Australian Skilled Migration Visa - Megathread

Sundy

Pugins wrote: »

You can get what some people call a direct grant. A case officer is assigned to your case but if everything is on order you just get the grant email. That is your first and last contact with your case officer. This is what happened to us.

This is what I meant. Case officer never shows up as assigned on your account but you get a grant email.

sebastianlieken

I am actually bouncing off the walls here!!!

got my IELTS results just there,

Listening: 9.0
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 8.0
Speaking: 9.0

MAXIMUM, 20 freekin points for skillselect!!! BOOOYEAAAAHHH!!

(it's so hard containing myself here in work!!!)

niterain84

sebastianlieken wrote: »

I am actually bouncing off the walls here!!!

got my IELTS results just there,

Listening: 9.0
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 8.0
Speaking: 9.0

MAXIMUM, 20 freekin points for skillselect!!! BOOOYEAAAAHHH!!

(it's so hard containing myself here in work!!!)

congrats man, i know the feeling, its a handy 20 points too

ben10afc

I've been asked to provide 3 years evidence of working in my trade for my skilled visa, is there anyway I could obtain tax statements? As I couldn't provide payslips or bank statements, I'm in Northern Ireland also Incase that matters .

digiman

Do all the documents that are uploaded via the online portal for 189 need to be certified?

jj1

digiman wrote: »

Do all the documents that are uploaded via the online portal for 189 need to be certified?

No they do not need to be certified, but they need to be a scanned colour copy... or take a photo and convert to a pdf. Label them clearly

Sundy

digiman wrote: »

Do all the documents that are uploaded via the online portal for 189 need to be certified?

This is something I've been wondering about because the immi website seems to contradict itself a bit in places.

irishmover

Sundy wrote: »

This is something I've been wondering about because the immi website seems to contradict itself a bit in places.

I never seen it contradictory. Here's why..

All supporting documents should be scanned and uploaded with your application. All documents that you provide must be certified copies of original documents.

http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/189.aspx

Click in document checklist.

There used to be a PDF which showed everything you needed but the link to it is broken. I'll check my laptop later to see if I saved it when I was doing mine in December.

Any original you make a copy of and will scan it and upload it needs to be certified. Which is pretty much everything.

Not like it's a big deal to get a few more bits certified along with all the other documents you bring to a JP.

Sundy

irishmover wrote: »

I never seen it contradictory. Here's why..



http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/189.aspx

Click in document checklist.

There used to be a PDF which showed everything you needed but the link to it is broken. I'll check my laptop later to see if I saved it when I was doing mine in December.

Any original you make a copy of and will scan it and upload it needs to be certified. Which is pretty much everything.

Not like it's a big deal to get a few more bits certified along with all the other documents you bring to a JP.

Yeah I'm not too worried because one of the guys here in work can certify everything for me.
However I have read elsewhere online (think it was pomsinoz) that somewhere it states a colour photo copy is sufficient.

irishmover

Sundy wrote: »

Yeah I'm not too worried because one of the guys here in work can certify everything for me.
However I have read elsewhere online (think it was pomsinoz) that somewhere it states a colour photo copy is sufficient.

I never took the chance anyway. I got all mine certified (was in colour aswell). That way they can't come back and say you didn't certify it!

sebastianlieken

My mate just applyed for his visa and his case officer clarified for him that as long as the scan is of the original and in colour, then it is sufficient and doesn't need to be certified.

Shy Ted

sebastianlieken wrote: »

My mate just applyed for his visa and his case officer clarified for him that as long as the scan is of the original and in colour, then it is sufficient and doesn't need to be certified.

How long did your mate have to wait to get assigned a case officer? I've been waiting 3 months for a 189 visa and still no word (and that's through a MARA agent.)

sebastianlieken

Shy Ted wrote: »

How long did your mate have to wait to get assigned a case officer? I've been waiting 3 months for a 189 visa and still no word (and that's through a MARA agent.)

well my mate applied for the graduate visa (18 month one) so it wouldn't be the same, but he got assigned one rather quickly., 2 weeks.

you've been waiting 3 months!?!?.... oh... kay... feck. How many points did you apply with and do you mind me asking which profession you applied under?

I intend on applying once I get my Engineers Australia Assessment back. I was kinda banking on only having to wait about 3 or 4 weeks to get a case officer.

Shy Ted

sebastianlieken wrote: »

you've been waiting 3 months!?!?.... oh... kay... feck. How many points did you apply with and do you mind me asking which profession you applied under?

I intend on applying once I get my Engineers Australia Assessment back. I was kinda banking on only having to wait about 3 or 4 weeks to get a case officer.

I had 75 points but I think that only comes into play for the Eoi. I applied under other engineering professionals. Pomsinoz is a good forum to get an idea of other applications status or other general emigration advice.

niterain84

Shy Ted wrote: »

How long did your mate have to wait to get assigned a case officer? I've been waiting 3 months for a 189 visa and still no word (and that's through a MARA agent.)

I applied for 189 visa 2 months ago under same category (other eng professionals). Still no Case Officer. From reading the pomsnoz forum and other forums there are delays as the 190 visa has higher priority since July and also there were 4000 invitations for visas offered in May compared to the usual 2500. People who lodged at the end of april / first half of May have been getting grants recently.

I think you should contact Immigration in Oz and ask about your app , as you are entitled to know once the 3 months have passed.

