Mims

How longs a piece of string really, so many variables, I think only you can really decide on that one. I put mine up for sale in August before flying end of November and didn't sell until start of November, took a lot longer than I expected, it's whether you can be without though or have a plan B for getting around in any interim period.,..

Am I assuming correctly that you are on a WHV? If that is the case, when we went in nov 2013 no one checked how much money we had at any time, the more you have the better though, it goes very quickly! Enjoy!

Mozzies LOVE me unfortunately, bites and welts galore if I don't lather myself in the strongest bushmans. I found something worse though - sand flies!! MANY MANY more bites, most of them blistered and swollen, so itchy and sore so much so it put me in hospital but they were further north in WA and it was my own fault for using a a milder repellant which wasn't bushmans! After that experience, I quite like mozzie in comparison though =).

Hi njchamp, My hubby is a plumber / carpenter, fortunately he has a qualification for his plumbing and that's on the SOL too. Having just completed stage 1 of his skills assessment through vetassess I can tell you that qualifications are only a small part of the evidence needed, I had to provide a lot of other evidence and over and above the norm due to the majority of his working life as a plumber being spent self employed, I am thinking that without qualifications you will just have to do the same in order to prove your hubbys skills. With plumbing at least, from what I have read, my hubby will have to do a lot of retraining when we get to Oz, perhaps similar with carpenters I don't know, perhaps that is a consideration when they are assessing, hopefully there isn't too much weight put on official qualifications, with something like carpentry work experience is surely more valuable. I'm not sure whether Vetassess are the assessing body for carpenters, but whoever it is, just contact them and see what they say, I'm sure you're not the first with this problem, if it is Vetassess I found them very quick and helpful responding to my email queries. I really hope there is a way for you to proceed, good luck!!

Well done Charlotte that's amazing news!! You've joined the 7.5 club-whoop!I cried too, it's such a great relief isn't it!! And I know exactly how you feel about it all becoming real, it was the first major hurdle jumped for us and you suddenly feel like it's possible and will actually happen rather than it just being something you think and talk a lot about!

You can paddle with the dolphins down at Bunbury when they come right into the bay in the mornings - they'd love that I'm sure =) Enjoy!!

Rooting for you both Rebecca! Fingers crossed your hubby makes the grade! Keep us posted.

Ah yes, I was following that Future Learn free course too! Sounds like you did loads Charlotte so like you say, fingers crossed!! I'm feeling confident for you :smile:grab a bottle of champers in anticipation of a celebration!! :wink::jiggy::cool:

Hi Milo! I've just recently made a post on my hubby and I's experience with IELTS, he's dyslexic too but only needed a 7, it might give you some insight. From what I've read getting 8's across the board is seemingly quite tricky if you're not a natural but equally possible with the right approach. I would strongly advise a tutor, make sure its someone associated with IELTS, someone who marks papers ideally, I believe you can find such tutors through IELTS themselves or I found ours on 'Tutor Hunt'. We had 3 weeks between a 6 hour intensive tutoring session and spent those 3 weeks practising for an hour or two each evening most days in the week and more at weekends, it didn't feel like enough but turned out to be in our case. My hubby had done a practice IELTS test in Adelaide which was free and gave him an idea in advance of where he was at and therefore what he needed to improve upon which was most helpful, might be worth looking into whether they do these near you as knowing how much you need to improve by will help greatly in working out how much time and effort you need put in to get those 8's. To get extra time on the test you need a professional dyslexia diagnosis which I think when I looked into this cost £250 or more if you haven't already got one. You need to submit this 5 weeks prior to sitting the exam otherwise they won't grant you the extra time, my hubby decided to proceed without, the time was a problem to him but he managed to scrape through although would have found the extra time VERY useful, if he had of failed i would have looked into a diagnosis. Something that we found out some way into our IELTS journey is that there are other tests you can take instead which aren't necessarily easier but in a post I read recently on here the Pearson PTE test was deemed fairer. I would definitely look into the alternatives and research what might be better for someone with dyslexia, you might have invested in an IELTS book already however that's little to lose when this other member took and "failed" the IELTS 6 times before taking the Pearson PTE test and "passing" first time so in the long run you could be much better off. I hope this helps answer your questions, all the very best with it!!

