sipi

Hi All
Hope someone can help me.Just had visa app back saying it was not a valid app under migration law.It says"The applicant seeking to satisfy the primary criteria must submit evidence of a satisfactory skills assessment from the relevant authority".
I put in with the app my TRA assessment and quality assurance sheet saying that i was successful and wrote my TRA reference number on app form thinking this would be enough.They are asking for the formal acceptance letter i had from the assessing authority as evidence.Do i send original or a photocopy.
Any help would be appreciated as ive been waiting since the beginning of May for any news and just received my whole app back in post today.
Cheers
Si

WS

You need to send a certified copy of the acceptance letter.

sipi

Thanks for your reply,much appreciated.
Cheers
Si

George Lombard

Hi Si,

And this ought to be a warning to everyone. A valid application for an offshore general skilled migration visa must include a skills assessment. It is not enough to quote the TRA number, and the skills assessment is the "acceptance letter" from TRA.

In this case you can just send the application right back in, you'll have only lost a couple of weeks, but don't waste any time, from 1 September there are new visa categories, new forms, new complications. