Hello folks,
New here but did some reading of this site when I prepared our application. We had what felt like a long wait for nomination but then after we submitted application, it was very fast, which was not what I expected at all and we were delighted. Our case was straight forward apart from having an adult daughter at university. Therefore we completed the application ourselves with one trip to see a registered migration lawyer who helped me understand the breadth of evidence needed to ensure my daughter would be likely considered dependent. He also helped us interpret "de facto" as she has a uni boyfriend. We had asked for NSW Health to use the Labour Agreement Scheme for our nomination but they refused on the basis that as Kiwis we "had no need for permanent residence". This was a blow as we knew DE would be longer. That cost us six months. As Kiwis we can live and work here but we cannot vote or access uni fee loans and are excluded from certain civil service jobs, as well as other things. There is also always the risk that later changes could undermine our right to be here and we felt a parental responsibility to try and secure PR (and ultimately citizenship) for the children we had brought here. We waited two years when we arrived because currently Kiwis in Oz count their time on the special category visa toward citizenship (this may change) and also after two years with same employer we avoid skills assessment including English assessment. The feeling when we got the emails was a fantastic mix of delight and relief - good luck to everyone else waiting. Our wait was only 14 months from immi in the end, but an extra 6 months getting the nomination submitted by employer.
Rough timeline (I didn't keep track exactly)
Occupation: Registered nurse
State: NSW
Birth Country: UK
Stream: 186 DE
Number of applicants: 4
Nomination applied: February 2018 (initially requested employer to sponsor under Labour Agreement in July 2017)
Nomination approved: Early December 2018
Visa applied: Early February 2018
Asked to attend medicals: Early May
Visa granted: 24 hours after medicals cleared.
IMMI Status: Finalized
