Received invitation to apply for NSW nomination (190): sooooo many questions! PLEASE help!!

[Andrea-Familyof5]

Morning all,

Hope everyone is safe and well this morning.

As per my title, I received an invitation to apply for NSW nomination (subclass 190 visa) as a Secondary School Teacher two weeks ago. I applied straight away and so am now waiting, again, to get to the next step in the process. Problem is, I’m not actually sure of the process  :

1. What does the invitation to apply actually mean?
2. Could we (husband and 3 dependents included in application) be turned down at this stage? What’s the likelihood of obtaining the visa after receiving an invitation to apply for state nomination? 
3. Can anyone help re general bullet-points of the process from this stage onwards? As in, when do I start looking for a job? Does it have to be in NSW? 
4. Can I be getting anything else sorted while we wait? Medicals? Police checks? I’ve just signed up for an Immi account as thought I needed to in order to complete the medical checks but my application isn’t on there - I applied via the Expression of Interest/Skills Select route? 

I’ve googled lots but the information is either too vague or non-existent. Actually embarrassed to admit I’m this clueless on what is such a huge issue in our house, and husband is leaving it all to me because I’m the main applicant  

Needless to say, any help will be MUCH appreciated! TIA xx

[Ausvisitor]

So if NSW decide (after looking at your application) that they will offer sponsorship, they will give you a link to apply for your actual visa.

Until they accept your application for sponsorship you haven't been sponsored and so can't progress the visa application until you hear back from them. It's usually around a month or so.

If they do offer sponsorship and you accept it, you will be committed to working in NSW for a year and living there for 2 years. So if you accept NSW sponsorship no job in Perth for instance...

[Andrea-Familyof5]

Ah, I see, thank you so much! Although I’m now gutted. What are the chances of them offering sponsorship, do you know? The whole process is just so tentative and vague…

[Ausvisitor]

If they asked you to apply, so long as you substantiate the claims you made in your EOI (i.e. you didn't over claim points) they more often than not offer sponsorship.

They don't invite you unless they think there is a very high likelihood of you qualifying, after all it's work they have to do so they won't be looking to give themselves work for nothing...

[Andrea-Familyof5]

Ausvisitor - again, thank you very much for your replies; I really appreciate it.

On the job front - if NSW do offer sponsorship, at what point do I start looking for a position? 

My husband is really worried about his medical. He runs 5k a day and is in the best shape but has been on Propranolol since his dad died (slowly coming off them now), and they recently found what (thankfully) turned out to be a benign tumour at the base of his skull. Could his medical affect any offer made? Can we be getting this sorted while we wait to stop him fretting about it? 

[Ausvisitor]

Well even after they offer sponsorship you still have to go through the visa application process which is at least 6 months more likely 9 months.

On the medical front there isn't anything you can do in advance, so stop fretting about it.

[31Hillbury]

@Ausvisitor I think the 190 visa processing is much longer tan that. We have currenly been waiting for 26 month. (190 QLD secondary school teacher.)

 

Below is the current processing times for a 190 visa, Unless your in a critical sector the wait will most likely be towards the longer end of the scale.

 

Visa	Stream	25% Of Visas Processed	50% Of Visas Processed	75% Of Visas Processed	90% Of Visas Processed	Additional Information
190 - Skilled Nominated (subclass 190)		4 months	7 months	8 months	22 months	Applicants should be aware that points tested skilled migration visa applications that are not an occupation within a Critical Sector may exceed the average processing time. This is because each visa subclass contains applications that have a different processing priority. Occupations within a critical sector are given highest processing priority.

 

[Elaine N]

When you say the ‘visa process’ do you mean after you have submitted all your forms, medicals etc it’s taking 6-9months to hear if you have been successful or not? I know this must seem like a daft question but different ppl use different terms when explain stuff and I can barley keep up as it is with all the forms

thanks

[Andrea-Familyof5]

I’ve no idea 

My other question, reading these replies (other than why, when NSW and I’m presuming other states in Aus are reporting thousands of teacher shortages, such the long ass wait) is at what point do you know you’ve been successful? At what point can you stop worrying that you’ll never get a visa? I don’t actually mind waiting; what kills me is the not knowing…

[nomadiccarpenter]

18 minutes ago, Elaine N said:

When you say the ‘visa process’ do you mean after you have submitted all your forms, medicals etc it’s taking 6-9months to hear if you have been successful or not? I know this must seem like a daft question but different ppl use different terms when explain stuff and I can barley keep up as it is with all the forms

thanks

The processing times reflect the age of the applications they process that month. The elephant in the room is that there is a backlog of 70K+ migrants and many of them across different visas have waited over 30 months. 189s have seem some movement recently, some non-critical occupations. Despite things getting back to normal Covid-wise, just mentally prepare yourself for a long wait. I'm almost to my two year anniversary of applying for my 190. Been a lot happier lately living in the moment but it's been very stressful.

