Australian Skilled Migration Visa - Megathread

suezi

Just thought Id share that we lodged our EOI through skill select on Mon Oct 8th and received an email back on Sunday 14th of Oct, inviting us to loge our application.

It took 6 days - we were very surprised!!

bmwguy

suezi wrote: »

Just thought Id share that we lodged our EOI through skill select on Mon Oct 8th and received an email back on Sunday 14th of Oct, inviting us to loge our application.

It took 6 days - we were very surprised!!

Hi Suezi,

What occupations are you in? I'm thinking of lodging an application very soon, I'm a part qualified CIMA accountant with 8 years work experience, hopefully I qualify

eh2010

If you have a BA Degree does this qualify for a skilled visa?

suezi

bmwguy wrote: »

Hi Suezi,

What occupations are you in? I'm thinking of lodging an application very soon, I'm a part qualified CIMA accountant with 8 years work experience, hopefully I qualify

Hi there,

Im in IT but its lodged as de facto on my partner, who is in engineering. Have a look on this site, it has a summary of the different types of visas, there are loads!!
http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/

damo111

hi guys,
just a quick question,
im looking to put in an expression of interest and need a skill assessment and i think an english assessment???
I am a qualified motor mechanic with a recognised fetac level 6 cert and some other trade related qualifications also as I am irish i speak fluent english...
My question is am I definitely going to have to pay the practical assessment fee and do a practical trade test in the UK or will I get away with just having to do a skype type interview regarding my skills.
The thought of going to london to do a day worth of exams at a cost of around 1500 quid is a bit off putting to say the least..
Also who better to get my assessment done by vetassess or vic unniversity

damo111

does any one have info about these technical interviews???
has anyone done one, I am a motor mechanic and was wondering is it a skype based interview asking technical questions or is it a skype based exam requiring me to do some stuff with my tools...
do i go in a suit or overalls..
be great if someone could help..
the girl in trades at vic university said mechanics can be assessed in dublin and kilkenny no travel to UK for us grease monkeys

el diablo

damo111 wrote: »

does any one have info about these technical interviews???
has anyone done one, I am a motor mechanic and was wondering is it a skype based interview asking technical questions or is it a skype based exam requiring me to do some stuff with my tools...
do i go in a suit or overalls..
be great if someone could help..
the girl in trades at vic university said mechanics can be assessed in dublin and kilkenny no travel to UK for us grease monkeys

You might have better luck if you post in either (or both) of these forums:

http://www.pomsinoz.com/

http://britishexpats.com/forum/

annemar23

bmwguy wrote: »

Hi Suezi,

What occupations are you in? I'm thinking of lodging an application very soon, I'm a part qualified CIMA accountant with 8 years work experience, hopefully I qualify

Hi
My situation is slightly different. I am a qualified CPA accountant with 2 years post qualification experience. I am applying for the skilled nominated (subclass 190) visa.
I lodged an application for state sponsorship in WA on 25th September, received confirmation that it was awarded on 9th October. This seemed to automatically mean that I got an invitation to apply for a visa as this came through the following day. It is supposed to take 5 weeks to have a case officer assigned to review your application but I got one after less than 2 weeks.
Everything is moving very quickly.:)

I am not sure what the situation is with applying when you are not fully qualified.

shadowcomplex

Is the following order for the process of getting a migration visa correct?

1.expression of Interest

2.Pre application skills assessment

3.IELTS

4.Visa application

5.Police clearance

6.Medical

What are the costs involved at each stage? and how long of a wait is there between each stage?

annemar23

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Is the following order for the process of getting a migration visa correct?

1.expression of Interest

2.Pre application skills assessment

3.IELTS

4.Visa application

5.Police clearance

6.Medical

What are the costs involved at each stage? and how long of a wait is there between each stage?

