Cots Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Hi all, I've been reading these forums for a good few months and have finally decided to ask the questions I've been looking for answers to!:unsure: My hubby Al (plumber, 30 yrs old) and I decided to take the plunge in February and began the skills assessment process which he recenlty passed and is booked on practical assessment in July. All change happened with CSL list in March - sods law or what?! Although plumbing is still on the MODL. Our agent has advised us that once Al passes his pratical, which we are confident he will having been a plumber for 13 years, that we should still continue to apply for 175 (QLD was our preferred state having travelled the East Coast a few years ago) rather than applying for the quicker options of a state sponsored visa and perhaps go to WA (where we have never been) as we don't want to have to wait for years. Agent thinks it won't be years, he reckons we're still looking at 9-10 months from lodging although he says more will be known come to July (beginning of new finanical year). What do you all think and know?? I'm a complete novice with forums so excuse bad etiquette! Sarah & Al (and twins Finn and Sadie - 1 year old) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest juliemtaylor Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 personally as you are not on the CSL at the moment I would seriously look into state sponsorship as no one knows when they will work on the MODL 175's. Julie x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cots Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Thanks for advice! I notice at the bottom your timeline? Vic rejected? Does that mean a state rejected you? I told you I'm a novice! lol x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawny Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Hi Sarah, welcome to pio, My o/h is also a plumber, we originally lodged our 175 application earlier this year, Then changed to S/S for s/a, (as advised by our agent), pleased we have as its moved along quite quickly, I think its down to your choice, as in how long you are prepared to wait or if you are happy to go to another state who will sponsor plumbers, We are lucky as we ideally wanted to go to QLD or Adelaide, Also tell your o/h that the plumbing practicle is a walk in the park, according to my hubby, treat it as just another day on the tools, All the best x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest juliemtaylor Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Thanks for advice! I notice at the bottom your timeline? Vic rejected? Does that mean a state rejected you? I told you I'm a novice! lol x Yes that's right, after months ofwaiting and them messing us around they rejected us! So good luck.. Julie x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Yes that's right, after months ofwaiting and them messing us around they rejected us! So good luck.. Julie x Hi Julie I'm sorry to hear that VIC turned you down. They rejected another friend of mine who is also a computer wizard earlier this year. However he now has sc 176 sponsorship from QLD, having applied for an sc 175 visa originally. I couldn't begin to tell you what he does. A particular type of Network Security as far as I can gather but I do not understand a word of IT jargon. VIC said that he doesn't have exactly the sort of experience that their industry panel is looking for, even though he produced evidence of a dozen recent job adverts in Melbourne for exactly the sort of IT stuff that he does. You are by no means alone with VIC's quirks, I suspect. Are you trying again with a different State? Best wishes Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hi Sarah & Al Welcome to Poms in Oz. Mmmmm. Is your agent prepared to say that he will give you a full refund if he turns out to be wrong about his 10 months prediction? Is the agent who is giving you the hands on advice registered with the MARA himself or is he an unregistered case worker, working for somebody else? Migration Agents Registration Authority I am sceptical because what will happen from July onwards was mapped out by the Minister for Immigration in the Federal Budget which was published on 12 May 2009. Budget 2009-10 - Migration Program: the size of the skilled and family programs http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/gsm-factsheet-may09.pdf The second page of the fact sheet in the second link is particularly important. The Government has made it clear that the MODL has more or less been abandoned in terms of processing priority. The present Minister is not keen on non-sponsored visas is what it comes down to. Until there is more information about how the 2009/10 Program is working in practice - which won't really be possible till around the end of 2009 - I don't think most people would be confident about saying 10 months when the visa application has not even been submitted as yet. What's New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration Read everything on the link above thoroughly, I would suggest. I certainly agree with your agent that if you have enough points for an sc 175 visa then it makes sense to submit the application asap. It would cost nothing and only takes two minutes to swap to an sc 176 visa later. State & Territory Migration Sites - australia.gov.au It is impossible to predict what will happen with the sc 176 Lists for State Sponsorship after the end of June 2009. However I would suggest keeping a close eye on them. At the moment General Plumber is on the sc 176 Lists for South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT. Have you been to any of those, please? WA may not be the only option if you decide to insure the risk of delay by obtaining State Sponsorship. The ACT charge $275 for an application for SS from them but none of the others I have mentioned charge anything at the moment. Also if you get an offer of SS you do not have to use it immediately. The offer usually remains open for 6 months. Has your agent explained that General Plumbers have to do additional