A.N.

4 hours ago, Gianni said:

Hi A.N., I have the same problem " did TOEFEl TEST at the beginning of July, right before we lodge our visa application.  And I took the home edition of the test. Do you have news? 

I tried to get in touch with the department and some migration agents. I have heard many different contradictory answers. It seems the department does not accept this kind of test at the moment. However, based on some migration agents, this might change in future. (They believe this is not even legal since the department made the announcement at the end of August while applicants like us have lodged their applications much earlier.)

I personally did a new TOEFL test in a center and lodged a new application. It costed me over 8000 Australian dollar, but I did not see any other option.

1 hour ago, Tech said:

On hold application includes Primary and secondary applicant, On an average there would at least 2 applicant for Visa, which means , total on hold is not more than 7000 in my view. Out of that 3 to 4 K would have piled up in recent few months. Let's keep hope things will get better 

That's a good point. Let's hope for the best.

17 minutes ago, PRWaiting4u said:

Oh man, this is terrible  why taking new applications then? They should close immigration portal and they can focus on just clearing existing applications 

I think they just don't mind to get some more money.  

It seems the number of visas granted in September has decreased to 465 (441 onshore + 24 offshore) and most of them are from the priority list. (It was 1149 in July and 626 in August). See

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2020/fa-201000191-document-released.PDF

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2020/fa-200900939-document-released.PDF

On the other hand, at the end of September they had 14802 applications on hold. See

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2020/fa-201000207-document-released.PDF

With this pace, it should take around three years in average to get a visa. Considering the fact that they are mainly focusing on the priority list, perhaps even longer. 

2 hours ago, kgbspender said:

It's a pity they don't report on-/offshore numbers.
What is the difference between the first two and second two tables? Nominated occupation vs. occupation? What is a nominated occupation?

Yeah, that would have been much more useful.

I think that the first two tables corresponds to the number of NOMINATIONS lodged/granted while the second two tables include the number of APPLICATIONS lodged/granted.

The number of nominations/visa applications lodged/granted for the first 8 months of 2020 for each occupation code:

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2020/fa-200900939-document-released.PDF

4 hours ago, PRWaiting4u said:

I can still see last updated was on 18th september

 

Last updated: 18 September 2020 (for month ending July 2020)

You are right. Sorry. I checked the date at the bottom of the webpage, which is irrelevant. 

It seems they have updated the visa application processing times today and the estimate for Visa 186 has remained unchanged.

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/global-visa-processing-times

It seems in August, 1391 visa applications have been granted for subclass 186. See

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2020/fa-200900592-document-released.PDF

This is less than July (which had over 1982) but more than June (639), May (715), and April (383).

On the other hand, each month typically a bit more than 2000 new applications are lodged.

I hope you find this useful.

11 hours ago, JaySecurity said:

This is what DHA website says about home language tests

Covid-19 and at home language tests

Some testing centres are providing versions of their tests that you can take at home, such as TOEFL iBT – Special Home Edition, OET@Home and IELTS Indicator. We do not currently accept these tests.

Please refer for more detail https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/meeting-our-requirements/english-language/functional-english

I know about this. However, they added this clarification on August 27 and we already applied in July. Apparently, there was no final decision on this back then. I want to see what should we do now. Shall we just go ahead and redo the test in a center or it is useless now? It would be great if I could write them an email, but I did not find any email address!

Does anyone know how we can write an email to DoHA? I could not find any email address on their website. We still could not get a definite answer regarding Toefl Test- Home Edition. I even got in touch with them via phone, but no concrete answer. I know that they are not perhaps very responsive, but I think it is still worth to try. Thanks.

4 hours ago, Southlander said:

For what reason did you need to provide the English test? For us it was twofold, needed for points and required for nomination. It also had to be the IELTS academic version. Had we not had UK passports would have needed for skills assessment too. But the above would have covered it anyway. 

Toefl ibt has always been accepted, along with ielts pte etc as stated on the doha website, depending on what test you require. Tests also conducted at official designated test centres. 

Immigration are unforgiving just reading through various forums. Who knows what they will say but again if it's not officially recognised they will not be held accountable for our mistakes. 

Let's see if any mara agent can add input to this topic. 

We have applied for Visa 186 Direct Entry. We do not need the English test for points. I just need to have Competence level of English and my partner should have Functional level. Reading through different posts, it seems there was no clear decision on this until August. Both Toefl and IELTS had asked DoHA to consider the home edition of their tests and it seems DoHA has decided not to accept it at the end and the announcement came out in August. I do not how this is going to work at the end, but I hope they at least give us the opportunity to redo the test in a center. I tried to reach them by phone, but they did not give any concrete answer.

