bigpoppadolph

189 visas granted yesterday! 8 months and 5 days, coincidentally 1 week after we called Australia house 

Sorry LAW, the wording could have been better. It took around 6 months for the ANMAC assessment and 6 months for the AHPRA registration. My OH went over to do AHPRA first to qualify for the modified assessment to speed things up for us but it back fired as we then had to wait for the AHPRA to start the ANMAC.

Fingers crossed they start granting soon, haven't heard anything out of the Brisbane office for LONG time! I guess with Melbourne your CO contact would've been from the Adelaide office?

We front-loaded everything, meds police 1221's 80's hoping it would also speed things up but... nothing.

Fingers crossed for you too!!

Yes the invite came back in 24hrs so we thought it was going to be quick and we applied the same day using a agent. Hopefully south side Helensvale Coomera Ormeau.  But not ruling any areas out just yet it will depend on work and schools. 

We're undecided between North or South Brisbane, it will depend on work. We have family around Morayfield but if we end up working south side I've heard the commute is terrible. Good luck!

Hi,
We are also waiting for Brisbane too. We applied on the 23rd August for a189 family of 4, 75 points, science Teacher secondary all front loaded. Case officer requested extra info at the end of September uploaded same week heard nothing since. House sold along with pretty much everything else. Agonising wait but it will be worth it. Good luck. 

Hi Stev, that's a lot of points. Did you get a quick invite? I've heard of people getting grants in just 2 months with 75 points, even over Christmas, but they all seem to be pro-rata occupations.
I'm hoping the processing times get reduced this week but I can't see it as not many people are getting grants. Whereabouts in Brisbane are you heading?

Thanks

Good to hear! Lots of people have been caught out by the AHPRA stuff

AHPRA was the worst part of the whole process! Website estimated 6 weeks, ours took 6 months. 2 different case officers that didn't have a brain between them.

 I hope you had the skills assesssment before you lodged the EOI?
also, AHPRA is not required to get the visa, and once they have granted registration in principle you only have three months to get to an AHPRA office and finalise it so your partner may need to do a quick trip to oz.

Hi, yes the skills assessment was done before the EOI. My partner presented in person in Brisbane for her registration in August 2016 and has paid her registration fee in 2017 also. She did the AHPRA before ANMAC so she only had to do the modified assessment instead of the full assessment which was apparently faster, but not for us.

Thanks

hey unfortunately we all have had that horrific nail biting wait.. it seems to be a long old wait at present but hang in there, may have been the way i was reading your post but seemed like you got your skills assessment back after your invitation.hopefully i read that wrong ?
at present no 60 pointers are getting invited i hear so congrats on getting in there when you did
hang in there 
liam
 

Hi Liam, are you waiting too? We put the EOI in the day after the skills assessment came back. It was almost a year's wait for AHPRA and anmac which added a massive chunk of time to our plans. Agreed we were lucky for a quick invite, I can't imagine what the 60 pointers are going through now.

Many are changing subclasses to get round it, as we decided to do in April when the 489 limit was reached my partner did another Pearson's to get an extra 10 points so we could go for the 189. Now 489's are getting processed faster than 189's but it will be better in the long run.

I know there's a lot of people waiting, just haven't heard of many waiting as long as we have.

Thanks

Just wondering if anybody else was in the same position as us?

 

We are a family of 5 waiting for our visas to travel to Brisbane on my partner's skill as a midwife.

 

The invitation in June was quick with 60 points after only 13 days, and it was the last invitation round for the first 6 months of 2017.

 

Visa was finally lodged on 4th July 2017 after a nightmare wait for the skills assessment, then AHPRA wasn't much better.

Medicals and police checks plus all forms were front loaded.

We had CO contact from the Brisbane office on 15th of August asking for my non-migrating daughter's passport and our form 80's to be combined better and the files compressed more.

 

Since then we've heard nothing, approaching 6.5 months now. I know the processing times state 6-10 months at present but from the various forums and groups we are on between us we haven't heard of many that have had to wait this long.

 

We heard that the Brisbane office has made a lot of redundancies recently, most grants seem to be coming out of the Adelaide office.

 

It's been a hell of wait, we're ready to book flights as soon as that email lands. Most of the furniture has gone, everyone sleeping on mattresses, summer clothes packed in bags etc.

 

Has anybody else had the same wait?

