justme

Yes, of course I have a positive skills assessment already. As I said, I’ve had an EOI submitted since the beginning of July for a 189. I also have 20 points from gaining all 9s in the IELTS test. Unfortunately I cannot claim any points from work experience as I worked for 8 years as an architect (until 2011) and, although Vetassess assessed my past 5 years of experience as suitable under CPM, by the time the year for experience, and a maternity leave are taken off I’m left with just under 3 years. And currently working part-time and about to have another child so no option to increase the work experience any time soon. Hence my interest in the 190. Thanks for the advice on the work requirement for 189 and 190, much appreciated.

Thanks Maggie, great idea on the 2nd EOI. Is it definitely OK to do that - to have two separate EOIs at the same time? And do you know if there are any additional differences between the 190 and 189, except the necessity to live in the sponsoring state for first two years? I can’t find any additional requirements noted on the NSW sponsorship page and I’m afraid I’m missing something. thanks again Susie

Hi All I currently have an EOI in for a 189 visa, sitting on 60 points and waiting since start of July. If the invite numbers stay as they are it’s looking possible that 60 pointers may not start being invited for months, if at all. My profession, Construction Project Manager, is on the NSW list so thinking of applying for 190. My questions are as follows. 1) Can I set up a whole new EOI on Skillselect to apply for the 190? Rather than adding 190 to my current EOI. To avoid changing the EOI date for 189 from July to October. Is that definitely ok? 2) are there any differences between the 189 and 190 except the necessity to live and work in NSW for first two years? 3) some other states seem to have lots of additional requirements for state sponsorship, for example Victoria requires you to have access to a certain amount of money etc. I’ve read through the NSW pages numerous times and can’t find any additional requirements except a commitment to live and work their for two years I’m afraid I’m missing something... 4) with this visa are you required to work in your profession and full time? Obviously I’d prefer to work in what I’m qualified in, but want to know the option is there to take a different job if necessary. Likewise I’d probably be looking to work part-time initially as I have two small children. Is this allowed? Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi All Hoping someone can help answer my question/s. I submitted my expression of interest on 9th July for Construction Project Manager (189 visa). I have 60 points and, although I've worked in the construction industry for 13 years, I can't claim any points for work experience (I worked for the first few years as an architect and, although Vetassess approved my most recent 5 years of work experience as a Construction Project Manager, by the time the first year is taken off for experience, plus a maternity leave and some time working part-time, I'm 3 weeks short of even being able to claim for 3 years). I already have the full 20 points for IELTS English test so there is no easy way to increase my points above 60. Anyway, when the invites were going out at a rate of 1750 per round in September I thought it was likely that we'd receive an invite in October as 65 pointers are up to date until 12th September, meaning they should start on 60 pointers from 21st June soon. However, now that it's back down to 1250 per round, I saw an estimate on the Iscah website suggesting that it'll be another 7 months before 60 pointers who applied at the start of July get invited. Obviously this could change if the invite numbers increase again. My issue is that I am due to give birth to my second child at the beginning of November. I was hoping to be invited before then. If I've not yet been invited, do I need to update this information on my EOI and, if so, will doing this put my EOI submission date back from July until November? Secondly, an option I'm considering is applying for NSW state sponsorship for the 190 visa as we are considering moving to that state anyway. Again, will applying for this push back my EOI date for the 189 visa? Hope someone out there has some answers ... thanks in advance!

Reubs - it worries me too that invites will never get 'down' to those of us on 60 points in the less 'popular' occupations. Although the popular occupations like accountant and ICT professionals are capped to a certain number being invited each month, there are still so many hundreds of them going through, and all with 70 points plus, it seems like it'll never get down to other professions with lower points score. I feel like literally thousands of accountants etc with 70 points and more are ahead in the queue and they all need to get invites first. With only 2000 invites going out a month there aren't that many spaces left for non-pro-rata occupations on lower points. It does seem a bit unfair in that surely this system won't produce a good mix across all the professions? My profession is construction project manager. The occupation cap is over 5000 with only 15 invites so far. I can't increase my points at all as, although I've been working in the industry for 14 years, the first 8 years were as an architect. I did get 5 years of positive experience from Vetassess but by the time the one year comes off as 'qualifying period' and another year for maternity leave I was a few days short of 3 years so no points for experience. Currently working part-time so it also doesn't count. I'm considering whether to apply for 190 with state sponsorship in case there is more chance, but would prefer 189. I'm not in a huge rush as I'm expecting a new baby later in the year so need to add them to the application anyway. But the concern, like you say, is that those on 60 points never get invited this year. Any migration experts got any opinions on when/if those on 60 points (in non pro-rata occupations) will start to be invited this year?

Hi, I did the IELTS General test. You can do either Academic or General to qualify for the points test, it makes no difference. But English is my first language so I only took the test in order to claim the extra points ... if you need to take the test as part of your application then I'm not the right person to ask for advice. Still waiting for an invitation by the way ... think it'll be a long time before they start inviting people with 60 points for the 189 visa. Most of the invites seem to be going to accountants and ICT workers at the moment. I don't really understand how anyone with lower points is going to get invited until the occupation ceiling has been met for these popular professions? Best of luck

Just to update ... I decided to fill in my past 10 years employment history. I marked all experience up until 2011, plus the first year of my relevant experience and also my maternity leave as 'not relevant'. It turns out the SkillSelect system does calculate to the DAY, rather than rounding up to the month, so it calculated my total as just shy of 3 years. Which is fine for me as it means all of my experience is recorded, but I'm not claiming any points. So keeps things simple. Now just need to wait and see how long it takes to be invited to apply with 60 points (construction project manager)!