22 hours ago, Southlander said:

Hmmm... The Doha have always listed those that are acceptable, the home edition has not been one. I would consult a migration agent to see what can be done before a decision is made on your application, maybe even try do the ielts pte etc and add it with mitigating circumstances. The issue I see is that when you lodge your visa all information should be accurate at the time of lodgement. I am not sure if you can add information retrospectively. I can't see how the case officer will overlook this and may lead to a visa rejection.

Would be interesting to see what the previous applicants decided to do as you ask, but can't see any way around this one unfortunately. 

Toefl iBT has always been there as a valid option. During pandemic both Toefl and IELTS introduced the home version of their tests, called Toefl iBT-Special Home Edition and IELTS Indicator. It is not clear from the table that which edition of these tests they accept and it is why they have added such clarifications now. Don't you think that a visa rejection is a bit too harsh in such circumstances?

2 hours ago, CeriMon said:

Saw this on the ImmiAccount portal:
 

 

Also mentioned in this link https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/meeting-our-requirements/english-language

Hope it helps

Thank you guys for the replies.

You are both right. However, there was no such info on DoHA website or ImmiAcount until August 27 and some people, including myself, lodged their applications several weeks before that. Logically, this should not apply to such applications. However, you never know and if they say no, there is perhaps no easy way to negotiate with them. It is why I am curious to know whether somebody, in similar situation, has received a definite No or Yes from them.

Hello Everyone,

Is there anyone who did Toefl Home Edition and has received visa acceptance or has been contacted by the department that it is not acceptable? To the best of my knowledge, there was no information on the website of DoHA in this regard until late August, but then they officially announced that they do not accept the home editions. I'm not sure whether this influences people who have lodged their application before such announcement or not?

Thanks.

I have a question regarding the language test. My partner and I both did TOEFEl TEST at the beginning of July, right before we lodge our visa application. At the time, due to the pandemic we did the home edition of the test. However, today when logging in to immiaccount I a saw the following comment among other comments which appear before logging in:

Some Visa applications ask that you provide evidence of English proficiency in the form of an English test result. Please do not use test you can take at home, such as TOEFEL iBT- Special Home Edition, and IELTS indicator. 

In July, when I did the exam I did not see such information on their website. Do you have any suggestion? Shall we just go ahead and take the exam again or wait until they react? Is there  a way that I can get in touch with them?

Thanks for you help.

2 hours ago, Nepalese said:

Hello mate, I could not find the February month on that data. Please help.

thanks

I think should be able to find it here:

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/access-and-accountability/freedom-of-information/disclosure-logs/2020

Hello everyone,

I'm not sure whether you already know about this or not. Anyhow, the link below provides some information on the number of nominations/visa applications lodged/granted during March-July. I thought you might find it useful. (It seems the number of visas granted has increased in July. Hopefully, this is going to continue.)

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2020/fa-200700041-document-released.pdf

On 18/08/2020 at 04:48, Nik_napoli said:

applied for 186 DE as a chef , First week of July until today nothing yet 

Unfortunately, it seems most of applications are on hold or are processed very slowly. You might want to check the link below, which is essentially a waiting room for us.

On 27/06/2020 at 06:07, bhopindraprasadkandel said:

How long does it take to nomination approved as a chef is it the right time to make application or have to wait kindly please share your ideas ? 

I think in a normal situation, if all documents are complete, it typically should not take longer than 3-6 months. However due to the pandemic, there has been considerable delays in visa processing and it is really hard to say. 

I would suggest to lodge your application because at least this puts you earlier in the queue.

6 hours ago, Patricius said:

Hi guys, I have been a silent reader since last month. I am wondering how many of you are currently offshore, and have any offshore nominations and visa applications been approved since the outbreak of the COVID-19? I have heard from both the HR and other sources that offshore applications have been processed pretty slowly (if have been processed at all). I will really appreciate other offshore applicants sharing their experience!!!

Hey Patricius,

I am also in a similar situation. I am planning to go to ACT as a university lecturer. My nomination and visa have been applied on June 22 and July 20, respectively. However, the status is received. I am not sure whether they are processing the offshore applicants or not.

On 19/07/2020 at 21:46, elwoodthedog said:

hello all! We applied for 186 DE offshore (from the US, we're Brits) in late April; my husband is a university researcher.

Our lawyer has gone alarmingly quiet and we're hearing rumors that offshore/DE 186 processing has been suspended. Has anyone been granted an offshore 186 since the start of May?! 

Hey, Did you get any update by any chance? I am also somehow in a similar situation. Thanks.