Occupation Lists for Immigration Explained: TEER, ANZSCO, SOC, and ISCO (2025)

Why Your Job Classification Determines Your Eligibility

Immigration systems don't assess you as a person — they assess you as an occupational data point. The same person with the same skills may be eligible for skilled immigration in one country and ineligible in another, depending entirely on how that country's occupational classification system categorizes their role.

Understanding these frameworks — not just knowing your code — helps you apply to the right program, avoid classification errors, and in some cases, make strategic decisions about which role to take or how to describe your duties.

Canada: TEER (Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities)

As of November 2022, Canada uses the NOC 2021 v1.0 system with 5-digit codes and TEER categories 0–5. (See our detailed NOC and TEER guide for the full breakdown.)

Key points for immigration:

• Express Entry requires TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 experience
• TEER is determined by duties, not job title
• Use Job Bank to identify your code
• Critical: document your job duties in reference letters to match the NOC lead statement

Australia: ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations)

Australia and New Zealand share the ANZSCO — Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations — maintained by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Statistics New Zealand.

Structure:

• 6-digit codes
• 5 skill levels
• 8 major groups → 25 sub-major groups → 100 minor groups → 358 unit groups

Skill levels for Australian migration:

Medium and Long-Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) and Short-Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL): Australia uses these supplementary lists to determine which ANZSCO codes are eligible for which visa subclasses. The MLTSSL provides the broadest access (189, 190, 491, TSS) while STSOL occupations have more restricted access.

How to check: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au lists eligible occupations by visa subclass.

ANZSCO examples:

United Kingdom: SOC (Standard Occupational Classification)

The UK uses the SOC 2020 (Standard Occupational Classification, 2020 revision) maintained by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Structure:

• 4-digit codes
• 9 major groups
• 90 minor groups
• 412 unit groups

RQF Level Requirement for Skilled Worker Visa: The UK Skilled Worker visa requires the role to be at or above RQF (Regulated Qualifications Framework) Level 3 — broadly equivalent to A-Level standard. However, most standard Skilled Worker routes target RQF Level 6+ (bachelor's degree equivalent) occupations.

The Home Office publishes a full list of eligible SOC codes and their associated salary thresholds for the Skilled Worker visa at gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations.

Key SOC examples:

Note: Since April 2024 the general threshold is £38,700, but shortage occupations and some healthcare roles have lower thresholds. The shortage occupation list was significantly revised in April 2024.

International: ISCO-08 (International Standard Classification of Occupations)

The ISCO-08 (International Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008 revision) is the ILO's global framework, used by:

• Portugal (D3 visa eligibility based on ISCO major groups 1, 2, 3)
• EU Blue Card programs
• International statistical bodies for cross-country labor market comparison

4-level hierarchy:

• Major group (1 digit): 10 groups
• Sub-major group (2 digits): 43 groups
• Minor group (3 digits): 130 groups
• Unit group (4 digits): 436 groups

Major groups relevant to immigration:

How to Find Your Code Across Systems

When you apply to multiple countries simultaneously, map your occupation to each system separately — your job may qualify easily in one system and require careful description in another.