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Frequently Asked Questions

Definitions

ANMAC helps protect the health and safety of the Australian Community through our roles as: 

  • the external accreditation entity, appointed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) to accredit nursing and midwifery programs that lead to eligibility to apply for registration or endorsement with the NMBA, under Australia’s National Registration and Accreditation Scheme 
  • the approved and independent assessing authority, authorised by the Department of Home Affairs to assess skills and qualifications of nurses and midwives seeking to migrate to Australia, under the Australian Government’s General Skilled Migration program. 

Go to About ANMAC for more information.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia undertakes the following: 

  • registering nursing and midwifery practitioners and students 
  • developing practice standards, codes and guidelines for the nursing and midwifery profession 
  • handling notifications, complaints, investigations and disciplinary hearings 
  • assessing overseas trained practitioners who wish to practise in Australia 
  • approving accreditation standards and accredited programs of study 

The Department of Home Affairs is responsible for immigration to Australia and will assess your application for a visa to migrate. 

Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) are codes applied to occupations for statistical purposes. These codes are used by the Department of Home Affairs in the skilled visa program.  

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, conducts the assessment for registration on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. 

Before you apply for a skills assessment

Do I need a skills assessment?

Information on visa requirements is available on the Department of Home Affairs website under each visa type. It is important to check what visa requirements affect you before applying to ANMAC for a skills assessment.

You only need to have your qualifications and skills assessed by ANMAC if you are migrating to Australia under the General Skilled Migration program to work as a nurse or midwife. Check with the Department of Home Affairs if you need a skills assessment before you apply for your visa. 

ANMAC does not find employment for nurses or midwives or provide them with information or advice on employment opportunities, including where or how you can find work. 

ANMAC does not provide nurses or midwives with information on employer sponsorship. Contact employers and nursing or midwifery agencies to find out about this. For more information visit the Department of Home Affairs.

To work in Australia as a nurse or midwife, you need to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). You also need to keep your Australian registration current. 

To register contact the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).

Go to application options. Select the option that applies to you. This will take you to the information you need to apply for the right type of migration skills assessment.

If you hold registration as a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or midwife in Australia and/or New Zealand and your name appears on Ahpra’s online public Register of practitioners you may qualify for a Modified skills assessment. 

If you do not hold current registration in Australia and/or New Zealand but have a 'Notice of in principle approval of registration subject to proof of identity' letter from Ahpra you may qualify for a Modified PLUS skills assessment. 

If you are a registered nurse in the Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States and also have a minimum Bachelor of Nursing qualification from that country then you may qualify for a Full skills assessment.  

If you are a registered midwife from Canada, the United Kingdom or Ireland and have a minimum Bachelor of Midwifery qualification from that country then you may qualify for a Full skills assessment.  

Go to application options. Select the option that applies to your situation and then follow the instructions.

 

Supporting documentation

The documents required for each assessment type differ. 

All applicants must provide

  • verification of overseas registration. Also known as a certificate of good standing, this should be arranged for every country or jurisdiction where you would like you paid work experience to be assessed, and can be emailed to verification@anmac.org.au. Where email is unavailable the relevant authority can post the verification directly to ANMAC. 
  • proof of identity:
    • bio-statistical page(s) of passport 
    • change of name documents (marriage certificate, decree nisi, deed poll) 
    • a passport-sized photograph taken in the last 6 months 
  • graduation certificate, include commencement and completion dates 
  • professional references (58 Kb) that supports your work as a paid nurse or midwife. This is only a requirement if you require points recognition from the Department of Home Affairs.

Full applicants must also provide

  • English language test results - include the test number and date of test completion. 
  • transcripts of training, include commencement and completion dates, as well as theory and practice hours.  If the university cannot provide this information, ANMAC will accept a copy of the syllabus emailed by the University directly to verification@anmac.org.au.
  • professional references supporting a minimum 3 months paid work experience as a nurse or midwife.

ANMAC may ask for extra information and/or documentation to assist in the assessment process.  

A verification of registration, or certificate of good standing letter, confirms that your registration is valid and that you have no issues against your practice as a nurse and/or midwife. The nursing and midwifery councils responsible for registering nurses and midwives in each country or jurisdiction can provide this information. 

Please ask the regulatory authority to post or email a verification of registration or certificate of good standing letter directly to our office via before applying to ANMAC for a migration skills assessment. We cannot accept a photocopy, fax or scanned copy of the letter from you or any other source. 

Once received, we keep your verification of registration or certificate of good standing letter on file and will match it to your application when processing. 

ANMAC no longer requires registration of verification from Ahpra. Our assessors will verify your Australian registration status online. 

