Angie C

Hi Congrats on getting the process started! I was assessed by vetassess and there was no communication during the wait tme. It was a similar wait of 8 to 12 weeks. A letter was sent after the assessment which is the document you need for the next step....EOI. I have been in Oz since 2013 and whatever hoops you have to jump thru it is worth it. Its an amazing country and worth any hardships to get here. All the best of luck to you and your application! Angie

Thanks Ompragash! Glad to hear! Angie

Thanks for your comment!! Angie

Thanks for the comment Jake. I'll work on getting some examples up. Angie

Hi Rosie, Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time to look at my site and give me comments- especially since you don't even need the IELTS test right now! And like you said- hopefully you won't have too! I'm so pleased you think it will help others in our situation! It is crazy when you think that this test can either make or break someone's chances at living in OZ even when they are native English speakers. Thanks again for the nice comments- it has really encouraged me! All the best! Angie

Hi all, I finally got my 189 visa this week and so happy to be moving! I had to take the IELTS test twice to get my required band 8 for the points and as a result I was inspired to make a website to help people find information that I didn't have going into the test. I hope it helps and best of luck to all you trying to get into OZ! I believe its worth every sacrifice! www.ieltsband8.co.uk Cheers! Angie PS: If you have any comments about the website (good or bad I would be grateful if you could let me know- its my first attempt in IT anything!)

ARGH!!! I feel your pain and that totally sucks. I had the exact same scenerio- missing the band 8 by half a point. BUT I finally got it! I actually got my 189 visa approved yesterday (HOORAY!!) so don't give up hope!!! As a result of my frustration on the IELTS I created a website especially for people like me and you- Good luck. http://www.ieltsband8.co.uk

Hi Rumesh, Check out www.ieltsband8.co.uk for some help even though I know you only need a 7. Good luck! Angie

Hi Chris- Thanks for the luck- every day I'm hoping to have some more progress and just waiting is very frustrating at times. . That's great news about Vetassess- I hope it all works out for you. Also, the IELTS max points is 20 (you have to score all 8s on the 4 topics) but if you get that they will give you 20 points not 15- so there is your extra 5 points to meet the threshold of 60. YEAH!!! You are very close with your bday being in Feb- just make sure you submit your EOI with at least 60 points before then. DIAC go for the date that you meet the criteria as being eligible. You have to submit the EOI for them to even look at you- these are the new changes. I got lucky to get the 65 points in the end- I also needed the 20 points for IELTS so I had to take the test twice. But my age, edu and experience made up the rest of the points. Will your wife be getting her skills assessed? If so- just FYI all her paperwork has to be ready to go (points allocated by assessing authority etc) as well by the time you submit the EOI in order to get your points before your bday. That puts you in an even tighter deadline. But you should be okay without it - just get those 8s on IELTS! The points for IELTS is strict. You get 10 points for 7s and 20 points for 8's- no halvies! Good luck with your result!! Why did you guys decide to move to OZ? My husband and I want sunshine and it just seems like such a better lifestyle there... I know there is no perfect place but at least there will be warm climate! Im not on Linkedin - one step at a time I think!! Angie

Hi Chris, Great to hear from another welfare centre manager! The good news is I got a 189 invite in September so I didnt need state sponsorship - the more i looked into it- the less my chances were. I had 65 points. So not that high considering a got an invite so quick. How many points do you have? If you meet the threshold- get you EOI in ASAP! There were only 2 in our field who had received an invite- the max is 1260 for the year- so your chances should be good. I had the exact problem with Vetassess and they only gave me the 3 years as well. I tried to query why this was the case ( I had closely related jobs- one was even for the same employer that I got the points for) and I never got a response back. No email- nothing. I think they are a bit stingy with the points!! good luck fighting your case with this one. So I was allocated a case worker about 2 weeks ago and submitted the remaining docs for the visa. I haven't heard anything back so yet so just waiting..... Good luck!!

Hi all I can log into the system fine but I cant access the application when i click on the ""apply now" option. Ive tried a number of times throughout the day today and no luck. Anyone else having same problems or have any advice? thanks

Hi all Does anyone know how much time DIAC gives you to enter OZ after they grant a visa? I got an invite today but cant leave the UK until MAy 2013. I know it takes awhile to process but just wondering if I should delay submitting my application within the 60 days to give me some time? cheers xx

Hi all, An invite just came through!! So jazzed! I have 65 points and submitted EOI on 1st july. Good luck to all the 65s this round!! :smile:

ARGH!! No invite for us 65s! MAybe on the 15th Sept! I see 70 points made it in this round

Hey that's great news! Congrats matte! I was hoping for one this morning too but it was not in the cards yet I guess. I have 65 points so maybe on 15th Sept hopefully! Good luck down under!

