PickledRic

We quarantined in Sydney and they actually gave us a couple of free SIM cards on arrival at the airport which was really handy! Not sure if all the states do this though.

Thank you quarantine has been relatively easy so far, we’re on day 7 now! we’ve been really lucky and got a spot in a hotel with beautiful views over the harbour and the opera house! We arrived and checked in the very early hours of Wednesday morning; I believe we will be allowed to leave on the Wednesday in the morning, technically we will have done 14 sleeps as we went to bed as soon as we got here. I hope everything goes well for you

We initially had flights booked a couple of months in advance with virgin but they were to fly via Hong Kong and got cancelled. We booked our flights with Etihad about two weeks in advance. They cost about £6.5k for the two of us flying economy but we felt that the cheaper ones with other companies were probably not going to happen and we were more likely to get bumped off. Plus we basically flew business class because we had so much space!

We booked direct via Etihad Airways and our flights went ahead on Monday 22nd Feb into Sydney. We’re currently in quarantine and will be heading over to QLD when we can. The flights were great; we had a whole row of seats to ourselves so we could sleep. We flew via Abu Dhabi. No issues at all. Would definitely recommend. Etihad also offer full refunds/free changes to tickets and you have COVID insurance so if you test positive prior to your flight you can rearrange free of charge.

I am flying out with Etihad on the 22nd Feb - From London transit via Abu Dhabi and land in Sydney. Hopefully should be on the flight considering the cost but who knows if we'll get bumped!

Hi everyone, I’m just looking for a bit of advice on a travel exemption application I currently have open, I’ll give some background info first: 491 visa granted March 2020 based on partners skills - secondary school teacher. Obviously corona is here and our plans to travel to Oz in September were scuppered but I’m not one to give up! Ive secured a job in Australia as a mental health practitioner so have applied for a travel exemption for me and my partner on the basis of critical skills. I supplied as much evidence as I had available at the time (it all happened quite quick). They have since come back and asked for some more evidence, one being the contract which is no problem but the other is a supporting letter from the employer about why my partner should be exempt. I have no idea what they are expecting an employer to say about that, does anyone have any idea what they’re looking for? I have provided financial evidence as well which suggests we have more than enough money for a year unemployed in Australia but they still want the employer one for him? Thanks in advance!

I get the impression the refunds won’t apply to the 489/491 visas as these aren’t technically temporary visas. I find it hard to believe they will refund the £3500 I paid for the visa. I also don’t think I would be able to apply for a further skilled visa as it’s likely the skills list is going to change and I won’t be eligible. It’s all a bit of a shit show in my opinion.

I’m with you on this. I have a 491 visa which replaced the 489. Was sold as a provisional visa, grants basically save rights as a permanent resident and is a pathway to PR. Same process as applying for a 190 or 189 and same price. I obviously understand the current situation and the restrictions and that citizens are struggling to return home. However, my concern is that time is ticking on my visa and I don’t trust that Australia won’t just turn around and tell us it’s a bit tough luck when we can’t fill the criteria and that’s thousands of pounds and a whole lot of time down wasted. I feel really disgusted to be honest at how migrants have been treated with no inclination of when things might resume. It’s almost like they don’t give a crap that this is people’s whole lives. It’s really upsetting So yes. Power in numbers. Although budget is being announced tomorrow, maybe we’ll get a mention then but I’m not holding my breath.

I agree with you. I feel like we’ve been completely forgotten about! I just wish we could get a mention at some point and say ‘yep, we know you exist, here’s what we’re thinking of next year or whenever for you guys to be able to come in.’

It’s enough to make me want to challenge it but I doubt I’d get anywhere and I doubt many people would have any sympathy at the moment with everything going on I just feel very frustrated that the visa we fought so hard to get isn’t worth anything. The fact that people can still travel to Australia because they have a PR visa feels very unfair especially when for many, it’s their first visit. But I guess that’s life!

Oh dear Surely they can’t keep existing visa holders out though? I understand not granting any new ones but I really feel like the people who have a visa that’s not PR at the moment are being totally shafted. The 491 especially was sold as basically an equivalent but with a pathway to PR. I can’t believe I paid so much money and spent so much time on a visa that’s not worth anything at all and we’re being treated so differently even though the application process was literally the same. I hope that things change over the coming months and the government allows some visa holders in!

Thanks both for your responses! Its very disappointing that our visa means we can’t enter, especially as time is of the essence in a way with it only being a 5 year visa. If the borders don’t open until next year we will only have 3.5 years and the criteria to be eligible for PR is already quite tough. Feeling very deflated

Hi everyone just checking in! Just wondered what people’s thoughts are on the 491 visa and chances of getting to Australia this year? I know Qantas have said no real travel Until next year and Scott Morrison has said no international travel until July 2021. With the same token though there’s been talk about allowing international students and ‘long term visitors’. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this is likely to come to fruition? We know QLD are charging for quarantine and are happy to pay for it, we absolutely expect to have this cost given the situation and we’re pleased they’ve done this as maybe it means it will open up to other people? Any thoughts appreciated!