Hi Charlotte, If my hubby can do it anyone can! I'm glad its given you hope, we were resigned to resitting and can't believe that its not come to that in all honesty but without the tutoring and intense practising I think Steven would be, it definitely made the difference. Were you able to find much time to prepare for the test in the run up? No unfortunately you don't get feedback, I have read about people paying for a remark and requesting feedback then but nothing, they just won't it seems. I really hope you get good news but if not I can recommend a tutor near Bristol and as an IELTS examiner herself she gives excellent feedback which you can be sure is in line with what IELTS are looking for. Would love to know how you get on, we've everything crossed for you, keep us posted!

He did it Adele!! We went with IELTS in the end as we felt we were in to deep with it, if he'd've failed I would have looked at the alternatives but no need now. How's your hubby getting on? And where is going to he home in Australia when you get there? xxx

Thankyou =D! Arghhhh I bet you're so excited! We can't wait to be in your shoes. Keep us posted on your progress when you're out there won't you, all the very best!!

I'm just so excited and so shocked and so incredibly relieved that I just had to share the good news - IELTS is complete!!!!! I find hearing of others good news spurs me on, reminds me it is possible and gives me the motivation I need to push on so hopefully others feel the same and someone appreciates me sharing. Our IELTS journey began about this time last year I suppose, we were in Australia on a WHV and attended an event in Adelaide where IELTS were speaking and giving guidance and tips. We got confirmation then that we either needed an IELTS score of 8 or more across the board to pursue a skilled visa (189) and apply before our return to the UK, or a score of 7 would mean that once we were 25 (last month) and my hubby had 5 years of work experience post apprenticeship, which we've also hit in the last few month or so, then we'd have the points needed that way instead. Failing an IELTS (or similar) test, we'd've been waiting for 7 years of work experience I think to bump up the points by which time Plumbers (my hubby's line of work) may not be needed any more and within that period of time we could easily get too settled and tied down back here in the UK whether we want to be or not... It frustrated me that our move came down to English, a subject my hubby completely failed at school, along with most others actually, largely due to undiagnosed dyslexia which of course has been a huge factor too in "passing" IELTS. We only discovered he was dyslexic whilst in Australia in 2014, I'd been with Steven for 8 years and it just hit me one day, maybe just maybe this is all down to dyslexia, most people assume its just spelling but its so much more, for Steven its not the spelling that lets him down nearly as much as reading and processing what he's reading or hearing or writing and speaking cohesively. When looking into it it was like turning the light on, everything suddenly made sense! We didn't pursue an official diagnosis at the time, mainly because of the cost and given Steven needed just the 7 on the IELTS he really hoped he could work hard and achieve that without the need for the extra exam time a diagnosis would give, he wanted to prove to himself that he could master English to a degree that was actually really impressive for him without a helping hand. Its frustrating that English is the deciding factor in a very capable, competent and experienced PLUMBER's move from one English speaking country to another, my hubby Steven is a plumber because as with anyone whose disadvantaged somehow, we all make up for it somewhere else, Steven's academic inabilities are more than made up for by his practical talents, he can take his hand to near enough anything and as an academic his skills amaze me, it is so impressive. I'm not certain of all the ins and outs but one would assume that the IELTS (and similar tests) are on the points test because it is a requirement for those from countries where English is not the first language and therefore there are point bands to go with the relevant scores and that therefore has to be offered to native English speakers too as we only get a band 6 with our passports. Realistically though, particularly in the case of an IELTS general test for a native speaker, a band 7, 8 or 9 isn't going to make any difference, my husband isn't going to be a better plumber, he mastered quoting and invoicing without the need for an IELTS test and is an excellent communicator because he's had to be. I find it ironic that the shortcomings that make him better at his job are the shortcomings being tested to decide whether he's good enough to live and work as a plumber in Australia, a skill they need. Anyhow, frustrations aside and to fast forward somewhat, Steven had some tutoring in Australia for a few weeks but even experienced IELTS tutors couldn't understand why he needed to do the test and it became apparent that many have never tutored a native english speaker and actually the assistance Steven needed was different to that of someone for whom English is a second language. However, at the same time, an English tutor who didn't understand IELTS didn't seem the way to go either as from what I read and came to understand, IELTS seemed to be about understanding the test and what they were looking for from you, its not just a case of being good at English and that seems to ring true from what I have read on PIO of teachers and English teachers at that not getting the grade they need! Knowing an 8 was likely out of reach we knew we were restricted until we were 25 and with 5 years post apprenticeship work experience so IELTS was put on hold with Steven just reading when he could to improve his English skills that way in the interim, he did do a practice IELTS test in Adelaide though whilst we were there to see where he was at and therefore how far he had to go, the result was W:6.5 R:5.5 L:6, they didn't do the speaking, outcome = some way to go. I see a lot of people needing 8's and some struggling, 7's might seem a doddle, particularly in the general test, so many