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Hi all, I hope you're having a great day! I couldn't find any posts that match my circumstances, so I'm posting my questions here (listed and numbered at the end). I'm getting my documents together for a Skills Assessment from VETASSESS so I can submit an EOI but I'm stuck. I can't provide all of the payment evidence to support my work experience. I am also missing a Statement of Service letter for two of the jobs. I have plenty of other documentation to prove I worked there for the times stated. For this situation, Section 7 of the Eligibility Criteria page on VETASSESS states that I can provide a Statutory Declaration or Affidavit: https://www.vetassess.com.au/skills-assessment-for-migration/professional-occupations/eligibility-criteria#670 The website provides a template: https://www.vetassess.com.au/Portals/0/Downloads/qualification_assessment/VETASSESS_StatutoryDeclaration_or_Affidavit_template.pdf On the template it says to refer to an Australian Embassy. I did this and they were only willing to help if I could provide the correct, completed document. They won't advise me or take any responsibility if it's incorrectly filled out. So my questions are these: What's the difference between a Statutory Declaration and an Affidavit? Which one should I provide for the Skills Assessment? Where the template says: (Provide any required information you are unable to supply through official documents such as, for example, a description of the tasks associated with a particular period of employment). Do I list out all the documents I'm using to back my claims? And do I list them by file name as they are attachments? Where the template says: To support the claims made in this declaration, I have included the following documents: (list and attach the required evidence to support the statutory declaration or affidavit) Do I simply list all of the required documents (e.g. passport photo, Statement of Service, payment evidence etc.)? And do I list them by file name as they are attachments? Is anyone able to show me an example of what a correct and complete Statutory Declaration / Affidavit (whichever one I need) should look like? (Obviously changing any personal/sensitive information). Thanks in advance for your help with this! Jon

Hi, just looking for other peoples experience with how long this process has taken recently. My husband is a carpenter, we have 70 points and are looking to apply for a 491 visa for South Australia (we are using a MARA agent to help with the process). Our EOI was lodged with SA as our preference on the 31st August. How long has it taken for this to come back recently for other tradies with an invite to apply? Just wondering if we are potentially looking at a long wait… Any advice or tips for the whole process would be gratefully received

Hi, was hoping for some advice, we currently have an EOI in for a 190 for NSW and we were unsuccessful for a 491 so not holding much hope for an invite. I have been advised to wait for the 1st of July I’m guessing to see if my occupation or my partners occupation is on any other lists at the moment my occupation is on the south Australian list but I don’t have the years of experience, could anyone advise what is potentially going to change on the 1st of July as I’m pinning a lot on this date and want to be realistic? prob a daft question and appreciate any advice given! thanks

Hi, I have received email stating my ROI is selected for nomination and gave me 14 days to apply through live in melbourne portal. While my ROI was selected I had 75+5 points. Unfortunately, I have made mistake by selecting community language credentials as ‘YES’ which I do not have in my EOI. So my original total points is 70+5 for 190 (victoria). I have updated EOI but I am confused about going ahead with the application notifying the mistake or do I need to withdraw my ROI and make fresh ROI application and wait for nomination? It would be very grateful for your genuine suggestions. thank you

HELLO everyone I got my second assessment outcome for the hope to be invited for 190 NSW for the occupation electronic instrument trades worker (general) 342314 on 6th march and submitted an eoi for nsw 190 visa. my previous assessment was electronic instrument trades worker (special class) 342315 that wasn't on the NSW list. I am claiming 60+5 points, (having pte academic +65 score). this is about 2 weeks I am waiting to be invited for nsw but a little I am disappointed !!! do you think I should try for pte academic +79 that is somehow difficult for me or wait for more? how likely am I going to be invited? is there anyone with the same occupation and points? thanks

Hi Guys, Just after some info please. We parted ways with our migration agent last week as we were very dissatisfied by their level of service. With them we did our ANMAC, and our EOI's were lodged earlier this year. We informed them that we wanted to withdraw from their services and we filled in the correct forms etc...all fine and sorted. However, I asked for access/copies of our EOI's and was sent a PDF copy. I pressed for login details so that we had access to it ourselves and was told that they have withdrew our EOI. Flabbergasted. They said this is part of the process of us leaving their services. Can anyone tell me whether this is acceptable practice? We have paid this agent well over £1k up until now which included them lodging our EOI's which have now been withdrawn. Thank you in advance

