491 visa grant for offshore non-essential workers

[Sparks21 14]

4 hours ago, skyeman said:

Those 3 were Mechanics but admittedly they are just the ones that stood out as it's my occupation. I think I also spotted a Gas fitter and an electrician but I can't remember the details. I try not to obsess over them and screenshot them because as you know yourself it doesn't mean ours is on its way. Like you, I have been told by many reliable sources ( employers, senators etc ) that there is a huge shortage of tradies across most states. I was surprised when borders opened and they announced they needed 200,000 skilled workers that we didn't see a surge of grants. Pre-covid 491 was a high priority and many of us went for it instead of the 190 because of the priority processing and quick state sponsorships. 

I have a job offer, I have saved money to support us moving, we have good points at 95 and we front-loaded the medicals and police certificates, we thought we were in a really good position. Just hit the 24 months mark since submitted

Well if you do spot an offshore 491 electrician grant please do update me as this would be fantastic news for me, in fact, all of these are good news as non-critical skills which shows my view is slightly off. Although I would like to be proved wrong some more. Ha. I agree regarding the 491, this was a high priority visa before covid. I applied with 5 more points than I currently have and was assigned a CO within a few weeks, due to a mistake with the visa I had to withdraw it and complete a new EOI, I was then invited again within a couple of months, it was at this point covid hit and we decided to submit anyway. Obviously not knowing at the time where things were going but hoping for the best. Sounds like we are in a very similar situation in terms of times frames, medicals etc. I, like you, have contemplated completing these again in the hope that this will speed up the process but have decided to hold off until CO assigned. Although, I may go ahead and redo police certs as these aren't big money. I am sure we will be assigned a CO before the end of this visa year. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Sparks21

[skyeman 39]

5 minutes ago, Sparks21 said:

Well if you do spot an offshore 491 electrician grant please do update me as this would be fantastic news for me, in fact, all of these are good news as non-critical skills which shows my view is slightly off. Although I would like to be proved wrong some more. Ha. I agree regarding the 491, this was a high priority visa before covid. I applied with 5 more points than I currently have and was assigned a CO within a few weeks, due to a mistake with the visa I had to withdrawn it and complete a new EOI, I was then invited again within a couple of months, it was at this point covid hit and we decided to submit anyway. Obviously not knowing at the time where things were going but hoping for the best. Sounds like we are in a very similar situation in terms of times frames, medicals etc. I, like you, have contemplated completing these again in the hope that this will speed up the process but have decided to hold off until CO assigned. Although, I may go ahead and redo police certs as these aren't big money. I am sure we will be assigned a CO before the end of this visa year. 

Just had a look back and it was a 190 NSW offshore electrician (general) lodged in December 2019 and granted 14th April. I, like you, suspect all the 2020 and early 2021 submits will hear before the end of the visa year. An interesting theory I received from someone on one of the groups is that most of the states are approaching the quota caps for nominations and that they usually close in May. At this point they have no reason to have CO's assigned to processing thousands and thousands of EOI's/State nominations and then these CO's are freed up between the closure in May and the start of the new visa year when they will be given a new quota. It does sort of make sense as there is a lot of EOI's being approved recently which must be using quite a lot of resources.

That's a shame about accidentally overclaiming points. Shouldn't that have been picked up at the skills assessment/EOI stage when you submit your CV to them clearly outlining how many years you have been working in that occupation? That's a huge backward step for you for an accidental 5 point overclaim. Whas it a case of accidentally including pre-qualified experience?

I have redone our police certificates, did that several months ago as I hoped if a CO opened my file and saw i had proactively updated my out of date police certificates that maybe they would let the expired medicals slide given how expensive they are....haha what a fool. I'm almost looking forward to doing the medicals again as at least that means I've had CO contact

[Sparks21 14]

16 minutes ago, skyeman said:

Just had a look back and it was a 190 NSW offshore electrician (general) lodged in December 2019 and granted 14th April. I, like you, suspect all the 2020 and early 2021 submits will hear before the end of the visa year. An interesting theory I received from someone on one of the groups is that most of the states are approaching the quota caps for nominations and that they usually close in May. At this point they have no reason to have CO's assigned to processing thousands and thousands of EOI's/State nominations and then these CO's are freed up between the closure in May and the start of the new visa year when they will be given a new quota. It does sort of make sense as there is a lot of EOI's being approved recently which must be using quite a lot of resources.

