Search the Community

Hi, I have written IELTS exam 10 times now and have always missed it by 0.5/1.0 band in any random module now. I totally believe that the SYSTEM has no proper standards to mark the students. I would never crib if the system was all computer based. The human intervention in the system is surely to be blamed for the varying results that myself (and i believe a lot of other people) have been getting. The last two exams i have given have frustrated me to the core. The results i got was ridiculous. 9th attempt: Listening : 7.5 Reading: 6.5 Writing : 8.0 Speaking: 7.5 10th attempt: Listening: 8.0 Reading: 9.0 Writing 6.5 Speaking: 7.0 In my previous attempts too i've been missing out by 0.5. At one instance i even gave for a remark in listening module and it was changed from 6.0 to 6.5. I really don't understand why does the immigration dept. relies on such a mismanaged system. My fight to get 7.0 in each is still ON after 3 years.... Please share your own experiences if others have faced such issues too..

We have everything in order....visa active, bank account, letter showing employment in Oz and salary, letters of reference from our previous bank in the US, etc. Basically everything we've been asked. Still no luck securing financing for a vehicle. It's getting a tad frustrating. It looks like we may have to get an unsecured loan for a ridiculous interest rate to get a vehicle. That is not acceptable. Does anyone have any suggestions on a better way to go about this process here?

hi all just need to air frustration!!!! I sent all my stuff off to anmac for skills aseessment begining of june! all arrived safely and thought just a waiting game, however from reading on website i noticed a new form so after reading more dicovered that due to changes by diac, my professional references must now be to cover my 3 years practice as reg nurse. This is a real pain cos my 1st 2 years were at diffeernt trust andmy boss had retired so following guidleines by anmac i submitted detailed staement of employment from Hr, but to get points for my visa this is no longer good enough!!!! AAARRGGHHH so back to drawing board as to now trace an old work colleague to write a very detailed reference for me. What a bloody joke!! so annoyed!! oh and got to pay another $100 for the hell of it to fund them assessing my references!!!! :arghh:

AAARRGGHHH Please tell me i'm not the only one who feels this frustrated!!!!!! I just wish I could do everything myself. I hate waiting. I hate leaving things for others to do. I am better at sorting everything than anyone else (hehe). I WANT CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!! :arghh:

Hi all I have been in OZ for nearly 2 years, i have decided to stay and im trying to get back into carpentry again. I completed a Carpentry apprenticeship in the UK and have a NVQ II qualification in site carpentry and 5 years experience. I have been trying for some time now to get my qualifications australian recognized but getting nowhere, the info i get basically says i need to complete another apprenticeship to gain the equivalent:no:, there has to be an easier way surly. Any Help would very much appreciated. Thank you

Grrr! I am so frustrated after spending some time researching teaching (primary) in Queensland. I am from the UK but have NZ Citizenship and have lived north of Auckland for 8 years. I am a provisionally registered teacher here in NZ which means I can apply for registration in Qld based on the Trans Tasman recognition programme. No problems so far. We are moving to the Gold Coast in Jan and we have our eye on Pacific Pines, thought it would be a good place for our children who are 12 and 8, with schools and amenities close by. So here in NZ you browse the Teaching Gazette for vacancies and if you see one, in a location you like, you apply... I had visions of being able to teach at one of the primaries locally but here's what I found out. You have to apply to the teaching council and then they place you in a vacancy where THEY want you to teach. This is mind boggling to me as part of the criteria for both the employer and employee should be the "fit" - schools are very different and I fail to see how someone in a office at the teaching council could match up a school and teacher. This is SOOO disappointing to me as I am not prepared to leave my career in the hands of someone else, I would like to apply (as a grown adult) to the job of my choice and then have the decision left with my employer who would know what type of person would fit in their school. Anyway, I am off to scream into my pillow...:arghh:

Hi, I am really frustrated to know that "Cat4 will be processed after cat 1,2&3 are finalised". Is it really possible to finalise all applications of cat1,2 &3 in a certain time? As we know everyday new applications are adding. It is only possible if they declare to stop taking new applications until existing cases complete. They are totally deceiving with us. During lodgment on June 2009 we knew that our application will be finalised within one year. The next episode you all know very well. We can do nothing against them except praying to God. Regards Zaman

