Dee

Hi all! i was just wondering with a skilled independent visa... how
long does it usually take to process if im a nurse and have only
recently left australia... also is there a deadline time when u receive
your visa to when you have to land in australia... i applied for my
working holiday visa no problem and im just wondering should i go ahead
and do the same with this visa or would you advise getting an
agent...dee

brian0

Although I have never applied for a working holiday visa I imagine that it is probably a lot simpler than a PR visa application. In any case, if you are well organized and good at handling forms you should be fine on your own as long as it is a simple situation.

In terms of processing times, they vary greatly. Being a nurse which is on the MODL you would likely be looking at about 6 months (or maybe a bit less) from the time of application to getting your visa. This doesn't count any skills assessment you might need to do and assumes you don't "front load" you application (ie: you wait for the med/PCC request to do those things not do them in advance).

There is definitely a deadline on when you need to land after your visa is granted. It's 12 months from the date of either the Med or PCC whichever is earlier. You don't need to land permanently by then, you just need to enter Australia at least once prior to that date to validate your visa. Once you validate you have 5 years time in which you can enter and exit the country whenever you please. You could conceivably not move permanently until the last day of the validity of the visa and still be OK, but then you might run into issues if you do have to exit the country after that point, but that's another matter.

Cheers,
Brian