lisa.e

Hi all,
My OH has just passed his TRA assessment, whoopee! But we are a little short on points due to age so thought we would try for state sponsorship in Victoria, seeing as that is where we are heading anyway. OH doesn’t want to take the English test if he can help it so we’re trying this first.
I am a little worried though, having just applied online, there were quite a lot of questions about previous trips to Aus & friends or relatives we know in Aus etc.
We have never been and don’t know anyone who is there well enough to put there details on the form, so had to put a no for those questions.
I’m just wondering how much emphasis they put on these issues & has anyone got state sponsorship without ever going to Aus or knowing anyone there.

Cheers
Lisa

liamcnaught

Hi Lisa

We applied 2 weeks ago to SA government for sponsorship - still waiting for a decision. The government doesn't put too much emphasis on whether you know anyone out there (although it would help). The goverment wants to be sure that you will gain employment and can look after yourself and your family. Researching areas, jobs etc and having some money behind you will also stand you in good stead.

Hope this helps

Lia

twinsmom65

Hi Lisa,

We were in exactly the same boat, when we first looked at apply had 120 points then after leaving it for a month or two, OH turned 40 and volia lost 5 points so didn't qualify for the 175 visa. Had 2 options... sit the IELTS test and hopefully pass or apply for state sponsorship... Well as you can tell OH did not want to sit the IELTS for some strange reason, so we applied online for State Sponsorship through the WA government. Really easy, we have never been to Australia before and don't know anyone down there. I researched like crazy about the cost of living in WA, so I knew quite a bit before we applied. We applied online on May 9th (got an email on May 12/08 requesting OH's CV as it did not come with the application .. damn Windows Vista. so sent it off same day) and got an email back on May 15th saying yes were were approved to apply for the 176 visa.

So all in all from the time they got OH's CV it only took 3 days for them to approve us. So now we are already onto the next step, applied already for the 176 visa.

I don't know about Victoria, but WA wanted to know how much money we were bringing into the country. If there is a question like that on your online form, I would suggest calling the Victoria Government and asking them what the minimum is. I know the only reason WA requests an amount is that even when you are granted PR, you are not eligble for benefits for a two year period (medicare is different and you qualify straight away), however other benefits such as EI and stuff will not be available to you straight away, and they just want to make sure that you can support yourselves in the event you do not get a job right away.

Hope this helps, if you need more info on State Sponsorship, by all means PM me and I can help walk you through it.

Cheers

Karen

lisa.e

Thanks for the replies.
Our application had already been submitted, so no turning back now, I was just getting a bit worried about it but from what you say I think we will be ok. Money wise they only wanted detailed info if we were bringing less than A$20,000 & we are bringing more than that, although things will be more difficult if we can't sell our house. I think that I have given a fairly accurate estimate of relocation costs & the fact that we are looking to settle in regional Victoria should also stand us in good stead.
Victoria gov says it can take up to 8 weeks for an answer though, ahh more waiting, don't know how I'll cope with the wait for the actual visa!

Anyway I'm feeling more confident about it now!
Thankyou,
Lisa

helenandrob

Hi Lisa
We have aslo applied to Victoria for State Sponsorship. Have you heard back from them yet? We sent ours on 14th June, they emailed us with a case number on the 27th June saying that it may take up to 8 weeks. Not heard any more since then, the waiting is awful!! My sister is flying out to Melbourne today to start her new life and I am soooo jealous!!
Helen

lisa.e

Well we did our online application on the 24th May & had a confirmation reply to say that it had been submitted successfully and would take up to 8 weeks.
But today, we have had an email from them to say they are looking at our case & they've given us a reference number & that it may take up to 8 weeks for a decision!
Our agent has said that the first email was the website acknowledgement. This acknowledgement means that human beings have looked at it and a committee will make a decision shortly...
So I hope it's not going to be 8 weeks from this point.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Lisa

helenandrob

Hi Lisa, Just to let you know that we had our e-mail from Victoria this morning saying that they would sponsor us. I am so chuffed, I hope you got yours today if not I hope that it comes very soon. My sister landed in Melbourne this morning to start her new life abroad so I am waiting for her call to let her know!!!! I have my fingers crossed that you will get yours very soon!
Regards
Helen

twinsmom65

Congratulations on getting your Victoria State Sponsorship.. another hurdle crossed. Are you going to be applying online right away for the 176 visa. It is not that hard to fill out.

Cheers

Karen

helenandrob

Hi Karen, Thank you - What a relief to finally be able to apply for our visa. I am online as we speak filling in the form!!!! We were one of the people that got stuck with the pathway D being removed so my OH (Rob) took his AQF III over here for us to pass TRA. (Solid PLasterer) This was our last hurdle, the extra 5 points!! I have read a lot of your posts on here and you have been very informative so I may be asking for some help soon!!! I think I am as eager as you sound - I want to book medicals for yesterday LOL
Thanks again Karen and Good Luck to you also - Lets hope we dont have too long to wait???!!!!

Sandy.l

Congratulations to those of you who have got the sponsorship!

I guess that means we should also hear pretty soon! See timeline!
S

Chantal

It’s not necessary to worry about all these questions you had to answer with “no”. I did receive a sponsorship from Vic while I never crossed the state border with Victoria. But it took them more than 8 weeks to approve my sponsorship (17-09-07 request sponsorship (VIC), 28-11-07 received sponsorship).
The thing about the money, I don’t have a clue how that works. I made this nice looking list of cost to be expected and gave an estimated amount of money that I will bring, but nobody checked if I actually have the money. Or will they do that when I enter Australia, which will be in my case 7 august on a tourist visa.

Good luck and don’t worry about your sponsorship!
Chantal

lisa.e

Congratulations on getting those extra 5 points Helen, I hope this means that our answer isn't going to be far behind. Every morning we eagerly check our emails!
Must be nice having your sister already there, will really help you settle in & take a lot of stress out of the move.
Where are you & your sister heading to, we are thinking slightly rural as would really like a few acres of land, Sunbury, Gisborne or maybe as far out as Daylesford if OH can find work.
Best of luck with the visa application anyway.
Lisa

Sandy.l

Lisa, What occupation are you applying for Vic sponsorship with? We are waiting for approval also, my husband is in IT and has got his ACS skill assessment and his skills are on the sponsorship list. We put our application in for sponsorship at the end of April and are still waiting a response. Just hope that no news is good news in this case.....Sandy

melbert

Hi,

We too applied for sponsorship for WA, we went into the office and completed the paperwork there and then, asked about money etc, had the acceptance.

The paperwork now says that we have to deposit $240,000 into an Australian account as part of the criteria of the sponsorship along with the 6 months surveys, staying in the state for 2 years. We couldn't see anything in the previous paperwork, info of from the discussion with the sponsorship rep. All we thought and was told was that we had to have enough money/equity/funds to survive for 6 months whilst looking for jobs etc.

Has anyone else had this on theirs? - It was on the attached sheet that needs signing and returning with the visa app number.

Any help would be appreciated!!

Many thanks

Mel

twinsmom65

When we received our letter of approval for WA state sponsorship, it just states that we bring in an amount of around $90,000.00 which is the amount we had put down on our application. This was estimated from sale of house and cashing in of funds. It states that this is for living costs. It does not say that we have to transfer into an Australian bank account.

Did you put an amount down on the application???

Sorry can't help too much.

Karen