training courses in Oz before they can work on their own? I don't know the details but I am told that the courses for Plumbers and General Electricians are long winded and expensive. It is something to do with the local regulations about each occupation. Without the additional training, it is possible to work as a Plumber's or Electrician's assistant but not as a solo, self employed Plumber or Electrician, I gather. Plumber - General 4431-11 - Australian Skills Recognition Information On the link above, scroll down below the stuff about Vetassess. The ASRI page also gives the name and contact details for the licencing authority in each State and for the main trade associations. I'd contact both organisations in QLD and find out exactly what this is about if my OH were a Plumber or an Electrician. Best wishes Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cots Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hi Gill, Thanks for the advice and links, you seem to know your stuff! Are you applying yourself? I didn't know that the MODL was nearly abandoned so will read more on that one! Plumbing still gets 60 points so surely that's the important thing isn't it?? We know that Al will have to undertake additional qualifications when he gets there as I've made sure I've done my research in that area. I'm more unsure about the timeframes and the changes that could occur in the visa process over the next few months, and the different types of visas etc. I'm a bit of a control freak and hate things being out of my hands! We are heading more and more towards lodging a 175 as we do have enough points, and then swapping to a SS in WA as Perth is more appealing to us that the other states that are looking for plumbers but we will consider other states if need be. I will read your links now. Sarah x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cots Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hi Julie, Just wondering and learning, so if Vic rejected you does that mean you are apllying to other states as you say you have a medical booked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hi Gill, Thanks for the advice and links, you seem to know your stuff! Are you applying yourself? I didn't know that the MODL was nearly abandoned so will read more on that one! Plumbing still gets 60 points so surely that's the important thing isn't it?? We know that Al will have to undertake additional qualifications when he gets there as I've made sure I've done my research in that area. I'm more unsure about the timeframes and the changes that could occur in the visa process over the next few months, and the different types of visas etc. I'm a bit of a control freak and hate things being out of my hands! We are heading more and more towards lodging a 175 as we do have enough points, and then swapping to a SS in WA as Perth is more appealing to us that the other states that are looking for plumbers but we will consider other states if need be. I will read your links now. Sarah x Hi Sarah If the occupation is on the MODL at the time when the visa application is submitted to DIAC, the MODL points will still be awarded even if the MODL is altered before a decision about the application is made. Which is one of the reasons why I would apply for an sc 175 without delay as soon as it becomes possible to do so. DIAC say they intend to review the MODL "later in 2009" but have not made any comment about when "later" might be! Between 1st Jan & 16th March, the information e-mail available from the ASPC said: ASPC APPLICATION ALLOCATION INFORMATION On 17 December 2008 the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship announced changes to the way General Skilled Migration applications will be allocated and processed. Details can be found on the DIAC website at: www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new.htm#j As a result of this announcement from 1 January 2009 applications for General Skilled Migration will be strictly allocated and processed in the following priority order: 1. Applications with a successful State & Territory Nomination (until all applications have been allocated); and then 2. Applications where the nominated occupation is on the Critical Skills List (until all applications have been allocated); then 3. Applications where the nominated occupation is on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (until all applications have been allocated); then 4. All other remaining applications This affects all applications lodged before and after 1 January 2009, both paper lodged or electronically lodged. Applications which were already allocated to case officers before 1 January 2009 are un-affected and will be processed as usual to finalisation. Application Allocation Dates Please Note: You should allow a further 10 working days after the relevant date indicated below for your case officer to contact you. If you have not been contacted after this time please lodge an enquiry about your application at General Skilled Migration Post-Lodgement Enquiry Form Applications are now being allocated as follows: State & Territory Nominated Applications: Once the department has received valid nomination from a state or territory, applications will be allocated to a case officer within 10 working days. Applications with Occupations on the Critical Skills List (CSL): Applications are being allocated in date of lodgement order Applications are now being allocated to case officers. It is expected all eligible applications that were lodged before 1 September 2007 will be allocated by 20 March 2009. Applications that were lodged after 1 September 2007 are not being allocated at present. Applications with Occupations on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL): Applications are not being allocated at present All Other Remaining Applications Applications are not being allocated at present On 16th March the Minister slashed the Critical Skills List and took a lot of occupations off it. The ASPC then started saying: GENERAL SKILLED MIGRATION ADELAIDE PROCESSING INFORMATION This is an automated