So, you wish to live and work in Australia as a nurse, why not. Australia is one of the most liveable places on earth and nurses are always in demand. They are well-regarded in the communities and well-paid nursing jobs are plenty. So where do you start, what are your options? We ourselves immigrated to this beautiful country many years ago and we understand the perspective, how the entire process can be quite daunting. This article is an attempt to lay down a roadmap that might be useful to you.
A. If you’re already a registered nurse in your home country
1st step: Acquire a proof of English proficiency
In all the steps we’ll discuss below, proof of your English proficiency is one of the things that you’ll always need. You acquire proof of English language proficiency by taking one of the English language proficiency tests below and achieving the minimum scores required for your profession.
– International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic – Minimum overall score of 7 with minimum score of 7 in listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
– Occupational English Test (OET) for Nurses – Minimum score of B in listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
– Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic – Minimum overall score of 65 and minimum score of 65 in listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
– Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) iBT – Minimum total score of 94 and minimum score of 24 in listening and reading, 27 in writing, and 23 in speaking.
The Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and Australian higher education providers also accept Cambridge C1 Advanced test, but there’s no point in taking it because it’s not recognised by other organisations that you’ll also need to submit proof to, namely the Nursing Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) and NBMA and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC).
Note: Native English speakers from USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, South Africa may get away with the need to provide English test scores in most cases but there are situations wherein even they would not satisfy the proficiency requirement without a test score. For example, anyone wishing to pick some points for having Proficient or Superior English level would need to present test scores as evidence, regardless of where they’re from.
So yes, first step is to take an English proficiency test and get the scores you need.
2nd step: Apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA)
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) is the umbrella organization of 15 National Boards that regulate all health professions in Australia, and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) is the National Board that regulates the nursing and midwifery professions (Note: Since our topic is nursing, we’ll confine our reference to NMBA with nursing although midwifery profession is also under NMBA)). All practicing nurses in Australia must be registered with NMBA.
One doesn’t need to be an Australian resident to apply for NMBA registration. Internationally qualified nurses and midwives (IQNMs) wishing to work in Australia can apply and be registered with NMBA as long as they meet the registration standards and qualification criteria.
If you’re a nursing graduate but is not registered to practice in your home country you won’t be able to satisfy NBMA’s registration standards and qualification criteria. Simply put, you need to be an existing RN overseas to apply for registration.
If you’re an RN but has zero practice in the last 5 years you will not satisfy the Recency of Practice (minimum of 450 hours practice in the last 5 years) required.
3rd step: Get a skills assessment with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC)
Being registered with NMBA so you can practice here as an RN is one thing but being able to stay and work here is another thing. You need a visa for that. So, after successfully registering with NMBA your next hurdle is the visa application process.
And the first step towards navigating the visa application process is to secure a suitable skills assessment for your occupation, for nursing the designated skills assessing authority is the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC).
Basically, you apply for skills assessment with ANMAC and if the outcome of your assessment is successful, ANMAC will issue you a Letter of Determination which says you have the suitable skills for your nominated occupation for the purpose of migrating to Australia. This is an important foundation of your skilled visa application.
Note: If you have a Partner (spouse) visa or Prospective Marriage (fiancé) visa, lucky you, you can skip this whole process of applying for skilled visa (in case you’re on Prospective Marriage visa, you need to finalise your marriage or acquire some other visa before it expires in 18 months) because those visas already allow you to come, stay, and work here in Australia.
4th step: Submit an Expression of Interest through the Department of Home Affairs (DHA)’s SkillSelect system.
With a few exceptions, you cannot directly apply for skilled visa. You need to be invited to apply. By submitting an EOI via SkillSelect, you’re saying to DHA you wish to be invited to apply for visa. Creating and submitting an EOI via the SkillSelect is free.
When filling out an EOI in SkillSelect, you’ll be asked what type of skilled visa you’re interested in. Typical skilled visas commonly used by prospective skilled migrants to Australia are:
a) Subclass 189 – Skilled Independent visa
– Permanent visa
– Points-based
– No nomination needed
b) Subclass 190 – Skilled Nominated visa
– Permanent
– Requires nomination by a state or territory
c) Subclass 491 – Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa
– Temporary up to 5 years
– Requires nomination by a state or territory, or sponsorship by a relative living in Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra, Geelong, Hobart, and in other designated regional areas. You must live in those regional areas (not necessarily in the same place as your sponsor) for a minimum number of years.
You can express interest in all of them. In fact, if it’s us that’s exactly what we will do, tick off the 189, 190, and 491 visas. There’s no harm in doing it. Like casting a bigger net to enhance our chances of getting fish, it enhances our chances of getting invited for either 189, 190, or 491.
Next, you’ll be asked questions like whether you (and your spouse/partner) have English proficiency test, a suitable skills assessment, relative who’d willing to sponsor you and where they live. You’ll also be asked about your (and your spouse/partner’s) age, preferred location in Australia, education, and employment history, etcetera.
All these things have corresponding points depending on your situation. For example, if your age is between 25 and 32, you’ll get the maximum 30 points. If your age is between 40 and 44, you’ll get only 15 points.
You must be truthful in answering the questions because it doesn’t make sense not to. You’ll need to provide evidence to back your answers at some point and if you exaggerate or lie, they will know and you’ll ruin your current application and may jeopardise any chance of you making another go at it in the future.
