Skills demand for Welder (First Class)
Whether an occupation is in demand shapes almost everything else about a skilled application — which visas are realistic, how competitive an invitation round is likely to be, and whether a state has any reason to nominate you.
Jobs and Skills Australia currently assesses this occupation as being in shortage. That is an assessment of the labour market, not a promise about your application — but it is the signal states and employers pay attention to.
Visa pathways for Welder (First Class)
Which visas are available to you depends on which of the government's skilled occupation lists your occupation appears on. The lists are not interchangeable, and being on one of them does not put you on the others.
Because this occupation is on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, the independent, state-nominated and regional skilled visas are all in scope.
Inclusion on the Core Skills Occupation List makes the Skills in Demand visa's Core Skills stream available, subject to the usual sponsorship and nomination requirements.
Skills assessment for Welder (First Class)
The skills assessment is the gate. An assessing authority, independent of the Department, must agree that your qualifications and experience match this occupation before anything else counts.
We do not publish a fee for this authority. Its fee schedule is not available in a form we can source reliably and keep current, and a stale figure on a page like this is worse than no figure at all — it looks authoritative and it is wrong. Use the link to the authority's own page.
The points test and Welder (First Class)
The points test is the most misunderstood part of the skilled program, and almost all of the confusion sits on a single distinction.
Meeting the minimum lets you submit an Expression of Interest. It does not get you invited. The Department invites in rank order from the top down, which means the effective bar is whatever the strongest applicants in your occupation happen to score.
A published minimum for this occupation appears above. Read it as occupation-specific and round-specific — it is not a standing cut-off, and it changes between rounds.
State and territory nomination
State and territory nomination is a separate process with its own rules. Each state publishes its own list and its own criteria, they change without much notice, and being nominated by one state does not help you with another. Check the nominating body directly.
How to apply, step by step
- Confirm the correct ANZSCO code for your occupation. Everything downstream depends on it, and an assessment obtained for the wrong code does not transfer.
- Obtain a positive skills assessment from the assessing authority for that occupation.
- Meet the English language requirement for the visa you are applying for.
- Lodge an Expression of Interest through SkillSelect, claiming only points you can evidence.
- If you are seeking state nomination, apply to the nominating body separately and on its terms.
- Wait to be invited. You cannot apply for the visa until an invitation is issued.
- Lodge the visa application within the period allowed by the invitation, with the evidence for every claim you made.