e-mail response which provides updated information on skilled migration applications being processed by the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre (ASPC). Please do not reply to this email address as this mailbox is not monitored. Contact details for the ASPC are listed below. Priority Processing - Change From 1 January 2009 Following recent announcements by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, in response to the current global economic environment, processing of General Skilled Migration applications gives first priority to applications in the following two categories: 1. Applications with a successful State or Territory Nomination; and 2. Applications where the nominated occupation is identified on the Critical Skills List (CSL). Note: Due to the number of applications in the above two categories, on hand and being received, applications not on the CSL, or applications without a successful State or Territory nomination, will be delayed until those applications which meet the processing priorities are finalised. This includes those on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) Details of the Minister’s announcements can be found on the DIAC website via the following link: What's New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration Priority Application Processing Information Applications are now being processed as follows: 1. State or Territory Nominated Applications - once the department has received and approved a nomination from a state or territory authority, processing of the application will commence within 10 working days of that approval. Should you need to, please lodge enquiries about your application via: General Skilled Migration Post-Lodgement Enquiry Form 2. Applications with a nominated occupation on the Critical Skills List (CSL) - are being processed in date of lodgment order. Information about the CSL can be found on the department's website at: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/critical-skills-list.pdf You can get the full text of the ASPC e-mail by sending a completely blank e-mail to aspc.processing@immi.com.au Several MODL only applications were bowling along merrily on 16th March because Case Officers had been in touch with the applicants before the end of Dec 2008 and by mid March they were waiting on things like meds finalisation. Progess on those applications suddenly stopped dead. Enquiries revealed that if the application was not State Sponsored and the occupation was not on the new CSL either, no further processing will happen for the time being. Nobody knows when processing of these suddenly-stalled applications will be resumed, not even the ASPC. Anybody who has just paid £1,000 for the meds for the whole family is justifiably angry that the meds might have to be done again before their visas can be granted, since meds normally only have a 12 month shelf-life. A lot of the applicants in this position have complained to the Commonwealth Ombudsman because DIAC say they have no plans to re-imburse these people for the money which DIAC, as it turns out, told them to waste. The Ombudsman is not happy about this either and is said to be pushing DIAC to finish off the processing and grant the visas to the people affected. The normal 12 month validity of visa meds can be extended for up to 6 months (18 months in total)) if the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth is agreeable to the idea. Obviously the Ombudsman will be heard and heeded. Whether his suggestion will be followed is not known as yet. So it is still up in the air but I wouldn't be telling an MODL-only applicant that a visa grant is likely within any particular time-scale. What the States will do about their own Lists is not known. If the States cut their own lists then there will be fewer State Sponsored applications to be processed in 2009/10 than the Minister currently expects. Whether Aussie employers will rush to help people currently on temporary 457 visas to upgrade to Permanent Residency also remains to be seen. Whether these employers will try to bring overseas migrants in on PR visas, either ENS or RSMS, in order to avoid the current (new) hassles with 457 visas also remains to be seen. Too much is unknown for time predictions to be reliable, I reckon. At the moment WA say that they have six months' work in hand in terms of State Sponsorship applications which have not been decided as yet. People who applied in January got their WA 176 sponsorships during May. The ASPC's Brave Promise of allocating all State Sponsored files to COs within 10 working days of receiving the State Nominations plainly went phut. They have not set themselves any timescales for approving the State nominations. Plus the Department has been told to axe 700 staff and the pundits say that visa processing staff will be the ones to be axed because the Minister has slowed the skilled program down so much and has cut the 2008/9 quota as well. The staff on the processing coal face work flat out all day as it is. If too many of them are axed, visa processing will slow down. When they do start processing MODL only occupations they will obviously start with the people who have now had the meds done, but some of them applied in late 2007 and early 2008. PLus DIAC have continued to receive MODL only 175 applications throughout the first 5 months of 2009. I think it is impossible to give any estimate of likely timescales from now on. Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest juliemtaylor Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hi Julie, Just wondering and learning, so if Vic rejected you does that mean you are apllying to other states as you say you have a medical booked? We have decided for the moment to continue with the general 175 and we got a Case Officer assigned to us yesterday... Hoping to get our visa before any changes to the MODL list in case we fall off the CSL... If we do then will have to look at another state.. Julie x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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