What documents does VETASSESS require translated?
VETASSESS (Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services) is the Department of Home Affairs designated assessing authority for over 360 professional, technical and trade occupations not covered by a specialist body. Every document not originally in English must be accompanied by a NAATI certified English translation before it can be uploaded to the VETASSESS online portal. For Spanish-speaking applicants, the documents most commonly requiring translation are:
- Bachelor or postgraduate degree certificates (título universitario) — front and back of the parchment.
- Academic transcripts and grade records (certificado de calificaciones, historial académico, kardex).
- Employment reference letters detailing role, dates and hours per week.
- Payslips, tax records or social security contribution histories used as secondary employment evidence.
- Curriculum vitae if originally drafted in Spanish.
- Passport bio page (if not in English) and national identity card.
- Trade qualifications, apprenticeship records and trade licences for VETASSESS Trades Assessments.
Academic transcripts and qualifications
VETASSESS evaluates whether your qualification is comparable to an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level appropriate for the nominated occupation. Assessors rely on the academic transcript to map your subjects against the core fields required by the occupation. For this reason the translation must reproduce the transcript in full — every subject name, mark, credit-hour value, GPA calculation, total points, university seal and registrar's signature. Where the original transcript is laid out as a multi-column table or includes a separate syllabus or contact-hour breakdown, the translation preserves the same structure so the VETASSESS assessor can read it the same way the original was issued. Degree parchments are translated on both sides, including conferral date, faculty, mode of study and any honours endorsement.
Employment reference letters
For VETASSESS, employment references are the primary evidence that your work experience was at the required skill level and met the full-time hours threshold (normally at least 20 hours per week of paid, post-qualification employment). Each reference letter should be on company letterhead and must include the exact dates of employment, your position title, the country where the work was performed, hours per week, and a detailed list of duties. The NAATI translator translates the letter verbatim — including the letterhead, position title, dates, duties and the signatory's name and title. Any detail missing from the original cannot be added in translation, so it pays to review your Spanish references for completeness before translating. Payslips, contracts and social security contribution histories are translated to corroborate the dates and employer named in the letter.
How Trans Lingo helps with VETASSESS applications
Trans Lingo specialises in Spanish to English NAATI certified translations for Australian migration. Upload your full VETASSESS bundle — degree, transcript, employment letters, identity documents — through the secure order form. We quote per page at $59, complete the NAATI certified translations within 24 hours of confirmed payment, and return searchable PDFs formatted to mirror the layout of each original document. Every translation carries the NAATI translator's stamp, certification statement, signature and date, and is accepted by VETASSESS without exception.
Related guides
See skills assessment translation overview and academic transcript translation.