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Category 2: rule 97(2), paragraphs (c) and (d)

An applicant who has undertaken training in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland is regarded as having completed the academic requirements for admission to practice if they have completed either a degree in law or the Common Professional Examinations, followed by the Legal Practice Course.

A person in this category is normally required to take such of the following subjects as are not substantially equivalent to subjects which they have taken as part of their earlier studies.

Legal Institutions
Contracts
Torts
Criminal Law
Real Property
Equity
Australian Constitutional law
Commercial Transactions
Administrative Law
Company Law
Evidence
Civil Procedure
Legal Ethics

Category 3: rule 97, paragraph (e)

A person in this category has completed all of the academic requirements and any practical legal training requirements for admission to practice in their home jurisdiction, has been formally admitted to practice and has spent some time in practice.

The guidelines relating to applicants in category 2 normally apply also to applicants in category 3. However an applicant in this category who has been in sufficiently general practice for a period of not less than five years in a common law jurisdiction or a jurisdiction such as South Africa where the common law has had a significant influence may not be required to study Australian Constitutional Law. A period spent as a trainee solicitor or under articles in England and Wales, or its equivalent in another jurisdiction, does not count as part of the five year period.

Applications are commonly received from persons who have met the academic requirements for admission or been admitted in the following jurisdictions. Subject to the immediately preceding paragraph, the applicants are normally required to take the subjects indicated.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland - Australian Constitutional Law

Scotland - Real Property, Equity, Australian Constitutional Law and Evidence



A person who has attained legal qualifications overseas and wishes to apply for assessment/meet requirements for admission, should read the assessment guidlines (part of which is posted above) before proceeding as follows:

apply for academic exemptions, using Form 16;
enrol for, and undertake, the required academic subjects;
before completing the academic subjects, where applicable, apply for exemption from practical training using Form 17, OR, complete an acredited practical training course;
on completion of requirements apply for admission using Form 11. Applications for admission must be accompanied by two character references in Form 3A.

All forms available here


Immigration authorities have indicated to the Board that the assessment that they will find satisfactory is one that says '(applicants name)' has been admitted as a legal practitioner in NSW and, in the opinion of the Board, has suitable skills for a legal practitioner. Therefore, in order to obtain a "Skilled Migration Letter", a person will need to have overseas qualifications assessed in accordance with rules 97 and 98 of the Legal Profession Admission Rules 2005 and then be admitted as a lawyer.


Specific Advice for applicants from the UK is available in this PDF

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