Hello all, ok this is a long one hold on tight ! :biggrin:6 years ago decided we would emirgrate to oz after having 3 trips to oz and loved it .we write to RAN because they were always crying out for naval ratings :eek: They change the list and husband's trade is off the list :wideeyed:So we decide as a family we will go independant (MODL) YAY oh DECIDES TIME TO SPEND LIFE WITH FAMILY RATHER THEN SAILING THE SEAS LOL :idea:we then get an agent , Start to do TRA paper work ( hubby has to go on a long deployment :l can't finsh tra paperwork ) The modl get s taken off !!( i have been reading the forum during all this and i feel for all the people who have either had their dreams taken away from them or are in for a long wait ) Then we wait for the new sol and did wonder if points would change ( hubby got told to try for (electrician special class) he is qualified in a number of trades but this seemed the one for the modl :jiggy:Electrician special class is on the sol :dull: points still the same so means we are still 5 points off :idea:Lets look at State sponser ( then look and realise they put some people in to low populated areas ( i did check some of the areas :l jesus they are small areas ) so my point being ( i hear a sigh of relief from you all WOMAN GET TO THE POINT LOL ) WE are in 2 minds do we look for employers ( hubby has never done a Cv due to him being in the service for 22 years so trying to find feet on that one ) we have looked and it seems they want his trade/ and possible defense trades too or do we do regional and tie are self to a state . i know i have ranted and possibly confused people with this thread . Just feel so confused and alone at the moment .OH is on a deployment and its so hard to get the ball rolling either way Thanks for reading this rant and confused thread Help ! lol :hug:

:wacko:Hiya- are there any more practice nurses out here in Queensland (Im on the Sunshine Coast) who are/have experienced work as a pn here? Im working as a pn... ha ha more of a treatment room nurse, who, dont get me wrong loves the fact Im doing alot less than I was in the UK and getting paid more. But as time is going on, feel if I dont use my skills that I was taught in the UK, may forget them.. rapidly! Are all the GPs surgeries here reluctant to let us loose on patients or is it just where Im based? If any one has got any info on where I could get my pap smear certification(as although did this in UK have to redo it here??) or any further education.. would be most grateful!x

Just as things are going so well, we are still waiting for our fingerprints for our SAfrica police checks to reach our lawyers in South African office. The international signed for tracking ends at the SA post office - don't quite understand why they offer that service if they can't complete the service!! It cost us over a hundred quid with postage (I did insure) so now have to wait 20 days from 28th of April to Claim and go and get the damn things done again (Which is a mission in itself!!) then it takes 6 weeks to clear when it does finally reach south african police!!! Do people ever get post in south africa? this is crazy! and its only for the one little year we were there in 2002!! So what are the odds DIAC will grant us our Visa on the 9 years we were in UK and scrap the SA one??? please please please - all my plans of being there by october are dissapearing fast and I am sooooooooo dissapointed . Anyone had a similar problem - or anyone had DIAC grant the visa without waiting for the police clearance from a certain country???

After months of waiting im supposed to be going to Melbourne next week.I was on such a high,till my oh decided to share his cold with me.I now have a stnking cold,chest infection,lots of antibiotics and my asthma is really bad.I'm so worried i won't be able to fly.:arghh:My oh is so in the dog house right now.

hi guys, i'm soo new here. i'm about to apply for the PR and still haven't got enough point because i will only be awarded 40 points for the course i'm doing - Advance Diploma IT-software development. oh, i fotgot to tell u that i'll apply under the 'Skilled – Sponsored (Residence) visa (subclass 886)' i thought i would get some points from my sponsor because i was told so by someone, but then i found out myself that i wouldn't, then i started feeling paranoid since then. Fortunately, there's another way to earn more point for the visa, and that is the State/Territory government nomination. could anyone please tell me: how can i apply for that? what do i need? do i need to finish the course so that i can apply for it? i'm looking forward to getting all your helps!!! Thank you so much!

