High Points for 489/190 - South Australia

[Renault]

We havent used an agent so far, I got an initial assessment and it told me less than I'd already researched and it cost £80 and we were quoted £6,000 to complete the application!

So I've just took each stage as it comes, thinking I could get an agent involved if I feel I'm out of my depth.

Work assessment and State Sponsorship done no problem and Visa application submitted so we'll see if I've saved us £6,000 or created a big mess very soon hopefully.

I guess it depends how complex your case is and how comfortable you are completing the forms, paperwork and navigating the strange system.

Good luck whatever you decide [emoji16]

You managed most of it. Visa grant shouldn't be the issue as well. I'm sure that's 6k saved
Well done!

[Jellica]

Yup! 6k! and someone who is widely advertised on another pommie website I'm sure we've all been to - not here.

fingers crossed we're all good. If I've made a mess of it, we'll def get an agent involved [emoji1787]

[OffToOz]

The ones I have looked at quote about £2k to help with the process, but that seems a lot to check over some paperwork.  But like you say one simple mistake and could get the application rejected!

If you could pm who you used I will keep thinking about it.

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, OffToOz said:

Out of interest how may of you used agents?  really stuck to see if its worth the extra cost.

Just getting all my documents together for the skills assessment and have to hope they take my old job as the qualifying year for work otherwise will have to wait another 5 months until I can lodge the EOI due to needing the points for 5 years experience.

Hopefully can see some of you on the beach in under a year!

I never used an agent and done it myself. I made a few mistakes along the way but I am not sure I would have necessarily obtained the visa any quicker. Main mistake I made was not realising you can't just submit an EOI and sit back and wait; you have to contact the state and keep an eye on their entry requirements. Other one was thinking it would be pretty straightforward with my Mum living in Adelaide and acting as Family Sponsor but then realising all the 189, 190 and 489 SS get preferential treatment over 489 FS (I ended up getting 489 SS). All in all though I am glad I never used an agent but that's easy for me to say now........everyone has their own different circumstances and reasons for requiring a bit of extra guidance and support I would say.

[Joesline]

2 hours ago, OffToOz said:

Out of interest how may of you used agents?  really stuck to see if its worth the extra cost.

Just getting all my documents together for the skills assessment and have to hope they take my old job as the qualifying year for work otherwise will have to wait another 5 months until I can lodge the EOI due to needing the points for 5 years experience.

Hopefully can see some of you on the beach in under a year!

I used an agent too. 

[Joesline]

We just went for our medical checkup and getting the clearance of certificate today! 

But husband went to Australia studied for 3 years before so he will need to submit the clearance of certificate from Australia too.

And that's an additional condition to fulfill. We will have to wait a bit longer to have all of the documents ready for submission since international posting for the Australia COC takes about 10-20 working days. 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Joesline

[Peter Louis Nicolas]

16 hours ago, JonandSophietravel said:

Hi Peter,

Welcome :)

If you meet all the criteria set out on the SA website and the 489 Visa website, meet the points requirement, wrote a decent SA statement, can back up your claims and have uploaded all the relevant evidence, then you should be fine.

Did you apply with an agent? If so they should have made sure everything was in order. If not, as long as you went over everything you should be ok.

Hello and thank you for the warm welcome :)

I have done all of that. I really appreciate your kind words, you took much off my chest.

I applied through an agent, which makes me wonder how to track the application without asking him to do so.

[JonandSophietravel]

We used an agent and I'd recommend it. This is possibly the only chance you'll have to apply to completely change your life so we didn't want to risk it.

I'd done so much research beforehand that most things the agent told me I knew already, but they also did have some tips and knowledge that has helped.

Ours was £1500 for everything including EOI, SA nomination, Skills Assessment and Visa application.

[OffToOz]

One more question, I talked to HR who knows my basic job role but not the specifics which relate to the skills assessment.  She is happy for me to write the reference and she will check and sign if she is happy with what I have wrote.  My fear is with a basic reference that she would do they may not feel it is related enough.  Would there be any issue with copying the key parts off my CV and uses that in the reference?  Or should I just write them to be different?  I have added more to my CV to be more role specific to the key criteria from Vetassess.