Edited March 12, 2022 by nomadiccarpenter

[31Hillbury]

Just now, Andrea-Familyof5 said:

I’ve no idea 

My other question, reading these replies (other than why, when NSW and I’m presuming other states in Aus are reporting thousands of teacher shortages, such the long ass wait) is at what point do you know you’ve been successful? At what point can you stop worrying that you’ll never get a visa? I don’t actually mind waiting; what kills me is the not knowing…

Once you have submitted your are at their mercy, they don’t give any info out other than that which I posted above (updated monthly)

Unfortunately it’s the news reporting not the government, after 26 months of waiting it’s only when the government announces something that it peaks my interest, even then it can take ages for the government to bring it to fruition 

[31Hillbury]

Not trying to sound negative, just be prepared. You never know how long the wait is going to be

[Elaine N]

@31Hillbury, you have submitted all your documents/visa application ,and have been waiting 26months; being patient at times like this can be difficult! I hope you hear soon
 

I wonder if it differs from state to state? 
I’ve applied for NSW. I’ve no idea what the waiting times are. 

[Andrea-Familyof5]

Sorry to keep posting and sounding dumb, but…at what point is it classed as being ‘submitted’? Just so I know at what point to start my official waiting from 

So, I’ve replied to their email invitation to apply for sponsorship by NSW. I uploaded some docs at this point - evidence of the points docs I think. But no medical? It said 6 weeks to find out NSW’s decision. 
 

Where am I in the ‘two year wait’?!?

[Southlander]

We applied for teaching too. 27 months waiting here, offshore. 

If your nomination is granted, I believe you have 60 days to submit your official visa application to the dha. So the clock starts at the point you supply your documents and pay the visa application in full. You never know it may not take that long as they are desperate for teachers and most states hsvr their own critical/essential skills lists and education is on it. 

[31Hillbury]

1 hour ago, Elaine N said:

@31Hillbury, you have submitted all your documents/visa application ,and have been waiting 26months; being patient at times like this can be difficult! I hope you hear soon
 

I wonder if it differs from state to state? 
I’ve applied for NSW. I’ve no idea what the waiting times are. 

Hi, 

We submitted a complete application 24th jan 2020. 

I dont think it differs state to state, its just luck of the draw for anybody if your not critical sector.

 

 

[Andrea-Familyof5]

Thank you Southlander. If you applied for teaching too, how come you’ve been waiting so long if teaching is on the critical skills list? Did you go for state sponsorship? If so, what state? (If you don’t mind me asking, of course! Just trying to get my head round it all).

Also, can I just check something on the visa application fees front? For the 190, I have it as:

$4,045 for the main applicant, $2,020 for a partner (and any child over 18) and $1,015 for each child under 18 years of age.

We have 3 children under the age of 18 (now - the eldest is 16). I get this to 9110 aus $ = £4963. Is this right? Is this what we’ll need to pay if they decide to go ahead and sponsor me? And what happens if they later retract the offer since it’s not guaranteed until you have the visa in your hands? Do they refund you? 

[Andrea-Familyof5]

According to this article, Secondary School Teachers are ranked #2 on the critical workers list. Does anyone know if this is accurate/a true reflection of the current situation? I’m a Secondary English Teacher…

[Southlander]

No problem. The way it works is that each state is allocated a specific quota from the federal government to give out sponsorship to whoever they want to. Every state has different needs, so if they decide to sponsor you they will, should you fit their criteria. It is competitive still as there may be more than one applicant trying for nomination in your occupation, but they may be reserving the quota for other fields. The occupation ceilings are also a little but of a red herring, and applies to government quota should you have applied independently, points based 189 etc. Also 189s are done solely by the federal government to invite and process you. State nomination is a set quota for the states to nominate you against their requirements but look more into the applicant as a whole and not so much points focused. Qld need you have so many years experience and a good pot of funds in the bank. Also not to dismiss the blog but the occupation list demand change all the time, you can almost tell by the types of grants you are seeing and who they are inviting. Also when the States are given their quota they may say 190s will get 11000 for the year, but once the nomination is provided the dha may not process you and give more allocation to the States hoping for other occupations to apply. So in essence they may end up giving out 20,000 for the year but will stick vigorously to only giving out 11000 visas. So the pot of unprocessed applicants expands whilst they allow new applicants to keep applying without increasing the amount of grants that they will give out in a calendar year. And so it continues. Lastly I f the sates have you on their own critical/essential list the federal government (who are responsible for giving out the visa) will not necessarily re ognise the States requirements and will issue visas to satisfy their own needs. So the state may sponsor you but the federal government will not give your visa. It's chicken and egg. The prices you have quoted is spot on for each applicant. 

[Ausvisitor]

I can only comment on my own journey to a 190 NSW visa, I haven't kept up to date with the process since being granted a visa.

Feb 2019 - talked to an agent about possibility

Mar 2019 - did PTE test for English points

Apr 2019 - VETassess came back positive (career assessment)

Apr 15 2019 - submitted EOI for NSW sponsorship

Apr 16 2019 - NSW invited to apply for sponsorship

Apr 26 2019 - returned sponsor application

May 17 2019 - email from NSW offering sponsorship with a link to apply for visa

May - Oct 2019 - waiting...

