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Hi, we got our NSW 190 visa granted 9th Feb!!! Submitted it beginning of Nov, request for further info mid Nov which we uploaded end of Dec (delayed police clearance). So took us 3 months in total, hopefully you'll get it anytime now! Not sure if it's different depending on trades? I checked the occupation ceiling listings and I'm the only one in my trade group (sheet metal worker) to apply this year! not sure if that made a difference. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd recommend finding a landline or something to call them, I sent an email and never heard back! I think I was waiting 20-30 mins both times I called! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got my Australian police clearance in about 2 weeks and that was including postage to the uk, so probably quicker if you're already in Australia. You'll need one from all countries you've spent over 12 months in during the past 10 years, my wife's Vietnamese one took about 5 weeks and no end of messing about, also delayed our visa. So if you need one from a difficult country I'd recommend applying for it as soon as you get the invite from the EOI. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hmmm seems a bit odd, maybe the document templates didn't save the information after the case worker typed it in? I'd give the visa line a call to clarify weather they need additional documents to be on the safe side. I think you can only call in the afternoon and just keep spamming redial if you get the busy tone, I had to call few times as had a complication, once you get through they're really good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's great news! Unfortunately too late for me, I spent loads sending a whole trees worth of paper documents over to Aus last year. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's great, easy to sort then. I thought it might get wiped if not used for 7 years as I'd left the country. Cheers for the advice Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'll do some digging then and see if my old one works, falling that I'll do it on the day I arrive my wife needs one anyway, can you work while it's still pending as it's saying upto 31 days to arrive! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi everyone Can I get a TFN (tax file number) before arriving in Australia I have an address With relatives in Sydney I can use? I know it says on the site must be in Australia but was wondering if anyone had applied before as I may have a job on arrival and would like to be organised. Also I had a TFN 8 years ago as backpacker can I just use that or will it be dead now? Cheers in advance for any info Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just got the visa grant this morning so happy!!! It came through 5 weeks after loading up the final documents. We're looking at moving there in about a month. Good luck to everyone else waiting hope it comes soon! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just bumping the thread, anyone heard anything back from immigration recently? I'm checking emails every morning but still no news! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you Neeraj, we applied in mid October last year then it came through in 10 days. We're currently waiting on a decision on the final visa now. Looks like you've got a good points score so I'd just be patient as its only been 2 weeks and they might be delayed, have you checked the occupation ceilings for your trade? Good luck on the application hope you hear from them soon! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got the invitation to apply to NSW 10 days after submitting the EOI. Might be a bit of delay going off since its just been christmas and Aussie summer holidays. From the reading the forums people seem to get the invite anywhere between a week and few months at random!

I found the real test to be slightly easier then the mocks, I got lucky and only had to do one Essay question. For the writing I got 63 then 72 in mocks then 84 in the real one, I had to get 79 for the 20pts. On the mocks I found I was loosing writing points in the 'written discourse' 0 first then 48 second mock and 'spelling' around 50 each test, so did loads of revision on both, then on the real one I got 90 for the discourse but 45 for spelling even though I spent ages checking the spelling, guess I just can't spell. Good luck for Monday hope it all goes well. The best thing about this test is getting the results in 2 days

I found the essay part the hardest too, although did ok when it came to the test. The structure I used was an intro followed by 2 paragraphs each consisting of a different point and the pros/cons to it then a summary. Its important to remember that you're writing ability is being tested not your knowledge, so picking a few relevant points for and against is enough and try not to go over the top on information, also putting in sayings will also get you more points, I used "In some circles it is believed". My main tip would be to just keep practising writing them as it'll increase your speed, I went through this list twice 'http://www.allinfi.com/pte-academic-most-repeated-essay-types-with-short-cut-points/' its time consuming but worth it. Also I went online and found some people had rough templates they were using which helps speed things up if you already have a structure in mind, if you google 'pte-a written discourse' you'll find them. Have you done the online tests at PTE? they're a total rip-off but as its marked the exact same way as the real exam, you'll know if you doing it right or not. Good luck!!

Hello, good to hear from someone in the same position. I submitted my 190 on 31 oct, then I had the request for more information e-mail asking for medicals, Police checks and relationship evidence on 14th Nov. We had problems getting a vietnamese police clearance (it takes about 4 weeks, IF parcel force don't lose the application for a week) so I asked for an extension to the 28 days, didn't hear anything back until right before Christmas, They sent an e-mail saying they'd review our case Mid January and have a Merry christmas! We've since loaded everything up and hit the Evidence complete button and just waiting now. Good luck on yours hope it comes through soon, you should be ahead of me in the queue if it works like that. What state did you apply for? I'm hopefully heading to NSW.

