gsb17

Hi all,

I've been giving a serious thought now to immigrate to Tasmania in Australia; especially on the 489 visa as you get a few more points on it (I still meet the criteria on 190 and possibly on 189). I have some questions about migrating to Australia and all of your help would be most appreciated and I'd be most grateful.

1. When it comes to a skills assessment for the job I wish to go on a skilled occupation, is it compulsory? I have a masters degree in mechanical engineering and have worked in the UK gas transportation industry since October 2008. The only time I was out of work was when I took an option of redundancy as I was starting a job in my new company. It took about 2 months in 2011 to get started in the job and have worked in this company as an engineer ever since.

2. I have a GCSE English Language score of grade B which is considered to be equal to IELTS grade 7 for comparison. Is this an acceptable qualification to demonstrate proficient English language ability? If I were to get 7 on IELTS all categories of visa are open to me should it be assessed that I have 5 years experience in my skilled occupation.

3. My partner who is Brazilian are engaged to be married and I would like to get the ball rolling for me and then once we are married, put her name down for a 489 subsequent visa in the not too distant future. Would she and her dependent have to apply from Brazil or can she visit Australia and it could all be done online?

A little bit about me, I visited in Australia in 2015 and really liked the country. The space and feeling of openness appealed to me. I visited Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Whitsunday Islands and for me Australia outside of the big cities is just fantastic and where I'd like to live. I feel I am a competent engineer in the process of applying for my CEng accreditation so now would be a good time to apply before I'm 33 in a coupe of years.

carcajou

1. A skills assessment is compulsory. Your occupation must be on one of the shortage lists. Additionally, for sponsorship, each state maintains its own list for the state sponsorship. You have to be sponsored by Tasmania on a 190 / 489 so your profession needs to be on their list.

2. GCSE is not acceptable for immigration points. You will have to do one of the other tests. Most do IELTS.

3. 489 can be applied for inside or outside of Australia.

Review your situation carefully, because you do not seem to have a strong grasp of the requirements - it is common, unfortunately, for a lot of people at the beginning of the process to think that they qualify for more points then they actually do, or to think that their profession is on the shortage lists when it isn't.

The skills assessor will provide a specific definition of what they think qualifies as an "electrical engineer" (for instance) and to gain a positive skills assessment, your qualifications/experience must be a very close match to that. They are not negotiable; close doesn't count and fudging gets you nowhere. Go to the web site of your skills assessor and read very carefully their instructions.

Finally, just because a profession is on the shortage list, doesn't mean there is an actual shortage. The Tasmanian economy is famously weak and you may find there are no jobs in your field available, or available any place you want to live, even though it is on the shortage list.

gsb17

Hi,

Thanks for your rely. I gave my CV to an agency in the UK which suggested that I had a strong potential to be able to apply for an Australian Visa.

I've been on the engineers Australia website and I'm 99.99% sure that my degree course is accredited by them under the Washington Accord. What's not clear to me is how they assess whether your work experience closely matches that job role. Is that skills assessor that decides whether you have 3, 5 or more than 8 years experience?

When should I submit an expression of interest is that after I receive a skills assessment or could I do it before? I'm aware that with a 500K population find engineering jobs might be tricky in Tasmania but after I get my CEng I wouldn't mind trying something new for my career development.

Thank you for letting me know about my partner too, its clear from UK law that a partner must always apply from their country of origin for a spouse visa but it wasn't so clear on the Australian immigration website.

carcajou

You cannot have a successful EoI without a positive skills assessment. No skills assessment = no EoI.

You decide how many years of experience you have, but need to submit a ream of documentation to the visa officer to back that up. Many assessors will offer non-binding advice to you on how many years of experience you have for an extra fee.

Do not fudge. Overclaiming points = automatic visa refusal.

gsb17

Seems a bit chicken and egg. How would a visa officer know whether the job your performing is as an engineer? Do they have the relevant experience? I've been working in my current job since May 2011 as an Operations Engineer and as an asset manager (which requires multi-disciplinary engineering knowledge) since October 2016 so that's more than 5 years. That's what I'll have to go with but would feel rather hard done by if my experience isn't considered engineering.

I have my P45's and payslips from my current job. Can get references too. But to demonstrate my work portfolio to a visa officer may be tricky as its commercially sensitive.

carcajou

As part of the evidence you submit formal job descriptions for your roles from HR that outline your job function, as well as your statement of service, pay slips and so on.

Yes the immigration officers would be able to tell what counts and does not count.

verystormy

That is the point of the skills assessment which is carried out by an independent assessing authority, which the immigration case officer can rely on.

One important aspect is you can not just add someone to your visa. They will need to apply for a spouse visa if you are already married or a prospective marriage visa if not.

old.sparkles

Except that the 489 is different in that respect as there is the subsequent entry process which is for family members of 489 visa holders - https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-...#tab-content-0