sympatex

Hi guys just putting this up, that there may be someone/couple/1 child families, looking for Scarborough. Awesome location 10-15mins walk from the beach & restaurants, we're having to break lease as we've now bought a place. Any interest PM me or message the agent. Details below; http://www.realestate.com.au/property-villa-wa-scarborough-419840822 Thanks!

Good luck to all those still waiting, i lodged my VISA app on the 22nd of June and i got a case officer assigned at the end of august and i've now had it approved and GRANTED! There was a short delay with medicals which the clinic failed to upload promptly and the CO had to request them again. Very excited! i think when it gets closer to the time i want to go out there, summer '13 i will be getting the cold sweats and nerves about doing the right thing! ohwell no turning back now, its cost a fair amount and not its time to go see Australia!!

I was assigned a case officer at the end of August and got grant approved yesterday, so just over 3 weeks although there was a delay on my medical records being uploaded so they really are quick once you get one and everything is uploaded for them to see! Very excited i can finally answer for the first time in 6 months to the question "how's your VISA process going?" "it's done!" rather than "i don't know i'v eheard nothing!" !! WOOHOO hope everyone else gets theirs sorted to, i get the feeling i'm going to get the cold sweats and nerves about moving closer to the time but right now i'm relieved its all over.

For native english speakers the only issue is over thinking and getting out of sync on the listening. I also found there to be a couple of ambiguous questions in the reading, what was said and what was inferred meant there could be two right answers. Lots of people can't spell so writing could turn into a problem if over complicated! I got 8.5/8.5/85/9 i think, and also a 30year old IT professional. Hoping to move out to Perth next year. Majority of the people on this board who are struggling are not native english speakers.

Congrats Murta, surely you mean enter by 29/8/13 if not you have not entered Australia in time for your VISA validation! I'm trying to work out from the immi site if all my documents have been uploaded. Can't tell it's not very clear, just says "further medicals recieved". pesky, will chase my migration agent later.

Does anyone else find the online system lacking clarity of what exactly the status is of your application? I can't tell whether all the health documents are loaded as it just says "further medical records received" (twice) and some other rather obscure messages. Anyway, i've now sent all the documents to the migration agent and now fingers crossed i get a VISA grant in the next few weeks. Can't wait to send my passport off to get it labelled properly. Thinking of going to the exhibition in london on moving to Australia and taking my passport to see if theres any potential employers there.

Thanks for the response John. For some reason it didn't notify me you had replied. My 175 wassubmitted in late June, i was close to the deadline. but i started it all back in March. So it looks as though i'm on the same timescale as you my police and meds went in this week. haha i think thats in the back of my mind also, i could go out there for a while without requiring a job but i think i need to a job to go to to get me to up sticks and leave. I suspected i will have to go both routes, direct can be a bit more time consuming though with countless application pages to fill in rather than just one CV 'here you go'. Good luck with your house sale.

I didn't realise once your meds and police checks are uploaded it happens so quickly? I am just waiting for my police checks to come back, as they have had them for 8 days now so hopefully this week i should receive them and upload them. I am also looking at going to perth next spring, possibly summer. Im looking forward to start applying for work over their with a VISA grant and hanging in my notice at my old job!

Morning all, I have been reading through this section and a number of the other forums but haven't quite found the right answer or guidance to my questions. I applied for a 175 VISA in March time and i have been allocated a case officer and completed the police checks and medicals without any complications. I'm hoping barring any disasters to be allocated a VISA grant in december, maybe January time. The real question now is employment, I've worked permanently without a gap for Birtish Telecom for 7years (by next April). I work as an IT analyst focussing predominently in databases, server maintenance and technical fault resolution. My intended destination is Perth because i have a friend there who i can share living costs which seems to be the big cost when in Australia. (like anywhere i guess!!) The mining industry seems to be the major employer on that coast and IT seems to be more focused over in NSW and QLD. So main question, does anyone have any advice for perhaps ancilliary IT operators who support the mining operations or do the big mining co's have in house IT. I assume they must use IT and not just dig! As i don't require sponsorship i wondered whether applying directly to the companies on receipt of my VISA (fingers crossed) would be a better option than trying a recruitment agency. TIA for any advice.

Hi all, I've been following this thread, although i applied in June and not April for a 175. I was allocated a case officer on Tuesday and i'm now booking medicals and police checks while filling out the rather long form 80! Writing down every holiday in the last 10 years took up quite a bit of additional paper! Anyway i have 1 month to get medicals and police checks done and i should then be able to sit back and wait for hopefully good news! Good luck to all those who havent got one yet but i gues everyone in this thread should have one before me.