1 IELTS. Could be waiting up to 6 weeks to get exam date. Cost €180

2 skills assessment. Waiting times would vary depending on the type of skills being assessed. CPA Australia process in 2 weeks but they correspond by post so you have to send your documents by post and wait for results of assessment by post. If they require any additional info they also request by post which is frustrating. Cost aus$450. Also costs associated with have documents certified as originals and courier costs. May take a while for you to gather all the documents required.

3 expression of interest. No cost

Optional step to apply for state sponsorship in case of skilled nominated visa.cost aus$250. Was only waiting a few days for results of this

4 invitation to apply for visa. No guarantee of receiving invitation. The more points you have the higher the likelihood of receiving invitation. On receipt of invitation youcan lodge application and have 90 days to provide evidence of the claims you made in expression of interest. Cost aus$2960! So make sure you can provide back up to your claims because the payment in non refundable if you don't get visa.

5health checks€250 approx

6 Garda certificate no cost. This only took a few days to be processed but the more previous addresses you have has a bearing on processing times

Hope this helps

lynnyloo

Hi Shadowcomplex,

Once your Skills Ass has been approved and your Ielts completed, you then request the sponsorship and once that has been approved you lodge everything to the DIAC.. Following this you will be assigned a case officer and they will request the medical and Garda Clearance. Once all this is submitted you sit and wait.. We got our permanent residency a month ago and we were only waiting 7 weeks... Best of Luck !!

shadowcomplex

lynnyloo wrote: »

Hi Shadowcomplex,

Once your Skills Ass has been approved and your Ielts completed, you then request the sponsorship and once that has been approved you lodge everything to the DIAC.. Following this you will be assigned a case officer and they will request the medical and Garda Clearance. Once all this is submitted you sit and wait.. We got our permanent residency a month ago and we were only waiting 7 weeks... Best of Luck !!

When I get invited to apply for the visa , how long do I have to pay the fee , does this have to be paid straight away or can the process be put on hold with no negative impact until I can come up with the money

mandrake04

shadowcomplex wrote: »

When I get invited to apply for the visa , how long do I have to pay the fee , does this have to be paid straight away or can the process be put on hold with no negative impact until I can come up with the money

I think you have 60 days to respond by successfully lodging a visa application otherwise they retract the invite and after 2 retracted invites they remove your EOI. You would then have to start from scratch.

A successful visa application includes the complete payment at that time.

yogimotorsport

Hi all
I lodged a Decision ready application for my employer nominated 186 visa few days ago
I was told i will get a letter of acknowledgement within 4 weeks and a decision may take up to 4-9 months
Is this only a guideline waiting time or could i realistically be waiting that long

Traq

I was told i will get a letter of acknowledgement within 4 weeks and a decision may take up to 4-9 months

Wow, the timeline's really blown out on the decision ready applications. I went through it at the start of the year and it took about seven or eight weeks. I have heard that there was a massive amount of applications just before the July changes this year, and that backlog is what's causing the process to take longer than it did previously.

I'd say you probably will be waiting that length of time, best thing to do is just let it tick away in the background and not think about it too much. If you've got all your paperwork in order it will just be a matter of time before it's granted.

rapperboi58

Hi, does anyone know if I apply for a Working Holiday Visa and go to Australia, can I attain a Skilled Recognized Graduate Visa while in Australia?

The thing is I'd like to go to Australia around April next year and the Working Holiday Visa can be processed fairly fast but to get the Skilled Recognized Graduate Visa, I have to apply on SkillSelect and I read it could take up to 7 months or so to be processed. So I am wondering if I was in Australia and got invited to apply for the Skilled Recognized Graduate visa while on the Working Holiday one, what would happen? Would it matter? Or would I have to leave Australia and come back again. I want to go there and work but I want to work more than 6 months with same employer and the Skilled Recognized Graduate Visa has no restrictions and allows one to stay there for 18 months.

Any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

el diablo

Anyone here used Southern Cross Alliance (Australian Registered Migration Agent) on Market St., Sydney for processing of 189 or 190 Visas?