On the EOI I included all my employment that lasted over a few months. I've heard somewhere that you have to pay for them to work out how many points you can claim on experience! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I spent ages trying to work out which dates to put in. I used the certificate date as the course end date and put the beginning as when I started working in the trade, so about 5 years prior in my case. I also used TRA as the awarding body as had same problem selecting vetassess, I actually tried them all and the only one it let me do was TRA so assumed it had to be that one! I put Australia as 'country of institution' and the 'campus' as the address on the skills assessment/AQF certificate. Good luck with it all mate. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I started with an agent to get the Vetassess part, which they did really well, but as we started to prepare for the EOI I wasn't happy with how they were treating us so decided to go it alone. To be honest its not to bad, the most important part is getting the EOI points right, the actual application after is pretty simple as its just filling out your personal information and uploading the documents, and this forum helped me out loads in getting it all together, We're right at the end now just waiting on a Vietnamese police clearance which is taking forever! but the hardest part of the whole thing for me was the vetassess at the beginning so much paperwork and running around getting statutory declarations etc... You're claiming 30 points for age, 20 for english and 10 for qualification, I'm in almost exactly the same situation as you apart from different trade and losing 5 points due to my age therefor 190visa. I'd worked as a sheet metal worker for 5 years and never been qualified, I was originally going to use this for 5 points but it wouldn't have counted as I wasn't "skilled" As ABG said in a previous post they count work experience as on the job training for unqualified people, but if they've given you an AQF3 thats a 4 year course, so you lose 4 years work experience. Make sure on the previous employment section you mark all of it as "unrelated employment", or it will give you points. The worst thing you can do is over claim points (well ticking yes on the "are you a terrorist?" question is probably worse). Not claiming work experience makes it loads easier as you only need to upload: skills assessment, AQF3 certificate, PTE results and passport/birth cert to get the points!

Exact same thing happened to me, was in right panic for a while until I got advice on the skills assessment qualification being an AQF III.

We both filled out our form80 and loaded it up with the rest of the initial documents, my wife's from the Philippines so expected we would get asked. I found the best way was to fill it was on the computer using the pdf programme, then I just printed the last page and signed it. I used Split PDF to take out the signature page then used PDFMerge to re attached the same page once I'd signed and scanned it back in, saves paper and time. I had to edit mine loads as I lived in about 4 countries and did loads of travelling so was a nightmare to get all the dates and addresses together and kept getting the timings mixed up, but its not as daunting as it looks if you just do a few pages a night.

I was interested to find the exact amount I'd spent so had a look through my paperwork wondering what it cost exactly: £767 Agent Fees £510 First part of TRA documents £792 skills interview £80 Document notarisation £2150 for the whole TRA part of the visa. So if you did it without an agent it'd be £1383.

You don't necessarily need a UK qualifications for the TRA (although it might help), I had no qualifications in my trade as a sheet metal worker but passed the TRA to get an Australian qualification (AQF3), but if you have no UK qualifications you need to take off the course length from your work experience when you come to work points out, so I had 5 years experience with no qualifications, 4 of those years had to be used as "training" so I didn't get to use any work experience in the points system. I did all my skills assessments here but via an agent, if I'd found this first I may have done it all by myself. They are really helpful defiantly worth giving them a call, http://www.downundercentre.com For notarising documents, I got mine done for about £50 when i took a massive stack in, then £5-10 when i took 3 or 4 docs after forgetting them, I just went around all the solicitors in town until someone gave me a reasonable price, I had quotes that went well over a few hundred quid, there seems to be no normal pricing for it in the industry so they just charge what they feel like. I think the whole TRA skills assessment cost about £2-2.5k including a visa agent, £600 of that was for the 1 hour skills assessment Skype interview! I think the TRA section is by far the hardest part of the Visa to get all the documents and information, but I was self employed and had no qualifications so had to send in a lot of evidence and personal statements.

The exact statement from the CO was "I acknowledge you were married in May 2016, pleas provide evidence of your relationship for at least 12 months proir" I think the main reason for asking for more information was we've both been travelling around a lot and living in different countries to each other on and off due to my work and VISA restrictions in the UK, my wife is also from the Philippines which unfortunately is probably a high risk county for sham marriages and the like. And i guess they want to see that we'd met well before I'd started to apply for the Australian VISA as its not unheard of for girls there to marry people to get visas, then leave them once in country.

We've applied for a 190 NSW, been assigned a case officer and been asked to supply evidence of our relationship "I acknowledge you were married in May 2016,please provide evidence of your relationship for at least 12 months proir." We originally only provided our marriage certificate, so now we've now added, 5 years e-mail contacts, plane tickets with both of us on the same flights from 3 years ago, statements from from family and friends, money transfers between the 2 of us and photos of us togetaher in various places and with family and friends that supplied statements. We've not heard anything back yet as still waiting on a PCC, but hoping it should be enough. I think we needed more evidence as my wife is from the Philippines which is probably seen as a high risk country as some girls there trick guys into getting married then leave as soon as they've got into the country. But if you've been married over a year I'd imagine you could just supple the marriage certificate, although adding additional evidence wouldn't hurt.

Yep, We stated that: we met in the Philippines and that I went back to the uk for work reasons, We tried to get her a UK tourist visa which got denied due to us not providing the right evidence, then the next year she got the tourist visa approved and spent 5 months in the UK, The next year we wanted to apply for a fiancee visa but unfortunately I fell just under the earnings requirement due to a slump in the steel industry, business then improved slightly and we were looking at the applying for the fiancee visa again but found out about the Australia possibility so we decided we would apply for the Australia skilled visa, we then got another 6 months UK tourist visa for her until that was decided. We also stated that I visited her 3 or 4 times a year when ever possible and included so Itineraries of us on trips together. Its been a tough few years as we've been pretty much forced apart due to Visa's and work, the worst was the UK fiancée visa, In 2014 I fell about £1000 under the 18k earnings minimum and as I was self employed my savings didn't count for anything, If I'd had a normal job earning the same you can add your savings to your salary to reach the level, very frustrating.