If your points add up to at least 65 points you have a chance to be invited to apply for Subclass 189 visa (if you’ve expressed interest in 189). Although you should be aware that the competition for such an invitation can be quite tough. Tough in a sense that you’ll be competing with others who also have high points.
Meanwhile, a state or territory nomination means you’re being nominated by a state or territory for either 190 or 491 visa. How do you get nominated? You apply to be nominated. But you cannot apply directly. Again, you need to submit an expression of interest to the state and territory authorities to be invited to apply. If your application for nomination by a state or territory is successful, it will automatically be reflected in the SkillSelect system and you’ll be qualified to receive an invitation to apply for either 190 or 491 visa depending on which visa you’ve expressed interest in or which type of visa nomination you’ve got.
Below are the webpages of states and territories discussing the procedures and requirements for 190 and 481 visa nominations:
1) Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
2) New South Wales (NSW)
3) Northern Territory (NT)
4) Queensland (QLD)
5) South Australia (SA)
6) Tasmania (TAS)
7) Victoria (VIC)
8) Western Australia (WA)
Once you’ve submitted your EOI and applied for nomination with states or territories, it’s now a waiting game for that invitation. For subclass 189 invitations, the system ranks the EOIs based on points and periodically picks from the top of the current batch of EOIs. If, for example, all current batch of EOIs have the same 65 scores, the selection will be on first come first serve basis. For subclass 190 and 491, it’s really a matter of securing a nomination or having a relative living in a designated area sponsor you (available only to 491 visa).
While waiting for the invitation, prepare all the required documents of your application so you can move quickly once you received it. You must apply within 60 days after receiving your invitation or it will expire.
B. If you’re not a registered nurse or you were unsuccessful in your NMBA registration
If you’re not an RN or you’re unsuccessful in your NMBA registration application or unable to get an invitation from DHA, you can still live and work in Australia as an RN by successfully completing a Bachelor of Nursing course in Australia.
There are two (2) major steps that you need to do to make this happen (in chronological order):
1. Apply for admission into a NMBA-approved nursing degree course in a CRICOS-registered Australian higher education provider and enrol once you’re offered a place. There are many higher education providers offering nursing degrees in many Australian cities, each one of them will have their own rules, requirements, timetables, etc., for applying. If you need help canvassing your options so you can zero in on a provider (or providers) that match your need and help you avoid application mistakes that may cost you time (e.g., miss out on crucial deadlines) and money (applications have fees), we offer our help at no cost to you. Give us a holler.
2. Once you’re enrolled, apply for a student visa subclass 500 with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). By law if for any reason you failed to secure an Australian student visa after enrolling, you’re entitled to a refund of the tuition fees you’ve paid.
There are some solid advantages to this path:
– Upon successful completion of your Bachelor of Nursing degree, you are eligible for registration with Nursing Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). No more MCQ exam and OSCE.
– You’re also eligible for a Graduate visa which will allow you to temporarily stay and work in Australia for 2 years.
– There are more opportunities to apply for other skilled visas. There are other visas, such as subclass 186, 482, and 494 that you can apply to if you’re already here and have an employer who’s willing to sponsor you. You can apply directly for these visas, no need to submit an EOI in SkillSelect.
– Your prospect of getting a 189, 190, or 491 visa is greatly enhanced. Simply put, having finished a tertiary course in Australia and currently living and working here open a wider door for possible State and Territory nomination, and gives you extra points for subclass 189 skilled independent visa application.
Note: Graduate visa is not renewable. But as long as you have applied for a skilled visa before your Graduate visa expires, you’re eligible for a Bridging visa which will allow you to continue staying and working in Australia until the result of your visa application is out. So, if the processing time of your skilled visa application takes two years, your Bridging visa will be good for two years. Furthermore, in some cases, if you’re holding a Graduate visa and applied for a skilled visa, you’re automatically issued a Bridging visa. The Department of Home Affairs would let you know if such is the case or you can check the status of your visa with VEVO.
Bonus Tip
If you really wish to live and work here as a nurse, and, for whatever reason, your only option is to study here but the cost of a Bachelor of Nursing may be out of your budget, there might be a way.
In Australia there is a role called Enrolled Nurse, which is just under the role of a Registered Nurse. It only takes a 2-year Diploma of Nursing study and the cost is only around 1/3 of the cost of a Bachelor of Nursing. If you wish, we can help you find a CRICOS-registered higher course provider offering NMBA-approved Diploma in Nursing course.
Enrolled Nurses also need to be registered with NMBA, but since you’ll be studying here it’s not going to be a problem. After your studies, you can also avail of Graduate visa to temporarily stay and work here. If you’re satisfied with being an Enrolled Nurse, you can start applying for a skilled visa after a while. Or you can save up to study and finish a proper Bachelor of Nursing degree later (to become a full-fledged RN). We can help you find a higher education provider who offers pathway to become a Registered Nurse from being an Enrolled Nurse.
Lastly, the steps discussed above pertain to nursing profession but it’s exactly what a midwife professional would also follow to stay and work here in Australia. In fact, if you’re an accountant, engineer, or pharmacist and wish to migrate in Australia, the steps discussed above are still valid except for the registration and skills assessment part as these professions have different registration and skills assessment setups.
All the best!
Disclaimer: We’re not a registered migration agent and Australian laws preclude us from giving any official migration advice. Things discussed in the article are not migration advice. Thank you.