 

Thanks,

BPD

Hi George.
The CSOL and SOL have changed and you now have a short term list and medium to long term list, all info is on the border.gov website.
The 189 visa isn't a state sponsored visa, the state sponsored visas are 489 which is temporary (extra 10 points) and the 190 is permanent but still state nominated which will give you 5 extra points.
The anzsco search website has a lot of information if you find your profession and do a search on there, plus the border.gov website.
As far as I'm aware all qualifications have to be completed if you wish to include them in your visa application. Although you already have the 15 points with your degree so anything further would be for your own benefit, unless it was a PhD.
I can't comment on your ielts score for your skills assessment, some do and some don't but for extra points if you score an 8 it's worth 20 extra points, 7 is 10 points.
You just missed out on 5 points being 39 but could make it up for how many years work experience you have.
Hope this helps.

BPD

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Thanks Ayda, I couldn't find it on the DIBP website but I just found it on y-axis.
I wonder if the next round will be 2 weeks after on the 7th of June?

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

I forgot to update this, she missed IELTS by 0.5 again so booked Pearson's. Only fell short of 79 by a couple of points so booked again and got the 8's!

189 here we go [emoji41]

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Does anyone know when the next 189 invitation round is from today please?

 

Also, was there only one invitation round in May rather than two? If that's the case will there only be one invitation round in June with it coming up to the end of the year?

 

Thanks

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

 

 

PTE is much easier to score and in my opinion much more fairer test than ielts.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Had a look into PTE, that may be better for her confidence. We'd already booked her IELTS when we looked into it say may give it a try if we don't get 8's ?

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

you can find IELTS tutors out there who can provide guidance, but there's also some good advice on youtube.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

Thanks Richard, the more info the better for her score [emoji15]

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

@bigpoppadolph no this is incorrect. You need all 8's across one exam! Hence the annoyance and why we all think it's just a money making exercise! I done Pearson's three times see my scores below! Ridculous! 1st R80 , W84, S82, L78; 2nd R90, W90, S90, L78; 3rd R90, W90, S79, L84Good luck! She might be lucky first time

Thank you, I had read it somewhere but turns out it was for the skills assessment and not the visa which is a shame. Thanks for sharing your Pearson's experience, I agree it all seems like a massive money making excercise but they've got you over a barrel.

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the correction. I'd read you can combine results somewhere but it turns out that was for the assessment and not the visa. Ahpra and ANMAC are completed.

So now we hope for above 8's on the next IELTS to go for a permanent visa but failing that we'll go for the 489 FS with our 7's after our medicals next month.

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Update.. My Mrs has decided to take the IELTS again and try to improve her 7 (speaking) to an 8 so we can go for at least a 190.

 

Is it possible to combine both papers if she drops below 8 in any of the other sections where as she got an 8 in her first test? Thus giving her 8's overall, or does it have to be over 8's on the same test? Thanks

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Dear All PIO forum members (and those lurking / those that have found this thread via a search Engine)

 

As promised, here follows my personal views on IELTS-GENERAL vs. the Pearson Academic tests of English, for emigration purposes.

 

Please note that I am in no way, shape or form affiliated with any educational institute; I'm only writing this to help those, who feel like they have reached a stumbling block which they simply cannot conquer. I am happy to answer any questions you have about IELTS and PTE, but please do bear the above mentioned in mind, my advice will only ever be anecdotal.

 

I have very strong personal views on giving and receiving advice, particularly on the internet, due to the relative anonymity the internet provides. My reasoning is that, advice without context can be very misleading and in some cases downright dangerous.

 

 

Please indulge me while I introduce myself to you first, before we delve a little deeper into the subject. For those who just want to jump straight to the crux of the matter, please feel free to ignore my ramblings below and skip to the summary at the bottom of the post.

 

Who am I?

I am a South African born, 30something year old male, who moved to England back in 2001 (holy crap time flies!).

What is my (self-assessed) English proficiency level?

English is not my native language in the strictest sense of the term, as I had been raised speaking Afrikaans as my mother tongue. My English has always been above average, given the fact that I had English speaking friends growing up, and I come from a country where it is widely spoken.

 

My school education was entirely in Afrikaans as well, apart the English classes of course. I went to University, where I had the choice of translating my lectures, source material and notes into Afrikaans with the option to write my exams in said language, but chose to “change the way I learn” and do it all in English instead. I am not a lazy person per-say, however I will always take the path of least resistance if such an option exists, and I really couldn't be arsed with the additional overhead of the aforementioned translation.

