mintpro

Hi all, I have applied for a 461 visa with my NZ partner :eek:. My question is has anyone applied for a 461 visa recently and what the time frame is on the application?

After visiting Changi airport you would have plenty of things to do for 6 hours as stated above. 1hr 10 is quite a short period of time, considering it'll take you 20-30 mins to get off the plane. If you are running late connecting, chances are they will keep the connecting plane open (this does depend on the delay<20-30mins) but your bags definitely won't make it across and will be put on the next flight and you will need to collect them the next day or two. Travelling with kids, would a day without the suitcases be a big deal or having to head back to the airport again? Also that is what your going to remember about your trip over. The fact the plane was late and you had to run through Changi! Not a fantastic start!

Thankyou for your help. We've decided the 189 is the way to go with adding him to the application and a backup of the 461 if money doesn't go as planned this year. It's amazing though I had asked an agent for all the options open to us for moving over including and excluding PR and after doing my own digging with the help of POMS and the immi website found so much more information than she gave us! The 461 never came up or adding my partner on my visa. I'm glad I decided to do it myself now.

I just kept doing practice exams and looking up helpful tips online to understand the format of the exam. The day itself isn't that nice but take your time with everything and make sure you understand the questions as they do try to word them to confuse people.

Its such a large amount of money, you'd think they would have the amounts listed somewhere or maybe they do and I'm not looking hard enough.

the only thing I will add to kezza's post is if you need to do the IELTS test to gain more points this will need to be done before the expression of interest.

If after 5 years on the 461, do I then need to apply for the 189 for PR?

I did not know that existed thankyou. I have the points to apply for a 189 visa and my job has been on the SOL for quite a while and I dont see it changing for a while. With the added benefits I could get under the 189 and then citizenship after a number of years, would it be better to apply for a 189 or 461? I'm presuming after the 5 years on a 461 I will then need to apply for a 189 to get PR. On the up side I would have australian experience for the points and if I do it in the next 2-3 years I would also have the <30years old points also.

I'm a little different I need to go to Engineers Australia to get my assessment done maybe that's why its different for both of us.

so would I be correct in presuming $10,000 for one person?

Yeah sure why not but I'm sure someone on here would know. Nowhere I've seen any figures for having an amount of money when you move on a 189/190 visa.

Hi with the 3 months proof of funds. Is there a figure on it?

Regardless of whether you have a degree I thought you needed to get it assessed anyhow to show its equivalent tot an Aussie one. Am I wrong?

I'm in that boat. Moved from Ireland to NZ a few years back and now looking at moving to Aus. I came here on a student visa and now I'm on a work visa. If you plan on coming to NZ to work for a few years and not get PR then it's an easier country to get a work visa than Aus. For me getting PR in NZ is easier than PR in Australia mainly because my partner is kiwi plus there's no such thing as an EOI you just apply. And then you need to wait a number of years before you have citizenship to move to Aus. A lot of people in the past used NZ to get to Aus and that's why the two countries are different in entry requirements. I have to apply for the 189/190 visa to get to Aus but my partner can work/live in Australia on his kiwi passport but as stated above does not have access to government help. We plan on applying for his citizenship after a number of years there. The other thing to note if you have kids you have to pay for education especially if they head to college whereas you get help if your an Aus citizen.

thanks for the update on Engineers Australia. I won't be doing mine for a little while but sounds like I'll need to bring my timeline forward if it took you 9 weeks!

Yes that isn't good. In all my research I must of skipped over that part. That might just change my mind to do the 190. The extra 5 points for the 489 was the reason I preferred it.

Hi all, another question for someone! What is involved in either the 189 visa and the 489 application form. The one thing I don't like about the online system is there are no copies of the actual application forms you need to fill in to be more prepared. Does anyone know if there's a way to view them beforehand?

HI its worth reading the "190 visa February Lodge Gang 2014" thread

Hi do you mind elaborating the the 8539 and 8549 conditions? I tried a search on immi website but came up blank.

Hi, Thankyou for all that. I love this site for people with information. Sorry I should of said an option for my aunt to sponsor me for the 489. It depends on what score I get this weekend on the IELTS test. Again thankyou for the info.

Hi All, I have a few questions with regard to the layout of the 189 visa if you don't mind answering. I am planning on doing the paperwork myself to save ALOT of money so you guys are my saving grace! I have my IELTS test booked this Saturday (15th) and I know I need to get my qualifications assessed. From there I know I need to submit an EOI and then get invited for the visa application. I won't be applying until August as I can get more points from working but my questions are as follows; 1) I'm an engineer so getting my skills assessed by Engineers Australia. Has anyone been through this process before and can give me some information on it. 2) Is there a copy of the 189 visa form anywhere so I can have a look at what they need? 3) With the medical. Are there specific doctors who can only do it? Does my doctor send the information to immigration. Nowhere on the site when I was reading does it mention applicants uploading their results. 4) I plan on getting the police documents done in August to get as much stuff ready as possible plus I know these will take a few weeks to get from the countries I need. Is there an expiry date on them? 5) I am hopefully going to get sponsorship from my aunt who lives in Australia to help with further points and found her forms she needs to fill out but is there any others I am forgetting? Since its an online application any other advice you want to share please do. Sorry about all the questions and thank you.

Just bumping this to see if I can any more answers

Hi, thanks for the help. Just one question whats the PIO?

Hi All, I'm starting on the journey to apply for a 189 visa (:biggrin:) and the IELTS test is up first. After doing a search about the IELTS on POMS i'm a little worried about not getting the results I need which is an 8! English is my first language and didn't think I'd find it too difficult but after doing a few exams and especially after reading about peoples experience I am a little worried. For those of you who got 8 and 9's did you get help or what did you do to prepare? I do have the option to go to a tutor and I'd rather pay a tutor for a few hours than have to re-sit the exam. Any thoughts?