Shy Ted

niterain84 wrote: »

I applied for 189 visa 2 months ago under same category (other eng professionals). Still no Case Officer. From reading the pomsnoz forum and other forums there are delays as the 190 visa has higher priority since July and also there were 4000 invitations for visas offered in May compared to the usual 2500. People who lodged at the end of april / first half of May have been getting grants recently.

I think you should contact Immigration in Oz and ask about your app , as you are entitled to know once the 3 months have passed.

Thanks niterain84, i saw some of those posts regarding the delays. I think i was just unlucky applying on the 2nd week of May. One or two who applied after me managed to get through quickly.

Would it matter that I applied through an agent? I don't have any details regarding my application no. etc.

niterain84

Shy Ted wrote: »

Thanks niterain84, i saw some of those posts regarding the delays. I think i was just unlucky applying on the 2nd week of May. One or two who applied after me managed to get through quickly.

Would it matter that I applied through an agent? I don't have any details regarding my application no. etc.

Get onto your agent. He should follow it up. Thats what u are paying him/her for.

Do u have the details of your immi account to check if your agent has really uploaded everything? If not then ask your agent for the details of your account num etc. That way u can log in and know exactly where u stand before u talk with immigration in oz.

I imagine u have paid a nice fee to the agent, they really should be giving u better help than they seem to be, keep the pressure on them

Timistry

Just talking to the agent there on the phone. I applied in April so I was just inquiring if she had any update. I was told in no uncertain terms that it would October at the earliest that I would be assigned a case officer.

As pointed out previously here, there seems to be a big delay ATM. I was hoping for it to be all done and dusted before my Birthday at the end of September..

irishmover

Timistry wrote: »

Just talking to the agent there on the phone. I applied in April so I was just inquiring if she had any update. I was told in no uncertain terms that it would October at the earliest that I would be assigned a case officer.

As pointed out previously here, there seems to be a big delay ATM. I was hoping for it to be all done and dusted before my Birthday at the end of September..

Big delay is an understatement. 6 months before a case officer is assigned? Madness.

Theresalwaysone

I have a 457 App gone in about 4 weeks ago and nothing yet.

I assume the delays will affect this visa app as well? Due to start work on Sep 14th. Guess I'll have to take a holiday.

Timistry

Soooo I got a phone call from my agent on Friday afternoon saying that my Visa has been granted and congratulations, I am now a permanent resident of Australia It was a huge weight off my shoulders and all the time and money I invested in the process finally paid off.

Not being on a 457 anymore is so liberating. I can apply for any jobs I like now and quit without fear of visa issues haha! I have been thinking about going back home sometime next year to give it a now now that I have experiance so at least I have a definitive plan B in place now.

digiman

Timistry wrote: »

Soooo I got a phone call from my agent on Friday afternoon saying that my Visa has been granted and congratulations, I am now a permanent resident of Australia It was a huge weight off my shoulders and all the time and money I invested in the process finally paid off.

Not being on a 457 anymore is so liberating. I can apply for any jobs I like now and quit without fear of visa issues haha! I have been thinking about going back home sometime next year to give it a now now that I have experiance so at least I have a definitive plan B in place now.

Congrats, how long did it take for you since you submitted your visa?

Timistry

4 months Digiman. The agent was saying 5-6 months but I guess that was to keep me off their back ha ha!

Sundy

Hey guys, need some advice here.

I just got my birth cert sent out from home to upload for my PR and now I've noticed it doesn't match the place of birth in my passport which I've being using all along.
Passport says county parents lived in and birth cert says county of birth.

Is this likely to cause me issues?

Thargor

Do Pharma/Biotech degrees qualify you for the Australian skills visa?

vibe666

did anyone do the IELTS English exam for extra points?

can't help but feel it's designed to weed out non-native english speakers as a lot of the questions could be considered very ambiguous to their meaning.

didn't get my results yet, but in all honesty it seems like a bit of a money racket to me.

NZ_2014

vibe666 wrote: »

did anyone do the IELTS English exam for extra points?

can't help but feel it's designed to weed out non-native english speakers as a lot of the questions could be considered very ambiguous to their meaning.

didn't get my results yet, but in all honesty it seems like a bit of a money racket to me.

Does the training material not prepare you for it?

vibe666

NZ_2014 wrote: »

Does the training material not prepare you for it?

to a degree, but that wasn't my point.

i didn't have any problems with it (i.e. I managed) but there were a lot of questions where I was very grateful that English was my first language.

Sundy

vibe666 wrote: »

did anyone do the IELTS English exam for extra points?

can't help but feel it's designed to weed out non-native english speakers as a lot of the questions could be considered very ambiguous to their meaning.

didn't get my results yet, but in all honesty it seems like a bit of a money racket to me.

Yeah I did it. A complete money racket if you ask me, its a real know how the marking scheme works kind of test rather than an actual English competency test.

Also if you don't get the right mark in one section you have to repeat the whole test. It's a scam but an easy 20 points for native English speakers.

irishmover

Sundy wrote: »

Yeah I did it. A complete money racket if you ask me, its a real know how the marking scheme works kind of test rather than an actual English competency test.

Also if you don't get the right mark in one section you have to repeat the whole test. It's a scam but an easy 20 points for native English speakers.

The written part is nonsense.