:arghh: we're looking for a bit of help regarding a visa we applied for last year.. we got the TRA passed last year, and finally sent our application, paper based, off in nov 08, after months of preparing it....i was due our third baby in may, so we had to put it on hold til the babes arrived, now we have to send of her passport and birth cert.......with the new changes after coming into play, do we have any other options or just wait it out? can we change our visa class after already applying?? will that mean more paperwork??my husband has a brother living in syd, he went out last year on a 175 visa, would he be able to sponser us? also i have a sister whos there 8 years and is a citizen...its all very frustrating!!! any help would be greatly appreciated mandy. :confused:

Hi all. Feeling so frustrated.We finaly made the decision to move to oz and enlisted the help of a migration agent at the begining of march.After submitting loads of paperwork we are still unlikely to put our finnal application in until xmas,as we have a vetasses appointment for end of oct.We are going for a 175 but are starting to think maybe we should be looking at the 176 as we would prefere to be in oz before my daughter is 14(school exams)So fed up with things over here we just want to go now we made the decision.Sorry to go on but the time scales seem so disheartning some days.Does everyone feel like this during the process or am i just being misserable? Any info on the 176 would be aprieciated.Sorry for moaning. x:confused:

Hi, i am currently waiting to sell my house in the bleak selling times in England, i have gained my skilled visa sub class 136 and activated it recently when we visited Melbourne and stayed with my cousin in Seaford. I am a 44 year old electrician hoping to be back asap with my wife and son of 14 as we are busting a gut to get back. We may have to rent our house in the present climate / recession in the new year to achieve our dream. We have found the place we want to settle and found the school our son will be happy at in the Mornington Peninsula. What i need from someone who has been through all the stresses of achieving our goal is for them to point me in the direction of what i need to get ie tests from Victoria to do prior to coming out, exams or anything i can do to make it easier to get a job when we come. Obviously the TRA have already approved my paperwork and qualifications to get the visa but what steps should i be doing from now on to make the transition easier when we come? Exams / Tests etc I think i will have to train on a lower wage for sometime before earning some decent dollars, maybe under supervision for a period of time Many Thanks:wacko: Andy Head

I wish we never started this chasing Oz dream. Past two years have none stop been talking about OZ OZ OZ starting to get to me now!!! Hubby has passed his paper based assessment but we just missed out the Oct date for pratical now waiting until Feb. After nearly two years waiting for permission to apply for visas feel like we have missed the boat and as a result had no life. Repairs are needed in the house, major ones eg kitchen and bathroom but we just keep saying no point as we are moving!! No point having a holiday we need the money incase we move! No point replacing Tvs incase we move, washing machines beds etc... List goes on. I read PIO daily ( Fantastic site by the way have no quarrals here) But i want to feel part of it. Getting so down with the fact by the time we can actually apply the skill list may change, ( hopefully just scaremongoring happening at the mo)then wont be bale too and its not the watsed money but the wasted years on the dream.Then it is the house prices we would have lost a lot that is if we can sell. If only the judge pulled his socks up and granted us permission a year earlier we would of been fine! Grrrrrrr Whats more is so broody just want a family but guess what there is no point if we are moving!! Why are the assessments months in between?Grrrr Im sorry rant over i want my life back! So i will have to go and start dinner lol thanks for listening. Good luck to those who have their praticals same day as hubby Feb 16th. Will keep reading your intersting posts daily looking forward to being part of some process sharon x

My Hubby did his Vetassess 2 weeks ago (14th July) and he has not heard anything yet:sad: We are going through an agent and I keep telling him to give them a call, and ask if they have the results. His reply........I'm sure they'll let me know when they know. This does not help me feel any less stressed and certainly does not stop me from nagging:arghh: Ooooh Men, couldn't you just!!! Mrs Dix jnr jnr (rant over)

I have a brother and family who live in Lisarow NSW and wanted to sponsor us. Unfortunately, because they are not in a designated area, this is not possible. I have now had to go down the state sponsored 475 temporary visa route. This is due to my age 44 and not having enough points for the skilled independent route. My skills assessment has come back positive, I've sat my IELTS and I have applied to South Australia for sponsorship. My gripe is that we will have to go to an area where we do not know anyone and yet we have family in NSW who are chomping at the bit to support us.

Hi all I met with a migration company in Feb this year, in march i completed all the paper work and the company took payment (just over £2000). Since march the company have prepared and sent references out to me for my previous and existing employer to complete. Nothing else has been completed by the migration company, and after several calls nobody has got back to me to update me on the progress. Is this standard procedure, over 3 months to fill a few forms in? I'm really getting frustrated with no response and a slow service. Is this normal???