people say 'oh the general is easy, you'll be fine' maybe for some, but not for Steven unfortunately. Turning 25 at the start of June this year kicked started the ball rolling again for our move to Australia and therefore the dreaded IELTS exam was back on our lips. I booked a full day of tutoring with an English teacher and IELTS examiner for Steven and optimistically booked his test for just a few weeks after that (11th July 2015). I had to do a lot of nagging unfortunately but Steven did knuckle down and get through some practice papers prior to the tutoring, the lady was amazing, really knew her thing and helped Steven grow in confidence and helped him focus on the areas that would make the difference on points. The weeks that followed we did nothing but IELTS. Poor Steven has a pretty intense job as it is without coming home and doing English until bedtime to get up and do it all again the next day. Whoever said cramming doesn't work!? I guess this isn't exactly cramming, you're not exactly trying to remember loads, just practising practising practising and with every reading, listening and writing test improving. Some nights Steven would be his stubborn self and flat out refuse to do any English, others he required a lot of motivation which meant me sitting with him and starting him off. Whilst he did the papers I marked them, where I didn't have answers I'd have to do the tests myself and with the writing knowing what the tutor had said and being relatively good at English myself I could give Steven feedback to a degree. It was such an intense, unpleasant few weeks and we were both convinced that it wasn't going to be nearly enough especially when a few days before the exam I sent his tutor a writing essay to mark and she didn't think it was quite a 7 and gave us pointers to work on in the last few days to bump it up to a definite 7. By that time though i think it was too late to improve much more, it knocked our confidence a little and made us wish the test was not upon us and as awful as practising was that there was time to do more. It did cross our minds that maybe the essay could possibly scrape a 7 and that her comments were 1)to ensure Steven didn't get complacent and 2)to get improvements made if possible so Steven wasn't so touch and go on a 7, its not really ideal to scrape the score you need that's for sure. Exam day came, off to Bristol for 8.45am, I had to occupy myself and 2 dogs for hours and then we had a spot of lunch altogether whilst waiting for Steven's speaking slot. Steven didn't feel confident about the writing, for which he ran out of time and couldn't check through and it was on a ridiculous subject, the listening for which he had lost his way at one point, or even the speaking where he asked the examiner to repeat questions and he said he just didn't feel he was cohesive. Then for the agonising 2 week wait, we felt really sure Steven would be resitting but just wanted to know for sure, he obviously didn't want to continuing practising though until he was sure he needed to, he was super glad of the break! With an ever growing workload resulting in 70 hour weeks the thought of having to retake IELTS wasn't a pleasant one. In the days running up to result day, 24th July 2015, I kept going online to check if by some miracle the results were in early, they weren't. On result days itself I sat down to breakfast at 9ish but had no appetite, Steven had gone off to work and I was in the company of my grandparents who I had staying with us for a few days. I grabbed the laptop at ten past 9 unable to wait any longer or eat, knowing the results weren't due to be online until 10am, at quarter past I let out a streak and being the emotional person that I am got very teary whilst shouting 'he did it, he did it!!' reducing my delightful eccentric very elderly grandparents to tears too, I then of course immediately called Steven to blubber the good news down the phone to him, he was ecstatic! I know some people have some awful IELTS experiences and take it time and time again without getting the desired result, I know 7's for most aren't exactly a mountain to climb in order to achieve but for Steven it was very tough and for him its a real achievement never mind the real reason behind it and the fact its made moving to Australia more possible than ever!! Its good to hear there are some alternative tests out there other than IELTS, if we'd've known that before we started we would have chosen one of the others I think from what we have read, I think they would have suited Steven better, certainly if he hadn't have made the grade after a few attempts we'd've gone down an alternative route then too. Our advice for IELTS, get some official IELTS tutoring, a day cost us £150 but was very much worth it and included all future practice paper marking and email assistance, learn about what it is they are looking for, how they want essays structured and so on, and practice practice practice, several hours a day and more when you're not working, practice makes perfect eh! Now the pressure is very much off Steven for a while and on me. Given I'm the one that is more familiar with sitting behind a desk I'm trying to get all the paperwork together for the portfolio side of things on his Plumbing Skills Assessment, I can't book the practical until I have and don't want the places to run out as that will mean waiting another 2 months, its made more difficult by the fact Steven has been self employed nearly all of his working life and we need references from clients etc across the period of time worked and funnily enough Steven's not in touch with people he did work for back in 2009 given we've lived in Australia for a year since then and now live in a different part of the UK and have different phone numbers as his past clients more than likely do too! Still, if Steven can crack IELTS, than I'm sure I can crack this, it might be Steven's skills getting us to Oz but its most definitely a team effort otherwise! Good luck to anyone taking IELTS or an alternative exam for the purposes of migration, I hope things pan out as well for you as they have so far for us, lets get these boxes ticked and get our bums on a plane back to Oz sooner rather than later =)! W: 7 R: 7 L:7.5 S:9

