Newbie- first stage of process

[Guest jen n ron]

Hey all been reading everyones posts on here and its alll so scary!

 

Me (21) and my bf (22) are looking to move to oz on a 175 visa he is a motor mechanic and im a hairdresser.

Booking our english tests for august and booking our skills assesment as soon as so we can send our visa forms off!

Does any body know where you have to go for TRA skills assesment and how its done (the process)

 

the waiting times for the visas seems very dauntin how long is eveyone else waiting for 175 independent skilled visa?

 

jenna x:wacko:

[Ozmaniac]

Sorry, can't answer your actual question but the plurals in "Booking our english tests for august and booking our skills assesment " indicate that both of you intend getting skills assessment and IELTS.

 

Only your bf needs skills assessment and IELTS. You can't claim Partner Skills points because your occupation isn't on the Schedule 1 SOL so there's no point in you doing either. You would need IELTS if you're not from the UK and want to avoid paying the second visa instalment charge, but I bet that you are and therefore don't need to do it.

 

18 months processing time does sound like a long time, but perhaps you could consider coming earlier on Working Holiday visas. while you wait for your 175 to be processed. You should both be eligible for 12 month WHVs and they can be extended to 24 months by doing 88 days or rural type work in a regional area. You would have to make sure your 175 Case Officer knows you're in Australia and would have to nip across to New Zealand for a few days for the 175 visa grant because a 175 can only be granted offshore, but it's not expensive to do that and shouldn't be too much of a hardship.