Sparks21

You can see why I have gotten varied responses here. Thanks guys. Much appreciated. 

Hi, I have a question which I am getting mixed information about. 
 

I am currently residing in Perth on a 491 visa. I know we are eligible to apply for the 191 PR after 3 years. But as I am currently eligible for the 190 can I pay the fee and apply for this visa if I wanted to or must I remain on the 491? 
 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. 

41 minutes ago, skyeman said:

We have all been incredibly patient, felt like it was never going to come. Container goes today and flights are in 10 days what about you?

Oh wow! You guys must be absolutely buzzing!!!! Just in time for summer! ⛱

we are looking at August currently, but are fluid with our timeline. We will probably book after Christmas. 

1 hour ago, skyeman said:

AMAZING. Huge congratulations. You lodged 1 month after me and got your grant 1 month after me

Thank you! What a rollercoaster ride it’s been! Have you booked your flights yet? 

22 minutes ago, RJG said:

Brilliant news Congratulations  

Thank you, it was a long time coming! @Kolosky I would definitely say so!

I have some amazing news, my 491 visa has been granted! 

491 offshore family sponsored electrician with 90 points 

submitted: 10th May 2020

CO assigned: 24th August 2022

Updated: 5th September 2022

Granted: 4th November 2022

we are so, so happy and it is still sinking in. 

24 minutes ago, Phil1712 said:

Keep us posted 

Will do! Very jealous of you both… ha 

20 hours ago, skyeman said:

Visa granted Friday 7th October. It's been one heck of a wait, 29 months to be exact. 

On 06/10/2022 at 05:38, Phil1712 said:

Visa has been granted 

 

20 hours ago, skyeman said:

Visa granted Friday 7th October. It's been one heck of a wait, 29 months to be exact. 

 

congratulations to both of you! Such amazing news! I got my CO on August 24th requesting medicals, police certs etc which were submitted September 5th. I am praying I will hear this week!

10 hours ago, Phil1712 said:

Good luck with it! Looking forward to your next post…  

1 hour ago, Phil1712 said:

Received CO contact today so hopefully not to long now. 

Also, would you mind reminding us of the visa, your profession and state you’re aiming for? 
 

Mine is 491, electrician, WA, submitted May 2020. Cheers. 

Fantastic news! So happy for you! Did they want medicals etc? I have heard of quite a few off shore people getting CO’s and grants recently. It’s finally happening! 

On 12/05/2022 at 01:30, nomadiccarpenter said:

A handful. I don't quite understand the continued use of PMSOL list at this point. Shortages across the board and wouldn't this list cause more shortages in other occupations excluded from this list? I guess someone just needs to give the order not to follow it anymore, or at least greatly expand it. Just my uneducated opinion.

Personally, I feel this will be reviewed very soon. There is without doubt many sectors that are suffering severe shortages, particularly, construction. 

On 11/05/2022 at 18:48, Phil1712 said:

Can't see anything happening until new financial year. And then can't see backlog being delt with until 2023

I had witnessed a migration agent with over 20 years experience state that they were confident we would hear by the end of this year, so fingers crossed, but who knows? 

On 27/04/2022 at 06:07, Phil1712 said:

 

Out of curiosity how old are you both.

The reason I ask is are the people behind granted of a certain age. I'm 41 and believe my grant has not been approved as I'm on the wrong side of 40=

I am 37, 35 when the application was submitted. 

On 11/05/2022 at 11:29, skyeman said:

Has anyone seen any Non-PMSOL off-shore grants? It's gone very quiet, perhaps while they look to fill up their quotas before the end of the immigration year?  A few states have now reached their quota, so hopefully, the CO's will move on to start clearing the backlog of visa applicants? 

I haven't seen any I am afraid, although I am not particularly active as I rely on this post predominately.  

16 minutes ago, skyeman said:

Just had a look back and it was a 190 NSW offshore electrician (general) lodged in December 2019 and granted 14th April. I, like you, suspect all the 2020 and early 2021 submits will hear before the end of the visa year. An interesting theory I received from someone on one of the groups is that most of the states are approaching the quota caps for nominations and that they usually close in May. At this point they have no reason to have CO's assigned to processing thousands and thousands of EOI's/State nominations and then these CO's are freed up between the closure in May and the start of the new visa year when they will be given a new quota. It does sort of make sense as there is a lot of EOI's being approved recently which must be using quite a lot of resources.

That's a shame about accidentally overclaiming points. Shouldn't that have been picked up at the skills assessment/EOI stage when you submit your CV to them clearly outlining how many years you have been working in that occupation? That's a huge backward step for you for an accidental 5 point overclaim. Whas it a case of accidentally including pre-qualified experience?

I have redone our police certificates, did that several months ago as I hoped if a CO opened my file and saw i had proactively updated my out of date police certificates that maybe they would let the expired medicals slide given how expensive they are....haha what a fool. I'm almost looking forward to doing the medicals again as at least that means I've had CO contact

Well that's great news. Please let me know if you hear of anymore, especially 491 off shore non-critical skills. That is an interesting theory, let's hope it is right! The points were miscalculated due to us doing it ourselves. This was immediately picked up by the CO and we withdrew. Then had to pay for the visa again plus the cost of a migration agent. With a family of four, it was an expensive mistake. Being assigned a CO will be a great day, let alone the day they approve the visa. Ha. 

4 hours ago, skyeman said:

Those 3 were Mechanics but admittedly they are just the ones that stood out as it's my occupation. I think I also spotted a Gas fitter and an electrician but I can't remember the details. I try not to obsess over them and screenshot them because as you know yourself it doesn't mean ours is on its way. Like you, I have been told by many reliable sources ( employers, senators etc ) that there is a huge shortage of tradies across most states. I was surprised when borders opened and they announced they needed 200,000 skilled workers that we didn't see a surge of grants. Pre-covid 491 was a high priority and many of us went for it instead of the 190 because of the priority processing and quick state sponsorships. 

I have a job offer, I have saved money to support us moving, we have good points at 95 and we front-loaded the medicals and police certificates, we thought we were in a really good position. Just hit the 24 months mark since submitted

Well if you do spot an offshore 491 electrician grant please do update me as this would be fantastic news for me, in fact, all of these are good news as non-critical skills which shows my view is slightly off. Although I would like to be proved wrong some more. Ha. I agree regarding the 491, this was a high priority visa before covid. I applied with 5 more points than I currently have and was assigned a CO within a few weeks, due to a mistake with the visa I had to withdraw it and complete a new EOI, I was then invited again within a couple of months, it was at this point covid hit and we decided to submit anyway. Obviously not knowing at the time where things were going but hoping for the best. Sounds like we are in a very similar situation in terms of times frames, medicals etc. I, like you, have contemplated completing these again in the hope that this will speed up the process but have decided to hold off until CO assigned. Although, I may go ahead and redo police certs as these aren't big money. I am sure we will be assigned a CO before the end of this visa year. 

11 minutes ago, skyeman said:

There was 2 offshore 491's granted last week and one 190 that i seen, non PMSOL and both for the NT

This is fantastic news!!!! Do you know which occupations? 

I have heard of offshore 491 grants in the last 3 months but mainly for occupations on the critical skills list, or skills closely related to the critical skills list. In my opinion, the 491 programme certainly hasn't been abandoned, but for occupations that are not on the critical skills list and are offshore, then these are not being processed, or so few are being processed that it is negligible. After the announcement in the budget regarding skilled migration I was expecting a wave of ecstatic offshore applicants who form the backlog (us) to be announcing that they have been assigned case officers. Alas, I have heard of none this month. I can only assume that this is because the department have not yet given the nod to officially start prioritising us, but I am sure it is coming very soon. I have been told by a reliable source that there is skills shortages for tradies in many states and the housing market/rental market is struggling because of this. Fingers crossed they prioritise us soon. 

53 minutes ago, Sparkybaz said:

EOI submitted March 2020 and I was finally invited March 2022 for NSW 190 with 75 points only to find out the link did not work and now having to wait For another invitation with a new EOI!! 

Congratulations! When you apply please keep us updated. I would be interested to hear the progression of a 190 submitted now for an electrician… 

Fantastic news! When I hear a few tradies getting grants I will really start to get excited… but is great to hear off shore people getting grants. Thank you for the update. 

4 minutes ago, Joe/Rose said:

I’m an electrician, offshore 190 NSW, applied back in 2019, on 27 months today!

 

Wow! I am sure you will hear something very soon! Please let us know when you do. 

7 minutes ago, skyeman said:

That sounds quite possible. Seen a few granted recently that were just over the 2 year mark and one fella I know is now at 26 months for an off-shore 190 as an electrician.

Exciting! I haven't seen any... Do you know which state the 190 electrician is applying for? Got any more information on the others granted offshore ie profession? 491/190? etc. I believe they are leaning more towards 190 as is a permanent visa. 

3 hours ago, skyeman said:

not a peep for me. updated my police certificate as I know they will want an in date one, I'm at 23 months now. Job offer didn't help, MP's and Senators chasing them didn't help

Well it is fair to say you have certainly done all you can. I am currently sitting at 22 months. If my understanding is correct many CO's which were assigned to handle the wave of travel exceptions are slowly being assigned back to handling other cases, so hopefully they will start to manage the back log of offshore applicants shortly. I also think it is accurate to say that most states are experiencing a shortage of tradies too, so when they decide to address this hopefully we will have our turn. I am confident we will hear something soon! 

Just checking in... Any light at the end of the tunnel for off-shore non-critical 491 applicants? I keep telling myself 'any day now', it will be a fantastic day when we are finally assigned a CO.