SOMV

Perth and surrounding areas are excluded from the "regional areas" for the purposes of the 187, so no, your friend will not be able to sponsor you for the 187. The regional areas are all defined here: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Allocation-dates-for-General-Skilled-Migration-applications/regional-growth#qld Your friend may be able to sponsor you for a 457 temporary employer sponsored visa or a 186 employer sponsored visa instead. Although if they do opt for the 186 there are strict criteria that apply with respect to the business, including that they have contributed to the training of Australians in the last 12 months before applying. And you may also have to get a skills assessment.

You need to read the criteria for a successful skills assessment. These are available here: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/become-a-cpa/migration-assessment/criteria-and-requirements But from what you have written below, no, you will not currently meet the assessment criteria because one of the criteria is that you have scored no less than 7 in each section of the IELTS Academic test.

QLD processing is suspended right now due to the amount of applications received. The processing will re-open once the team have caught up. It is possible that at that point they may revise the list of occupations for which they are currently offering nominations. You just need to keep an eye out on the forums or, better yet, on the QLD website itself. Here are some links: QLD list of occupations that QLD will currently consider for a nomination (you will see that there are additional criteria that apply to some occupations): http://migration.qld.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/pdf/not-working-in-queensland.pdf QLD news about processing for people based outside of QLD: http://migration.qld.gov.au/skilled-migration-queensland/outside-queensland-or-overseas/

When QLD notified us that they were about to suspend their system, this is what they said: Please note that applicants can still lodge an EOI in the suspended period, however it will not be reviewed until processing has recommenced. This suggests that EOIs lodged before the system is re-opened will be considered. Nevertheless, if you want to be 100% sure about this why not email them directly: ​Cinta.Grimaitre@tiq.qld.gov.au

Hi again, I am not your migration agent and I have not seen any of your documents so I cannot be specific in my replies, but the simple reply to your questions is: answer all of the questions that have been asked. And if you are claiming skilled work experience you have to have proof of that skilled work experience. References alone are not enough, they usually have to be backed up with evidence of pay, and that can be provided via payslips or bank statements showing pay. The documents you have mentioned below seem fine. Don't forget, the Department can decide to get in touch with your employer or referees to double check that the information you have provided is genuine. Best of luck!

Yes you should but make sure that it is not being counted as your 8 years of employment. Why would a case officer ask you to prove employment that you are indicating is not relevant and was not being counted in your points score? My number can be found on our website http://www.sortoutmyvisa.com - I am not sure that I am allowed to post it up.

Hi again, The EOI is really about points scoring, that is the most crucial part of the EOI. So as long as you got that part right, you should be ok. The point of the actual visa application is that you then have a chance to provide the full details. I am sure this does happen from time to time, but I can't actually understand how, since the question is quite specific and you get to review your answers), so if the question does pop up, and I doubt that it will, do have a logical answer ready. If you are really paranoid about it, you could lodge a new EOI, where you do get all the information right, and you can wait for a new Invitation to be issued. Since you are a nurse I doubt that you will be waiting long.

Hello Larad86, Hope this helps: 1) Whilst filling out out the form, we have been asked for my partner's secondary qualifications and work history. Although we are happy to provide this- his highest qualification is GCSE's- do I need to list all of his qualifications even though they are not relevant. We we have listed his 10 years work experience with a brief explanation of duties as requested to which there are no significant gaps. However he did work in France for an English ski company receiving an wage via his English bank account for 6 months within this 10 year period but he was still registered as living at home- does this count as living abroad and do we have to provide anything in specific for this. As long as you are not claiming points for your partner then his employment and his qualifications are not relevant. When we submit applications for our clients and they are not claiming partner points, we just write "not relevant, as we are not claiming partner points". But you may both have to fill out a Form 80, where you will have to list everything anyway, so you might as well wait until you have to complete these details on the Form 80. 2) I am a British citizen through having a British mother. I was born in South Africa and moved to the uk with my family when I was 11. I have only ever held a SA passport as a child and now I only have a British passport. I have obviously provided all This information I.e. Birth certificate. But it has asked me if I have lived in another country and what the address was and when I moved....I can provide part of this details but I was a child and I don't really have any records to this effect as they are most likely held by my parents who I know will not have this information. Just complete the information to the best of your knowledge. For example, if you don't know your full last address in SA, but you do know the city that you lived in, just write in the city name in all the address lines and either leave the postcode blank or put 1111 or 1234. Again, you may be asked to complete Form 80s and then you will have to replicate this information again anyway. 3) we have submitted requests for our police checks already and are planning on waiting for them before submitting the application. My partner received a caution about 11 years ago and we have declared this and listed it on the visa. Again we have no evidence of this apRt from the pending police check. Do you think this will affect our visa application in any way. No, as long as this has been declared on the visa application, and it was just a caution, that is fine. The police check (I assume you are talking about a UK police check) may come back with "no live trace", this means that there is something on the system that they don't have to list. If this happens then the Department will ask for a Subject Access Disclosure. So you might as well apply for this now. Hope this helps.