Hi There, Before I start shelling out money on an IELTS test for my hubby and skills assessment, I want to be totally sure that we actually meet the points criteria, I know its close so it could go either way. Based on the below link to the points test my hubby scores as follows: - Age - 30 points - English - Currently 0 points but completing an IELTS to take that up to 10 points (that's the best we can hope for, my hubby isn't academic and is dyslexic so we are assuming 20 points is out of reach) -Skilled Employment - 10 points - Education (this is where I'm stuck!) - For 10 points it says 'Diploma completed in Australia, trade qualificationcompleted in Australia, or qualification or award ofrecognised standard'. I am assuming that my husbands City and Guilds Level 2 in Plumbing would be recognised in Australia but I'm not certain, how can I be sure? Other factors - Professional year (5 points)- We have just spent 12 months in Australia working and travelling to be sure that we want to move there and to decide where, but am I right in assuming that a 'professional year' would be going there with your current employer or similar only? - Nomination - Ideally I'd like to go on a 189 but we could do a 190 (5 points). Unfortunately we've nothing else to bring to the mix! https://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/points-tested-migration-fact-sheet.pdf So as you can see, we need the 10 points on education for this to be a goer! Without it, 5 points for nomination isn't going to get us up to 60 unless by some miracle our year there counts as a professional year which I doubt it will. Without points for Education our last resort looks to be the 489 which is fine (although not preferred) but it would be good to establish that before I start getting in deep with all this so I can do my research. If anyone knows more about how they assess Education and what is recognised that would be very helpful! Many thanks in advance! Miriam 'Poms in Oz', my go to for so many queries, thanks so much for all the help!!

Thanks Adele, that's really helpful, I will look into that instead! What a shame that it comes down to a few spellings when they are so good at what they do eh. Good luck to you guys!