I also feel your pain but i was fortunate after the ACS assessed my skills as 4years and 10months rather than 7 years(2 as contractor, 5 as FTE) even though it was patently obvious i was still in employment with the same company still so although my application began in february they only calcualted my work experience to the date the letter was signed, and when my contract was signed. So i lost out on points because of a letter dated 2 months short of my 7years.Even though i've worked for the same company in the same role since 2004. However age was on my side and 8 band overall got me the extra points i lost out on. My recommendation would be to modify those letters where your old employers have failed to offer detail, or provide those employers with a new letter you've written to just sign where all your duties were explained. (if you do it and just ask them to agree to it (providing its true obviously!) they may well sign it off for you. That way you'll get the evidence the ACS require. Appealing without changing the evidence in front of them probably won't change anything. Failing that can you change your VISA type, aren't there sponsored ones where you require less points?

Hi all, my agent lodged my 175 so i can't offer any insight into what was asked for. By the sounds of their email they uploaded pretty much everything i'd provided them, skills assessment, employment reference, P60's/payslip, detials about where i'd livedover the last 10 years, vague medical details etc. I'm not waiting for a CO to be assigned, so i gues i ought to start saving! Like Kartscorpion i applied under ANZCO code 'systems analyst'. I'm also heading to Perth likei think LincolnGirl mentioned. I have a couple of friends there who i hope to crash with while i find my feet should i be granted a VISA of course! I manged to achieve 70 points with a level 8.5 overall IELTS test, though bizarrely lost 5 points on work history as although i worked in the role for 7 years, i only have a contract starting 2007 to 2012. I was 3 months short getting the 5 years! Irrritatingly by the time the submission was made i did have the complete 5 years and will actually complete 6 years before i hope to move. Good luck everyone! Rob.

I am about to have my 175 application submitted by my agent so when it is done i will let you know what mine says. Almost there! ....just medicals, background checks etc etc to go!

Although i completed the online application on the 17th April, the documentation wasn't received by the ACS until the 5th of May, albeit htats what it says on my application which is currently at stage 4. All being well i hope to be approved around the end of June I guess. This i expect will be tight.

Good news, congratulations! I am not going via the sponsorship route, i'm choosing 175 visa. I do want to go toPerth though. I obtained the same IELTS band as you but i'm still waiting for my skills asessment to come back from the ACS. Im up to week 6 out of the 10 they suggested it would take. Hope i can get it back in time so i can submit before the deadline

I sat mine in Wimbledon and those are online.

good work Val, excellent results!

I'm waiting for my ACS assessment to come back which was submitted on the 20th April so i'm up to 6 weeks and the lead time was 10 weeks. 20th June, it's going to be tight! I have passed my IELTS today at a level i needed. It's getting real now! Assuming everything goes well, it will then be the long wait on DIAC.

online kimsdu - https://ielts.britishcouncil.org/ you need your identification number, your candidate number and your DOB.

Dave, google around for the 'test materials' that the IELTS officially give out (at a price). You can download them if you look in the right (or wrong) places. Familiarity will with the exam setup is the easiest way to obtain the marks you need. Listening i found it did speed up in the final 1/4 of the exam and it took the format of multiple people talking. You get 30 seconds to read ahead before each set of talking. It tries to trip you up as well by mentioning what you think is the answer but then saying something afterwards which means its not right. Reading is more straight forward, i found i finished this early. However, again, the latter stages are more tricky and if you over analyse i think you'll come out with the wrong answers. Speaking is the easiest, though be prepared from some pretty bizarre questions such as; "what is your special room in the house?" which frankly in english sounds a bit creepy but they mean your favourite! The examiner will advise you before you start what to expect. Writing - i didn't enjoy this, ran out of time almost. the first part is a letter where you are given 3 pieces of information to convey to someone about something. Usual letter format, 2 -3 paragraphs, it is important not to make it too short, as you get marked down, 150words + but not too long or you'll be penalised. I wrote appx 180. Sign the letter of appropriately sincerley/faithfully. The essay part is 250 words, i wrote appx 300, be careful on spelling and essay structure which is, outline the discussion one line, suggest there are two sides to the 'discussion'. paragraph on pros, paragraph on cons, and then a summary on what you think using your evidence provided. Sorry if this is partronising! I found the official practice materials sufficient for 'revision' over a couple of days.

Excellent work dredg97, for your second,third or 4th language that's a great score. I'm a native speaker and took the test on the 10th/12th as well. I have been nervous as although i am fully capable of speaking reading and writing it has been a number of years since i took an exam! I too am applying for a 175 and trying to squeeze in before the July 13th deadline, i'm still waiting on my ACS assessment though. My results were out this morning [TABLE] [TR] [TD]Listening:[/TD] [TD]9.0[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Reading:[/TD] [TD]8.5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Writing:[/TD] [TD]8.5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Speaking:[/TD] [TD]8.5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=colspan: 2] [/TD][/TR] [TR] [TD]Overall:[/TD] [TD]8.5[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I've managed to scrape into the 20pts band although i needed 10. Tough to get 9's after checking the scoring, i probably ought to be obtaining that though. a pass is a pass however. Australia is one step closer.