A Wall and Floor Tiler (ANZSCO 333411) can apply for Australian permanent residence through the points-tested 189, 190 and 491 visas, or through employer sponsorship under the 482, 494 and 186 visas, because the occupation sits on both the Core Skills Occupation List and the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. The pathway starts with a skills assessment from Trades Recognition Australia (TRA), the body responsible for assessing this trade for migration purposes.
Kingsbridge Australia regularly works with tilers, both offshore and already working in Australia, who assume their trade is limited to a single visa route. It isn’t. Here’s how the TRA assessment actually works, what it costs, and a classification change worth knowing about before you lodge anything.
What Is the Wall and Floor Tiler Skills Assessment?
The Wall and Floor Tiler skills assessment is a trade-equivalence check run by Trades Recognition Australia (TRA), the Australian Government body that assesses trade occupations for migration purposes. TRA compares an applicant’s qualifications and work experience against the Australian standard for the trade — in this case, a Certificate III in Wall and Floor Tiling (CPC31320) — and issues a formal outcome that Home Affairs then uses to assess a visa application.
ANZSCO classifies Wall and Floor Tiler at Skill Level 3, covering the preparation of surfaces and the laying of ceramic, clay, slate, marble and glass tiles on walls and floors. One detail worth flagging now, since it will matter for anyone researching this occupation over the next year: the Australian Bureau of Statistics is phasing in the Occupation Standard Classification of Australia (OSCA) to replace ANZSCO, and Wall and Floor Tiler sits under OSCA code 362431 in the new “Glaziers, Plasterers and Tilers” group. For the time being, Home Affairs’ skilled visa lists and TRA’s own assessment still run on the ANZSCO 333411 code, so that remains the number to quote on a visa application — but don’t be confused if a newer government data source refers to the occupation by its OSCA code instead.
Which Visa Pathways Does a Wall and Floor Tiler Qualify For?
A Wall and Floor Tiler with a positive TRA assessment has access to six visa subclasses, because the occupation appears on both of Australia’s two skilled-migration lists at once: the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) and the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). Confirmed directly against the Department of Home Affairs’ published occupation lists, that dual listing means Wall and Floor Tiler is not restricted to employer sponsorship alone, unlike several CSOL-only trades Kingsbridge has covered before (bricklaying and carpentry among them).
In practice, that gives a Wall and Floor Tiler a genuine choice between two visa routes. Points-tested, no employer required: Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent), Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated, state-sponsored) and Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional). Employer-sponsored: Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand, Core Skills stream), Subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional) and Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme), the last of which leads directly to permanent residence. Which route makes sense depends on whether the applicant already has a sponsoring employer lined up, and whether they can score enough points for the 189/190/491 pathway without one.
Does the Construction Sector’s Priority Processing Apply to Tilers?
Yes. Construction is one of the nine priority sectors named in Ministerial Directions 121 and 122, the skilled-visa processing order that replaced Direction 119 on 19 September 2026. Under MD121 (subclass 482 applications) and MD122 (the ten other skilled subclasses, including 186, 189, 190, 191, 491 and 494), construction occupations sit at tier one of the processing queue regardless of whether the applicant is onshore or offshore — a genuinely better position than the MD119 system it replaced, which reserved top-tier processing for onshore applicants only in a narrower set of sectors. Kingsbridge has already flagged this change to construction-trade clients covered in earlier guides (carpenters, bricklayers and painting trades workers); it applies in exactly the same way to a Wall and Floor Tiler’s application, whichever of the six visa subclasses above is used.
How Does the TRA Assessment Process Actually Work?
TRA runs two separate pathways, and which one applies depends on where the applicant currently lives. The Offshore Skills Assessment Program (OSAP) is for applicants outside Australia and has two pricing tiers: Pathway 2, a documentary-evidence-plus-technical-interview assessment, costs A$2,020 (A$1,120 plus A$900); Pathway 1, which adds a practical skills test where TRA considers it necessary, costs up to A$5,320 (A$1,120 plus A$2,000 plus A$2,200). Both pathways are typically processed within 15 weeks of TRA receiving complete evidence.
The Job Ready Program (JRP) is for applicants already working in Australia and runs as a structured assessment across the applicant’s employment period, totalling A$3,410 (A$490 plus A$2,845 plus A$75). Either way, TRA is looking for a qualification comparable to the Certificate III in Wall and Floor Tiling, backed by verifiable, recent trade experience — generally at least 12 months within the last three years, supported by employer references, payslips or tax records, and evidence of the actual work (photographs, job sheets or project records). Several Australian states also require a building or trade contractor licence before a tiler can take on unsupervised or higher-value contract work, which is a separate, state-level requirement on top of the migration assessment.
What’s the Right First Step?
Before lodging anything with TRA, it’s worth confirming two things: which of the six visa subclasses actually fits your situation (an employer-sponsored 482 looks very different from a points-tested 491), and whether your existing qualification and documented experience will clear TRA’s Certificate III-equivalent bar without gaps. Getting this wrong after paying the OSAP or JRP fee is the most common and most avoidable way applicants lose months on this pathway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Wall and Floor Tiler eligible for the 189 visa?
Yes. Wall and Floor Tiler (ANZSCO 333411) is on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List as well as the Core Skills Occupation List, which makes it eligible for the points-tested Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa, along with 190 and 491, subject to a positive TRA skills assessment and meeting the points test.
Which authority assesses Wall and Floor Tiler for migration?
Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) is the assessing authority, not VETASSESS or Engineers Australia. TRA compares an applicant’s qualifications and experience against a Certificate III in Wall and Floor Tiling (CPC31320).
How much does the Wall and Floor Tiler skills assessment cost?
Offshore applicants pay A$2,020 (Pathway 2) or up to A$5,320 (Pathway 1, with a practical test) under TRA’s Offshore Skills Assessment Program. Onshore applicants pay A$3,410 total under the Job Ready Program. These are TRA’s own published program fees, not occupation-specific charges.
Does the occupation have a different code under OSCA?
Yes. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ new Occupation Standard Classification of Australia lists this trade under OSCA code 362431 (“Glaziers, Plasterers and Tilers” group), replacing the ANZSCO structure over time. Visa applications and TRA assessments currently still use ANZSCO 333411.
Key Takeaways
- Wall and Floor Tiler (ANZSCO 333411) sits on both the CSOL and the MLTSSL, opening six visa subclasses: 189, 190, 491, 482, 494 and 186.
- Trades Recognition Australia (TRA), not VETASSESS, is the assessing authority, benchmarked against a Certificate III in Wall and Floor Tiling.
- Offshore assessment (OSAP) costs A$2,020 to A$5,320; onshore assessment (JRP) costs A$3,410.
- Construction sits at tier one of the MD121/122 processing order regardless of the applicant’s location — a genuine advantage over several other trades.
- The ABS’s incoming OSCA classification (code 362431) will eventually replace ANZSCO 333411, but current visa and TRA processes still run on the ANZSCO code.
Ready to find out if you qualify?
Kingsbridge Australia offers a free 15-minute pre-assessment with Dexter Lee, our Registered Migration Agent (MARN 2518927), to see if you qualify for this pathway. Book a time below.
