jennalawson00 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 My partner and I (and our 11 month old daughter) are trying to make the move to Australia. We have looked into different visa types and think the 491 would be best fitting for us. He is a bricklayer, 30 years old, with 13 years experience (City and Guilds). I am a project co-ordinator who has worked in the commercial kitchen industry (NVQ Level 2 and 3 in Business Administration). My partner has an employer in Brisbane who would be willing to give him a job tomorrow and would be happy to sponsor but with everything going on we don't think sponsorship visas are going to be considered for a LONG time (thank you COVID-19) I have done some research and know that we would need to submit an EOI, but before we can do that my partner would need to do a skills assessment and an English Test. I have several questions (please be kind!):- - Has anyone done their own 491 visa application and been successful? - How long was the visa process from EOI to being granted? - Are you able to book your own skills assessment or would this have to go through an agent? - What did the skills assessment entail (bricklayers or other tradesmen's experience would be most appreciated) - My partner is English, speaks, reads, writes and listens to English well - however, put him in exam conditions and he crumbles. Could anybody recommend which exam would suit his 'learning style' best? PTE or IELTS? I have read both are accepted but please tell me if I am wrong! - Would they need anything else from us to 'boost' our application? Any help/advice is appreciated. Covid-19 has really made us realise what we want from life and its NOT the UK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conyo2588 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Hi, The 491 visa is a regional visa and therefore, your partner would be unable to work or live in Brisbane unfortunately My partner is a Tiler and we’ve just put in our visa application, albeit, using an agent. I’d highly recommend using a MARA registered agent as the process is exhaustive, especially if you have to sort skills assessments etc TRA did my partners assessment. I think there’s also another called VETASS? Or something along those lines We were advised by the agent to do PTE as apparently that’s what tradies have more success with...I’m not sure how true that is, just the advice we received Also, only post qualification experience gains points, this has to be proven by tax records, statements from employers or customers if self employed. Any experience prior to qualification doesn’t count Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 You can do it yourself, but I do not recommend it. Have you checked if QLD is sponsoring bricklayers as this visa needs state sponsorship At the moment the 491 and the 190 visas are closed and we don’t know when they will reopen or in what form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul Senise Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 On 23/07/2020 at 00:58, jennalawson00 said: - Has anyone done their own 491 visa application and been successful? Probably yes, although the visa is quite new and currently closed, so probably not a lot. On 23/07/2020 at 00:58, jennalawson00 said: - How long was the visa process from EOI to being granted? This will vary significantly depending on specifics such as Country of passport. occupation, spooring State, etc. On 23/07/2020 at 00:58, jennalawson00 said: - Are you able to book your own skills assessment or would this have to go through an agent? Yes, you can book your own skills assessment. On 23/07/2020 at 00:58, jennalawson00 said: - What did the skills assessment entail (bricklayers or other tradesmen's experience would be most appreciated) It will depend on the specifics of the application and assessing authority used. A lot of documents to evidence qualification and employment history. On 23/07/2020 at 00:58, jennalawson00 said: - My partner is English, speaks, reads, writes and listens to English well - however, put him in exam conditions and he crumbles. Could anybody recommend which exam would suit his 'learning style' best? PTE or IELTS? I have read both are accepted but please tell me if I am wrong! Many seem to prefer PTE although it does vary between candidates. On 23/07/2020 at 00:58, jennalawson00 said: - Would they need anything else from us to 'boost' our application? Potentially yes. It can be a complex process with a detailed assessment required to determine the road map to lodging the strongest application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jody Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 We started doing my husband’s visa (489 Electrician) but after doing the English test and the Vetassess skilled documentation check we made an error and the check got rejected, so we had to resubmit and pay again before moving onto the practical part. After that we went with an agent (Concept Australia) to do the EOI, SA State part and the main visa application. It took the pressure off and gave us peace of mind that we hadn’t missed anything to cause a rejected outcome. It’s an extra cost but I would say worth it. My husband tried PTE a couple of times but found this difficult (he is dyslexic). He switched to IELTS and passed it first time and found it a better style test for him. From the start to receiving our visa is was a two year process. But the final stage of submitting the main application after SA sponsored us was 3.5 months, so we were pretty lucky for that final part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD there is light Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 On 24/07/2020 at 08:34, Jody said: We started doing my husband’s visa (489 Electrician) but after doing the English test and the Vetassess skilled documentation check we made an error and the check got rejected, so we had to resubmit and pay again before moving onto the practical part. After that we went with an agent (Concept Australia) to do the EOI, SA State part and the main visa application. It took the pressure off and gave us peace of mind that we hadn’t missed anything to cause a rejected outcome. It’s an extra cost but I would say worth it. My husband tried PTE a couple of times but found this difficult (he is dyslexic). He switched to IELTS and passed it first time and found it a better style test for him. From the start to receiving our visa is was a two year process. But the final stage of submitting the main application after SA sponsored us was 3.5 months, so we were pretty lucky for that final part. Hi Jody, well done, exciting times. Can I confirm your 489 visa was granted within 3.5 months? Is that a recent grant i.e. in last few weeks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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