SOMV

Hi Mavi, There isn't an occupation on the ANZSCo called "Assistant in Nursing". Which ANZSCO occupation have you applied for? It will be easier to answer your question if you tell us the ANZSCO occupation you have in mind.

If you are outside of Australia when the 457 visa is granted (ie: you applied while you were outside Australia), then you are usually given up to 1 year to make your entry. And then the visa grant period runs from the date you enter. In other words, here is the law: (a) a visa holder / applicant who is in Australia at the time of visa grant — can remain in Australia for a period of not more than 4 years from the date of grant; and (b) in the case of a visa holder / applicant who is outside Australia at the time of grant — can remain in Australia for a period of not more than 4 years from the date of entry that is specified by the Minister.

If this is the only document that has been requested, then yes, normally you can assume that all the other requirements have been met. The Department understands that it can take longer than 28 days for a police clearance to be issued. The 28 days you have been given is just to show that you have applied for the FBI clearance. So if you attach a document to the application that confirms that you have applied for the FBI check (maybe you got a receipt or an email confirmation), that will be fine. Also, you should be able to see on the system that the medical checks have been completed and satisfied. (If you click on the health checks button, it should say something like "completed, no further information required". All the best! You are almost done

Urgent and Important News from Canberra / ACT regarding the groups of occupations for Human Resource Professionals (apologies if this has been posted up already): Effective tomorrow, 10 September 2016, the following occupations will close as the demand for these occupations has been met: Human Resource Adviser 223111 Recruitment Consultant 223112 Workplace Relations Adviser 223113 If you have an application for one of these occupations ‘in progress’, the application must be submitted before midnight tonight (AEST). You must submit a complete application e.g. all supporting documents attached, as additional documentation will not be accepted after lodgement. Applications nominating a Human Resource Professional occupation submitted after 9 September 2016 will not meet the ACT nomination ‘open occupation’ criteria.

I am so glad to hear that it worked out for them! It sounded absurd to be pulling the rug out at the last minute. Heather all the very best, hope it is also a happy ending. Do let us know!

Hi Suus, You can certainly claim the 5 points. And you are correct in that there is no requirement to use the points test advice. But you need to make sure that you have solid evidence of the "skilled" 3 years of work experience so that there is no reason for the Department to request the points advice (which they can choose to do). A very detailed reference, supplemented with evidence of pay and perhaps a contract of employment, should be fine. For your information, the State will not make any checks of this sort, they will simply assume that the points you are claiming on your EOI are correct. But the issue lies with the Department; you do not want to give the Department any reason to think that the years of skilled work experience you are claiming are incorrect. We almost never get clients to apply for a points advice, and the Department really does not tend to request them, unless they have a reason to believe that an individual may not have been skilled. But it is unusual for post qualification work experience to be questioned (I assume that the course/courses of study were relevant to the work and I assume that the work that you are claiming is at least 20 hours a week)? Best of luck!

Hello Heather, The good news is that you can apply for a partner visa, assuming that you can meet the criteria, and since you have been living together for over 12 months, as long as you have proof of this this visa should not be an issue. The very very important thing is to get an application submitted before your current visa expires. In fact, as a matter of urgency, since given that your employment has ceased you are now technically in breach of your visa conditions!!! I think that your boss at least owes you so much so that he should not sack you until you have had a chance to submit your spouse visa application. You may want to remind him/her of the company's obligations under the 457 they you are having a discussion about this. For example, the company is actually supposed to pay for your flights out of Australia: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/fact-sheets/rights-and-obligations/457-visa-holders-workplace-rights-and-entitlements Please do check the 457 employer obligations out, and go re-negotiate this part of your employment. Surely the boss can allow you to stay put until the 19th, to give you a chance to lodge another visa application. If you do do manage to lodge a new visa application before the expiry of your current visa, then you will get a bridging visa which will allow you to stay while the partner visa is being processed. If you are not holding a substantive visa when you submit your partner applications you will have issues. I would definitely say, do not speak to the Department! If you feel you need to speak to someone to get further help, go and get advice from a migration agent in the area. Immediately, before you do anything else. Also you cannot actually "cancel" an existing application. You can certainly ask for it to be withdrawn, but again, you should see an agent before doing anything of the sort. You need to act quickly: a de facto application takes a while to prepare, it can certainly be submitted before the 19th, but there isn't that much time, and you want to get it in asap. Best of luck!

