JoannaAch

As for the first question - the 2 year mandatory residency only begins when you move permanently. For your second question, I would guess that as long as you live and are employed by an agency located in the sponsoring state, it doesn't matter where you do the work. You will still be paying taxes etc. in that state.

If I were you I would try with University Lecturer first, as: 1. Victoria requires 5 years of experience for Life Scientist nec and they are also very picky about the exact research field you work in. You can't tell if they are sponsoring Microbiologists at the moment and you may waste a lot of time waiting for them to process your application. There is a report called "Final-Biotechnology-Skills-Review-August-2010" were they list skills that are really needed. You can download it online, but it is already 3 years old... 2. NSW sponsors all applicants that fulfill the minimal criteria - you don't risk getting rejected. Also, I think there are more job opportunities in NSW than anywhere else and it is easier to get a job. 3. I can't tell anything about QLS - only that I do not see that many jobs advertised on any website with science-related jobs. Although that might not mean anything as there would be also less candidates applying for each. Hope that helps! Good luck with your application. J

Hello everybody, I am looking for shipping company from Germany. I have checked Sevenseas but shipping from Germany is much more expensive than from UK. 4 large boxes from London to Sydney cost 170£, while same boxes from Germany cost more than 400€ - almost two times more. Has anybody shipped their things from Germany?

I am not sure if it will be important to anybody - but just in case: PhD students from universities all around the world can apply for a GRADS program with Malaysia Airlines (10euro annual fee) and get extra 10kg baggage allowance for flights from Europe to Australia (and probably everywhere else). I think it is a great option for students/workers that book flights from countries where MA does not offer migrant fares.

I think claiming points for qualification is easier than for work experience (less documents are needed). Just make sure that the VETASSESS result mentions that your PhD is at the required level and comparable to an Australian PhD. I am sure you will get at least 7 in all bands in IELTS. Do you work in English? Yes, I claimed 20points for IELTS, no points for experience and 15points for Bachelor degree.

Hey, As per my understanding - you should be able to claim points both for the degree and for any work experience after the degree assessed by Vetassess (probably B.Sc. in your case). Although, if I were you I would look for some extra points elsewhere and play it safe by claiming only points for one:) Have you already done IELTS? It should be easy for a scientist to get more than 7.0 in all bands, which will give you 10 extra points. Have you received a Points Test Advice for your PhD degree from Vetassess? It's not necessary, but better to have if you want to claim 20 points for a PhD outside Australia.

I would still email them and try to explain why you couldn't apply in time. But maybe think of some better reason... Based on my experience they are not that strict with the requirements to wait for a second chance/invite for X months. Also, they can't tell if you have lodged your application, DIAC only informs them when visa is granted. So you need to inform them anyway.

Hey, why do you have to wait 8 months? You should send them an email and ask to issue another invitation. And apply this time:)

We are moving to Australia in January and my hubby will be in quite a similar situation. He has been working for the past 3 years as a painter assistant, but he does not have any qualification in that. On the other hand he has a Bachelor degree in Commerce, but no experience... So we were hoping he will be able to quickly get a job as an assistant again on a construction site or something like that even if it's low pay. He checked some postings on seek and quite a lot of them does not mention "qualified" or "qualification required" etc. I would guess that won't be a bad option and as long as you can show that you're good at it...

I am not very familiar with UK system, but don't you need a Bachelor degree to get Post Graduate Diploma? Why won't you show it to CO as prove that you can claim 15 points? Also, don't post-graduate diplomas usually require only 1 year of study? If yes, than how can it be compered to Bachelor degree that is 3 years? Good luck, Jo

yes, it's 30kg for economy class now and 7kg carry-on. They increased their allowances few weeks/months ago. But I was really hoping to get that extra 10kg for students...

I paid 1600euros for one-way flight Frankfurt-Sydney for me and hubby while same flight (in the same week) with Singapore Airlines is 2400! The lowest fare with Emirates is 1900euros...

My visa type is normal PR 190 and my tickets are one-way, so there shouldn't be any confusion. Somehow I think that airlines do not offer migrant fares from Germany (not many people move from here to Au). I tried to ask IOM for flight deals with extra allowance but they had only extra 5kg for Qantas, which normally gives 23kg. So still less than 30kg, which Malaysian airline gives to everybody. As for Singapore or Emirates flights - they are highly expensive, almost double what I paid for Malaysian. I guess I would have to ship most of my things by seven seas or any other company... Thankfully I don't have that much stuff, mostly just clothes and shoes:) Thanks for your help guys!

I have a PR visa and I am a student (PhD) I already asked for extra allowance for PR holders on one-way tickets but they don't give any... The only way to get more baggage is either buy tickets for business/first class (no way I can afford it) or as a member of that students program. But I guess there aren't many students on this forum and nobody every heard about that program:/ Thanks for help anyway! Cheers, Jo

Hello everybody, I have booked my flights to Sydney for January next year with Malaysian Airlines and was wondering if anybody was able to get extra 10kg baggage allowance for GRADS program members? I have all the required documents, but the are not responding to any emails/phone calls... Hope someone can help! Cheers, Jo

I live in Germany and I ma finishing my PhD in Pharmacogenomics this year. I have started applying for jobs already so hopefully I can move around Dec-Feb. What is your research field, if you don't mind asking?

Same as me:) When do you plan to move? Good luck!

In my opiniom the required 24 months do not need to be assessed. You can submit the skills assessment plus the reference letter for the missing months. I submitted skills assessment covering 1 year and 2 reference letters covering one more year. Also, I don't think it will make your case weaker - Victoria is very picky about people they sponsor, but I would guess they choose based on experience, education only.

Congratulations!!!

On 176 you can live and work anywhere you want and it won't cause any problems with citizenship in the future. If I were you I would apply for jobs all around Australia, but give more consideration to ones in your sponsoring state. But if you don't like your sponsoring state, you are free to live wherever you want:) Good luck with your applications!

Yes. In the application I ticked "no functional English" for my partner and when Co was assigned she asked for IELTS. I sent her a booking confirmation and ask for extension (just in case my hubby does not get > 4.5 and he needs to take the test again) and she was happy to give as extra time. But in our case everything went well, he got 5.5 overall and we submitted the test result exactly on the 28day after it was requested. 10 days later we got our visas:)

Yeah, I also like to have everything prepared beforehand. But my hubby was really worried that he might not pass it and needed a month to prepare. Also, we live in small town and IELTS tests are only organized ones a month:) As for packing - not even close! I am still deciding if to move in the beginning of Dec or beginning of Jan... Also, an employer from Sydney is interested in working with me and I am torn between accepting (it's a great offer in the field that I want to work in) and waiting for something to come up from Melbourne as I really wanted to move there (and I am Vic sponsored)... Anyway, I have some though decisions to make this month, but hopefully everything will be clear in Sep and I can finally book my tickets and start packing:) How are you doing? I am sure you will get your visa any day now... Are you already applying for jobs? Cheers!

You can submit it later, after CO requests it. That is what I did. My husband took his IELtS 2 weeks after CO assigment. Only the primary applicant (and partner if claiming extra 5points) needs all evidence at the time of the application. You can also ask for extension, but I guess you should have evidence that you have at least booked the test.

Hi, I checked many different dates and the flights with Singapore airlines are almost two times more expensive than qantas or malaysian... And I can't find any airlines that give extra baggage allowance for flights from Germany... Seems like most offers are only for UK flights:/ I am really disappointed.

For me it took exactly 10 days after submitting the last requested document. good luck!