A question to the helpful MARA agents here or anyone who is knowledgeable. When using an agent to lodge an EOI and eventually the visa application, as a client, is one able to view what has been submitted right from the EOI? Is this something that agents offer their clients or are meant to offer? How does the client stay on top of their application process - it is their life so a bit invested in the process as you’d imagine. Thanks

Hi, does anyone know what the best way submitting a EOI is. The 2 states we are interested in is SA/NT. We understand we have to apply to the states to be invited. (When it opens to offshore applicants). Is it best to do 1 EOI with both states selected or is there a way where we can submit 2 separate EOIs? Thank you!

Hey, ive just submitted my EOI for my 190 skilled visa. Does anyone know on average how long it takes for the government to review this? I’m a bit confused with the difference between the Expression of interest and the State nomination application and how these impact each other? Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I’m hoping to hear from other forum members about their experience with State sponsorship from NSW. We have put an eoi in for State sponsorship from NSW (190), Secondary school teacher, on the 22nd of August with 65 points (including state sponsorship points) and I wonder how long others had to wait for an invite? My husband’s points are 25 for age, 15 for Education and 20 for English. The short(er) version of our story is that we lived in Perth for 14 months (on a student visa) till last March but had to leave Oz because our visa ran out and we didn’t receive an invite for the eoi we put in for Family Sponsored 489 (WA) or the 189 skilled independent (not enough points after they changed the minimum required points). Since then we’ve been back in the UK but can’t wait to return to Oz asap. We have recently put in an eoi for NSW as well, as they don’t seem to invite anyone for the Family sponsored visa anymore ? And from what I’ve been reading they need lots of teachers in regional areas in NSW, especially science teachers and we are more than willing to go country so I am hoping we will receive an invite soon. But sometimes I am losing all hope of ever returning as they seem to change the rules constantly... Thanks for “listening” ? and looking forward to hear other people’s experiences.

Hi I’m recently graduated RN from Australia. I have applied EOI on 4/3/20 for 189 on 75 points and 190 Victoria on 80 points. Should I wait for 190 invitation or apply for 491 as well. And how long will I be waiting for my invitation for 190 victoria. Thanks

First post here so hello all! I've basically joined to share my woes and hopefully gain some reassurance or useful knowledge whilst going through this process. I feel as if I am fast approaching a crossroads in my visa decision making so it will be good to talk it through with someone. I'll make this into a short easy to read timeline of my journey so far - Aug 2016 - Aug 2017 - Completed WHV (met gf in Jan 2017 and started dating) Nov 2018 - Skills assessment approved after a long laborious process. EOI Lodged for Engineering Technologist 190 VIC - 65pts. Jan 2019 - GF moves over to UK with 2 year WHV after over a year long distancing. June 2019 - EOI lodged for Engineering Technologist 189 - 65pts - Updated 190 VIC - 70pts (had to wait for 5years experience for these 5pts) *Since Jan 2018 I have taken x4 IELTS/PTE exams where every time I have been 1-2 marks off Superior English. Example - Spkg 9.0 / Read 8.5 / Write 8.0 / List 7.5. (I have another booked 7th March.) Current Stats - 29 years (30pts) / IELTS (10pts) / BSc degree (15pts) / 5-8yrs Overseas Experience (10pts) / Single or Citizen Partner (5pts) = 65 or 65+5 190. Obviously its imperative I gain those extra 10 available for the English exam asap but even so I think I'm in danger of not be granted anything before the year is up and she has to return as 75 or 75+5 doesn't seem to be cutting the mustard currently... So...Option A is we move to NZ at the end of 2020 and I use my WHV whilst we wait for it to be granted. (but will be EOI's run out by then)? Option B In conjunction with 'A' we turn to Partner Visa of some kind (marriage/proposal is a strong possibility irrespective of this visa situation)(shes waiting for a ring!). But still the processing times are ludicrous and who knows how that will go. Linked to this would a fiance 300 visa work for me to at least enter and be able to work with staying with her? I will be discussing this with my agent of course but any opinions or advice would be most welcome. Cheers, Alistair.