That's a shame about accidentally overclaiming points. Shouldn't that have been picked up at the skills assessment/EOI stage when you submit your CV to them clearly outlining how many years you have been working in that occupation? That's a huge backward step for you for an accidental 5 point overclaim. Whas it a case of accidentally including pre-qualified experience?

I have redone our police certificates, did that several months ago as I hoped if a CO opened my file and saw i had proactively updated my out of date police certificates that maybe they would let the expired medicals slide given how expensive they are....haha what a fool. I'm almost looking forward to doing the medicals again as at least that means I've had CO contact

Well that's great news. Please let me know if you hear of anymore, especially 491 off shore non-critical skills. That is an interesting theory, let's hope it is right! The points were miscalculated due to us doing it ourselves. This was immediately picked up by the CO and we withdrew. Then had to pay for the visa again plus the cost of a migration agent. With a family of four, it was an expensive mistake. Being assigned a CO will be a great day, let alone the day they approve the visa. Ha. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Sparks21

[Phil1712 40]

On 21/04/2022 at 14:05, Sparks21 said:

Well that's great news. Please let me know if you hear of anymore, especially 491 off shore non-critical skills. That is an interesting theory, let's hope it is right! The points were miscalculated due to us doing it ourselves. This was immediately picked up by the CO and we withdrew. Then had to pay for the visa again plus the cost of a migration agent. With a family of four, it was an expensive mistake. Being assigned a CO will be a great day, let alone the day they approve the visa. Ha. 

 

On 21/04/2022 at 13:49, skyeman said:

Just had a look back and it was a 190 NSW offshore electrician (general) lodged in December 2019 and granted 14th April. I, like you, suspect all the 2020 and early 2021 submits will hear before the end of the visa year. An interesting theory I received from someone on one of the groups is that most of the states are approaching the quota caps for nominations and that they usually close in May. At this point they have no reason to have CO's assigned to processing thousands and thousands of EOI's/State nominations and then these CO's are freed up between the closure in May and the start of the new visa year when they will be given a new quota. It does sort of make sense as there is a lot of EOI's being approved recently which must be using quite a lot of resources.

That's a shame about accidentally overclaiming points. Shouldn't that have been picked up at the skills assessment/EOI stage when you submit your CV to them clearly outlining how many years you have been working in that occupation? That's a huge backward step for you for an accidental 5 point overclaim. Whas it a case of accidentally including pre-qualified experience?

I have redone our police certificates, did that several months ago as I hoped if a CO opened my file and saw i had proactively updated my out of date police certificates that maybe they would let the expired medicals slide given how expensive they are....haha what a fool. I'm almost looking forward to doing the medicals again as at least that means I've had CO contact

Out of curiosity how old are you both.

The reason I ask is are the people behind granted of a certain age. I'm 41 and believe my grant has not been approved as I'm on the wrong side of 40=

[skyeman 39]

3 hours ago, Phil1712 said:

 

Out of curiosity how old are you both.

The reason I ask is are the people behind granted of a certain age. I'm 41 and believe my grant has not been approved as I'm on the wrong side of 40=

I'm 31 now, submitted at 29

[Phil1712 40]

3 hours ago, skyeman said:

I'm 31 now, submitted at 29

Maybe  not an age issue then, maybe the DHA has just forgotten about the 491 visa

[skyeman 39]

Has anyone seen any Non-PMSOL off-shore grants? It's gone very quiet, perhaps while they look to fill up their quotas before the end of the immigration year?  A few states have now reached their quota, so hopefully, the CO's will move on to start clearing the backlog of visa applicants? 

[Phil1712 40]

7 hours ago, skyeman said:

Has anyone seen any Non-PMSOL off-shore grants? It's gone very quiet, perhaps while they look to fill up their quotas before the end of the immigration year?  A few states have now reached their quota, so hopefully, the CO's will move on to start clearing the backlog of visa applicants? 

Can't see anything happening until new financial year. And then can't see backlog being delt with until 2023

[nomadiccarpenter 34]

13 hours ago, skyeman said:

Has anyone seen any Non-PMSOL off-shore grants? It's gone very quiet, perhaps while they look to fill up their quotas before the end of the immigration year?  A few states have now reached their quota, so hopefully, the CO's will move on to start clearing the backlog of visa applicants? 

