Hi, new to forum and been scanning last few days for reassurance. We are in Melbourne on hubbies 457 which we are hoping to convert to PR. think his work wont sponsor him till we have been here 2 years but want to do it after one instead as he is 45 next year and we are stuck if they change their mind.

He did an IELTS test yesterday and now very depressed that he has not passed. Says reading bit was very awkward and confusing and he needs to get 34 out of 40 for the module to get a 7 in each part. Plus he has not written an essay in many a year so concerned on this bit too. Our fall back plan is that i have to go back to work for a year as a nurse then apply but with a new house, new life and 3 kids, not too easy either. Main problem is he will be devasted if he does fail because he will feel like a real dud, he tells me, and he hates failikng. i am not sure what to say to reassure him.

Anyone got any reassurance or tips??

Thanks, Sandie

Why won't his work sponsor him sooner?

Have you looked at http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au to see if a state nomination might be available?

I was also terribly worried that I'd failed the IELTS test too. I messed up one of the listening sections by not realising that there were more questions to be answered and missed the conversation relevant to them - I suppose you could say I failed to listen. Doh! As it turned out, the listening section is where I got the lease score but still a 7.5 so I passed the test overall.

At the end of the day, there's no shame in failing and there's no reason why you can't re-sit the test a second time if you do. As far as I understand, there's no limit to the number of times you can take the test so you could just keep going until you pass theoretically.

If your OH fails the first time around, it isn't the end of the world. At the very least, he'll have that much more confidence going a second time around for knowing exactly what to expect.

Good luck!

- CDM

There is nothing you can say, I took the IELTS recently and true, it is tricky. I went over and over it in my head and managed to convince myself I had done enough to fail. Truth is, you won't know untill the two weeks is up and if he doesn't get the results needed, then re-apply as soon as you can and do some study. If he has to take it again, then at least he has an idea of what's expected.
Best thing you can tell him is, don't worry as whatever the outcome, you can work round it.
Good luck.
Chris.

Thanks guys for the words of comfort etc. We are hoping his work will sponsor him after the one year, it is just their policy not to, but he is going to ask, so may be a possibility. Regional sponsorship is out as we are living and he is working in an area not covered.

I am awaiting nursing registration in Victoria but have not worked for 3 years due to the children and would have to work for the year to get the points, Dont want to but would do it if push comes to shove. we are busy working to make a life for ourselves and the girls and I think we underestimated many things - how hard it could be to get permanent sponsorshi[, how unsettling it is not to feel a sense of belonging - does Australia not want us??

I have tried to tell OH that others fail the IELTS and that it doesnt mean he is stupid and that they are looking for quite a high standard but whether they are reassuring words to his ears i am not sure! I feel guilty that it is me who pushed to come here, find the cancellation date for the IELTS etc so feel the bad egg here - he has to do the work, the long hours, and the test too. Worth it if he passes, but not sure he would happily do it again.

Still, maybe he is just being overly anxious and it will be alright, then he would feel quite clever!

Employer nominated permanent residence (ENS) would also be an option. They often waive the 3 year work experience requirement for MODL occupations, including most kinds of nurses. No points test for ENS.

Your husband is eligible for ENS if he has a skill assessment and 3 years work experience. As of now, it should be straightforward for his employer to sponsor him if they want to. In 6 months or a year it may be a lot more difficult if the recession leads to the immigration rules for ENS being tightened up. For example, mandatory labour market testing could return and that would be time consuming and expensive for the employer.

If he got a state nomination, he might be ok with 15 points for English.

Thanks JAJ, will get him asking work again, I would hope they would be OK about it if they dont have to pay, they arent losing out and making a highly valued employee and his family happy!!

I thought I would not make the required score for 25 points at first especially the reading part which was quite tricky for a general test but turned out I got 7.5 for reading (fortunately) and overall of 8.5 on the first try.

There was a young guy there whom I overheard saying that was his fifth time taking the test. Don't worry you can repeat the test as many times as required. It would be good though to only take the required section instead of the whole test again.

You shouldn't worry too much about it. I sat the test and thought I stuffed up the writing part as I felt I was only rambling on with long sentences without commas and it was a long time since I done anything like it. Turns out the writing was ok (probably not for uni, but who cares they must be looking at something else) and my weakest score was in listening where at the time I thought I had only made one mistake.

7.5 for listening and 8.5 for reading/writing and 9.0 for speaking . I think your husband gonna be ok and that they're more lenient than he thinks.

Let's hope you are right. He came out exhausted and said he had thought it was OK-ish, then when he analysed it more later and realised he had to get 34 out of 40 for band 7, decided he won;t have made it. Hope his initial reaction was right

I remember this hell. I failed my first time as I thought it was a walk in the park. I sat it a second time and was incredibly nervous. it is incredibly easy to fail the reading section. Too many options that look right. This was going through my head in the build up to the exam, during it and afterwards. However, passed the second time around. i wasnt that nervous for any other exam previous to it. in fact, i felt more pressure for this than waiting to see if my rpl was good enough for the ACS. Best of luck to him.

Thanks for your good luck message. i will be the one opening the mail and letting him know the result and i suspect the mail will be later than normal due to Christmas. I did read about your horrible experience, Knockoff Nige, re the non-arrival of your results. I will be a wreck!

Did he practice? I made my husband do practice tests every night for 2 weeks before his test, lol. The thing with IELTS is that while the content is easy, its knowing what to expect that's tricky. My husband also hadn't written essays etc for years so he practiced that too. I agree the listening module is harder because if you miss it then you're stuck. Saying thar, my husband came away thinking he'd probably just about passed and then he ended up with a 9 overall! So you can never tell. The waiting is the worst part - best of luck, let us know how he got on xxx

Will let you know. Waiting is always horrible, isnt it? I got him practising a bit, but we both were expecting it to be easier, and i didnt want to stress him out. Time will tell...

OH's IELTS results are in: Listening 8.0, Reading 7.5, Writing 7.5, Speaking 9 Overall 8.0, so YAH HE PASSED!!! The good news keeps rolling in. He was so convinced he had failed that we put together a letter to his employers and listed the advantages of them sponsoring him earlier than their normal 2 years with them. He had done his engineering skills assessment already andd we put forward a good argument and they have agreed to sponsor him as soon as they can, February 2009, and they are going to pay for it all, too. I love it when a plan comes together!

Thanks for the support and advice from this forum. i must say that it has made our Christmas to think that we can stay and Australia does want us after all.