Ben8899

Thanks very much for the heads up BBoy - duly noted. I did look at some of the IELTS test papers and felt fairly competent with all but the writing section so maybe ill have a look at PTE instead!

Good Afternoon all, Tremendous thanks to all of you for the replies and comments, they have helped put me a little more at ease. As per the numerous recommendations; I will be booking in to have a consultation with a registered agent this week which should be very helpful in helping with my decision. As it stands I believe I will continue the route of the 189 VISA as I have endured arduous years of studying and completing Skills Assessments and the like, that I feel like it would be best to give it a shot under my own steam. I will do what I can to maximise my chances of an invitation being granted by completing an English IELTS test in the build up to my application and by being an upstanding citizen by continuing to eat a 7 Eleven sausage roll daily and of course supporting locally run bars on the weekend. Failing this I will likely apply for my third year Working Holiday VISA - upon completion of this I will then likely apply for a partnership VISA as by that time I will have been with my partner for 2 1/2 years, lived together for 2 years and likely also be married (no shotguns necessary). I still would appreciate any further input or lines of questioning on this matter or my game plan - and again very much appreciate the help which everyone has offered!

Hi All, Thanks for your replies, much appreciated. It seems that speaking with a migration agent seems to be the best bet as I think my situation is quite specific. And apologies for any offense caused by my tarnishing of the colleagues of your ilk. My experience and that of my fellow students has been that of dealing with migration agents who have been associated with the international colleges for which we completed our student VISA's (these are a completely different kettle of fish). When we were signed up by these agents the words "guaranteed" and "easy" were thrown around alot. Time has shown for all of us that this hasn't been the case though and many of us have felt let down by the Colleges that we signed up for and the agents that facilitated this. The state of student VISAs and Intenational colleges in my opinion need a serious overhaul as my experience with it has been nothing short of a dry lunch. Regardless though, I'm at where I'm at so I think I'll speak with a proper registered agent to gain some more clarification on this matter, however if there is anything else anyone would like to add then that would still be appreciated! Many thanks!

Howdy all and thanks for the replies! Just to confirm; I am indeed in Australia and have been since 2017 so all my qualifications and experience in my relevant field have been gained here. My current VISA ends in November of this year however that should present enough time to complete the skills assessment and register an expression of interest for the 189 should I choose that route. If worse comes to the worse then I also have the option of applying for a third working holiday VISA as I have completed the mandatory "Zucchini Picking in a hot field while being shouted at by an angry Queenslander called Dave-O"' eligibility requirement for the 3rd Working Holiday VISA. The main head-scratcher for me is that if I apply for an expression of interest with 75-85 points - what are the chances of getting a favourable outcome. My fellow pommy carpentry friends who are in the same anxiety laden ship as me have all been sold the Aussie dream by their respective Migration Agents saying they will be fine, however I suspect that those agents care more about my colleagues BSB and Account numbers then their possible VISA outcomes. The next step would be that I could get a consultation with a proper Migration Lawyer but I thought I would reach out here to see if I could get some advise from people who may have followed the same pathway as I. Any thoughts or answers to these questions would be very much appreciated! - Muchos Love-o

Gday chaps - hope everyone is doing well! I was hoping to possibly pick the brains of any of the folks out there who have recently obtained PR through the Skilled Independent 189 VISA pathway, or anyone who can offer me some advice in general. Essentially I have done the classic Working Holiday VISA > Student VISA > Graduate VISA pathway in Carpentry and am based in Melbourne. My understanding of the VISA 189 is that you need to apply via an EOI to then be invited to apply for PR. My concern is that the "Eligibility"' for the points tested stream is 65 points and from using the calculator my points are anywhere from 75-85 points depending if I decide to complete an English test through IELTS or the like. My question is; would people think this would be sufficient for my EOI to be accepted? As mentioned the profession for which I am applying is Carpentry - I will have completed a skills assessment, professional year program, have Aussie qualifications and experience etc. The crisis of confidence that I'm having at the moment is that I'm not sure what the likelihood of receiving a positive EOI application based on the above? I'm even further in a pickle as for the last 6 months I have been seeing an Aussie and like a right Hugh Grant I've found myself in what I know is a meaningful and long lasting relationship which also opens the door for the partnership VISA option. If possible though I would still prefer to go the 189 pathway as I have come this far on my own so would like to still do it under my own steam as I also don't want my scheming future Mother in Law to think I'm only with her daughter to get my hands on that tasty blue Aussie Passport (I jest she's literally fabulous). My tickling conundrum though is that I don't want to spend like $3500 on completing my skills assessment if there's not much likelihood I would have a successful invite to apply for PR at the end of it? Any help and advice in regards to this would be amazing as I've currently knawed off the majority of my fingernails and haven't had a blood pressure score of under 140 since November because of the pickle I've found myself in. Any help and advice would be supremely appreciated. - Much Love