The facts that shape your strategy
Start with the four signals that affect pathway choice. Detailed evidence and caveats remain available below.
What Metal Fabricator does
Your duties—not your job title—are what determine whether ANZSCO 322311 is the right code for your assessment.
“cut, shape, join and repair metal components of iron and steel structures, boilers, pressure vessels and pipes, ships and other vessels”
Unit group 3223“Marks off and fabricates structural steel and other metal stock to make or repair metal products and structures such as boilers and pressure vessels. Sheetmetal Fabricators are excluded from this occupation. Sheetmetal Fabricators are included in Unit Group 3222 Sheetmetal Workers, in Occupation 322211 Sheetmetal Worker. Specialisation: Boilermaker-Welder”
Occupation 322311- studying blueprints, drawings and specifications to determine job requirements
- selecting, cleaning and preparing metal stock
- cutting marked-out metal sections and shapes using hand tools, flame cutting torches and metal cutting machines
- shaping and bending metal sections and pipes using hand and machine tools, and by heating and hammering
- aligning parts to be joined using hand tools and measuring instruments
- joining metal sections using various welding techniques, bolting and riveting
- examining welds for width of bead, penetration and precision
- finishing products by cleaning, polishing, filing and bathing in acidic solutions
- cleaning and smoothing welds by filing, chiselling and grinding
Default edition — 27 June 2013
- studying blueprints, drawings and specifications to determine job requirements
- selecting, cleaning and preparing metal stock
- cutting marked-out metal sections and shapes using hand tools, flame cutting torches and metal cutting machines
- shaping and bending metal sections and pipes using hand and machine tools, and by heating and hammering
- aligning parts to be joined using hand tools and measuring instruments
- joining metal sections using various welding techniques, bolting and riveting
- examining welds for width of bead, penetration and precision
- finishing products by cleaning, polishing, filing and bathing in acidic solutions
- cleaning and smoothing welds by filing, chiselling and grinding
Employer nomination only — 482, 186, 187
Salary context for this unit group
This is a unit-group benchmark, not a promise of individual earnings. Location, experience, employment type and overtime all affect pay.
Structural steel and welding trades workers, all employees — May 2025 survey. The bar shows the unit group’s relative position across the ABS earnings survey.
Compare routes by how they work
Visa numbers alone are hard to interpret. Grouping them by applicant goal makes the shortlist easier to understand.
Choose your pathway type
These are occupation-level possibilities, not a personal eligibility result.
What the 80-point figure means
Two different scores get called “the minimum”. Here is which is which.
Subclass 189 — Skilled Independent — June 2026 · lowest score invited, not a pass mark.
Subclass 189 — Skilled Independent
between 75 and 105, most recently 80.
Round-by-round recordLowest score invited
- June 202680
- November 202585
- August 2025105
- November 202475
- September 202475
- June 202485
Scores move between rounds. The most recent result does not set the next one.
Takes about two minutes. No obligation.
Check my points →Where this occupation sits in the queue
Ministerial Directions set the order applications are considered in.
The Direction treats this as a Construction occupation. Its processing priority is 1.
Expressions of interest lodged in SkillSelect
How many expressions of interest name this occupation, and the scores they hold.
Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) - Points tested stream
A permanent visa for invited workers with skills Australia needs, to live and work anywhere in the country.
Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
A permanent visa for skilled workers nominated by a state or territory.
Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)
A provisional visa for skilled workers who want to live and work in regional Australia, nominated by a state or territory.
Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)
A provisional visa for skilled workers who want to live and work in regional Australia, sponsored by an eligible family member.
⚠ These pools are counted separately by visa subclass and are not additive — one expression of interest can name more than one subclass.
Source: Australian Government SkillSelect data, August 2026. Counts EOIs with a submitted or lodged status.
Your first four decisions
A shorter, action-led sequence replaces the original seven-step list. Later lodgement steps only matter once the pathway is confirmed.
Match your actual duties—not only your job title—to Metal Fabricator 322311.
Map qualifications, employment proof and practical experience.
Compare the routes above side by side before committing to one.
Improve English and points, then pursue the strongest route first.
Trades Recognition Australia
TRA decides whether your skills and experience meet the Australian standard for Metal Fabricator 322311.
- A skills assessment is tied to the occupation you nominate — the code on this page is what gets assessed, not your job title
- Requirements, fees and timing are set by the assessing authority, not by the Department
- A positive assessment does not by itself produce an invitation or a visa
- Most skilled visa applications need it decided before you lodge, so start early
Published list snapshot
Select a state or territory to inspect its published-list status. Always confirm on the nominating body's own page.
Select a region on the map — or use Tab and Enter — to see its published-list status.
Select a region for details · Use Tab + Enter with a keyboard
- NSWUnit group on published list
- VICNo list published
- QLDOn published list
- SANo list published
- WAOn published list
- TASNot on published list
- NTOn published list
- ACTNot on published list
Employer-led alternatives
Some employers can sponsor workers under an agreement negotiated with the government. Only that employer can say whether one is open to you.
No industry labour agreement names this occupation.
Where these skills sit
Related roles may share duties, but a migration assessment is always against the single occupation you nominate.
What applicants usually need clarified
This page names a skills assessing authority. Does that body decide my visa?
No. A skills assessing authority assesses whether your qualifications and experience meet the Australian standard for the occupation, and issues an assessment. The Department of Home Affairs decides the visa. A positive assessment is one requirement among several — it does not create an entitlement to a visa and it does not bind the Department’s decision. Which body assesses a given occupation is set by legislative instrument; it is not a choice you or we make.
This occupation is listed for a visa on this page. Does that mean I qualify for it?
No. A listing means a legislative instrument specifies this occupation for that visa. That is one criterion. Each visa has its own separate requirements — which may include age, English, a skills assessment, nomination or sponsorship, work experience, and in some cases a points score — and those are assessed against your circumstances, not against the occupation. A listing tells you a door exists. It does not tell you that you can walk through it.
Why does this page show two sets of duties, and does the code I nominate matter?
ANZSCO — the occupation classification — has more than one edition, and different migration instruments designate different editions. The Skills in Demand and Employer Nomination instruments specify ANZSCO as in force on 23 November 2022. Both editions appear here because which one applies depends on the instrument governing the visa you are applying for.
The code matters. Visa routes are specified per code, so two codes describing similar work can carry different routes. Establishing the correct code before you apply is not a clerical step.
See where you stand against everyone else applying in this occupation
Check my points →Takes about two minutes. No obligation.
General Information Only
This page provides general information only and does not constitute migration, legal or other professional advice. It is not tailored to your individual circumstances and must not be relied upon as the basis for any decision, action, or omission.
Migration law, visa conditions, and skilled occupation lists change frequently — occupations may be added to or removed from lists by ministerial direction, and visa conditions on your grant letter are the operative document.
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