Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) document checklist
Points-tested stream
Permanent visa for invited skilled workers who are not sponsored by an employer, state or family member.
Identity
- Pages of the current passport showing the photo, personal details, and issue and expiry dates
- National identity card, if the applicant has one
- Proof of any change of name (e.g. marriage or divorce certificate, change of name documents from a Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or overseas authority)
Relationships
- Proof of marriage, divorce, widowhood or permanent separation (e.g. certificates or statutory declarations), if applicable
- If a partner or dependent child is not included, the reason why
Character
- Australian police certificate if the applicant has spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years since turning 16. Only complete-disclosure National Police Certificates from the Australian Federal Police are accepted
- Overseas police certificates where the official page requires them
Points claims
- Evidence of at least competent English at the time of invitation
- Documents supporting every claim in the Expression of Interest (check them against the points table)
- Skills assessment
- Evidence of each skilled employment period claimed, before the date of invitation (references on letterhead, contracts, payslips, tax and superannuation records)
- Qualifications, Australian study, specialist education or community-language evidence, where claimed
Partner included in the application
- Partner's identity and character documents
- Marriage certificate, or documents proving a de facto relationship (e.g. relationship registration, joint bank accounts, joint bills, joint lease or mortgage)
- Documents about other relationships, if applicable
Dependent children
- Birth certificates (or family book) showing the names of both parents for each child under 18
- Adoption papers, if applicable
- Consent from anyone with a legal right to decide where a child under 18 lives (parental responsibility documents)
- For children 18 and over: proof they meet the dependency rules on the official page (the age and dependency tests are set out there)