On your way to get migrated to Australia, various instances including, Visa applications, and Skills Assessment applications, For almost all skilled visas in Australia as well as for skills assessments, you need to provide employment experience evidence.
If you’re self-employed and need to prove your work history, getting your documents in order can feel overwhelming. You might not have the same documents as a traditional employee, such as payslips, but you can still meet the requirements with alternative evidence. This guide will break it down into simple steps and even suggest some samples to make it easier.
What Counts as Self-Employment?
Self-employment can take different forms, such as:
- Owning your own business: You run and manage your own company
- Being a partner in a business: You share ownership of a business with others.
- Freelancing or contracting: You provide services to clients or companies independently as a sole trader.
What Documents Do Self-Employed People Need?
1. Official Reference Letter
A letter from a qualified third party (like an accountant) is key to your evidence. It must be on their official letterhead and include:
- How long you’ve been self-employed.
- Specific employment dates for your role.
- Details about your work, such as responsibilities and annual income.
- For partnerships: A partner in the business can provide this letter, as long as it’s on official letterhead.
- For freelancers: Include a reference letter from a client that describes your role, how long you worked with them, your duties, and how much you earned.
Note: A testimonial written by yourself, even if it’s on your business letterhead, won’t be accepted.
2. Proof of Business Registration
Show that your business is official by including:
- Business registration records. For example, ABN registration. Or if you were doing business overseas, something similar.
- A partnership deed if you’re in a partnership.
3. Statutory Declaration
Usually, you can provide a statutory declaration if you are in Australia (or a formal notarial statement if you are offshore) to explain your duties. However, it’s not a replacement for other evidence, including pay evidence.
4. Payment Evidence
Only paid work counts! To prove this, provide documents showing regular income, such as:
- Invoices sent to clients.
- Matching bank statements showing payments.
- Official tax records.
All payment records must clearly show your name and your client’s name.
5. What About Working Hours?
It is best to present a work hours excel sheet to reflect all the work hours for each client/project. We also suggest the work hours to be reflected in the invoices sent to the clients.
Please also be aware, the Department has different interpretations for full time work for different Visa applications. For General Skilled Migration, 20 hours per week can be considered as full-time work whereas for 482/186, full-time work will need to be 38 hours usually.
6. Supplementary Evidence
To strengthen your application, you can add extra proof such as:
- Contracts with clients or suppliers.
- Testimonials from clients that describe your work and the exact dates of engagement.
- Evidence of completed projects.
By gathering these documents and presenting them clearly, you can make a strong case for your self-employment experience. With the right preparation, the process can be much smoother!