 

My nominated occupation is an “ICT Business Analyst” and have been working as one for the last 13ish years. The fact that I work within software development is irrelevant to this topic, but the essence of my skills lay in my ability to communicate accurately, in simple English, both verbally and in written form. I make a good living doing exactly that, so I knew that my level of English is pretty high and I consider English as my native language now. (I’d be in dire trouble if I needed to do a test of Afrikaans ability now! )

 

Why did I do the IELTS and Pearson tests and what scores did I need?

I want to emigrate to Australia and I needed to score a minimum of “8” (IELTS) or 79 (PTE-A) in each module respectively (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking). As many of you already know, the average score is pretty much irrelevant and only a by-product of the individual scores, with candidates needing to score at least the minimum band in each of the discrete modules.

 

The reason I needed 8, is because I did not study what I do for a living (i.e.: lost a lot of points in my application, because I blagged my way into what I do), and therefore needed to bolster my visa application by getting 20 points for language ability, as opposed to 10 for a lower banding, or no points for the absolute minimum entry criteria.

What tests have I done, and what were my scores?

IELTS-G: Total of 6 attempts, please see the spread of my test results below:

Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking

1. L8, R7, W8, S9

2. L8, R7.5, W7.5, S9

3. L8, R7.5, W8, S9

4. L9, R8.5, W7.5, S9

5. L9, R9, W7.5, S8.5

6. L8.5, R8, W7.5, S 9

 

PTE-A: 1 attempt

Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking

1. L90, R90, W90, S87

 

Before you draw any immediate conclusions and skip the rest of this post, I must stress that I feel the PTE-A is NOT an easier exam to take.

 

--This is a pause for that statement to sink in for a moment…but don't lose hope –

 

I feel that the PTE-A, is a VASTLY FAIRER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE TEST, which I’ll elaborate on further down.

So how do the tests compare?

Based on the above results, I can understand that some readers may feel that my views are “sour grapes”, however I tried to be as objective as I can in my comparison and not as emotive as I want to be about the subject, though admittedly I’ll be using some visual language to express some of my feelings.

 

Another footnote: I’m not going to go into the minutiae here and give you a complete breakdown of each type of question you will encounter in PTE-A and IELTS, that’s up to you to practise. I would love to break it down and give feedback on every question type, but I simply do not have the time to do so, and I think it’s not in line with the intent of this post. Again, I’m happy to answer questions below and will reserve a response slot right beneath my post to surface any questions / FAQs that may arise in response to my thread, for easy access to anyone else reading this.

I will use some examples of question item types, so some of the meaning behind my examples might be lost on you if you’re not all that familiar with the question types in the two test types.

 

A: Question format

I feel that language proficiency is a difficult subject to score people on in an economically sustainable manner, and therefore I understand why written exams / tests are based on 4 main “pillars” of language such as L | R | W | S .

 

I feel, however, that a lot of language proficiency falls through the cracks between these pillars, particularly under examination conditions. The essence of comprehension, paraphrasing, reading between the lines, inference of information, situational context and awareness, interpretation, humour etc. are mostly lost.

 

PTE-A addresses some of these more “intangible” (for the lack of a better word) skills, by using integrated questions / item types. Integrated item types, refer to the method of testing more than one ability at a time. For example, you may be asked to summarise a piece of written text in your own words, capturing the essence of the text in only one sentence. This will test your writing and reading skills at the same time.

 

Another good example, is that you will be played an audio clip, which you will need to summarise in written form, testing your listening and writing skills concurrently.

I felt that, even with alien subject matter, with PTE-A I could close my eyes and listen to audio recordings and understand the meaning behind the lecture / audio discussion and then apply my understanding to the questions asked of me. Even “hard” pieces of written text with confusing vocabulary (I have a decent vocabulary, but there were a fair few pieces of text containing words I’ve never heard or seen before), I could get the gist of what’s written (or understand the word because of the context it was used), and apply logical deduction to come to my answer(s) (there are some multiple choice answers with multiple correct answers). In the situations where you needed to verbally summarise a recording (testing listening and speaking together), even though I couldn’t note down (on the erasable notebook you get) all of the main points and fancy words used, I was able to paraphrase, based on my core understanding of the audio clip.

