Cell

Thanks for the replies. Certainly thrown up plenty of questions which I'll go through with our agent on Monday, especially the part about ACT not been a regional area which is of course correct. As far as my wife's situation we never applied for a 190 visa as she missed the 4 eights in her IELTS, and we were reliant on them passing her qualifications to add up as a diploma. With time getting short, plus the new process changing last year and with only 5 month before it did change. We decided to take the option of getting her out there for a month. She actually had five job offers, with one company which continued to peruse her after she returned with a video interview. Unfortunately their budget was reduced so the position then dissapeared, which was a shame as they were/are even registered for 457's Guess the only other option is to try the IELTS again and see if I can get the four eights. The written excersise I did was awful, I'm surprised I was awarded a 7 to be honest!

My wife and have have spent the last two years battling through visa applications, a month in Melbourne and several false starts which nearly ended in a 457 visa earlier this year. After that failed we decided to give up on the dream as my wife was due to be 45 in December so losing the valuable points, plus her qualification came off the SOL list. Several months later I'm casually looking through the various states skilled lists and notice my qualification has popped up on the ACT list, I'm a print finisher by trade. We always said if the opportunity arose we would have another go. Had a quick chat with the agent we were going to use last year and he confirmed, that yes I'll be eligible for a 489 regional visa if I sit my IELTS and gain 7 in each band, or get 8 and I'll be in with a shout for 190 visa. IELTS duly booked with the following score Listening: 8.0 Reading: 8.5 Writing: 7.0 Speaking: 9.0 Overall: 8.0 Ok so missed out on the full 8 score, but we are on a tight timescale now to get an application sorted out so we'll take the 489 option. What I'd like to know, and will be asking out agent this coming week, is how restrictive are regional state sponsored visas? I had been told that its more of a moral obligation rather than a legal obligation to actually settle in the sponsored state. We have family in Melbourne which would be the best option of course giving us an immediate base as soon as we land. My question is, can we go to Melbourne regardless of the ACT sponsorship.

Thanks for the replies, just spoken with Go Matilda and by far more helpful.

My wife and I have been pursuing a 457 visa for the last few months, but have come to a dead end due to my wife's lines of work, Probation Service, can't be sponsored by any state department, although she has the promise of a job if she can get to Victoria. OK so the quicker route isn't going to happen. Luckily we have the second option of applying for family sponsorship via my sister. We've decided to use an agent to take some of the stress and strain and make sure things are filled out correctly etc. I have spoken to two so far and to be honest not been overly impressed. The first was quite curt and would give much detail in the way of costing and eventually we got cut off. Tried calling back he said he couldn't talk to me any further unless I wanted to sign up with them. Pass. The next seems more professional, I understand all the visa option after researching them over the last few months, he realised I knew more than the basic and we had a good chat and he agreed that family sponsorship is the next option. He did say I would now need to pay a fee of a couple of hundred pounds for a detailed assessment, upon after we could actually talk to an agent, he then mention he was only a sales person. oh man. And before anyone mentions it they were both fully MARA members. My question is, is this normal for agents ? Does anyone recommend an agent ? I perfectly understand they don't want to pass off information for free, but surely if we are going to be spending several thousand pounds they would make sure they sell themselves to a potential customer in the first place.