Thanks

[JetBlast]

One more question, I talked to HR who knows my basic job role but not the specifics which relate to the skills assessment.  She is happy for me to write the reference and she will check and sign if she is happy with what I have wrote.  My fear is with a basic reference that she would do they may not feel it is related enough.  Would there be any issue with copying the key parts off my CV and uses that in the reference?  Or should I just write them to be different?  I have added more to my CV to be more role specific to the key criteria from Vetassess.
Thanks

Becareful using your CV. Remember you're not supposed to be writing your own reference. If they notice there are things that are the same in both they may take a dim view of this.

[Jellica]

One more question, I talked to HR who knows my basic job role but not the specifics which relate to the skills assessment.  She is happy for me to write the reference and she will check and sign if she is happy with what I have wrote.  My fear is with a basic reference that she would do they may not feel it is related enough.  Would there be any issue with copying the key parts off my CV and uses that in the reference?  Or should I just write them to be different?  I have added more to my CV to be more role specific to the key criteria from Vetassess.
Thanks

I got my employer to write me a detailed reference based on the vetassess requirements. we used it to fill in the vetassess form, EOI, final visa application and Form 80. never updated my CV .... but now you've pointed it out [emoji23]

I just saw it as being consistant, it was just a list of tasks for each job role held, so I'll expand on it for my CV more obviously.

Just be careful, Im sure HR will only sign off on something truthful, make sure they keep a copy so they can verify it if vetassess contact them :)

[Jenki75]

We did look into an agent but the off putting part was there are none in the part of Canada we live in. So having to deal with someone online and in a different time zone/country was a bit off putting. We were quoted £4000.00. If we get into a tricky spot, we will consult for sure. 

[OffToOz]

Thanks guys, I was not going to lie about anything. I will give hr the Vetassess guidelines and ask them to use it to base the reference. 

She knows they could ring her which is fine, talking to the directors tho may not be a good thing! 

[JetBlast]

13 minutes ago, OffToOz said:

Thanks guys, I was not going to lie about anything. I will give hr the Vetassess guidelines and ask them to use it to base the reference. 
She knows they could ring her which is fine, talking to the directors tho may not be a good thing! 

 

I didn't mean it like that - I don't think you're dishonest. I was just trying to outline what the assessor might think. Sorry I didn't mean to offend or anything.

Edited February 20, 2019 by JetBlast

[OffToOz]

Yeah I know, appreciate any help you guys give. Just looked in the website and it’s showing no time for 489 visa for low applications. That should mean they will get granted quickly! Might be able to meet Christmas time! Well if I get a positive assessment in relation to time at work

[Jonno1981]

10 hours ago, OffToOz said:

Out of interest how may of you used agents?  really stuck to see if its worth the extra cost.

We used George Lombard Consultancy based in Sydney. I would highly recommend. Great communication via email and when necessary, phone calls.

My initial reason for using a MA was to assist in identifying an occupation on the skills list that matched my work experience and qualifications. This was an extremely difficult task as it was like trying to fit a “round peg in a square hole” as George himself put it.

I also felt using a MA would offer peace of mind that the process was followed correctly. 

As it turns out, my wife had a number of medical issues that could of caused complications/delays with our application. The specialist support we got from George and his team in this regard was invaluable.

For us, money well spent.

Edited February 20, 2019 by Jonno1981

[Peter Louis Nicolas]

Just be careful which agent is best for you.

It makes me furious that my MARA-registered agent is surprisingly unskilled to a terrible degree. I even made a list of his fatal and repetitive mistakes as this became his standard behavior.

1- He is not updated AT ALL. It is me who should keep tracking websites so as to hunt for recently open programs. I have to enlighten him by reminding him in an email to apply for me in such programs.

2- His internal communications and bureaucracy are killing time. My date of effects are always 5 days behind just because of this.

3- Always confused and correcting himself. One time, he uploaded draft documents to the skill assessment authority. From this time forward, I had to name all files differently in order to prevent him from uploading an expired one. For example, I took the English test (PTE Academic) several times. I renamed each file like this PTE1, PTE2.. and so on. SIMPLE ENOUGH FOR HIM I HOPE

4- Sometimes, he provides complete misleading information.

5- He acts without asking for my permission. Once, he updated my Expression of Interest with no change in points.

6- A phone call is mandatory in case I need something to be done in time. Ignoring e.mails for weeks is a habit.

7- No strategic thinking at all, he is best at just uploading stuff, nothing more. You cannot depend on him to think which is best for you. For instance, my Expression of Interest was due to expire on May 2019. At the time I expect an invitation, there is a chance that this Expression of interest would be removed. Hence, I told him to delete it and to create a new one because I had to update it, got a higher score in the English test. Thus, my position in the queue remains forward.

