Jaxu2

How depressing. I am 46 and was planning on submitting a visa application last month but was told to wait as the age limit may change. I wanted to move out to be with my family and as I am a secondary maths teacher, I am on the skills list. Is there any way at all I can get a visa to be with my family or is it now impossible?

Can anybody recommend a good migration expert that will be able to advise me please?

KenA

I think the best place to get all your questions answered is here.
Good luck

Jaxu2

I called an immigration company in the UK in June and they told me it was not possible to get my skills assessed and back in 2-3 weeks and it would be a waste of money if the Australian govnmnt changed any of the criteria so they advised me to wait before spending any money. I suggested if I put my application in there and then would I not already be in the system and they said no as I needed my skills assessing first. I will be so annoyed if I could've started the process 😔

He suggested that my skills may move catagory and that would determine whether I could have a family sponsorship or if I would need a state sponsorship. As the age limit was previously 50, I thought I was ok as I had over 3 years. My brother in law has pointed me to this forum to see if anyone can help/advise me. We are all gutted 😩

Pollyana

They were correct, you cannot submit an EOI without a skills assessment, and there is no way you would have got one through in time. You need to submit proof of the skilla assessment when you lodge the EOI and it would take several weeks to get a positive assessment - 2/3 weeks is not long enough. Well done to the company for advising you to hold off until you could be sure of the age limit. There were strong indications that it would be lowered again to 45, and so full marks to them for being honest with you and not taking your cash for a pointless exercise!

Pulaski's comment above is not correct, maybe he does not realise you need a skills assessment first

When you say you want to jojn your family here do you mean wife and kids, or wider family?

mikelincs

There are good immigration companies and also bad ones, you don't say if the agents waere MARA recognised, if not then you were really on a loser, if so then they didn't give very good advice.

Dorothy

Actually, they gave very good advice. The OP would not have had their skills assessment back in time to submit an EOI before 1 July, and would therefore have wasted money (up to thousands of $) on something they could not use.

As Polly said, there were rumblings about the age being lowered to 45 and the agent gave them good advice to hold off until after the changes were announced.

Jaxu2

I so wish my brother in law had pointed me to this forum earlier, if I had known there were murmours of the age limit changing, I would have put my application in earlier.

Both my brother and sister and neices and nephews live in Australia. I visited them last year for 3 months, was going to put in an application for a visa when I got back in December but due to one thing or another, I've not got on with it as I didnt know there was a rush! If I'd done in in December....

louie

TBH the change in the age limit is highly unlikely to have made a difference as it was nigh on impossible for most people to qualify once you were over 44 even before the changes just brought in.

Jaxu2

I also wanted to get more experience in my current role as a Maths Consultant before applying. I have taught maths for 21 years and have most recently been working as a consultant helping/supporting teachers, providing training etc....(The UK govnmnt are spending millions on training teachers to use Shanghai and Singapore methods & Australian schools have been downloading and using our schemes of work) this was something I wanted to offer in Australia too. When I was over last year I spoke to many teachers who loved the idea.

Is it going to be impossible for me to get into Australia now or would there be any back doors or other ways in?

Dorothy

There are no "back doors". You either qualify or you don't.

It's possible (unlikely, but possible) that you could find a sponsor to get a temporary work visa, however you need to be aware that this is both a longshot and a temporary visa with very little (read no) chance of any type of permanent residency at the end of the visa's validity.

Are you single? If so, I recommend Match.com® | The Leading Online Dating Site for Singles & Personals : Match.com. If not, does your partner have a skill on the list and is under 44?

Jaxu2

Haha!! So I need to get myself a toyboy!?!

Dorothy

Not necessarily, but if you are looking for a partner there's nothing wrong with looking for an Australian one.

The under 44 partner you might already have could have a skill on the list in which case you come on their visa. You asked if there was a way. I presented you with 3 options. You're welcome.