Any info/reviews on them would be appreciated.

badgerbadger27

what are the chances of getting sponsorship for a college graduate in the area of education? or in the area of business?

and if possible then how do you go about getting it?

Napolean

Hi Folks,

Great thread, full of good info.

I have a couple of simple questions if someone can help. With regard to getting my skills assessed (I am a qualified accountant), I have already completed my english test and will now be sending off for my skills assessment. Can you tell me:

1) Am I to use the migration-assessment-application form?
2) Official certified true copies of academic awards: Is this Uni award and who should certify this?
3) Official certified true copies of academic transcripts: Is this simply the uni page with all my results & subjects? Again, who needs to certify this? Does it need to be on headed paper? Signature or stamp certification?
4) Official certified true copies of IELTS - sae question - who certifies this?

I just want be sure before I go to a doctor/cop etc, get everything stamped and then its no good as they look for Uni certification.

Thanks folks.

el diablo

Napolean wrote: »

Hi Folks,

Great thread, full of good info.

I have a couple of simple questions if someone can help. With regard to getting my skills assessed (I am a qualified accountant), I have already completed my english test and will now be sending off for my skills assessment. Can you tell me:

1) Am I to use the migration-assessment-application form?
2) Official certified true copies of academic awards: Is this Uni award and who should certify this?
3) Official certified true copies of academic transcripts: Is this simply the uni page with all my results & subjects? Again, who needs to certify this? Does it need to be on headed paper? Signature or stamp certification?
4) Official certified true copies of IELTS - sae question - who certifies this?

I just want be sure before I go to a doctor/cop etc, get everything stamped and then its no good as they look for Uni certification.

Thanks folks.

As far as I know if you're getting them certified it'll have to be done aby a solicitor or a peace commissioner.

Not for Long

hi. I seem to be getting conflicting information on this so i thought id ask-

For the General Skilled Migration Visa is the ielts exam the acadamic one rather than the general one?

Thanks!

DeclanClune

Not for Long wrote: »

hi. I seem to be getting conflicting information on this so i thought id ask-

For the General Skilled Migration Visa is the ielts exam the acadamic one rather than the general one?

Thanks!

It depends on your occupation. The medical professions require the academic test but the other occupations require the general test and if you are going for a pass mark of 7 for example - you need to get 7 in each subject - not just an overall average score.

Hope that helps.

Declan Clune

Not for Long

Thanks for that!

The occupation is quantity surveying- Has anybody had recent experience with this?

Will 8 marks in each test section get me the maximum points available for the visa?

If anybody has an idea of which exam i need to take and what i need to score on it to ensure maximum points for my visa application, it would be much appreciated.

even where i can find out this information would be useful!

Cheers

DeclanClune

A score of 8 on each test will get you the maximum points and you would need to do the general test as a QS.

Australian immigration have just increased their 457 sponsorship visa fees and it is only a matter of time before they inccrease the skilled migration fees. If you are lodging a skilled migration application, you'd want to be sure that what you are lodging is valid and meets their criteria - otherwise you risk wasting valuable time and money.

Best of luck. Declan

Not for Long wrote: »

Thanks for that!

The occupation is quantity surveying- Has anybody had recent experience with this?

Will 8 marks in each test section get me the maximum points available for the visa?

If anybody has an idea of which exam i need to take and what i need to score on it to ensure maximum points for my visa application, it would be much appreciated.

even where i can find out this information would be useful!

Cheers

No6

I am looking at applying for a State Sponsored Visa and my profession is only on the consolidated skills list. I am in WA already on a 457 but would like to apply for PR quickly for family reasons, rather than waiting 2 years for the employer nominated PR visa. The skilled Nominated subclass 190 visa seems to be appropiate to me.

I need a skills assessment which is no problem my questions are

Are there many of these visas given out for skills not on the primary sol list?