Hmmmm... maybe I have missed it but my understanding is that there will be 45,500 of the 189 visas issued for the year. I haven't read anywhere that the number includes family members of the 189 visa holder. Including phantom numbers of family would be quite difficult for DIAC to even plan for because then they would not know how many people with the skills they need are actually getting a visa. I suppose if I added all the occupational ceiling amounts together i.e. mine has 1260 for the year then it should come up to 45,500? I'm staying positive for Saturday that us 65's will get an invite! Levimouse- you never know Friday late night feeding may be the best wake up call ever!

Hi all I got an email back from WA and was told they will be updating their WASOL list in mid September. I had my skills assessed as welfare centre manager (off the SOL list) which is not on the WASOL list, but welfare worker is. Talk about semantics! Anyway i have to get my skills reassessed by a different assessing authority and start that process over again if I want to go under "welfare worker". The lady at WA was very helpful and said the new list will be coming out so Im going to wait until then to see if my welfare centre manager is added. Fingers crossed.

You made me laugh out loud! I too have been analysing this way and that way and I dont have children! And yes what is up with the graphs, I wondered why they choose to use lines because there is no chance of 63 points and 71 points ect. Just use a chart that has columns for 60, 65, 70 for heavens sake!! I also have 65 points and everything is crossed for an invite on Saturday. At this point I feel bombarded with information that I can just hope for the best. Good luck to you too!

Hi guys, My occupation is not even listed in their report for July occupational ceilings. http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/index/pdf/skillselect-activity-summary-july-2012.pdf It is listed on the Occupational Ceiling list on the Skills select website. (the tab directly under their report!!) :wacko: I've seen so many lists of occupations for different states I'm getting really frustrated. Can anyone shed any light on why the list used in the report is not the same list of SOL?? Thanks

Thanks for your responses. I have now looked into state sponsorship in every state in Australia and although my occupation on the SOL list is "Welfare Centre Manager" - it doesn't even exist on many individual state lists. Its not that it is closed or has limited spaces, it is not even listed! Why are there so many different occupation lists for each state?! In a couple states the occupation "welfare worker" is used but is under a different assessing authority than what I had for welfare centre manager. I also found that the individual states have their own requirements on top of what is required to submit an EOI. For example, Tasmania wants more than five years experience post qualifying and my skills assessment is categorised as having "more than 3 years" (I had nearly 5 years) so I'm not eligible for sponsorship. I've contacted Western Australia to see if I need to get my skills reassessed under "welfare worker" as opposed to "welfare centre manager" and Ill see what comes back. This looks like the only state I'm actually possibly able to be sponsored by. Does anyone have a similar experience with different occupation lists? Its looking like if I dont get an invite under 189 visa the Australian door is closed. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi there, I have submitted an EOI for the 189 visa under the welfare centre manager field and just want to get a feel how many of us are trying to get this visa through this occupation? I scored 65 points and debating of opening it up to the 190 visa. There is only 1260 lucky peeps for the year in the this field and to top it off DIAC have lumped welfare centre managers together with health to make it even more competitive!! Good luck! Angie

Thanks for the info lebourvellec! that does ease my anxiety about going down the 190 visa route. yes maternity benefits are very different in Oz.....I guess Ill just have to see what happens but as long as my residency is not affected Im happy!! thanks for responding!

Hi I have submitted an EOI for a 189 but only have 65 points. Im worried that I wont get an invitation for this (soon if at all!) so I was thinking of also adding the 190 visa to my EOI. I have read the Booklet 6 about the visas and unfortunately some questions I have are not addressed in the booklet. In the event that you have any info about the following questions I would be grateful! For the 190 visa is says you need to stay in the state/territory for 2 years. Does this mean "work in your SOL occupation for 2 years" or does it mean just live there and they don't care where or what you do for work? My concern is that if I go down the 190 visa route and end up in an area that I dont want to settle permanently in or cant find a job in my field am I going to be "held" there until I have completed 2 years in my field, in that location? Also, if I have a baby during those 2 years and go on maternity leave- will I need to stay on longer because of my time on maternity leave? Any insight to this would be appreciated! thanks in advance! Angie

hey i like your idea about the table but i cant edit it :sad:

UGHH! gutted! I thought more invites were coming out. Thanks for clarifying Levimouse and Pswebb38 that no new invites were being sent out and it was the only the ones from the 100 chosen ones! I guess the bright side that we didn't get an invite is that no one else did either. It looks like there are a few of us with 65 points. I hope there is space for us in the next round =/ Hang in there about your medicals- you got an invite that's the main thing! Good luck!