 

In IELTS test there is no crossover / integrated questions, but they also try to ascertain whether a candidate can capture the meaning of written or spoken English, by asking questions that rely on very specific vocabulary used (or in the case of listening, misdirection). Using the reading module as a prime example, the questions become progressively harder towards the final two reading essays, and the candidate must understand the essay as a whole, to be able to find the information relating to the question he’s looking for. A vital tip that I can give anyone taking the IELTS still, is to ignore the rubbish rubbish rubbish (yes, I really feel strongly about this) advice given by the “road to IELTS” videos. Do NOT skip read the final essay, focussing on key words – read the whole damn thing. Skip reading works fine in the first couple essays, NOT the last!

 

So in summary of the question types, I'll use a simile:

During our school-going years, most of us came across two types of teachers. There was the more progressive teacher, who wanted you to do well but encouraged you to think for yourself using all the tools you have available to yourself (reasoning, deduction, argument etc.). You didn't find those classes any easier, but you applied what you know and did well as a result.

 

On the flipside, there was the old mean teacher, who used to try trip you up, by using subtle nuances in their questions to you in exam papers they set. Often you would know the correct answer, but because of a mean spirited twist to the question, you got the whole thing wrong.

 

PTE-A is like the progressive teacher, IELTS-G the latter.

 

B: Question content

Not an awful lot to write about here, apart from the fact that I found the content, though more academic in nature, much more interesting in PTE-A. I found that I cared about the subject matter of a lot of the questions, and felt it less of a chore to answer. Your views may differ, but I liked the fact that the PTE-A is “real world” content throughout the test vs. the scripted nonsense in the IELTS listening, or the world’s most boring essays in IELTS.

 

C: Scoring

There’s nothing I can say about the requirements to score 8 / 79 as a minimum for each module to attain the points you need. I personally feel that the distinction is a bit arbitrary and an average score is already reflective of modern use of language, but I’m not going to dwell on this.

 

However, as a direct result of the question format, I feel that PTE-A has a massive advantage for candidates. For example, if you make a mess of a question, you have the opportunity to make up for it, in questions or sections to follow. Using the “summarise written text” (testing reading and writing) as an example again, if you make a bit of a dog’s dinner of your summary, it’s OK – you have other questions later on (or preceding it) where you’re tested on the same skill(s). Added to this, mistakes can also still earn you a partial credit in some circumstances… let that sink in for a second. Obviously this does not apply to all circumstances (multiple choice answers obviously only has right / wrong values).

 

In IELTS-G, in the reading module, if you make more than 3 mistakes out of the 40 questions asked of you, that’s it – you're done, no “8” band score for you mate, pay us another £150 ish smackeroos, we'll see you next time.

 

This is the image the springs to mind

 

 

D: Timing

Yet another direct result of the question format (and also location, but we’ll cover that bit below), is the timing of the test. The subject of timing can be broken down into multiple sections; namely: Exam length, booking urgency and time taken for results to be returned.

 

Exam Length

As previously mentioned, my English proficiency is high, however I have been and always will be, a slow reader / writer. I was the kid at primary school that got picked on by my teacher for always being the last one to complete an essay, or to finish a reading assignment. I’m not a troglodyte mouth breather, but it’s just one of my personal shortcomings.

 

The PTE-A test requires you to make snappy conclusions, without needlessly relying on you to cover a lot of information. I found that I had ample time, though not excessive, to complete all tasks and question types. Some of this boils down to reading passages that are not overly long and some of it boils down to the fact that you can absorb information quickly by looking at an image / listening to audio / video etc. There are more examples of this, but it gets my point across.

 

In IELTS-G, I found that I barely had time to complete my reading due to my aforementioned shortcomings. This did not test my ability to read and comprehend, it needlessly put me under pressure, which can result in errors.

 

I have been working in a professional environment for many years now, and as a result, my handwriting is and awful mess. It is akin to a drunken spider that fell into an inkwell, flopping around on paper leaving an ink trail behind it. It is shorthand, meant to take notes in meetings, but nothing more. In the IELTS-G you have to hand write your essays, meaning that not only do you need to concentrate hard on writing clearly and accurately on some mundane topic you care nothing about, but also means that this extra care and the time it takes to correct errors, eats into the time allowed to write the essay.

 

Because PTE-A is computer based, at least I'm able to read what I’ve written on the mundane topic, but also easily spot and correct errors, without the paper looking like a bomb went off on it. My typing is proficient, though I do suffer from fat finger syndrome, but at least I had time to think about my essay and proof read it at least once.