At the moment the selections are being held about once every 2 weeks. I'd expect the next one in the middle of this month.

Hi Bim, The results of a medical test are assessed on a case by case basis, by medical specialists, taking into account the age of the particular applicant, the prognosis and the potential costs due to the applicant's condition to the Australian government. There is no migration agent that I am aware of who is also a medical specialist, so no agent will be able to give you the answer you are looking for, unfortunately. All I can think of is that valve type heart conditions are quite common, valve operations are quite common, as years go by key hole surgery is becoming more and more likely, and so the expense of heart valve type surgeries is likely to lower with time. So that's quite promising. Nevertheless, it is impossible to predict an outcome. I am only aware of one medical specialist, Dr Martha Baz, who used to provide medical opinions about medical conditions. These were her contact details, and she was so busy she was quite hard to get hold of: Martha G Baz MB BS MPH FAFOM FAADEP CIME Lvl 9, 47 York St Sydney GPO Box 3857 Sydney 2001 Australia Mail from doctors/patients/clients: 138, 272 Victoria Ave Chatswood NSW 2067 Australia Tel: 61 2 9299 0012 Fax: 61 2 9475 0141 Fax UK: (+44) (0)20 7990 7740 drbaz@visamedicalopinion.com mgbaz@ozemail.com.au But these are quite old contact details. This used to be her website, but it appears not to be working: http://visamedicalopinion.com/ This seems to be the new alternative: http://www.visamedic.com/ I'd try to get in touch with her to see if she can help (she does not need to see people in person, but she of course charges for her time and opinion). Best of luck!

Hi Maya, A visitor visa for your baby should not take anymore than about 7 weeks, but don't forget that she or he will of course have to have a passport. You do not need to fill in a change of circumstances form. And yes, I am happy to act on your behalf. If you send me an email (veronika@sortoutmyvisa.com) that would be a great start. Regards, Veronika

Have you pressed the "information provided" button (the button is on the application status screen)? If you do that, assuming that you have provided all requested documents, that does sometimes (not always) speed things up.

The skilled visa points test only requires a GENERAL IELTS test and the general test is considerably easier than the academic test. So if you are aiming to score maximum points for English, and who isn't, then the general test is the better option as it is easier. You MAY or MAY NOT be required to provide evidence of your English for registration. For example, if you are from the UK and have completed your studies in the UK, many registration authorities do not require evidence of English for registration. For example, if you are wanting to work in South Australia, no evidence of english is required if you have studied in the UK. So check the registration requirements in the State where you are planning to live, and you may find that you will not need to prove your English skills and so the general IELTS will be the better option!

No problem at all. All fingers crossed

Hi Sarah1974, This is what has happened today: 1) Canberra (the ACT) has revised its list of occupations that it will sponsor. This becomes effective on the 1st of September. This is NOT the CSOL!!!!! The CSOL has NOT changed. This is Canberra/ACT's own list of occupations. All States can change their lists at any time. 2) The CSOL can be found here: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/CSOL The CSOL tends to change about once or twice a year. But generally only once a year (usually every July). 3) Since you have already submitted your application to the ACT, while your husband's occupation was listed on their list (never mind the CSOL), you should be fine. In fact this is what the ACT has said: Applications for ACT nomination submitted and lodged before 01/09/16 will be assessed against the ‘at time of application’ criteria. This is also what your agent has said, you should learn to trust your agent, rather than relying on forums which are full of people who don't always know what they are talking about. Please don't forget: in Australia ONLY Migration Agents can provide migration advice. These forums are not limited to Australia, so lots of people get on with incorrect information. 4) If your application to the ACT is successful the Department will almost automatically issue an Invitation to Apply for your Visa (this should come through to your agent) and all will be well. If the ACT sponsorship application is not successful then this route (ACT sponsorship) will be closed to you. Hope that clarifies things

