Precautions for domestic nurses with experience who want to immigrate under the Registered Nurse category
Recently, there have been many inquiries about applicants with 5 or even 10 years of nursing work experience in China, wanting to go through Registered Nurse for
employer sponsorship or state sponsorship independent sponsorship. However, due to the low threshold for nurses in China, many are graduates of technical secondary schools or junior colleges, who can do domestic academic qualifications
certification, but may not necessarily do the academic certification here in Australia, thus not having the AHPRA registration qualification and the final ANMAC occupational
assessment.
Today, let's talk about the points to note when going through Registered Nurse:
First, clarify the concepts
• AHPRA/NMBA registration: For professional qualification, determines whether you can practice as an RN in Australia. Most overseas nurses need to go through the IQNM process + OBA (NCLEX-RN + OSCE) to obtain registration.
• ANMAC occupational assessment: For the immigration points system (EOI/state sponsorship, etc.), proves you meet the professional ability standards of Registered Nurse (various subdivision codes 2544xx). Usually, it's safest to go through Modified Assessment after obtaining AHPRA registration.
Simple sequence: Meet English requirements → AHPRA (IQNM/OBA) → Obtain RN registration → ANMAC (Modified) → EOI/state
sponsorship/visa
Second, basic requirements
1. Basic requirements for AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) registration
• Academic requirements:
o Must complete an AQF Level 7 (Australian bachelor's degree) or equivalent or higher in nursing.
o Domestic technical secondary school or junior college qualifications usually cannot directly meet the requirements, additional studies are needed to make up.
• English requirements:
o IELTS four 7s, or OET B, or PTE four 65s (no less than 65 in each).
• Clinical internship requirements:
o Need to complete a specified duration of clinical internship in an accredited course (usually no less than 800 hours), covering
core nursing areas.
• Overseas academic certification:
o AHPRA will assess whether overseas nursing courses are equivalent to Australian nursing bachelor's degrees, if not equivalent, will require additional courses (such as Bridging Program / OBA path).
2. ANMAC (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council) occupational assessment requirements
• Prerequisites:
o Applicants must first obtain AHPRA registration (generally General Registration), otherwise cannot apply for ANMAC occupational assessment.
• English requirements:
o Same as AHPRA, requires IELTS four 7s or equivalent.
• Documentation requirements:
o AHPRA registration proof, academic proof, work experience proof, etc.
• Assessment types:
o Modified Skills Assessment (for those who have completed nursing education in Australia)
o Full Skills Assessment (for those with overseas education and registration) Third, several common paths
Path A: Bachelor's degree or above in nursing background + recent clinical experience
Applicable: Domestic bachelor's/master's degree in nursing graduates, with clinical practice in the past 5 years.
Process:
1. AHPRA self-check → Qualification/material verification → Complete Orientation Part 1
2. OBA two steps: First MCQ (RN is NCLEX-RN), after passing, schedule OSCE (Australian test station)
3. Complete Orientation Part 2 → Submit registration application (no criminal record, health, ≥450h practice in the past 5 years, etc.) → Obtain RN registration
4. ANMAC Modified occupational assessment → EOI/state sponsorship/visa
Key points: Controllable timeline, core in English & OBA pass rate.
Path B: Technical secondary school/junior college nursing (non-bachelor's degree) background
Pain point: In most cases, the academic level is insufficient (below AQF 7 bachelor's degree), difficult to directly go through AHPRA OBA.
Options:
• B1｜Study Bachelor of Nursing in Australia (2–3 years): Apply for RN registration as an Australian graduate (no need for OBA), then go through ANMAC.
o Advantages: High path certainty;
o Risks/costs: Tuition and cycle are longer, need student visa and clinical internship investment, IELTS requirement for admission is four 7s.
• B2｜First complete bachelor's degree overseas, then aim for AHPRA: Such as studying nursing bachelor's degree in a third country then go through OBA.
o Advantages: Total cycle may be shorter than studying bachelor's in Australia;
o Risks: Course equivalence may not be accepted by AHPRA, there is uncertainty.
Suggestion: If the goal is long-term practice and immigration in Australia, B1 is more stable.
Path C: Already registered and practicing in recognized countries (such as New Zealand/UK/USA, etc.)
• Such backgrounds may have the opportunity to go through simplified/mutual recognition assessment (whether OBA is needed depends on the policy at the time).
• Still need to meet English, recent practice, and material verification.
• After successfully obtaining AHPRA registration, proceed as usual with ANMAC Modified.
Path D: Recently lacking clinical practice
• AHPRA has Recency of practice requirement: At least 450 hours of relevant practice accumulated in the past 5 years.
• Solution: First make up clinical hours in the home country or other regions or participate in compliant re-entry/re-training, then enter the AHPRA process.
Common pitfalls
• Insufficient academic level or course duration/internship hours → Directly judged as not equivalent, cannot enter OBA (common in technical secondary school/junior college).
• English not met at once: AHPRA has English language skill standards (accepts IELTS Academic, OET, PTE Academic, etc., usually requires each component to meet the standard; whether scores can be combined, validity period, etc., subject to the official standards at the time).
• Incomplete material verification: Especially overseas registration good standing (COGS), name changes, notarization consistency.
• Recency not met: Need to first make up 450 hours of practice in the past 5 years.
• OBA scheduling and preparation: MCQ/OSCE queuing and sessions are limited, preparation cycle needs to be reserved; systematic exam preparation is recommended (question bank training + OSCE scenario drills). Information source:https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Accreditation/IQNM/Self-check-and
Portfolio/Completing-the-Self-check.aspx#