Coolbreeze

AITSL take 10 weeks to complete, the wait is unbearable so IELTS, is a nice thing to do in between. My thoughts anyway.

HI Guys, I applied on 4th of january and no email from CO!!! Am worried! :-(

Chami, immi do say up to 10 weeks for CO appointment. Most people are saying they are getting them between 6 - 8 weeks. You won't have to wait too long, i'm sure.

If i had more than one piece of evidence I just clicked 'attach document' again and again. It doesn't disappear after one attachment...

Vandeux,

Immi info sheet on PCC's -

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/character-requirements/character-penal.pdf

When is a police certificate required?

If you are over the age of 16 and have lived in any of the countries listed in this document for a total of

one year or more in the last 10 years, you must get a police certificate from that country.

The certificate must cover the period of time from the issue date back to the age you ceased to be a

minor or must cover the whole time you were in a country.

For immigration purposes a police certificate is deemed to be valid for 12 months from the issue date.

cheers cool breeze. may i ask where u coolbreeze and vansduex plan on moving too over there? can you private message as dot always seem to get notifications when people post on threads

I'm planning to move over to Adelaide, SA. I already have family over their. However, I'm not restricting myself to this state...I will go where I can get work

How about you?

I got approved by AITSL today! And lodged my EOI. Excited for Sunday to see if we get invited.

Great news, fingers crossed for an invite in the next round. Keep us posted....

Wow, Shazza, you haven't had to wait long at all for CO. It's making a lot of January lodgers excited, I'm sure. Hope medical goes well. Keep us all posted.

Hi all,

I am delighted to announce that I received my grant letter this morning!

Still shaking with joy...

Wish everyone else still waiting gets their grants soon enough.

Massive Congratulations!! All the best as a PR of Australia

What I find confusing is this....

I uploaded the majority of my documents on 14th Jan and NONE say 'received', they all say 'required'. Anything I uploaded subsequently has simply said 'Required' next to it.

I have been told/advised and read on here that, the items say 'received' once a human being has actually 'received' and looked at them...

I am either completely wrong, or, people seem to have CO's after 2-3 days of lodging???? I am now really confused.

Hi Everyone,

 

I lodged my application on 3rd of January- medicals were submitted to the DIAC by the panel doctor on 31st of January (all other documents were uploaded), but some say 'Received' and some say 'Required' (even though I have uploaded them!). I am assuming a CO has seen some of them and not the others.

 

However, to this date, no sign of a CO being allocated. Sigh! Any others with their stories?

 

C

If you have items saying 'received' then, yes, a CO has looked at them. Thus, you have a CO allocated??

Vandeux,

Are you waiting for CO to direct you on Meds and PCC??

That would be nice....Got meds arranged in 2 weeks time. Be great to time with CO allocation

Morning all, we got the golden ticket this morning after giving case office a few nudges!! Over the moon!1:biggrin:

Congratulations! All the best in Oz.

So what was the issue in the end?

I am assuming you can not see a list of 'required' and 'recommended' proof of evidence list? I did not see this until after 4 days when I received an email saying that my application had been successfully received.

Alternatively, you should see a ''attach document'' button on the top right of your immi account. Here you can select the applicant / type of evidence etc and then attach.

Most agents Ive seen prefer clients to wait until contacted by a CO.

 

Ask your agent what he would prefer - Police checks take about 14 days to come back - medicals generally can get appointments quickly.

 

Remember it is the earliest date of medicals or police checks that is used for validating your visas, doing them too early will just reduce the time you have to make first entry to Australia.

 

Personally we waited until we had CO to do them least we had their contact details if needed, as if front load CO generally will not contact if no further niformation is required then you are in limbo not knowing what is happening and who to contact. We got out visa granted 4 weeks after CO contact us requesting medicals and police checks, so had just over 11 months to validate visas.