Hi Rob, First of all, as a 489 visa holder you need to make sure you continue to abide by the visa conditions (live and work and study - though this may not be relevant - in a regional area). But assuming that that is all fine, then as a 489 visa holder you have a few permanent visa options: 1) If you have a job and the employer wants to sponsor you for a permanent visa, you may be able to apply for one of the permanent employer sponsored visa options even before you have lived in a regional area for 2 years and qualify for the usual permanent visa pathway. Whether or not you can apply via this route will depend a lot on the job, on your employer, and your skills. But if, as you said, your occupation is not on the skilled list, this may well be problematic. 2) Once you have lived in a regional area for 2 years, and worked for at least 1 year fulltime within that 2 year period, you should be able to qualify for a permanent visa subclass 887. The requirements for this, in addition to the 2 years of living and 1 year of working, is that you also meet health and character requirements, like you had to do for the provisional visa. There is no requirement to be in any specific "skilled" occupation. Hope that helps. I guess if you have children then it will be up to you and your wife to decide which one of you will be including them in your application as secondary applicants.

We submit lots of partner applications in the UK and this question really never pops up. What you do get asked, as a sponsor, is for details about your employment (in the UK). And your partner (visa applicant) will be asked about how she is supported. The assumption is that you will be able to take care of your family once you get to Australia. In the old days, and you may see this on old forums, people had to lodge an "assurance of support" bond if the Department felt that maybe the sponsor would struggle to support his/her family. But the rules have changed about this. And so generally the assumption is that you will be able to support your family. Also, bear in mind that sometimes the sponsor is at home working hard to look after the family, but not actually bringing in an income, whereas the applicant has been the one bringing in the money. That's fine too. The Department does understand family dynamics. The Department is not out to fail a visa application, they just have to make sure that all the criteria (genuine relationship, restriction on previous sponsorships, health and character) are met.

I have never seen any mention of credit issues on any police checks. A debt is not, after all, a conviction or a criminal issue. I have also never heard of the Department conducting credit checks on any individuals. The Department is only concerned about debts to the Australian Government, and about character issues that are of a criminal nature. With the Form 80, you have to be as accurate as possible as you do not want the Department thinking that you were trying to mislead them in any way, of it turns out that you have provided incorrect information. Of course if you are unable to remember exact dates, for example, then just do your best. But the expectation is that you will answer the questions as accurately as possible. The criteria for a visa and the character criteria have nothing to do with an individual's credit ratings or credit history, not unless these involve fraud, which is a criminal issue, but in all other respects the Department does not care about these issues, not unless the debts are owed to the Australian Government.

Hello Pavani, It is impossible to answer your question as you have not provided enough details. If you want to email me your CVs adn dates of birth I can give you a better answer. But from what you have written it sounds like your husband may be able to qualify for a skilled visa once he has full membership. But as I said, it is impossible to say without having more information.

You should enjoy such a long holiday, what a luxury The rules with respect to volunteer work for visitors are roughly this, so you may want to make sure that if you do do any volunteer work it is along these lines: Voluntary, unpaid work, is ok if it is work is genuinely voluntary and you are not paid for it, other than for meals, accommodation or out of pocket living expenses. AND if the voluntary work could have been undertaken by an Australian resident who would have received a wage, then this may not be ok.

It all depends on which visa you are talking about? Are you talking about a 457 employer sponsored visa? If so, then if you have enough work experience you may not need a diploma. But if you are talking about a skilled visa or an employer sponsored visa where a skills assessment is required then the requirements for that occupation for a skills assessment are: Qualification/s assessed at least AQF Diploma level with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years; OR Qualification/s assessed at least AQF Diploma level with an additional qualification at least AQF Certificate IV in a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years; OR Qualification/s assessed at least AQF Diploma level without a highly relevant field of study and at least two years of post qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years. Note: For pre-qualification employment (if all of your employment is before your qualification assessed at the AQF diploma level), three years of relevant employment in addition to at least one year of highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years.

