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.