Hi Rob, I hope you get the result you're hoping for!! My hubby is british born and has to do an IELTS because we are quite young still and therefore age and work experience don't quite give us enough points, we need him to have a level 7 on the IELTS for the extra points we can gain that way. He's a plumber and English is not his forte at all so we are looking for tuition because without he's very unlikely to get the 7 we need. Just wondering, are you a natural or did you seek any tuition prior to the exam? I know a lot of the tuition available is aimed at people whose first language isn't English but in our case that's not applicable, Steven needs general english tuition but obviously IELTS specific because from the research i've done its not quite like doing an English GCSE. If you did come across any sources of tuition in the run up to your exam even if not used it would be much appreciated if you could share. I have today contacted the British Council but their focus is also those who don't speak english as their first language. Good luck once more and thanks in advance for any guidance you may be able to give. All the best, Miriam

Hi guys, i have done done a little research on this subject and haven't found an answer so here's hoping one of you might know. We are planning to relocate to Australia with our mini dachshund who's all uptodate with annual boosters with a record proving as much, he's had his rabies and is all clear on that as well. We now however have had the offer of a second mini dachshund from a family member who has a lot of dogs and this one although placid isn't getting on with one of the others, she's exactly what we want as ours needs a friend but we don't think she's had annual boosters and I'm more than certain has no records of any injections. A while back when I was looking into things for our dog I thought I read somewhere that they need to have a clear record of injections from birth to be accepted for travel and into australia, we are more than happy to do what's needed injections wise, microchip for this possible addition to our family and are of course prepared to take on what will be double the cost then to get them both to Oz, but we cant Magic a record of injections that I'm more than certain she hasn't had and if without it it means we can't take her then it's obviously best we don't have her. Does anyone know whether dogs need to have a full record of injections from birth or is it ok as long as they have had the most recent ones and there is proof of such? thanks in advance for any help. miriam

Thanks both for your advice, I'm looking to get the skill assessment booked ASAP and the IELTS.

Hi there, Some help would be very much appreciated. My husband Steven and I are in Australia at the moment travelling on a working holiday visa, Steven is a plumber back home in the UK which I know is on the skilled list here so we hope to get permanent residency. I was in contact with Go Matilda the migration agent who I had read on here were good however the guy sent me one email and hasn't replied to the questions I replied with and it's now been weeks, if that is how it's going to be I would rather do it on our own! I thought we had enough points for the 189 but go matilda suggested otherwise but never explained where I was going wrong, he did seem to think we could get a different 4 year visa though but never specified which. I have seen comment to the English test on here and it seems to me this guy didn't take into consideration the extra points from that, he didnt mention doing such a test, it's pretty close if we haven't quite got the points for the 189 so surely we can bump them up with this test? Plus I know we need to go through the process of getting stevens skills assessed and then I believe the wait for the visa to come though can take 12 months so time is of the essence given that we have been here 3 already and we can't go home and set up life once more there for just a short period. We are thinking we could extend our working holiday visa for the 2nd year but its not good for Steven to be out of plumbing for too long as that will stand against him on the visa application and I believe it's $3500 for him to get licensed prior to having a long term visa and $750 once we have one so from a financial perspective it doesn't make sense to do it now, trying to get plumbing employment without being licensed though doesn't seem very feesible. So my questions are, how can I be certain on my own how many points we score and do items like the English test bump the score up and is it dependent on how you do in the test as to how many extra points towards your visa you get? Also if anyone has any advice on where to go to get plumbing skills assessed that would be very helpful. And in regard to migration agents, I would rather save money and do it myself but if it is beyond my capabilities if anyone has experience with good agents who actually respond it would be great to have their details. Also am I right in thinking we can apply for a visa without sponsorship of any kind and then apply for jobs once we have the visa? Plumbing is a difficult field to get sponsered in, there aren't lots of big companies its more self employed and sub contractor work. This is proving stressful already as we want it to happen so very much, I know that we haven't even scratched the surface yet though, I just want to get my head around everything before I start wasting money doing it wrong! Thanks in advance for any help given, it is much appreciated. Miriam