ABG

I think Victoria have a 6-month cooling off period before reapplication. With regards to funds, when I applied in early 2016 there was a table on their (Vic) website with indicative amounts needed. It’s been a while, but think it was somewhere around AU$20k for primary applicant, and then an additional 10k per dependent. I’ve read in various forums that if you submit EOI with multiple states listed that you lower your odds (or a state may ask you to withdraw other applications to show commitment). This is however pure here-say and I can’t back it up at all.

In order to claim the partner points, both occupations need to be on the same skills list (i.e. either both on the short-term skills list, or both on the medium/long term list). Both applicants would need to have their skills assessed by the relevant skills assessment authority for their particular occupation, and the partner would also need to demonstrate they can speak English at Competent level. If you can't meet any of these requirements then I don't think there are any other options. If you're struggling to meet the points threshold then it may be worthwhile consulting with a migration agent who can help come up with some alternate strategies. https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/189-?modal=/visas/supporting/Pages/skilled/Partner-skills.aspx

It was either 75 + 5 with sponsorship, or 80 + 5 - I can't remember which one as my points went up during the process as I moved into the top work experience bracket whilst waiting for State Sponsorship.

Easiest thing is to just apply for their UK passport. It’s really simple now, and pretty fast too. As you’ve got at least 6 months before you travel it doesn’t make sense not to get the UK passport. I don’t know if the UK has similar laws, but the whole of my family are SA/UK dual citizens and it’s against the law for us to enter/leave SA on a foreign passport (ie the UK passport). Another plus, is that when you arrive you’ll get to go through the returning citizens queue, rather than the long wait in the foreign nationals queue- a big plus after traveling for >24 hours

If you’re applying under 190, if/when the state sponsors you, you will get an automatic invite to apply. My invite came within hours of the State sponsorship

As MaggieMay said, you can’t really predict when you’ll get an invite. You can look at the monthly reports released by DIBP on invitations issued each month and the points needed to get an invitation. If you’re on 60/65 points in a highly contested field, then it’s probably worth looking at switching to a 190 visa to get the extra 5 points and/or trying to increase your points for English competency.

First thing to do is search in the short/medium and long term occupation lists to see if your occupation is eligible. If it is, see if work experience is required, if you need state nomination etc.

That tactic tends to backfire and annoys people so they don’t offer help

Sorry to hear that. Hope she makes a speedy recovery

As far as I’m aware there is no refund possible

In answer to the OP: there are definite advantages of using a RMA for your application. If however you have done your research (and there's a lot of it to do), have a good understanding of the requirements and places where most people trip up (e.g. over claiming points), and you don't have any difficult things in your application (e.g. medical issues, character issues), then it is perfectly feasible to do it on your own. It does however take a lot of investment of your time if you go it alone. I applied for a 190 visa for a family of 4 solo and found it relatively straight forward - in places where I was confused I got help from this forum (which is why I still post even after having my visa granted so I can give back to the community in the same way). I lodged my application last year and the only request from DIBP I had throughout the process was for Form 80. I equally had no requests for further information from either Vetassess or the sponsoring State suggesting that after reading and understanding all the rules and requirements, I was able to provide sufficient evidence to satisfy DIBP. I probably went overboard in my applications and evidence, but wanted to be safe! It was helpful though that I had payslips and tax records going back 10 years, worked for a single employer, as well as being in a field that allowed me to provide independent 3rd party evidence of my work through peer-review publications.

Its worth checking with a migration agent to see what your options are. When I first started down this path I went to an immigration fair where I was able to book a FOC appointment with an agent for an initial consultation and they let me know what my options were.

There's a relatively new player on the block called Revolut. Its a peer-2-peer forex company that provides prepaid mastercards. You upload your local currency to your account through a phone app and then pay with the card like normal. The benefits of it is zero commission and you exchange at bank-to-bank rates rather than bank-to-customer rates. For a large sum of money it makes a significant saving. I use mine for all foreign currency purchases, and took it on holiday with me a few months ago to Australia so know it works for GBP to AUD.

From my experience of applying for a 190 visa, the HAP ID is generated after you complete the pre-assessment questionnaire through the immi account. I imagine its the same for other visa classes so order would be: immi account; questionnaire to generate HAP ID; take ID to the doctor who then uploads the results back to your immi account (although you don't get to see them), which is why they need the HAP ID.

Your partner would need to get a Special Category visa (444 visa) in order to live and work in Australia. NZ citizens are entitled to live and work in Aus, but they still need to apply for a visa (and I believe pass the character test). They don’t need a visa if traveling for holiday purposes, but they can’t work on a holiday visa. The visa I linked to is the visa the family member of the 444 visa holder would need to allow them to accompany the NZ citizen

If I’ve understood correctly, I don’t think it makes a difference. Onshore/offshore is determined by your residency, not where you happen to be at the time of application. Also, as it’s an online application so it’s difficult to establish if it was lodged onshore/offshore. If you’re concerned, you can simply change your IP address with a VPN service and to make you appear wherever you want in the world

There are migration agents on this forum who can help (I'm sure some will come along shortly). This is the visa that I think you need to apply for https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/461-

I think if you can meet the requirements for partnership, she can sponsor you, although not sure if that changed with the last round of changes to NZ work/residence rights in Aus. A few years ago a friend of mine did a similar thing, he was UK resident (on SA passport), and his fiancé was a Kiwi. They moved to Australia and he went in under her visa. They may however have done it via NZ

Can the course not be studied in/from the UK and then once complete the same job opportunity that would lead to a visa be followed? The letter mentioned that as a student there would be limited ability that earn an income, and with a daughter to support, the temptation to break conditions of the student visa may be too great, creating a situation where you’re disqualified from further visa applications. Better to play by the rules and, although it’ll be incredibly tough, be apart from your daughter for a short while, but build for the long term where you can be in the same country. My family is spread all over the world but in this technology ages, the distances are much smaller making it all manageable.

It’s also normally much cheaper if your trip includes a Saturday stay. Don’t ask me why, it just does. Did a business trip to the US last month, I went Mon-Thurs, a colleague stayed the weekend to visit family and my ticket was about 70% more expensive!

For $300-500 per month you will be living far away from everywhere!

DIBP will only evaluate after your friend has paid their visa fee. If you can’t back up the claimed experience then their application will fail and they’ll lose the visa fee.

+1 to switching to a sim only deal with Three. You can get a dual sim card phone and have both cards running. Free calls etc to UK, and your friends/family in UK can phone you on a local UK number

I do a fair bit of traveling for work, usually 8 hour time zone shift, and I find exercise helps me get on the new timezone quickly.

IIRC, to get points for partner's skills, your partner's occupation needs to be on the same skilled occupation list as the main applicants. I.e. if your occupation is on the short-term skilled list, partner needs to be on short-term list; if your occupation is on medium-long term list, theirs needs to be on that list. I can see Sales and Marketing Manager and Marketing Specialist are on the short-term list/190 eligible visas. 'Marketing Consultant' was not on either list so you may want to frame your skills assessment to fit in with either of those occupations https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L00850