WOW the new list really sucks. Does that mean as a Purchasing Manager I have no chance of getting in unless I have a job offer?

im 37, with 13 yrs experience and a Masters Degreee! My wife has a degree and under the old way I was getting in even when the points system was over 70.

Not as a Skilled Worker I'm afraid, things have changed a lot since you applied previously and a list of eligible occupations was brought in in 2008 to reduce the number of people applying, and this list was then updated in June of this year. Unless you (or your wife) has at least one year's full-time work experience in a job on 'the list', you'd need a job offer approved by HRSDC. It's worth noting that it can be any job you (or she) has done in the past ten years, so any of them relevant?

If not, you'll have to look at other visa options or try and find a job offer I'm afraid.

Good luck.

Police checks are coming through in the time they quote at the moment.
Can't help about your address issue, though.

Re address - pretty sure that the form states last address and then any previous if at that address for less than 2 or 5 years (sorry cannot remember)

here is the link for UK: http://www.acpo.police.uk/certificates.asp

Good luck

when you say it takes about 8 months when do you start that from is it from when you get your AOR or from before that...

OLD RULES only (for fear of confusing new rules applicants! )
Well clearly you can't include the time between 120 day e-mail and the AOR as some people submit their pack in a fortnight and some take much longer to get everything together to submit. They can't process it until they get it Also different Visa Offices quote different times for processing.
Look at some posters timelines, especially those in the same category and who applied a few months before you to the same Visa Office - then you can usually see how long people similar to you have taken to achieve PR.

From November 2008 onwards the process is considerably quicker, usually between 6 and 12 months depending on visa office and time of year you apply. From June 26th 2010 onwards it may be even quicker than that but going to be a while before anyone knows for sure.

They are limiting the number of FSW1 applications to 20,000 this year so once those are processed they can work on their backlog of pre-Nov-2008 - I understand they have a backlog of around 300,000 so it is not clear if they'll get all of those processed this year. If they do they may lift the restrictions for July 2011 onwards, otherwise they may have another restricted year.

Wayne.

As per earlier in this thread and others:

"http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...21358&page=164

10 months (308 days - but a delay due to Christmas snow in UK and slow UK Police checks)."

That is flash to bang - from closing application in courier envelop and sending it to stepping across the border with the Confirmation of Permanent Residence form stapled into one's passport.

Given the delay we experienced thanks to Hampshire Police and the usual embarassing rock show that happens to everything whenever it snows more than 1 mm in the UK (ie the pre Christmas post hold/ delay) we could probably have shaved a month to six weeks off that time line.

Good luck.

You really blazed through on that, matey! Well done!
Given that now all docs (except Police checks as newly announced on London Visa forms last week!) need to be submitted straight away, there should be less reason for any delay than under the old rules when you applied, so there is hope for us all!

Our police checks arrived exactly 1 week after we mailed them, so they are very fast (or at least, were very fast in July when we got them!).

Ofc because they changed the checklist shortly after we mailed our application they may ask us to get them again (hoping they won't though).

Wayne.

Have things changed? It was never necessary to get an IELTS if you were edumacated and have school/secondary education certificates etc to prove that you are proficient in English ....

Yes things have changed. As of June 26th, any NEW applications (not old ones, even if you haven't yet got the 120 day email) require you to take the IELTS. You really do have to get a couple of books though, it's all about test technique for us native speakers, little to do with actual english.

YES! Since the new rules every applicant BAR NONE has to include the results of an approved language test with their PR application. IELTS General is the one most people do but I think there are other approved ones, too. The results are valid for one year for PR.
I got the test practice materials for OH and he got top marks, pretty much. The materials were a great help on knowing what to expect and what answers they accepted - it wasn't straight forward marking (and I say that AS AN EDUCATOR"!)

I just read this on another thread but was too late to delete my last post!

Well, How completely ridiculous! One more way (as I just said) to make folks jump though unnecessary hoops and fork out more hard-earned......