who provide false or misleading information may have their application declined. The Department of Training and Workforce Development may also report false and misleading information to the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs.

The documents you provide must be valid at the time you lodge your WA State nomination application. Read the Terms and conditions for more information.

Documents that have passed their expiry date are not valid.    

The onus is on the applicant to ensure their documents meet Home Affairs requirements for the Visa application process.

Any documents you submit should be high quality copies of the original.

Once the assessment of your application begins, you may be asked to provide further information by email.

WA Migration Services reviews EOIs that have been submitted through SkillSelect, and invites eligible applicants to apply for State nomination based on the WA State nomination criteria(PDF document - opens in a new tab)[PDF 333 KB]. 

If you are eligible for an invitation through multiple streams, you will receive an invitation for each stream you are eligible for. However, you will only be able to lodge one application for State nomination through your chosen stream. If multiple EOIs are ranked at the same level, invitations will be issued based on the EOI submission date.

If your EOI indicates you are seeking State nomination for both the subclass 190 and subclass 491 visa, you will generally be invited for the subclass 491 visa in the first instance. This is because you will generally have a higher EOI points score for this visa. 

You will not receive multiple invitations for WA State Nomination through the same EOI. If you receive an invitation that then lapses, is withdraw or declined, you must lodge a new EOI to be considered for a future invitation.

Read more about our invitation rounds

If you are invited by WA Migration Services to apply for State nomination, you will receive an email with a link to the application form. 

To submit your application, you must read and agree to the terms and conditions.

If you lodge an application for WA State nomination, you are agreeing to work, live and settle in Western Australia.

You have 28 days to complete your application.

To be approved, your application must meet the WA State nomination criteria, which includes additional requirements depending on your intended stream. You will be notified of the outcome of your application via email.

View the criteria for WA State nomination here

If an applicant has been nominated for any skilled subclass (either 190 or 491), they cannot be nominated again in the same program year.

If your State nomination application is approved, WA Migration Services will nominate you in SkillSelect and you will then receive an invitation from Home Affairs to lodge an application for your intended visa.

Please note that State nomination does not guarantee your visa application will be granted.

If you are invited to apply for your intended visa, you can lodge your application through Home Affairs' online service IMMI.

Find out more about IMMI here(opens in a new tab)

You have 60 days to complete your visa application.

Home Affairs will assess your visa application against specific requirements.

Your visa application will only be granted if all requirements are met.

If your visa is granted, you will then be required to meet your long term commitments to living and working in WA. For people not yet residing in WA, this includes:

• moving to WA within three months of receiving your visa, and complying with applicable border rules at the time;
• registering your arrival with WA Migration Services;
• living and working in WA for two years upon arrival; and
• completing surveys upon request, for this two year period.

For people already residing in WA, this includes:

• registering your visa grant date with WA Migration Services;
• living and working in WA for two years following your visa grant; and 
• completing surveys upon request, for this two year period.
   

 Register your arrival or visa approval(opens in a new tab)

Applicants have the opportunity to request a review of their WA State nomination outcome.

To request a review, please complete the Request for Review of Decision​​ form below and email it to migration@dtwd.wa.gov.au

All review requests must be submitted to WA Migration Services within 14 calendar days of the date of the email advising your WA State nomination outcome.

  Download the Request a review of decision form here(PDF document - opens in a new tab)[PDF 233 KB]