Do I have to get a job offer to get this visa, I already have a job and dont want to change it?

Will making an expression of Interest in this type of visa affect my existing 457 visa?

DeclanClune

Hi No.6

There are approx about 100,000 permanent residency visas issued each year in Australia - this covers a range of visa types. Different visa subclasses have caps on the numbers of visas issued.

The 190 is where you require a state to sponsor you so a job offer is not required for that visa type.

An expression of interest is the route you need to go through whether you are applying for the 190 or ENS or other visa subclass under the general skilled migration system. It wouldn't affect your current visa status until your new visa was granted.

As you need a PR visa quickly, there are different factors that need to be considered to determine the best option for you.

Thanks Declan

No6 wrote: »

I am looking at applying for a State Sponsored Visa and my profession is only on the consolidated skills list. I am in WA already on a 457 but would like to apply for PR quickly for family reasons, rather than waiting 2 years for the employer nominated PR visa. The skilled Nominated subclass 190 visa seems to be appropiate to me.

I need a skills assessment which is no problem my questions are

Are there many of these visas given out for skills not on the primary sol list?

Do I have to get a job offer to get this visa, I already have a job and dont want to change it?

Will making an expression of Interest in this type of visa affect my existing 457 visa?

Empire o de Sun

Not for Long wrote: »

Thanks for that!

The occupation is quantity surveying- Has anybody had recent experience with this?

Will 8 marks in each test section get me the maximum points available for the visa?

If anybody has an idea of which exam i need to take and what i need to score on it to ensure maximum points for my visa application, it would be much appreciated.

even where i can find out this information would be useful!

Cheers

Do the "IELTS General Training" exam, there are two types of test. You need to do the General.

Point of note is that just because you are a native speaker (assuming you are) doesn't mean you will get high marks. When you sign up for IELTS you get access to a couple of sample exams. Do them, and watch the videos on the site. This will show you the structure of the exam and the mistakes that can be easily made.

I did the exam, and if I didn't prepare I probably would have gotten less than a 6 in some parts of it, especially listening and reading.

Answers have to be precise, and in plural if need be etc. otherwise the answer is wrong. So if you wrote "mountain" instead of "mountains", you are wrong.

Don't stress too much, do the practice test and you be grand.

I got an 8 overall.

Remember, you mark is your lowest of four areas so if you get

listening = 9
reading = 6
writing = 8
speaking = 9

your result will be 6 and not the average which is 8

Randy Watson

First of all, top thread. Very informative. Thanks to all those involved.

I'm a qualifed engineer who hasn't worked in the industry for a few years and I've had enough and decided to move to Australia. I'm currently in the process of applying for a visa and have been quoted a price of 549 dollars by National Visas.

Is this the standard rate?

JaManSnowFlake

Randy Watson wrote: »

First of all, top thread. Very informative. Thanks to all those involved.

I'm a qualifed engineer who hasn't worked in the industry for a few years and I've had enough and decided to move to Australia. I'm currently in the process of applying for a visa and have been quoted a price of 549 dollars by National Visas.

Is this the standard rate?

The accreditation from Australian engineers is AUD$300. What do National Visas offer, what visa are you applying for?

DeclanClune

Hi Randy,

The fees deend on the visa you are applying for but if it is a skilled migration visa (permanent residence) then the typical fees charge range from EUR 2500 - EUR 4000 for processing plus immigration / assessment fees etc.

That fee would definitely not be for a skilled migration visa.
The total you could except to pay which would include all fees would be around EUR 5500.

Happy to quote if you want.

Declan Clune

Randy Watson wrote: »

First of all, top thread. Very informative. Thanks to all those involved.

I'm a qualifed engineer who hasn't worked in the industry for a few years and I've had enough and decided to move to Australia. I'm currently in the process of applying for a visa and have been quoted a price of 549 dollars by National Visas.

Is this the standard rate?