All applications remain open for 12 months from the date that you applied online. If you do not submit documents within the 12 months, your application will expire. A refund will not be provided and if you need a skills assessment in the future, you will be required to apply for a new assessment.  

All supporting documents uploaded for your Migration Skills Assessment must meet these minimum scanning requirements: 

  • original documents only 
  • scanned in colour
  • scanned at a resolution of 600 dpi (dots per inch) or above. 
  • file must be a .pdf

The passport sized photo must be a .jpeg, .jpg or .png. You may need to change the settings of the scanner to meet these requirements. 

ANMAC does not accept documents that have been uploaded using CamScanner (or similar) software.  

After you have uploaded your documents in the online portal, please make sure you scroll down the page and select ‘save’. This will ensure your documents reach the assessment team. 

Registration

The assessment for registration is separate to the assessment for skilled migration. The assessment for registration is conducted by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. You need to submit an application to Ahpra for assessment for registration and meet the requirements for registration. 

If you hold current registration as a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or midwife your name will appear on Ahpra's online public Register of Practitioners

English Language Test

Modified skills assessment applicants

If you are applying for a Modified skills assessment you do not need to provide English language test results. This means you are registered with:

MODIFIED PLUS SKILLS ASSESSMENT

If you are applying for a Modified PLUS skills assessment you do not need to provide English language test results. This means you have a 'Notice of in principle approval of registration subject to proof of identity' letter from AHPRA.

Full skills assessment applications

All internationally-qualified nurses and midwives without Australian or New Zealand registration (regardless of country of birth) are required to provide English language test results. 

Australia’s official language is English and it is important that healthcare professionals working here are proficient in English (reading, speaking, writing and listening). This enables nurses and midwives to communicate competently and safely with patients and their families, colleagues and other health professionals. 

You must demonstrate achievement of the specified minimum scores from ONE of the following English language tests – no other types of English language tests are accepted.  

  • ANMAC accepts test results that are up to two years old 
  • Scores from two different tests cannot be combined. 
  1. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic test.
  • Applicants must achieve a minimum overall score of 7 and a minimum score of 7 in each of the 4 components - listening, reading, writing and speaking. 
  • ANMAC will not accept test results from online test sittings. 
  • ANMAC will accept One Skill Retake test results. 
  • ANMAC accept test results from one test sitting OR a maximum of two test sittings, in a six-month period only if the applicant achieves:  

a) a minimum overall score of 7 in each sitting

AND

b) no score in any component of the test is below 6.5

  1. Occupational English Test (OET) for nurses.
  • Applicants must achieve a minimum score of B in each of the 4 components - listening, reading, writing and speaking.  
  • ANMAC will not accept test results from online test sittings. 
  • ANMAC only accept test results from 1 test sitting OR a maximum of 2 test sittings, in a 6 month period only if the applicant: 

a) is tested in all 4 components in each sitting

AND

b) no score in any component of the test is below C

  1. Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic. 
  • Applicants must achieve a minimum overall score of 65 AND a minimum score of 65 in each of the 4 communicative skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking. 
  • ANMAC will not accept test results from online test sittings. 
  • ANMAC only accept test results from 1 test sitting OR a maximum of 2 test sittings, in a 6 month period only if the applicant achieves:  

a) a minimum overall score of 65 in each sitting

AND

b) no score in any of the four communicative skills is below 58

  1. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) iBT.  **The Department of Home Affairs no longer accepts this test (as of 25 July 2023). ANMAC is in the process of reviewing this requirement. 
  • Applicants must achieve a minimum total score of 94 AND the following minimum score in each section of the test - 24 listening, 24 reading, 27 writing, 23 speaking  
  • ANMAC will not accept test results from online test sittings. 
  • ANMAC only accept test results from 1 test sitting, OR a maximum of 2 test sittings in a 6 month period only if the applicant achieves:  

a) a minimum total score of 94 in each sitting

AND

b) no score in any of the sections is below - 20 listening, 19 reading, 24 writing, 20 speaking 

ANZSCO codes and professional references

The ANZSCO code you select depends on your individual circumstances, the visa you are applying for and your relevant work experience. 

You should refer to the Skilled Occupations List to see which codes are available for you to select. A description of the ANZSCO codes is on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

Your ANZSCO code should reflect your work experience and, generally, your most recent area of work experience. If you do not have work experience, you should select the 254499 Registered Nurse (Not Elsewhere Classified) code. 

If you nominate a specific ANZSCO code (other than 254499 Not Elsewhere Classified), you must provide a professional reference that supports a minimum 3 months paid work experience in this area within the last 5 years. 