Hello guys, Just wondering if anyone can help me. I submitted my eoi for 491 state nominated and i only mentioned my work related experience(not claiming points from that) which was assessed positively from vetases. I got an invitation to apply for 491 and now i am planning to add all the work experience which is not related and not points claimed. Would this lead to a rejection of the visa? Iam claiming points from the education ,age, being sinlge and state nomination. Thank you in advance for any feedback.

Hi all, I wonder if anyone can help me... I am on my second 417 visa which is due to expire October of this year. I'm currently working in Melbourne and living with my partner who is an Australian citizen. I'm planning on applying for the 189 visa as a secondary school teacher and have calculated that I have 85 points. I have completed my skills assessment and IELTS test and am ready to send off my expression of interest. However I did have a few concerns about the process; 1. When completing the expression of interest I was asked about my relationship status, I am not sure whether I classify as "never married" or as having a "de facto partner", my partner and I met over a year ago and having been living together for about 3 months now. I wasn't sure if this counted as de facto as I have read a number of conflicting things, e.g. for some purposes you're de facto as soon as you start living together, others its 12 months or 24 months. As I'm applying for 189 visa this doesn't make a difference for the points I'll receive as now you get the extra 10 points regardless of whether you're single or with an Australian PR/citizen, what I'm concerned about is the 8515 condition that will probably be attached to my visa if I state that I'm single (8515 - You must not marry or enter into a de facto relationship before entering Australia. We might cancel your visa if we find out you were engaged, married or in a de facto relationship before we granted you the visa but did not tell us.), or if I state de facto and am then asked for evidence that we've lived together for 12 months, which we wouldn't have. Just trying to fill out the form honestly but very unsure. 2. I'm planning on visiting the UK twice this year in April and July and my other concern was that if I get invited to apply then I have 60 days to lodge my application so it could end up that I've had to do this before my trips, and I'm aware that the visa itself could take between 4 and 11 months to be processed. When I applied for my second WHV after completing my farm work I was told that if I was in Australia when I applied then I would have to be in Australia when it was granted, I got a bridging visa A which also stated that I couldn't return to Australia if I left. I understand that the bridging visa only activates when your current visa expires, my 417 WHV doesn't expire until October 2020. So my question is...If I lodge my 189 application before the trips, can I still travel to the UK in April and July? I'll still have a valid 417 visa for this period, but would the Australian government require me to remain here until my visa has been processed? My original plan was to do everything ASAP because I really need to get the application lodged before my current visa expires so that I can get the bridging visa to stay here rather than having to return to the UK lodge form outside Australia. I thought that the process would be very long, I assumed that it would take ages for the skills assessment to be ready (this was done pretty quickly) and be a minimum of 3-4 month wait for your EOI to render an invitation, but form recent forums there have been some teachers with 70-75 points that say they got invitations within a month, some just 24 hours after submitting an invitation. I prefer to get things done sooner rather than later but I don't want to jeopardise either trip as its been nearly two years since I've seen my family and I'm not keen to wait until after the visa has been processed, but on the other hand it would make life very difficult if it did take longer and I didn't get it done before my current visa is up in October! I've spent the last few days scouring forums and reading the information on the government website but couldn't find anything similar to my situation and am still unsure as I know that the immigration department can be very strict and pedantic. Thanks so much to anyone that took the time to read (I'm quite thorough and a bit of a worrier!), really hope someone can help or offer some words of experience or wisdom! Cheers, Soph

Hello, We were recommended to visit this forum by my girlfriends uncle who has been in Australia for 15 years and is a citizen. Me (27) and my girlfriend (29) are both UK citizens looking into the options we have with regards to moving to Australia and what visas we would issue our EOI under. I am a product designer for a furniture manufacturing company and my girlfriend is a senior insurance claims handler. I have 4 years work experience and she has 5 1/2. On the occupations list product designer does not come up but industrial designer does. There are a lot of blurred lines and cross overs within design as a profession, so it is difficult to determined what you fall into so, we basically want to know; 1) What visas we would submit our EOI under? 2) Are our occupations likely to be accepted as skilled visas? 3) Are there any other requirements to know about before submitting an EOI? 4) Can I use industrial designer as my occupation if I am a product designer? Thanks is advance for any advice! Ben & Meg

Hi All, Starting this topic so all of us Non Pro-Rata crew can get together and share our experiences. It seems like the Pro-rate nonsense is hogging up all the invites and the rest of us are getting sidetracked. We applied through an agent, Upped the points in June and applied again for ANZCO: 241411 Occupation: Secondary Shcool Teacher - 70 + 5(State) points for 190 Visa - We opted for VIC - 70 for 189 Visa For 190 Visa we had to be registered with VIT (VIC institute of teaching) on top of AITSL assessment which is very costly, not to mention multiple ILTES & PTE test in the effort of improving scores. This is proving to be a very expensive exercise. Hopefully, it's all worth it at the end with our move to Melbourne. Keen to know your experience, please share.