If your in laws do apply onshore then yes a bridging visa will kick in once their current visas (tourist visas - the 3 month period) expire, as long as the visa application for the parent visa has of course been received before that time. So if they arrive in Australia on, say 1 December, if you get the application off to Perth asap, there is plenty of time for it to be receipted before the 3 month period is up. And yes, you are right in that, strictly speaking, the purpose of the visitor visa is just to visit Australia, not to apply for a further visa. So if your in laws are asked by customs why they are coming in, and instead of saying that they are visiting you they say that they are coming in to apply for a parent visa, then they are unlikely yo be let in. But yes, lots of parents do just that (ie: once they have arrived as tourists, and seen that they really do like the place, they decide to lodge a parent visa application). The processing times have quite stretched out at the moment, so your parents may be waiting as long as 24 months for their file to be allocated to a case officer for processing and then a few more months for the processing. During that time they will not be able to travel out and return to Australia. If they do want to travel out during that time they will have to apply for a special bridging visa to allow them to do that. Are you aware of that?

Yes, the simplest solution would of course be to speak to HR and to sort out what seems to be quite a misunderstanding due to the bad behaviour of one single new individual, so yes, I honestly think that this is something that your son in law should consider. If he speaks to HR he can raise the issues with respect to unfair dismissal as well as the company's 457 obligations. The evidence all seems to be on his side, after all, the company have only just recently agreed to sponsor him for a permanent visa. Surely things have not changed virtually overnight due to his behaviour. If this 457 does fall through then it will be imperative for your son in law to find a new employer asap. If the employer has a valid sponsorship and the job is the same as the current job, then a new 457 should be relatively simple, but as I said, your daughter and son in law really need to speak to an agent to make sure they understand where they stand now and what can or can't be done if this employment falls through. From everything you have written it really does seem ridiculous that things have reached this point. I hope everything does work out! I am sure that if there is a sensible and smart HR team in the company, they will. (Do make sure that he goes straight to the top of HR, not just someone dealing with the admin.) Let us know how things go! And all fingers crossed, I imagine you will be going over soon to meet your new grandchild?

I think that you are worrying unnecessarily and yes, I think that that sounds like a really sensible idea. You should explain to the doctor that you didn't think that it was within the definition of a mental health problem, but you best thought that you should double check, as you don't want to be misleading anyone. And then ask him or her if they think it is worth mentioning. If they say no, don't say anything else. If they say yes, offer the document from your GP (a very simple letter confirming that you do not have a mental condition and that you are not on any medication will be fine).

I am really sorry but I can't give you a yes or no answer, all I can say is that from what you have written it does not sound serious and I can't see that you would fail the medical for this reason. But as you have said, even your GP (a medical expert) is unable to give you an answer, so just answer the question the way you think it should be answered. If you think the answer is no then there you are. If you think it is yes then say yes and explain the circumstances in the way you have explained them above.

The issue with mental or physical conditions is whether these may prevent the applicant from attending a mainstream school, gaining full employment, or living independently now or in future. And whether the condition may cost the Government too much money in the future. Or whether the condition presents any potential danger to the Australian community. So if, for example, a person has been assessed as psychotic or schizophrenic, then I assume, and I hope, that the Department would want to see some specialist reports to make sure that you are not a danger to the Australian community. I have had clients in the past who have been diagnosed with depression by their GPs and who are on medication for depression and this has been declared and has not prevented them from passing the medicals. From what you have written you are not on medication. So that sounds fine. But you have also said that you have been "assessed for psychotherapy". I don't think that this constitutes extensive treatment but it is unclear what you mean by this. So it is impossible to say if this should or should not be declared. And really unless a medical practitioners or expert is happy to answer this question, the decision does have to be made by you.