In the end, I would just like to know if this kind of treatment is normal or not. Especially for that point related to being totally off the grid with regard to the current immigration programs. Do other agents really follow suit ? I am certain that other agents keep their clients under the Sun. I am sure that they even push these clients to apply for any new/recently open programs.

[JonandSophietravel]

9 minutes ago, Peter Louis Nicolas said:

Just be careful which agent is best for you.

It makes me furious that my MARA-registered agent is surprisingly unskilled to a terrible degree. I even made a list of his fatal and repetitive mistakes as this became his standard behavior.

1- He is not updated AT ALL. It is me who should keep tracking websites so as to hunt for recently open programs. I have to enlighten him by reminding him in an email to apply for me in such programs.

2- His internal communications and bureaucracy are killing time. My date of effects are always 5 days behind just because of this.

3- Always confused and correcting himself. One time, he uploaded draft documents to the skill assessment authority. From this time forward, I had to name all files differently in order to prevent him from uploading an expired one. For example, I took the English test (PTE Academic) several times. I renamed each file like this PTE1, PTE2.. and so on. SIMPLE ENOUGH FOR HIM I HOPE

4- Sometimes, he provides complete misleading information.

5- He acts without asking for my permission. Once, he updated my Expression of Interest with no change in points.

6- A phone call is mandatory in case I need something to be done in time. Ignoring e.mails for weeks is a habit.

7- No strategic thinking at all, he is best at just uploading stuff, nothing more. You cannot depend on him to think which is best for you. For instance, my Expression of Interest was due to expire on May 2019. At the time I expect an invitation, there is a chance that this Expression of interest would be removed. Hence, I told him to delete it and to create a new one because I had to update it, got a higher score in the English test. Thus, my position in the queue remains forward.

In the end, I would just like to know if this kind of treatment is normal or not. Especially for that point related to being totally off the grid with regard to the current immigration programs. Do other agents really follow suit ? I am certain that other agents keep their clients under the Sun. I am sure that they even push these clients to apply for any new/recently open programs.

That's definitely not normal.

My MA is based in Melbourne so I rarely actually hear from him but he has an office in the UK too, in the same city I live in. So I liaise mainly with his Admin staff as they're very knowledgable and helpful too and they're only a 5-minute walk from my flat if I need to hand in anything.

I don't know the rules around incorrect or misleading information but there's a few MAs on this forum who might be able to help you if you don't want to be represented by him anymore and want to get a refund or claim compensation?

[Peter Louis Nicolas]

Thank you for your response. I am negotiating with him at present. Surely, a serious action will be taken but first, I must give him a chance to justify his behavior.

[Renault]

In the other thread. "Thank you so much @Renault, I lodged on 10/9/18 and CO contacted for police checks for me and family on 10/11/18 which was submitted on 25/11/18 and then I just got my grant yesterday."

[Joesline]

45 minutes ago, Renault said:

In the other thread. "Thank you so much @Renault, I lodged on 10/9/18 and CO contacted for police checks for me and family on 10/11/18 which was submitted on 25/11/18 and then I just got my grant yesterday."

So usually CO contact after one month from visa application, and take about two months to issue the grant after the police check and medical clearance was submitted. 

[Renault]

So usually CO contact after one month from visa application, and take about two months to issue the grant after the police check and medical clearance was submitted. 

Not consistently. But seems to he the case for this one. Almost 5 and half months

[Joesline]

3 minutes ago, Renault said:

5 minutes ago, Joesline said:

So usually CO contact after one month from visa application, and take about two months to issue the grant after the police check and medical clearance was submitted. 

Not consistently. But seems to he the case for this one. Almost 5 and half months

But I am curious if the visa 489 duration of 4 years count from the date of the visa granted?

[Renault]

But I am curious if the visa 489 duration of 4 years count from the date of the visa granted?

Yes it is.

[Swaroop]

 

Hello Everyone,

My name is Swaroop and I have been following this thread since November 2018. I have to say the information shared here has been very helpful for me in understanding the visa process and credit goes to each of you for generously sharing your experiences and suggestions throughout.

By the way, I have applied for SA 489 state nomination on the 11th of Feb for Cafe and Restaurant Manager occupation with 75 points and was hoping to get another 10 points with state nomination however the occupation is marked as "low places available" and that makes me a bit worried.

Do they have a set date for announcing the nomination  results or can it happen on any day of the month?