Hi, I am an offshore registered nurse. I got my ANMAC done ON 19/9/2019. I am applying for EOI on my own. does anyone know which is the reference number in the skills assessment section. I mean id is the reference number of our application or the LOD number. Thanks a million.

How’s you doing friends, Actually I was wondering should I assess my Australian work experience or it will accepted without as I need to assess my degree that done overseas. I will be thankful that if anyone can let me know should I assess my experience with my degree or not because I am about to go thru this process. Regards Garry

Hi everyone, how you going? My partner and I have an EOI in for VIC 190 and are currently just waiting to be invited. We are over in Bali for the next 5 weeks before returning to Australia where we will both be on tourist visas. If we are selected while we are here in Bali and apply, are we able to return to Australia and even be there on this tourist visa when the 190 visa is approved? We are under the impression that a tourist visa does not necessarily come under the 'onshore' category, therefore allowing us to be there on holiday to then swap straight onto the 190 residency, despite having applied offshore. Can anyone help clarify? THANKS

Hey Guys, I have submitted EOI for 189/190 visa on 17th July with 70 points for Registered Nurse (Critical care & emergency-254415). What are my chances of getting an invitation next month? Has anyone recently received an invite on the same points from NSW? Thanks in Advance!

Hi All, Starting this topic so all of us Non Pro-Rata crew can get together and share our experiences. It seems like the Pro-rate nonsense is hogging up all the invites and the rest of us are getting sidetracked. We applied through an agent, Upped the points in June and applied again for ANZCO: 241411 Occupation: Secondary Shcool Teacher - 70 + 5(State) points for 190 Visa - We opted for VIC - 70 for 189 Visa For 190 Visa we had to be registered with VIT (VIC institute of teaching) on top of AITSL assessment which is very costly, not to mention multiple ILTES & PTE test in the effort of improving scores. This is proving to be a very expensive exercise. Hopefully, it's all worth it at the end with our move to Melbourne. Keen to know your experience, please share.

Hi Guys My spouse has applied for South Australia Visa 489, Occupation : Illustrator 232412 with 75 Points (including State Nomination) The date of submitting our EOI was 27th September 2018. Now, that Category says "Special Conditions Apply" and color coded "Red" today on 19th November 2018. (a) Will this affect our EOI response ? (b) My agent is saying no need to stress out as this is only applicable for new entries! Is this correct? Is he saying right thing ? Please advise. Thanks

Hi all, I'm new to the forum, very interesting reading everyone's comments good and bad. I'm 34 and will be moving over with my wife and our young daughter, can't wait for a new adventure. Submitted my EOI carpenter subclass 190 today with 60 points. Received my IELTS score this morning, very frustrating as I could've done with the 20 points. My results were- Listening- 9 Reading- 9 Speaking - 8.5 Writing- 7.5 So close yet so far, seriously annoying but anyway EOI submitted and I'll probably give them more money and sit it again. Are there any carpenters on here who have received an invite on 60 points recently? Thanks in advance.

Hi there, thank you for your advices. When I applying my application after invited, I just found that I provided wrong work duration in unrelated work experience and I do not claim any point from this work. does it will effect my visa application? Do I need to inform CO about this? thank you so much. JT

Hello All, I need your assistance regarding withdrawal of my EOI before invitation. My points is 65 and it is not possible to recieve invitation on this point. Recently, I married to Australian citizen and now I want to withdraw my EOI and intend to apply for Partner Visa 309. My question is, does withdrawal of my EOI (before invitation) will impact my Partner Visa 309? Is it neccessary to withdraw EOI before applying for partner visa 309? Looking forward to hear from you. Thanks