Perkelly

@NLKelly Yes they are. And when you get here you don't need then anymore. The visa process was about 9 months for us.

Hi Nicola, yes we both had to do the Police check and medical examination... both very easy, but another thing you have to pay for!! Perkelly x

Application Process: Skilled Migration Visa - Subclass 189 (Teacher) Kelly and I have just finished our visa application process; this has taken 10 months, countless forms, photocopies and whole load of money. It was worse than buying a house. There is little information on what to fill in and what to apply for when… I wish I could go back in time and tell myself how to do this process efficiently… Which is why I decided to write this post. Application process in order and costs: Skills Assessment - $635 (AUD) Teacher Registration - $249.40 (AUD) EOI – None State nomination (if applicable) - $200 (AUD) Visa application - $3,600 (AUD) + $1,800 (AUD) for second applicant Medical - £290 (GBP) After deciding that we wanted to move to Australia, we began looking at the visa application process. The government website (http://www.border.gov.au) is really good and informative for looking at the different visa routes and subclasses; you can take a quick questionnaire and find all the visas that are applicable to you. We chose both the 189 (skilled independent) and 190 (skilled nominated). This is now where information is hard to find and the process becomes complicated! My first piece of advice is get all the documents ready and if you don’t have easy access to a scanner and printer buy one, as there is a lot of uploading of documents and printing off forms. Certified copies (get 2!): Passport Passport sized photographs University certificates University transcripts PGCE certificate PGCE transcript Letter from PGCE University stating how many days teaching practise you completed. Driving license DBS ACRO police check Other documents: Passport sized photographs Reference from Skilled occupation Birth certificate Bank statements Proof of address Defacto relationship evidence While sorting out documents you can start an Expression of Interest (EOI) through http://www.border.gov.au, this is just an online form where you enter your basic details, employment and education history. But… You will need a Skills Assessment to finish off the application. Once you have your certified documents you can simultaneously send off for your Skills Assessment and your Teacher Registration. As teachers we did our Skills Assessment through AISTL (http://www.aitsl.edu.au), this is another form to fill in and you have to post it to Australia, so all in all takes about 3-4 months. All teachers in Australia have to be registered with the state they intend to work in (for us this was Queensland: http://www.qct.edu.au). This is yet another form to fill in and is by post so takes about 3 months. Once your EOI has been submitted you just wait for an invitation to apply for a visa. Kelly got invited for the 190 (nominated) and so we started the process of applying for a State Nomination… While in that process he also got invited for the 189 (independent)… We found out that the 189 trumps the 190 invitation (NOWHERE EXPLAINS THIS!!!) so we could no longer carry on with our 190 application (after spending 4 weeks and £200 applying for it). If you are doing this they email you and all you have to do is upload the required documents with a bit more form filling. Once you have been invited you can set up an Immiaccount (http://www.border.gov.au/immiaccount). You then import your existing EOI application so some of this form is already filled in for you, I would check the information though. You then have the lovely job of paying for your visa!! Using the same account you have another online portal where you upload all your documents (this is where the printer/scanner comes in handy!) we sat in bed one day with a pile of documents, laptop and the scanner and just did it all in one go. We also had to fill in a Form 80, which can be found online. We also had to provide all our ‘Defacto Relationship’ evidence, border.gov.au have a fact sheet about providing evidence which was really useful. We provided: A PowerPoint of all out photos together and with our friends, we put it in a PowerPoint because it was easy to group photos and add comments on when and where they were. Then we saved it as a PDF. Joint bank account statement. Proof of address for both of us dating back at least 12months. Council tax and utility bills addressed to us both. Statements from both of us detailing our relationship Form 888 filled in by friends and family. Once on the portal you can fill in a health assessment which then produces an HAP ID number and you can book your Medical. The medical consists of: a chest x-ray (to check for TB), a urine sample, Blood test (for HIV), eye sight test (you bring your glasses/contacts), height and weight (doesn’t seem to matter if you’re overweight), listen to your chest and feel