If you require more information, please contact the Department of Home Affairs or a registered Migration Agent.

On official letterhead your professional references need to provide: 

  • your dates of employment
  • your areas of experience
  • a statement about your professional competence and safety as a nurse or midwife 
  • examples of your professional competence as a nurse or midwife (the day to day activities you undertake) related to the tasks required for your ANZSCO code 
  • details of continuing professional development 
  • signature of the referee (electronic signatures are not acceptable). 

Your referee needs to date their original letter and include their name, position and contact details. The contact details should include an official email address. 

ANMAC does not accept emails from free web-based email accounts.  

ANMAC has a template (58 KB) and information in ‘Resources’ that explains the requirements. If your professional references do not meet our requirements, we cannot accept the reference.

You should use the person who directly manages or supervises you. This person must be a nurse, midwife or clinical supervisor. If your direct supervisor is not a nurse or midwife, a statement to this effect should be included in the reference. We do not accept references from Human Resources or Payroll departments.  

Nurses or midwives who work for an agency need to provide a:  

  • service statement from the agency detailing employment dates and number of hours worked.  
  • a professional reference from an institution where you regularly work that meets ANMAC's  professional reference requirements (58 KB).

If you would like ANMAC to report on your work for points recognition by the Department of Home Affairs you will need to submit professional references that meet ANMAC criteria. You must have a minimum 1 year paid work in Australia and/or a minimum of 3 years paid work overseas. 

Work experience will not be considered if there is no corresponding nursing registration in that jurisdiction at that time.  

During your assessment

The status of your application is available by logging in to your account on the ANMAC website. 

Further supporting documents can be uploaded to your account by logging into your account on the ANMAC website. 

After your assessment

You can log into the ANMAC portal and request a re-issue. You will need to pay $145 and upload a professional reference written by a nursing supervisor that supports your work experience claim. Please ensure your letter of determination (LOD) is valid for at least 3 months.  There is no re-issue option for Direct Care applications (Nursing Support Worker or Personal Care Assistant). 

ANMAC cannot extend the validity period of your LOD and the Department of Home Affairs will not accept an expired LOD. 

Please call ANMAC between 10am and 4pm (AEST) on +61 2 6257 7960 to discuss your options with the assessment team. 

Yes, if you would like to change your nominated ANZSCO code you can log into the ANMAC portal and request a re-issue. You will need to pay $145 and upload your current passport and a professional reference that supports your work in an area that relates to the new ANZSCO code (a minimum 3 months is required). Please ensure your letter of determination (LOD) is valid for at least 3 months from the date you request a re-issue.

*Direct Care applications requesting a change in ANZSCO to either Nursing Support Worker or Personal Care Assistant should upload a current passport only. 

ANMAC cannot extend the validity period of your LOD and the Department of Home Affairs will not accept an expired LOD.  

Please also note that a re-issue does not mean that you have 2 valid outcome letters with 2 different codes - the original LOD will not be valid once ANMAC has finalised the re-issue.

If there is an error on your Letter of Determination please call ANMAC between 10am and 4pm (AEST) on +61 2 6257 7960 to discuss the error with the assessment team. Alternatively, you can email skilledmigration@anmac.org.au and await a response.  

Yes, you can. To appeal ANMAC’s decision follow these steps: 

  1. Contact us with your:
    • full name
    • date of birth
    • reference number
    • the reason you are appealing.

You must email ANMAC within 30 days of the date on your Letter of Determination.  

  1. ANMAC will acknowledge your email and ask for payment of the appeals fees, as per the fee schedule on our website, prior to progressing your application. ANMAC only accepts payments by VISA or MasterCard.

    The appeals process is governed by the SMS Appeals Policy. For more information go to Appeal Process on our website.

You will need to wait 2 years from the date the determination was made. This date can be found on the determination letter issued by ANMAC. 

All determination letters issued by ANMAC are valid for 2 years from the date the determination was made. This date cannot be extended.  

If your determination letter is expiring you will need to apply for a new skills assessments using a different email address to create new access to the ANMAC portal. 

Determination letters are valid for 2 years from the date of issue. This date cannot be extended. You will need to apply for a new assessment if your letter has expired. 

ANMAC can re-issue your letter only if it is valid for more than 3 months (12 weeks) from the date of request. ANMAC will only re-issue your letter to add work experience or change an ANZSCO code.

The validity period of your letter is not extended if you apply for a re-issue. 

To get a new LOD (Letter of determination - please create a new account (using a new email address) and apply as a new applicant.

View video on how to make an online request to re-issue a determination letter.

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