Just to update ... I decided to fill in my past 10 years employment history. I marked all experience up until 2011, plus the first year of my relevant experience and also my maternity leave as 'not relevant'. It turns out the SkillSelect system does calculate to the DAY, rather than rounding up to the month, so it calculated my total as just shy of 3 years. Which is fine for me as it means all of my experience is recorded, but I'm not claiming any points. So keeps things simple. Now just need to wait and see how long it takes to be invited to apply with 60 points (construction project manager)!

Hi All I'm hoping a migration agent might be on here to advise me ... If you don't want to claim points for employment is it OK to not fill in the section asking for 'employment history over last 10 years' on the SkillSelect EOI? I have just completed my EOI and didn't fill in this section. It didn't have a red star next to it, which suggests it's not mandatory. However, I hope this doesn't count as lying as I obviously do have an employment history over the past 10 years. I'm applying for the 189 visa. I have 60 points without including work experience. I've been working for the past 13 years and had my last 5.1 years of employment experience assessed positively by Vetassess. My Vetassess assessment letter shows 4.1 years as positive experience, after deducting the first year. However they did not deduct the 12 months I was on maternity leave (I did clearly declare it) and they rounded up the month when I started work (i.e. I started in the middle of an August and they counted the full August, and I finished in the middle of another month and they counted the full month). If the Department of Immigration were to calculate the dates to the actual day (rather than rounding the month up) and deduct my maternity leave, then it could leave me 2 weeks short of the 3 years. Therefore I don't want to risk 'over claiming' points for work experience and invalidating the whole visa application. This is why I don't want to claim for work experience at all. In short - is this OK? To just leave the employment section blank. Or do I need to fill it in? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi All I'm hoping a migration agent might be on here to advise me ... If you don't want to claim points for employment is it OK to not fill in the section asking for 'employment history over last 10 years' on the SkillSelect EOI? I have just completed my EOI and didn't fill in this section. It didn't have a red star next to it, which suggests it's not mandatory. However, I hope this doesn't count as lying as I obviously do have an employment history over the past 10 years. I'm applying for the 189 visa. I have 60 points without including work experience. I've been working for the past 13 years and had my last 5.1 years of employment experience assessed positively by Vetassess. My Vetassess assessment letter shows 4.1 years as positive experience, after deducting the first year. However they did not deduct the 12 months I was on maternity leave (I did clearly declare it) and they rounded up the month when I started work (i.e. I started in the middle of an August and they counted the full August, and I finished in the middle of another month and they counted the full month). If the Department of Immigration were to calculate the dates to the actual day (rather than rounding the month up) and deduct my maternity leave, then it could leave me 2 weeks short of the 3 years. Therefore I don't want to risk 'over claiming' points for work experience and invalidating the whole visa application. This is why I don't want to claim for work experience at all. In short - is this OK? To just leave the employment section blank. Or do I need to fill it in? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello, I'm hoping someone with some experience can advise me. I'm ready to submit an EOI for the 189 visa on SkillSelect. I have either 60 or 65 points depending on whether I include my work experience. This is made up of 25 points for age, 15 for education and 20 for IELTS test. I also potentially have another 5 points for work experience, but I'm considering not including this to make the application process simpler. My profession is 'Construction Project Manager' - I have my positive assessment from Vetassess. (I actually worked as an architect for a few years prior to moving into project management, however I only applied to have the project management work experience assessed). Vetassess assessed me as having 5.1 years of suitable experience, but the first year was deducted, leaving me with 4.1 years on their assessment letter. HOWEVER, they didn't deduct the 12 months I was on maternity leave, which would actually leave me with 3.1 years. And this 3.1 years was arrived at by them rounding up months between two jobs - by my calculation I'm actually around 2 weeks short of 3 years experience after the qualifying year and the maternity leave is deducted. So I don't really want to take any chances by including this work experience on my EOI. That is my gut feeling. My question is, how long do you think I'd need to wait to get invited to apply with only 60 points as a Construction Project Manager? Will I get invited or should I include the extra 5 points for work experience? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your responses. The results letter IS online Jimmynut - they don't attach it to the e-mail they send. The e-mail only says to login to view your PDF letter - they don't tell you the result by either e-mail or phone. The only way I can see the result letter is to login to the online portal, which it seems is not possible until the system re-opens for applications on Wednesday (just noticed this on the website). As you say, Richard, I will now just need to be patient and wait until Wednesday to see the outcome of my application. Hope it's positive. My profession is still on the SOL (or the MLTSSL as they are now calling it) and doesn't have a caveat attached. I'll be applying for a 189 visa so hopefully won't be affected by the current changes. Also, my case was only completed by Vetassess today, 21st April, so should hopefully have taken the new legislation into consideration you would think? Good luck everyone else in similar situation.

Hi All Vetassess are currently not processing new applications for skills assessments, which is understandable given the recent changes with the 457 visa. However, it doesn't seem possible to login to track current applications either. This morning I received an e-mail from Vetassess to say that my case is completed and my result letter is available in my account, but I can't login to the online system because the only way to login seems to be via pressing the 'login' button, which then takes you to the page where you have to click 'i'm ready to apply', which then obviously doesn't allow you to login. Does anyone have a link for some other way to login to view current applications, or do you think the whole system is just shut down? Sooooo frustrating to know my result letter is in there and I can't get to it! I've e-mailed them to ask, but their offices are probably closed until next week now ... Thanks in advance!