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Professional references and ANZSCO codes

To access points for work experience under the General Skilled Migration program, your work experience must first be assessed by ANMAC.  

Work experience will be reported on in your Letter of Determination if your work meets the following criteria: 

  • a minimum of 12 months paid Australian work experience (minimum 20 hours per week) 
  • a minimum of 36 months paid International work experience (minimum 20 hours per week). Professional references are requested as evidence because they provide detail that relates to your skills in a specific area.  

Our assessors will assess your references for suitability and may verify the submitted information with your employer or the issuing organisation. 

If you are an agency nurse you will need to provide ANMAC with a service statement from your employer detailing dates and hours of employment and a professional reference written by a nurse who has supervised you in your role as an agency nurse. 

All of your professional references MUST meet the following criteria: 

  • be on official letterhead (genuinely obtained from employer)
  • be written by a direct supervisor who is a nurse, midwife or clinical supervisor 
  • be dated
  • contain an original signature
  • include this contact information for each referee: 
    • official workplace email address (ANMAC will not accept emails that are sent from free web-based email accounts) 
    • contact telephone number for the organisation (mobile phones will not be accepted). 

Please provide ANMAC's professional reference template (58 KB) to your referee. This will help your referee ensure the content of the reference meets our strict requirements.

Please note pay slips, tax certificates and service and human resource statements are not acceptable in lieu of a professional reference. 

Please review the Frequently Asked Questions relating to professional references.

ANZSCO code requests 

If you require a specific ANZSCO code other than 254499 NEC (Not Elsewhere Classified) you will need to submit a professional reference that supports a minimum of 3 months paid work experience as a registered nurse.   

ANMAC must be satisfied that you have the minimum 3-month period of work experience in an area to allocate a specific code. ANMAC cannot allocate a code because you want to work in a specific area or because it supports a specific ANZSCO code for your visa application..  

The assessment team will assess the professional reference and allocate an ANZSCO code. It is important that the referee who writes your reference provides accurate information about your clinical skills and competencies in your area of work. This will assist the team in allocating the ANZSCO code that best reflects your work experience.  

Please email skilledmigration@anmac.org.au if you have any questions in relation to ANZSCO code selection and/or allocation.  

Review date: 
Thursday, 17 February 2022

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