June9 if you have a migration agent working on your case already, you really should leave this up to them to deal with. If you start interfering and talking to the Department and saying things that your migration agent does not hear, it will be impossible for the migration agent to represent you properly. If your migration agent has submitted the documents (explanation about what it is you do) on your behalf already, and I assume that your migration agent knows what he or she is doing, then you really have to be patient. Four weeks is not a long time to have to wait, the Department has thousands of applications they are dealing with at the same time. Best of luck!

Hi Aussie 25, The Form 80 has to be completed as correctly as possible, so yes, you should list all employment in the Form 80, including part-time jobs and work that may not be relevant to your skilled occupation or the years of skilled work experience that you are claiming or have claimed on the EOI. It is not a problem if you did not include this work on the EOI. The visa application (online) form asks "Has the applicant been employed in the last 10 years", so if that part-time employment was undertaken in the last 10 years yes you should list it. But under "Position" I would list it as Part-time [whatever the position is], and under "description of duties" I would mention that it was part-time. Since it is only 6 months it doesn't matter if you say that it was or was not related to the nominated position. You just have to make sure that you do have the 8 years of skilled experience that you claimed on your EOI. So if the 6 months of part time work WAS related to your nominated occupation, it is ok to say yes, but since it was part-time it will not count anyway. Basically, the most important rule is that you do not claim fewer points on the visa application than you claimed on your EOI. If you claim more points that is fine, but you cannot claim less. So do make sure that the 8 years that you claimed on the EOI are listed in exactly the same way on the visa application, and you will be fine. I hope that makes sense?

Hello Jonp1985, The Department will either approve or fail your visa, but they are not in the habit of recommending other visas that you could or should have applied for instead. If you apply for a de facto visa you will be assessed on the basis of the criteria for that visa. So as long as you can show that you satisfy the criteria (genuine relationship, have lived together for at least 12 months (there are some exceptions to this rule but you generally want to make sure that you have evidence of at least 12 months of cohabitation), you will be fine. The criteria don't say that you have to be engaged, but being engaged confirms that you are in a serious relationship and that your intentions are to remain together into the future, so yes, by all means do mention this, especially in your statement about your relationship. I hope that helps? Cheerio, Veronika MARN: 0301155

Hello all, I am not sure if this has been posted already, but just in case, the Department is on strike until the 26th of June. This may mean that you will not receive email replies during this time, and that processing will be slow during this time. Also, if you are flying into or out of Australia, there may be delays at the airports. More details about the strike, and updates, can be found here: http://www.newsroom.immi.gov.au/releases/60879986-528a-4cfe-bbe4-16b879795994

The BBC are looking for British families based in the UK and overseas (Australia/New Zealand/South Africa/America/Canada) to take part in a new game show, The National Lottery: 5 Star Family Reunion for BBC One. 5 Star Family Reunion is a game show where eight family members play across the globe in a series of general knowledge rounds in an attempt to win a family reunion holiday and a cash jackpot. Four family members must be UK based while four family members live overseas. Parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and close family friends can make up your overseas team. They are looking for lively and fun personalities to take part in the programme and will be holding auditions over the next few weeks. Please contact family@12yard.com to receive an application form and for more information.

