A mistake in your CDR submission could ruin your engineering career and your chances of staying in Australia. Many skilled engineers rush their migration visa or professional recognition applications, which results in rejections. Engineers Australia receives many applications annually, but only those without errors go through. 

Understanding the Migration Skills Assessment (MSA) Requirements

Engineers Australia (EA) helps to assess roles like Professional Engineer and Engineering Technologist by looking at competency standards. You'll need to show you have the needed skills in areas like ethics and design within your specific field. 

To make sure your CDR submission to EA meets the standards updated in November 2025. You can get the latest EA booklet from their site and check it against your draft. 

File Preparation and Language Competency

You need to label files clearly (e.g., Career_Episode_1.pdf) and keep each under 5MB. Then convert those files to PDF if possible. 

English language ability must be shown with current IELTS or PTE scores (taken within the last two years). Problems with language requirements may cause delays in EA's review of your CDR. 

Be sure to stay within page limits. There are very few chances that EA will not open files that are too long. And this will lead to rejection. 

Relating Episodes to your Skill Elements

You need to connect each episode to particular engineering skill elements, such as knowledge (1.1) or problem-solving (2.3). These three episodes should address all the needed elements. If you do not do this, then it will weaken your CDR submission.

When you are drafting, consider using color-coding to show these relationships. For example, you can use blue for Element 1 and green for Element 2. This is very useful for quickly verifying coverage. 

Often, applicants don't think about these links, which results in incomplete evaluations. 

Preparing for Your Engineering Career

A well-prepared CDR submission to EA stands out. You need to focus on clear writing, relevant paperwork, and proper layout. These elements meet Engineers Australia (EA) requirements and show what you can do. 

Ready to apply? Review this list and take the step toward success.