Not just your score — how it stacks against real invitation rounds, and your fastest way up.
Interactive tool
The pass mark is 65, but invitations go to the highest scorers in each occupation. This calculator scores you, then compares your total against historical invitation-round cutoffs for your field to produce an honest probability index.
The points test is step four of a ten-step process. Here is the full skilled-migration sequence in detail — bookmark this.
Find your occupation (with its ANZSCO code) on the skilled occupation lists. Which list it appears on determines which visas you can pursue — some occupations are 190/491-only. Match your actual duties to the ANZSCO description, not just the job title.
Every occupation has a designated assessing authority — Engineers Australia, ACS (ICT), AHPRA-linked boards (health), VETASSESS (many professions), Trades Recognition Australia, and others. Assessments take 6 weeks to 4+ months and cost $300–$1,600, so start early. You'll need certified qualifications, detailed employment references on company letterhead (duties, hours, dates), and sometimes technical reports or practical demonstrations.
IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET and Cambridge are all accepted. Points require Proficient (IELTS 7 in each band) or Superior (8 in each) — one 6.5 band drops you a tier, so prepare specifically. Results are valid 3 years. Many candidates find PTE's scoring more forgiving; sit a practice test of each.
Only claim what you can evidence: experience must be post-qualification, 20+ hours/week, paid, and closely related to your nominated occupation. Over-claiming discovered at the visa stage means refusal, not correction.
Free, online, and valid for 2 years. You can tick multiple visa subclasses and states. Your EOI ranks against everyone else in your occupation — updates that raise your score (better English, another year of experience) re-rank you immediately.
This is where most invitations actually come from. Each state and territory publishes its own occupation lists, minimum scores, residence and work criteria, and opens/closes programs through the year — monitor the state migration sites directly (NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, ACT, NT). Some states require you to already live/work there; others actively recruit offshore candidates in target occupations.
Invitation rounds run periodically; results (minimum scores by occupation) publish afterwards. Once invited you have 60 days to lodge — and your claimed points are frozen: if your circumstances changed (a birthday into a lower age band!), the invitation may be invalid, so time EOI updates carefully.
Application charge roughly $4,910+ (main applicant — check current rates after the July 2026 fee round). Upload everything: identity, skills assessment, English results, employment evidence, plus police certificates from every country you've lived in 12+ months in the last 10 years, and health examinations with approved panel physicians. Complete ("decision-ready") applications process fastest.
Processing spans months. Onshore applicants usually receive a bridging visa with work rights. Respond to any requests within deadlines, notify changes (address, passport, family), and don't book unrefundable travel around assumed grant dates.
Your grant letter states any initial-entry date and conditions. 189/190 are permanent from day one; 491 holders work toward subclass 191 (3 years, regional residence, income evidence). Then our new-migrant checklist takes over — and citizenship is typically possible after 4 years' residence.