Oct 2019 (near end) - medicals

Dec 6th 2019 - grant letters (visa) in my email inbox

 

 

No idea if that is typical or unique and no idea if that is the same now as it was when I did it. But hope it helps - if your experience is like mine you are at least 9 months away, if it is more like Hillbury's then at least 2 years away

Edit: Unless you are aiming for an employer visa there is no point looking for jobs until you have the visa grant as no one will offer a job without you having a visa in hand (unless they are willing to sponsor you and schools don't typically)

Edited March 12, 2022 by Ausvisitor

[Marisawright]

59 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

I can only comment on my own journey to a 190 NSW visa...

No idea if that is typical or unique and no idea if that is the same now as it was when I did it. But hope it helps - if your experience is like mine you are at least 9 months away, if it is more like Hillbury's then at least 2 years away

Yours is typical of how things were pre-Covid. 

Hillsbury's experience is unique to those who submitted applications in 2019/2020 and hadn't received their visa before the borders closed. Their applications were simply frozen in March 2020 and have stayed that way until now.   So no one can draw any conclusions from their experience.  

[Lavers]

10 hours ago, Andrea-Familyof5 said:

I’ve no idea 

My other question, reading these replies (other than why, when NSW and I’m presuming other states in Aus are reporting thousands of teacher shortages, such the long ass wait) is at what point do you know you’ve been successful? At what point can you stop worrying that you’ll never get a visa? I don’t actually mind waiting; what kills me is the not knowing…

Unfortunately the worry doesn't end until you actually receive your visa.

You could do all the paperwork then fail a medical etc.

[Marisawright]

8 hours ago, Southlander said:

 I f the sates have you on their own critical/essential list the federal government (who are responsible for giving out the visa) will not necessarily re ognise the States requirements and will issue visas to satisfy their own needs. So the state may sponsor you but the federal government will not give your visa. 

Are you confident that is the case?

I ask because while the borders were closed, I saw lots of people posting to say, "don't worry, if you got as far as the state sponsoring you, you're sure to get the visa eventually, it's just a delay".  And people were selling houses and making plans on that basis.  When I questioned whether they were jumping the gun, I got shouted down.  If you're right, then I was right to question their certainty.

[Ausvisitor]

12 hours ago, Andrea-Familyof5 said:

Thank you Southlander. If you applied for teaching too, how come you’ve been waiting so long if teaching is on the critical skills list? Did you go for state sponsorship? If so, what state? (If you don’t mind me asking, of course! Just trying to get my head round it all).

Also, can I just check something on the visa application fees front? For the 190, I have it as:

$4,045 for the main applicant, $2,020 for a partner (and any child over 18) and $1,015 for each child under 18 years of age.

We have 3 children under the age of 18 (now - the eldest is 16). I get this to 9110 aus $ = £4963. Is this right? Is this what we’ll need to pay if they decide to go ahead and sponsor me? And what happens if they later retract the offer since it’s not guaranteed until you have the visa in your hands? Do they refund you? 

So you might run into the issue we experienced (it delayed out grant by 6 weeks).

Our daughter was 17 when we applied, but by the time we came to get the grant she had crossed into adulthood.

This gave us two issues.

1) we had to pay for a third adult as opposed to a child visa (not a huge issue just more cash)

2) We had to fill out a form 80 for her and also prove that she was financially dependant on us. Had she already have been at uni it would have been difficult because she would not have been living with us (they ask for financial proof from both you and your now adult kid).

So just take that and file it away as if it starts to look like getting to that sort of timeframe some "signposted" transactions between your account and theirs that highlight they are dependent on you is very useful

(We could show we paid her A-level tutors, travel, food card at college and a few other obvious dependant type payments)

 

[Southlander]

6 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Are you confident that is the case?

I ask because while the borders were closed, I saw lots of people posting to say, "don't worry, if you got as far as the state sponsoring you, you're sure to get the visa eventually, it's just a delay".  And people were selling houses and making plans on that basis.  When I questioned whether they were jumping the gun, I got shouted down.  If you're right, then I was right to question their certainty.

For argument sake, queensland have their own critical skills list, and include teaching all levels. It mimics the governments list pretty accurately however they (dha) have not updated theirs since July last year and as such do not prioritise teachers. 

Also the pmsol/critical skills list was only really introduced (I believe) September 2020, albeit the borders were closed from March. So between that period there were invitations for offshore but grants had stalled. Most people who applied pre covid were obviously not aware of how things would unfold. One being nurses, even though Australia never had a covid crisis. The reason was probably that nurses were in short supply and this gave a reason to slow all otter occupants down to fill hospitals, with "covid" being the reason. 

Once the state nominates you, you apply for your main visa, you will get your visa (agents advice, not poi forum posters) but that's down to the dha when they process you.  Nothing to read into it further. The grants have been happening albeit not at any rate pre covid times.