Ausvisitor

The simple fact is that passing a skills assessment is in itself irrelevant to migration. Not passing it is a death-nail, but passing it only means that you have the required skill to do the job in Australia, not that they want people to do the job or that a job exists. Same true of the English test, passing it proves you are good enough at English, not that you have a place in Australia. VetAssess etc do not check that the career you are being assessed for is on the migration list, that's your job, they just check that you know your stuff well enough Go back to your agent and ask them what they propose you do next. WA has not been offering places (if you are not in WA already or a medic) for absolutely ages. Its the main reason we settled on NSW, as we couldn't decide between the two, but NSW wanted us and WA didn't want anyone with my skills

It is also worth pointing at a misunderstanding in your original post a 491 is not a temporary visa. It is a provisional visa. That makes a lot of difference.. WIth a temp visa it is just that temporary, you come for the amount of time allowed then leave (you can look at other routes to stay at that point but no guarantee) With a provisional visa, so long as you abide by the qualifying conditions, it converts (there is a process and forms and money) into a PR once you meet the criteria and apply So if you know you are staying in Oz, and can find employment in regional areas the 491 is enough. There are some differences in benefits and entitlements, an agent would be best placed to talk these through with you though

Thanks - then I think I've already got what I need, and I can relax

When you say 'facilitation letters, is that the automated email PDF reply or something more personalised to the visa holder? Thanks

I think we will beat you out - currently we are aiming at end of Jan. If we do go then I will let you know how it goes

I imagine the question was more around Visa restrictions. As in I know Sydeny is not a regional area, but can I use my 489/491 in Parramatta? The answer to this is no, all of the Greater Sydeny Area (which extends way beyond Parramatta) is considered non-regional for vias purposes

If you are booking business then there is a reasonable level of certainty. If you book economy then you are at the whim of the airline business model. You see if they cancel your flight they have to refund you. If they cancel 14 days out thats all you are entitled to. Within 14 days if you fly from the UK (under current rules Brexit may chnage these) they would also have to pay you 600 Euro compensation. Now if your ticket is £750 one-way and the business ticket is £3,500 they will bump you because it will cost them (at most) £1350 to refund and compensate you but they just got £3500 for the same "travel cap" usage

It is illegal to change the plug in that state if you are not a qualified electrician, but it is not illegal to change a plug before you ship it to that state, so do the switch over before you leave. You just need to get AUS plugs in the UK, which whilst not simple isn't rocket science

Hi, As most are aware I got my 190 grant about 9 months ago, and as such the first entry date is looming. We had our activation visit in June cancelled (for the obvious reason of no flights). I am aware that the migration dept are saying that for certain skilled visas (including 190) they will not seek to cancel a visa just for missing the initial entry date if the entry date was during this COVID period. Do I need to register this anywhere, ask permission/exception, or will the fact that is what they've said be sufficient alone? Thanks

MikeKa, Each state has differing tolerance for this so it would probably help if you mentioned which state you have been nominated by. I would suspect that WA and NSW would suggest if a job that fits you can be found in Brisbane it must also exist there, so you might struggle with these two. As for the smaller states they are fed-up of people using them as a gateway to Oz then dumping them on arrival. Whilst the states have been tightening up on "moving after nomination" it still legally remains just a moral obligation. You need to think "do I want citizenship?" if you know you won't ever want it then my view would be breaking the moral obligation would have no comeback on you, but if you know you do then they could later deny it based on your "bad character" Others may have a different (they certainly will on the moral obligation point as many are wholly against this type of action - as am I, but that doesn't make it illegal)

It is currently $405 (so about £210) to apply for an RRV, based on your recounting of the dates you were in AUS it should be a straightforward "computer" acceptance of the new RRV in a matter of a couple of days. This then "kicks the can down the road" for at least 5 years in terms of deciding if you want to return. Given the cost of visas is as high as they are it seems frivolous to let one lapse for the sake of just 200 quid

You don't need to have activated your visa either for this to be true if you were unable to meet the activation date due to Covid

Yes it needs to be at least Netflix and Disney+ together to classify as an actual relationship. Hold on I've just realised that based on that definition it means I'm in a de-facto relationship with my child.... Surely that can't be right

The only way around this (I beleive) is to submit multiple EOI's one to each state. This obviously is more work and requires you to cancel any unnecessary EOI later. This used to be an option (two years ago) they may have made the process better now and they might be able to pick up this work-around too

When I got my grant (last year so before COVID) we got invited by NSW in March and didn;t get a case worker contact until October to ask for checks and medicals. So not that dissimilar to your timescale even though COVID wasn't even heard of then. We did get our request in late October (as we did the meds during half term) and we had our grant first week in December. Your current wait seems in line with what people have been experiencing for the last 3 or 4 years so maybe your agent just hasn't been setting your expectation properly about how long these take usually (never mind in COVID 2020) You will always hear of people who get their grants in weeks of applying but these are few and far between, for most people it is an arduous wait. I consider my process quick in that from deciding we wanted to put in an application to getting a grant was under 10 months, but it basically consumed my life for the first 3 months collating information for my agent to submit.