A handful. I don't quite understand the continued use of PMSOL list at this point. Shortages across the board and wouldn't this list cause more shortages in other occupations excluded from this list? I guess someone just needs to give the order not to follow it anymore, or at least greatly expand it. Just my uneducated opinion.

[Marisawright 10,916]

10 minutes ago, nomadiccarpenter said:

A handful. I don't quite understand the continued use of PMSOL list at this point. 

Neither do I.  It's bonkers. I think the trouble is the current Federal Government is too preoccupied with winning the election to think about anything else. 

[Sparks21 14]

On 11/05/2022 at 11:29, skyeman said:

Has anyone seen any Non-PMSOL off-shore grants? It's gone very quiet, perhaps while they look to fill up their quotas before the end of the immigration year?  A few states have now reached their quota, so hopefully, the CO's will move on to start clearing the backlog of visa applicants? 

I haven't seen any I am afraid, although I am not particularly active as I rely on this post predominately.  

[Sparks21 14]

On 27/04/2022 at 06:07, Phil1712 said:

 

Out of curiosity how old are you both.

The reason I ask is are the people behind granted of a certain age. I'm 41 and believe my grant has not been approved as I'm on the wrong side of 40=

I am 37, 35 when the application was submitted. 

[Sparks21 14]

On 11/05/2022 at 18:48, Phil1712 said:

Can't see anything happening until new financial year. And then can't see backlog being delt with until 2023

I had witnessed a migration agent with over 20 years experience state that they were confident we would hear by the end of this year, so fingers crossed, but who knows? 

[Sparks21 14]

On 12/05/2022 at 01:30, nomadiccarpenter said:

A handful. I don't quite understand the continued use of PMSOL list at this point. Shortages across the board and wouldn't this list cause more shortages in other occupations excluded from this list? I guess someone just needs to give the order not to follow it anymore, or at least greatly expand it. Just my uneducated opinion.

Personally, I feel this will be reviewed very soon. There is without doubt many sectors that are suffering severe shortages, particularly, construction. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Sparks21

[skyeman 39]

2 hours ago, Sparks21 said:

Personally, I feel this will be reviewed very soon. There is without doubt many sectors that are suffering severe shortages, particularly, construction. 

Every employer I have spoken with has said they are desperate for staff and can't fill many positions. I've seen a couple of off-shore grants over the weekend, one was a telecoms engineer and the other was an events organiser. Didn't catch that state but both were 2021 submits I think. one was a 491 and one was a 190 

[Phil1712 40]

Some positive news 

https://gazettengr.com/australia-to-fast-track-visa-applications-of-skilled-immigrants/

[nomadiccarpenter 34]

On 12/06/2022 at 01:09, Phil1712 said:

Some positive news 

https://gazettengr.com/australia-to-fast-track-visa-applications-of-skilled-immigrants/

It is! Although, there are a lot of challenges as described very well in this article:

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/absolute-gridlock-five-challenges-in-australias-migration-program-facing-the-albanese-government/6z1gj92nc

[Phil1712 40]

Received CO contact today so hopefully not to long now. 

[Sparks21 14]

Fantastic news! So happy for you! Did they want medicals etc? I have heard of quite a few off shore people getting CO’s and grants recently. It’s finally happening! 

[skyeman 39]

1 hour ago, Phil1712 said:

Received CO contact today so hopefully not to long now. 

Congrats. requesting new medical and PCC?  When did you submit? I submitted April 2020

[Sparks21 14]

1 hour ago, Phil1712 said:

Received CO contact today so hopefully not to long now. 

Also, would you mind reminding us of the visa, your profession and state you’re aiming for? 
 

Mine is 491, electrician, WA, submitted May 2020. Cheers. 

[Phil1712 40]

44 minutes ago, Sparks21 said:

Also, would you mind reminding us of the visa, your profession and state you’re aiming for? 
 

Mine is 491, electrician, WA, submitted May 2020. Cheers. 

 

1 hour ago, skyeman said:

Congrats. requesting new medical and PCC?  When did you submit? I submitted April 2020

Have to do police checks and medicals again 

Submitted march 2020 491 painter and decorator 

[Sparks21 14]

Good luck with it! Looking forward to your next post…  

[Raplin45 20]

7 hours ago, Phil1712 said:

Received CO contact today so hopefully not to long now. 

This is awesome news!!! From your posts it looks like it's been a long old frustrating road for you so I really hope things move fast now 

[Phil1712 40]

Hi just reviving this thread. Has any been granted yet?