your kidneys. Once this is done and they haven’t asked you for any more information, you’re done! And then it’s just a lovely waiting game. Application Process: Skilled Migration Visa - Subclass 189 (Teacher) Kelly and I have just finished our visa application process; this has taken 10 months, countless forms, photocopies and whole load of money. It was worse than buying a house. There is little information on what to fill in and what to apply for when… I wish I could go back in time and tell myself how to do this process efficiently… Which is why I decided to write this post. Application process in order and costs: Skills Assessment - $635 (AUD) Teacher Registration - $249.40 (AUD) EOI – None State nomination (if applicable) - $200 (AUD) Visa application - $3,600 (AUD) + $1,800 (AUD) for second applicant Medical - £290 (GBP) After deciding that we wanted to move to Australia, we began looking at the visa application process. The government website (http://www.border.gov.au) is really good and informative for looking at the different visa routes and subclasses; you can take a quick questionnaire and find all the visas that are applicable to you. We chose both the 189 (skilled independent) and 190 (skilled nominated). This is now where information is hard to find and the process becomes complicated! My first piece of advice is get all the documents ready and if you don’t have easy access to a scanner and printer buy one, as there is a lot of uploading of documents and printing off forms. Certified copies (get 2!): Passport Passport sized photographs University certificates University transcripts PGCE certificate PGCE transcript Letter from PGCE University stating how many days teaching practise you completed. Driving license DBS ACRO police check Other documents: Passport sized photographs Reference from Skilled occupation Birth certificate Bank statements Proof of address Defacto relationship evidence While sorting out documents you can start an Expression of Interest (EOI) through http://www.border.gov.au, this is just an online form where you enter your basic details, employment and education history. But… You will need a Skills Assessment to finish off the application. Once you have your certified documents you can simultaneously send off for your Skills Assessment and your Teacher Registration. As teachers we did our Skills Assessment through AISTL (http://www.aitsl.edu.au), this is another form to fill in and you have to post it to Australia, so all in all takes about 3-4 months. All teachers in Australia have to be registered with the state they intend to work in (for us this was Queensland: http://www.qct.edu.au). This is yet another form to fill in and is by post so takes about 3 months. Once your EOI has been submitted you just wait for an invitation to apply for a visa. Kelly got invited for the 190 (nominated) and so we started the process of applying for a State Nomination… While in that process he also got invited for the 189 (independent)… We found out that the 189 trumps the 190 invitation (NOWHERE EXPLAINS THIS!!!) so we could no longer carry on with our 190 application (after spending 4 weeks and £200 applying for it). If you are doing this they email you and all you have to do is upload the required documents with a bit more form filling. Once you have been invited you can set up an Immiaccount (http://www.border.gov.au/immiaccount). You then import your existing EOI application so some of this form is already filled in for you, I would check the information though. You then have the lovely job of paying for your visa!! Using the same account you have another online portal where you upload all your documents (this is where the printer/scanner comes in handy!) we sat in bed one day with a pile of documents, laptop and the scanner and just did it all in one go. We also had to fill in a Form 80, which can be found online. We also had to provide all our ‘Defacto Relationship’ evidence, border.gov.au have a fact sheet about providing evidence which was really useful. We provided: A PowerPoint of all out photos together and with our friends, we put it in a PowerPoint because it was easy to group photos and add comments on when and where they were. Then we saved it as a PDF. Joint bank account statement. Proof of address for both of us dating back at least 12months. Council tax and utility bills addressed to us both. Statements from both of us detailing our relationship Form 888 filled in by friends and family. Once on the portal you can fill in a health assessment which then produces an HAP ID number and you can book your Medical. The medical consists of: a chest x-ray (to check for TB), a urine sample, Blood test (for HIV), eye sight test (you bring your glasses/contacts), height and weight (doesn’t seem to matter if you’re overweight), listen to your chest and feel your kidneys. Once this is done and they haven’t asked you for any more information, you’re done! And then it’s just a lovely waiting game.