ACS Skills Assessment for Vietnamese IT Degrees: What HCMUT, VNU, and Bach Khoa Graduates Need to Know

You have five years of software development experience at an FPT or VNG subsidiary. Your degree is from Bach Khoa HCMUT. You are confident your profile is strong — until you read that the ACS might only give you credit for three years of experience, or worse, categorize your degree as a "Minor" and wipe out even more of your employment history.

This confusion is one of the most common points of failure for Vietnamese IT professionals applying for Australian skilled migration. The Australian Computer Society (ACS) assessment system is not designed with Vietnam's university naming conventions or credit structures in mind. Here is exactly how it works, and what you can do to protect your application.

How the ACS Categorizes Vietnamese Degrees

The ACS does not simply look at your degree title. It examines your transcript line by line and classifies the ICT content of your qualification as one of three categories:

• ICT Major (Closely Related): Your degree is primarily ICT-focused. Most Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Information Technology degrees from leading Vietnamese universities qualify here.
• ICT Minor (Related): Your degree has some ICT subjects but is not primarily ICT. Examples include Electronics and Telecommunications, or Industrial Management with IT electives.
• Non-ICT or Insufficient: Your degree has little or no ICT content, requiring an RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) pathway.

Why does this matter? Because the classification directly determines your "Deemed Skilled Date" — the point in your career from which the ACS considers you a skilled worker. And the Deemed Skilled Date drives how many years of work experience you can claim on your visa points test.

The "Bach Khoa Major" Trap

Here is where many Vietnamese applicants are caught off guard. Some programs at HCMUT (Bach Khoa) are registered under an Engineering faculty banner — for example, "Kỹ thuật Điện tử Viễn thông" — but contain a very heavy ICT component. The ACS will not automatically classify these as a "Major" unless the transcript makes it clear.

The fix is straightforward but requires action on your part: obtain a detailed subject list from your university's Student Affairs office, not just the standard bảng điểm. You want a document that shows each subject name, the ICT category it falls under, and the number of credit hours. When the ICT subjects clearly dominate your credit total, the ACS has a much stronger basis to classify your degree as a Major.

Graduates from joint programs between HCMUT and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) benefit from a different route entirely — certain programs carry direct Engineers Australia or ACS accreditation through the TNE arrangement, potentially simplifying or shortening the assessment process.

Which ANZSCO Code Should You Choose?

One of the most consequential decisions you will make before lodging your ACS application is selecting the correct ANZSCO code. This code must match both your degree classification and your actual day-to-day job duties. The most common codes for Vietnamese IT professionals are:

• 261313 — Software Engineer: Requires design and development of software systems, architecture decisions, and systems integration. Higher demand from states but also higher competition.
• 261312 — Developer Programmer: Suitable if your role is primarily coding and feature implementation without broader architectural responsibility.
• 261111 — ICT Business Analyst: For professionals whose work bridges business requirements and technical solutions — a strong option for those in hybrid roles at banks or fintech companies.
• 262112 — ICT Systems Analyst: Appropriate for professionals analyzing complex system requirements.

The danger of picking the wrong code is not just a failed assessment — it can mean your chosen code is unavailable for state nomination in the state you are targeting, forcing you to wait months before reapplying.

ACS Assessment Fees in 2026

The standard ACS skills assessment (General Skills pathway) costs AUD 530 (approximately 9,100,000 VND at current exchange rates). There is also a Priority Assessment option for AUD 1,000 that targets a 20-business-day turnaround versus the standard 12-week timeline.

If your assessment comes back negative or with a lower classification than expected, the Review fee is AUD 300. Many applicants from Vietnam who receive a "Minor" classification for an engineering-heavy program choose to lodge a Review with supplementary transcript evidence rather than accept the initial outcome.

Additional costs to budget for:

• Certified English translations of your transcript and degree certificate: typically 500,000–2,000,000 VND per document depending on the translation agency
• Courier costs for certified copies: if using notarized physical documents, add 300,000–500,000 VND per sending

The Document Checklist for Vietnamese Applicants

Beyond the standard requirements, Vietnamese applicants should prepare several additional items that the ACS frequently requests or that strengthen an application:

Academic Documents

• Full university transcript (bảng điểm toàn khoá), not just the degree certificate
• Degree certificate (bằng tốt nghiệp) — both originals and certified English translations
• If available: subject descriptions or curriculum brochure showing ICT credit hours
• For Cao đẳng holders: the complete transcript is even more critical, as the ACS will scrutinize the ICT content percentage closely

Employment Evidence

• Labour contracts (hợp đồng lao động) listing your job title and start/end dates
• Reference letters on company letterhead — these must include a detailed description of your actual duties in English, not just confirmation of employment dates
• VSSID export (Bảo hiểm xã hội records) — this has become increasingly expected as secondary evidence. A screenshot or PDF export of your BHXH history provides an official, government-backed record of your employment timeline that Australian case officers treat as more reliable than company-issued letters alone
• Tax records (quyết toán thuế) showing annual income figures

Identity Documents

• Passport (all pages with stamps)
• If you have studied or worked in Japan or Korea: additional employment evidence from those countries is required

What Happens If Your Degree Is Classified as a Minor?

Receiving a "Minor" classification is not the end of the road, but it materially changes your strategy. With a 5-year experience deduction instead of 2 years, a professional with 6 years of total experience would only be credited with 1 year of skilled employment. That means only 5 points for work experience instead of potentially 15.

Vietnamese applicants in this situation typically pursue one of three paths:

1. Lodge a Review with supplementary evidence — provide the detailed curriculum brochure and a letter from your academic department explaining the ICT credit concentration
2. Accumulate more experience — wait until you have enough total experience that even after the 5-year deduction you can still claim meaningful points
3. Complete a Graduate Diploma in IT through an Australian or internationally recognized institution — this can be used to claim a new "Closely Related" qualification, resetting the experience deduction to 2 years

The third path is increasingly popular among Vietnamese professionals in their late 20s who are aiming to migrate before age 32 to preserve the maximum 30 age points.

Matching Your ACS Assessment to the Right Visa Pathway

Once you have a positive ACS outcome, your nominated ANZSCO code must appear on the relevant occupation list for the visa subclass you are targeting:

• Subclass 189 (Independent): The MLTSSL (Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List) or STSOL — though most ICT codes sit on both
• Subclass 190 (State Nominated): Requires your code to appear on the state's specific skills list — NSW, Victoria, and WA each maintain their own lists and update them regularly
• Subclass 491 (Regional): The broadest occupation coverage; the RSSL (Regional Occupation List) includes most IT codes

For Vietnamese applicants in IT roles, the 190 pathway via NSW or Victoria is the most common target, but both states have introduced tighter requirements for offshore applicants in recent rounds. If your points are below 90 with state nomination, the 491 regional pathway via South Australia or Western Australia deserves serious consideration.

A full breakdown of how the ACS assessment feeds into the points test, state nomination strategy, and the specific documentation steps from Vietnam is in the Vietnam to Australia Skilled Migration Guide.

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