Hello We applied for a subclass 176 skilled sponsored visa on 06.02.08, with the help of an agent. Medicals, Police Checks all finalised in early March, however we are now sat here playing the waiting game. Although the online status show the medicals having been finalised, nothing else is showing as updated and the migrant agent informs us that it's just a case of waiting and it could be at best 6 months until we hear a result or at worst 9 months. Apparently depending on what Case Officer you get, the online status isn't always updated. We've no way of knowing if we've even been assigned a Case Officer. Is anyone else in the same boat, or can offer us a glimmer of hope?! Helen & Gary

Sorry but have to vent my frustrations! My OH filed his ACS accessment application in Oct last year - the ACS said that it would take between 8-12 weeks before a decision would be made. In Dec the ACS asked for a couple more documents which we sent. Today I have received an email advising me that the time it is going to take to process the application begins again so will have to wait another 8-12 weeks!!!!!! :arghh: - icon says it all really. I am desperate to get the main application filed but at every turn there is another hurdle !!! Well thanks for listening will let you know when ACS comes back on this. Nikci

Hi I will apologise now for rambling!! I posted on another thread last night 'how much longer' and someone kindly suggested to the poster to ring Adelaide to see where their application was up to. We to started process for a skilled 136 paper based visa in Jan 07, passed TRA June 07 and were assigned a CO October 07. Meds done Nov 07 and PC and sent to Oz in Dec07. Our CO requested copy of our sons new passport which we sent in Jan. Not heard since. Yesterday our agent suggested it could be another 8 weeks!!! Agh!:no: So with the good advice last night on the other thread I decided to call Adelaide at 10.30pm. Spoke to a guy who said that because we are with an agent they are obliged to inform them first. Then he said when did you last speak with agent. I said today. he said well an e mail with the outcome of visa was sent on 7th Feb!:err: Then he asked me name of agent!! The e mail had been sent to our original agent who left the co few months ago!! He said that was the e mail address they had!! I said can you now tell me then if we have been granted a visa but he was unable to do so but could tell my husband as he is main applicant!!! My husband is away so I rang him and asked him to call Adelaide. Guess what, he tried but his mobile was unable to make International calls:realmad: I then had a sleepless night!! This morning i contacted our agent who has checked previous agents e mail and found no record so has had to e mail her boss who is in Oz and ask her to call Adelaide tonight to get them to re send outcome e mail to our agent and in the meantime I have now been onto phone company and asked them to lift the bar on International calls on my husbands phone so he too can ring Adelaide tonight!!!!! So hopefully either late tonight or tomorrow morning we should know the outcome!!!!:unsure: I hope!!! Wow, talk about war and peace - sorry again!!

Hi Everyone, I am new to this so forgive me if it sounds a little vague. My wife and I applied for our visas 12 months ago, we were advised to go with my wifes application who is a hairdresser, i am an electrician and tutor of electrical installation. I keep reading stories of people who have had their visas granted, we haven't even done the medicals yet and i am getting a bit worried that we have been ovelooked. My wife has even had a confirmation of employment from a company in WA. Is it me or are we just in a very very long line. I was told, due to my wife having 20 years experience, its takes so much longer for the people checking the application, is this true? Is anyone else out there having to wait soooooo long. Thanks Frustrated:arghh:

Hi guys, hope you all had a good christmas,:wubclub: anyway now i am getting rather worried, frustrated, nervous, jittery, on the verge of hysteria..........................etc...........................:arghh:.as sent visa off at the begining of October and have not heard anything, anyone else in the same position or can offer any words of reasurrance.........need some. Thanx. A very nervous Beckyx:dull:

Christmas had a dark cloud over it. Everyone keeps asking when we will be leaving and all we can say is we are still waiting for the visa. I am so fed up. I keep logging in here and reading everyone else's thoughts and you all seem to be coping so well. I am really happy for everyone that gets their visa because I know how stressful it is waiting but I keep wondering why it can't be me. :arghh:No one else seems to be waiting for a RSMS visa and the Austimeline site doesn't have many in the same boat either. I asked my employer-to-be to see if they could speed things up because they want me to start in Jan or Feb but they got back telling me that they had tried and were told they couldn't be told anything due to privacy laws etc. Why then have others on here had their visa expediated by their employers? :cry: I wish I knew when this eternal limbo would end. We are living with our in-laws since we sold our house and although they are fabulous there is nothing like having your own place and your own life together! Good luck to everyone else I hope we get a bunch of those golden letters in the New Year.