Just with AITSL, the states don’t assess your teaching qualification, but they require you to have the certificate from AITSL. But before you lodge an EOI, provided you’re successful with AITSL, you need to check you meet the other specified criteria given by whichever state you’re applying to otherwise there’s no point lodging the EOI.

No, for the 491 Queensland you didn’t need a job offer they just wanted you to be registered with the QLD teaching board and have 3+ years of experience. I think the starting point is getting your skills assessed and then consider your options from there as like others have said; each state has its own criteria so you’ll have to pick which ones you’re eligible for.

I had 95 points for the 491 but I think Queensland made it clear they weren’t nominating based on points anyway, as long you have enough to apply they would consider it. The current circumstances are rubbish for everyone but things will recover soon enough and I wouldn’t give up hope. Definitely make a start on getting your skills assessed etc. And then you can be ready to apply once the states open their programmes up again. Happy to chat more if you want to send me a message

I got a 491 nomination from Queensland as a history teacher granted so it’s definitely possible, although I have over 5 years experience on my side so that helped points wise and their nomination criteria was for 3+ years at the time - I don’t think they cared so much about the topic I teach though.

No I didn’t use an agent

It’s really difficult to make any concrete plans and I think that’s probably the hardest thing at the moment; we accept that it’s likely to not be this year but not knowing when it could be and when we’ll need to start preparing things at this end is a little stressful. Do you have a home to sell or anything like that or are you pretty much set up to go? fingers crossed the borders do reopen, keep us updated if you get any more news from your agent - we’re not using one so it would be good to get some official information from others the whole process took us well over a year with skills assessments and registering with QCT etc. but in terms of applying for the 491; I applied in January I think and got invited a couple of days after, got the final grant in March.

I completely understand re. The benefits. in terms of other visa options, I applied for all of them but unfortunately as a secondary school teacher the chances of getting a 189 are pretty much non existent and the 190 for QLD was outrageously competitive so the 491 in the end was the only option available to us. It wasn’t an easier journey to a visa grant by any stretch of the imagination and was as difficult as any of the other routes and I’m incredibly grateful to have been granted a visa . I don’t feel it’s anyone’s fault I just wanted to voice how I felt, which is mainly disappointed currently, and see if there were any other people whose plans for the year were up in the air so we could talk about things.

Haha I do realise it’s virtually impossible to know, just wondered what people’s thoughts are on it I guess. Feel like I should preface everything with of course I understand the restrictions currently etc. But also feel a little bit like holders of the 491 visa have been pushed aside (again, no desire to travel anywhere right now but definitely in the future). Considering we had to go through the same process as all of those who have been granted PR visas, and pay the same fees, it all just feels a little unfair to then not be allowed in when the other visa holders are. I wonder if this is something to do with the restrictions on the 491 and obviously with increasing unemployment rates it may not be possible to fulfil the criteria for the follow on one? I’ve no idea I just wanted to speculate/have a little moan. Yesterday was the first day I felt a little upset about the prospect of our future plans not happening; of course up until then I was very much focussed on the current situation but it’s hard not to feel upset when something is very important to you and you put a lot of effort into it. Hope nobody thinks I’m being selfish here, i understand the gravity of the situation and realise there are more pressing matters but I just wanted to offload and hopefully other people who feel the same way can join in.

It took less than 24 hours for it to be approved.

Hi, we got granted our 491 visa (QLD sponsorship) in March 2020. Obviously since then coronavirus has become a pandemic and Australian borders are closed. I’m aware that this means holders of the 491 are currently not allowed to travel to Australia and completely understand why; I have no intentions of travelling currently! However, we had planned to move over to Australia in September and we’re just looking for some advice really on how things are likely to go over the next few months and whether we should cancel our flights. My partner is a teacher and will be jobless come September as he handed his notice in before coronavirus was a huge thing; we’re not sure how or what to plan for; obviously we’d like to get over to Australia as soon as we can but just wondered if there was any idea of how things might look in terms of international travel this year, particularly for people who hold a sponsored visa?

No worries, good luck with it! I’m not sure about whether the WHV will impact on how you apply etc. Might be worth chatting to one of the migration agents on this forum, I don’t want to give you the wrong advice about that!

Hi Bethan, I would definitely apply for the QCT registration prior to applying for the 491. It takes a long time for this to come back and if you don’t have it when you get invited your application can be declined. We’d already done police checks too as these were needed for QCT registration. They’re also not all that expensive to replace if they expire so we figured it was worth getting them done in advance anyway. We didn’t book in for medicals until we got the official invite to lodge our application; the medical process is quite quick and we didn’t want this to expire by doing it in advance, especially as it’s so expensive. You’ve definitely done the hard bit with the English test and AITSL anyway, the rest should be a breeze Hope this helps!