It is this reason I am withholding the Thai police checks until I am asked...These take about 7 - 10 days to complete and I am hoping that, that is all they will ask for and then I have contact. The issue I have is the only panel physicians are in Phuket or Bangkok. I can also only arrange my medicals out of school hours (teacher). This would mean, if I got a CO in 3/4 weeks and they asked for Meds - I know I'd have t wait for another 7 weeks before the next holidays (my school just does not allow time off AND there are two of us)

I've decided to arrange mine so they are front loaded (uploaded before CO has been appointed). Others wait for the CO to direct them. Ask you agent what their preference is. I was told (on PIO) PCC's and Medicals are always required for PR Visas, so I went ahead, and got them arranged as soon as I lodged.

If you definitely did not claim the point for Australian work experience, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. e-mail the immi technical support / CO (if you have one) to rectify the problem, if needed.

Well, it all comes down to points. By achieving an '8' in every area (Reading,Writing,Speaking and listening) he would get 20 points towards the 60 needed. Also, his age? His work experience in Oz would get him some points and perhaps he some from the UK he can claim?

You really need to look at how much you can claim and see if you need the IELTS - Normally, people like the extra 20 points it provides.

Go to below link and select the tab 'Points test' - see what you can claim. Also, you can get 5 for state sponsorship and 10 for regional sponsorship.

http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/189.aspx

Thanks cool breeze am going to do exactly that. Already booked in to resit - but academic, will ring the centre and see if I can swap this on to a general IELTS.

 

If general is easier and I can still score an 8 then that makes sense.

Nickystar, I did exactly the same. I booked for academic and then needed to change. The general's reading exercise was much easier - Just remember, the writing part requires you to only answer the question, do not drift off and try to use a wide lexical range.

Commonly, native speakers like to write write and write some more. The exemplar answers they provide, really are just over the minimum word limit. Really make sure you practice an then mark it using their marking criteria....practice makes a perfect 20 point for Oz

What is the deal with 'referred' medicals. Is this a process they do every x number? Or, is this something they do when there is an issue?

Hi,

 

I just received my IELTS score - 9 in all areas except writing which was a 7.5. This is really disappointing as I need an 8 in each area to have another points. But as I've already gathered all my documents for the skills assessment by AITSL I wondered if I can submit to them with this IELTS score.

 

Meanwhile I can resit IELTS again and get this one remarked and when lodging for my visa include the improved writing score. I knew I'd mucked up my writing test as I ran out of time at the end so couldn't read through and check for errors. I went for a toilet break at the beginning which I regretted.

 

Is it okay to do this, or does the skills assessment IELT level need to match with the one I submit for my visa?

 

Any advice would be welcomed.

 

Nicky

Secondary Science teacher in London

Nickystar,

I did reply to this on the teachers thread as well. You will not need to send your IETS to AITSL as you completed your Degree and PGCE in UK. Get the AITSL assessment sent off as this is a very long wait. You an then arrange for your re-sit of IELTS (you only need General for immi purposes)

Hi tiger stripes, thanks for replying. My degree was completed in an English speaking country but I need the extra 20 points I can get if I get a level 8 for IELTS but not sure if it has to be assessed by AITSL for me to get the points or whether I can submit my IELTS score at the point of applying for my visa. In which case I can go ahead with my skills assessment now and won't be delayed any...anyone know?

Go ahead and apply to AITSL - you have UK degree and PGCE - they will never need to see your IELTS score. Appy for the assessment and then arrange your re-sit for IELTS. This is needed for DIAC

Lots of great info on this thread already. I wonder if anyone can put my mind at rest about something: my degree is in a different subject to my PGCE (journalism and then English and drama). Has anyone else who has been accepted by AITSL got different subjects like this?

My degree is in History and PGCE in ICT. AITSL just want to know if you have 4 years worth of higher education with at least X amount days worked, in schools, under supervision. A BA Hons and PGCE will meet this criteria

Vanduex, when you registered with SMART teachers did you re-write your CV Australian 'style' or did you upload your normal one??

 

Cheers!!

Quick question, Teacher Ben - what d you mean writing it 'australian' style?