A certificate of employment or a reference is very rarely considered to be enough evidence of employment. More often than not your case officer will ask for additional evidence of your employment. If you are unable to provide payslips, then you have to explain why you are unable to provide payslips. You can rely of tax account statements or bank statements which show your pay going in to your account on a regular basis or any other additional evidence which shows that you are in receipt of regular income and that roughly equates to 20 hours of work every week.

We have been advised that from tomorrow (Friday 3rd April) 5pm Canberra time, and until 1 July, it will not be possible for overseas applicants to apply for the Skilled Nominated Visa (190). The ACT Canberra Government will continue to process applications from ACT residents and also applications received until 5pm on Friday the 3rd of April. Acceptance of new overseas applications for sponsorship will recommence on 1 July 2015.

The ACT (Canberra) have released a new list and have also added some additional criteria that will now have to be satisfied by state nomination applicants. The new list and new criteria can be found here: http://www.canberrayourfuture.com.au/portal/migrating/article/act-occupation-list/ Cheerio, Veronika

Raymund you are going to have a battle on your hands as many case officers, especially new ones, tend to want to take the easy route and to go by what an assessment states. And there is no getting away from the risk that you will lose your application fee. From the details you have provided I would be arguing that you have been working at a "skilled" level since 2004. Arguably, possibly also since 2001, but it doesn't matter, 2004 is fine. You need to provide excellent, detailed references about the nature of your work since 2001, but particularly 2004. Make sure that you carefully read the ANZSCO description for accountants and address all of the points in that definition, to ensure that it is clear to the case officer that you are and have been a skilled accountant for at least 8 years. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/BAAE53E3A0A4E1C1CA257B95001310D7?opendocument I would advise you lodge an EOI with minimal points (60, if it is possible to get an ITA on the basis of 60, or 65) so that you then have some points up your sleeve at the visa application stage. Cheerio, Veronika

Hello JetBlast, I am very happy to confirm that we are alive and kicking ))) But our office was closed on Monday for training purposes, maybe that is why you couldn't get hold of us. We are also still catching up on emails from Monday. Or perhaps you have been calling our old (Oxfordshire office) number? We have been based in Carmarthenshire since last October. Cheerio

Just to add to Alan's post, it seems that it's not just the aged parent visas and the Remaining Relative visas that are likely to disappear: the Carer and Aged Dependant visas are also likely to be axed. If you are planning to apply, and you are fortunately enough in that you can apply now, you really should get your applications in asap.

Your Diploma should be equivalent to a Degree - this is the case with many nurses from the UK - so yes you should be able to count 15 points. Your skills assessment will confirm whether or not it is deemed to be equivalent to a degree (ANMAC will state this in writing on the assessment outcome letter).

South Australia has added 18 new occupations to its list. Here is a link to the list of new occupations: https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/news%20and%20events

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is not going to be accepting applications for ACT nomination from overseas residents after the close of the business day today, the 25th (Australia - Canberra - time). Overseas applicants will not be able to apply for ACT nomination of a Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa until the program reopens in July 2014.

Canberra (the Australian Capital Territory) will be updating its list on the 24th. The new list and more information about the update can be accessed via this link: http://www.canberrayourfuture.com.au/portal/migrating/article/act-occupation-list/

This occupation is not currently featured on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) or the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List (CSOL), so it is not possible to apply for an Australian visa under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program or an employer sponsored visa under this occupation. These lists will be revised on 1 July, so you should check them again after 1 July, just in case. I should also say: Hair or Beauty Salon Manager is listed. So the first thing to do is to find out if you can obtain a skilled assessment under this occupation, and then to see if the occupation is being sponsored by a State.

This is just to let everyone know that Western Australia will be releasing new State Nomination criteria on the 1st of March 2014. Until the new criteria are released, the current 2012-13 criteria will remain in place. So as long as you receive an invitation to apply for State Nomination before the release of the new criteria in March, your application will not be affected. Please click here for more information.