John Fennell

Cheers mate, I'm all ready to go now!

Looks like the IELTS test then or the PTE-A if we can find one near her. She's an English TEFOL teacher but unfortunately the government don't recognise this. Good to know they don't want it at the very beginning of the application gives us a bit more time to get the results. Thanks for the advice!

Hi Guys I'm applying for a 190 visa in NSW. It will be me and my wife on the VISA, I now have all the relevant certificates, VATASSESS and PTE A etc, so am wanting to go ahead and submit my EOI. The only problem we have at the moment is my wifes English test, as she's a Filipina she needs to prove functional english. She can't book into an english test for at least the next month or so, I have no worries that she'll pass as she teaches english. At what point does this get checked? at the state sponsor stage or in the final application? Cheers in advance for any advice.

Hi Guys, Just about to submit my EOI for a 190 and I was hoping to get a bit of advice to clarify a few things, 1. On the the Family members form (I'm just adding my wife to the visa), Do i select yes to Question 1: bringing a family member, and then yes to question 3 as well: bringing a partner? It seems strange they have 2 questions on this when the partner would be covered in the first question, I ticked yes to both and listed 1 family member. 2. In the education and study section I've selected NO to everything, as I'm assuming they are only interested in Point scoring certifications. I do have other qualifications but are totally unrelated and wouldn't get any points. 3. On the Jobs section I have 4 years experience in my field but 3 of that would be taken as "on the job training" for the Vetassess certificate as I had no qualification prior to that. I'm listing the job as not relevant work as it won't be worth any points after the deducted 3 years? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Cheers John

Ah gutted for you mate, thats so frustrating with the written discourse. I got 90 but didn't really feel I'd written any differently from the test in which I got 45, the main differences I made were stating my belief in the opening paragraph and adding the colloquium "In some circles" but that can't make that much difference. It seems a lot of it might be to do with the points of arguments, where if you don't give the arguments it thinks is on topic you may get marked down. I found this list of repeated questions just before I went in on wednesday morning, (I got there at 7am thinking city traffic would delay me) http://allinfi.com/pte-academic-most-repeated-essay-types-with-short-cut-points/ I got lucky having an easy topic (although it wasn't on that list) and only one at that. Good luck on your next test.

How did you test go mate? I got my results today 90,90,90,84 so really happy! I ended up with 90 on the written discourse but got lucky as I only had to do one of the essay questions. It seems the spelling isn't to much of an issue as I only managed 45 despite a lot of practice. Good luck with your results. hope you got something similar.

I'm in the sheffield test centre, so not far off! Good luck for tomorrow hope it goes well for you! which visa are you going for? I'm doing a 190 as a sheet metal worker, this is my last hurdle before the EOI

Thanks for the information, I've been doing some revision off the links you posted. The idiom usage is a big help, I was purposely avoiding them thinking it would be considered inappropriate in a formal essay. I've got my test tomorrow so am hoping I've done enough to boost those last few points! When do you have your test?

Hi Guys, I about to sit my PTE test for the visa I need the full 20 points from it so 79 in each category. I've done the 2 marked mock tests and get full 90 marks for Reading, Listening and Speaking. But have scored 71 then 75 on writing. My problem appears to be spelling and written discourse both being around 45-50. Can anybody give any advice on how to improve the written discourse, or explain what it is? I think my spelling is never going to improve, I look at words and know that they're wrong but just can't work out why! If I can get the written discourse up a bit and get lucky on the day with the spelling I think I can just scrape through. Any advice would be welcome, Cheers

Thanks for all the advice guys, its really helping. I've decided to go the state sponsored route as my experience more then likely won't be worth any points, my trade (sheet Metal Tradeworkers) has a ceiling of 1000 of which only 8 people have got a visa so far since sept '15 so I expect they'll be fine with 60 point applications. Its a bit of a dying trade in the UK, working in sheffield (UKs steel city) I don't think I met another sheet metal worker under 50. I've decided to go it on my own, the agent wants another £350 just for the NSW application plus the $300 for the application, I'm going to be rowing to Australia at this rate! The VETASSESS looks like it was the hardest part which I couldn't have done without help in all honesty, but from here onwards looks more simple. Just booked in for a PTE test, thanks for the recommendation. My hand writing is terrible so doing it all on the computer will be a massive help!

I'm in Sheffield at the moment Barry, was working in the steel industry there and have just sold my business, the industries kinda going down so thought I'd get out before things get any worse. Cheers Ricco, yeah I'm just looking into the the IELTS now looks like I'm going to need to do a lot of studying!

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah I just got the Australian Qualification from the TRA, and the 4 years is the total I've done in that trade so what you've said about the 3 years "training" must have been what happened giving me 1 year experience. Do they let you know the amount of points you can claim do to experience when you claim if you have any that is? Yep Looks like the 190 for me then, at least I won't have to submit loads of evidence for employment again was a right nightmare finding enough evidence being self employed without official pay checks and employment contracts! Cheers

Hi, I've just received a positive skills assessment for Sheetmetal Trades Worker (322211) from TRA with the plan of applying for a 189 visa. I have 4 years full time experience as a self employed sheet metal worker with my own metal shop, although I never did formal training. I used an agent to help with the visa, I'd told them I had no qualifications and they assured me I had the right amount of experience to get 5 points so would just reach the 60 points (so long as I can get the 20 points for english). They have been great helping me get me though the TRA however after I passed my skills assessment they told me that my experience isn't enough for 5 points as I never did formal training, so all the 4 years experience would just count as training rather then work experience therefor leaving me 5 points short. So I'm a little annoyed with them as I think that they should have know this before as I'd specifically enquired about the lack of official training. The agent has informed me that I can still apply for a NSW 190 visa to make up the 5 points which is fine although me being of the cynical nature can't help but think there sending me down that route so they can get more money out of me (yeah I know typical Yorkshireman). Could anyone offer any advice on weather I can claim the experience points, I have the Certificate 3 Sheetmetal Trades Worker from TRA and 4 years experience in the trade in total with no other related qualifications. Thank you in advance for any help you can give, Cheers John

Hi Bungo Thanks for the reply, I've had a look into the agents and they don't appear to have the MARA registration, Thankyou for the warning on them its good to know what to look for, I was a bit concerned about them using my difficult situation for a quick buck to be honest. I'll start looking into proper agents and see how I get on. Cheers John

Hello Just found this forum and am liking the amount of knowledge people are sharing about moving to Aus, and was hoping for some advice from you guys. I'm a sheet metal working with my own business (I took over a business just over 3 years with no experience or training) which is doing ok. As this trade is on the skilled migrant list I'm hoping to move to Australia, I've investigated and can get through on points if I get the 20point on the english test. I would need the Vetassess or TRA to get the Australian qualification as I hold no uk qualifications. I was wondering what evidence I needed to support the claim to 3 years experience all I have is my business tax returns for the 3 years as I'm a sole trader. I'm fairly certain I'd be able to pass a skills test or tech interview but can't find much info on the docs I'd need to support it. Also one of the years I earned less then 10k because of the recession and losing work due to international takeovers of my main clients, would this effect what is seen as a years experience? I've contacted a few immigration specialists half of which said they'd be able to help me get the visa, the others said I'd need a few more year experience. If any of you guys have been though the system or know about it I'd be really grateful for some advice. Cheers John