 

Booking urgency:

PTE-A you can book up to two days before the test, I believe IELTS is 2 weeks, though I might be wrong on that fact. The point here is, that there’s a lot more available tests for PTE-A, than there are IELTS-G - so no need to book 2 tests in a row (like I had to do a few times during IELTS tests so I can just get the thing over and done with)

 

Results:

IELTS: 2 weeks

PTE-A: 5 working days, though I got my result back the morning of the second working day.

 

E: Location / Testing centre

IELTS-G tests are taken in halls (apart form the speaking, which is a one-to-one interview), where you sit in a row of candidates, similar to how you used to sit high-school / university exams. It’s overseen by a handful of invigilators, who at times act like they are prison wardens, or treating candidates like children. This is not always the case, but one particularly screechy invigilator springs to mind whenever I think of them.

 

PTE-A, you take your test in a smaller room, in a closed-off cubicle in front of a PC. I found that with the PTE-A I was a lot more at ease, as it just felt like I'm taking a test on my own sat in front of my computer with no outside pressure or the rigmarole of entering test centre numbers etc.

 

One aspect that I can't unfortunately compare, is feedback on scores. As you will notice from my test spread in IELTS, you will see that I figured out what I was doing wrong in the reading module, however my writing waivered. With only half a point off, I was gagging to understand where I have gone wrong, in an attempt to do better the next time around. I emailed the IELTS administrators, asking nicely whether it is possible for them to provide feedback, even if it means that I need to pay the 60 bucks fee to have it remarked. The feedback was as you’d expect, the playground bullies will not even give you feedback on your essay, even if you pay them to have another look at it. They recommended that I seek further tutelage from an accredited tutor. Big surprise there hey – feed them more money!

This is just plain vile and is quite telling of IELTS as a governing body. (see Simpsons meme above)

 

Summary

So for all those who chose to skip all my ramblings above, PTE-A is in my opinion the vastly superior test to take. It is more reflective of your English skills, by testing it in a less obtrusive way than IELTS does. It also enables you to do better, by presenting the test in a modern medium (PC based), using modern scenarios (combination of integrated questions, using real world, audio recordings, video clips, images and so forth)

 

If you struggle with English, this may not be the silver bullet you’re looking for as PTE-A is not easier. The test merely fairer on the candidate, but you still need the base-skills being tested.

Supercow.. Forgive me if this has already been answered but if you needed 8's, did you not already have that by the 4th attempt and used your previous scores combined? I heard that was possible? Only enquiring as my missus is taking a retest and any failings she hopes to use both papers combined. Thanks

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Thank you, I'd never heard it that way round before. We have a few options so we'll keep gathering information before lodging the EOI. All the help is really appreciated.

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Thank you. A 190 would be great but we would need 8's on the IELTS for the extra points and we only have 7's. Would it be possible to apply for a 489 but the Australian government would invite you for a 190 seeing as though midwives are on the CSOL for Queensland? I'm still looking into pros and cons but the 190 makes sense we just lack points.

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the info George, much appreciated. 190 would be good, similar criteria but permanent rather than temporary. I was of the understanding that we'd need to be invited for the 190 though, hence deciding on the 489?

 

Thanks, BPD

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

I was just wondering if anybody knew, or has gained recently a 489 visa and how long it took to come through after applying.

 

My partner and I wish to move to just north of Brisbane, she's a midwife. AHPRA and ANMAC all completed, medicals and police checks are next before EOI is lodged.

 

A lot of her family live out there so we will be sponsored on the 489.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

That's great, never seen anything like that before. Yea looks a bit tricky but I like a challenge. The evacuation zones are interesting. I've avoided the subject up to now but I'm like a fly with a blue light I want to read all about it.

 

Also, had positive word from a school this morning so things are looking up.

Cheers eera, really appreciate the advice and offer might have to take you up on that.

 

Looking through old photos I realised that we'd actually BEEN to rural view while we were over in 2013. What threw me off was the google images hasn't been updated since 2010 and the shopping precinct looks totally different. Not that we paid much attention to the area as from what I remember we'd stopped at mcdonalds for icecreams on the way back from a day at cape hillsborough and dolphin heads etc.

 

Thanks, BPD

Thanks bobj

 

It seems like we're looking in the right direction. Got sidetracked earlier with a nice rental we found in North Mackay so started looking round there and didn't like the primary school report so now we're back to rural view

I guess there'll be a lot of that during the next year but for now it's rural view all the way!

 

Thanks, BPD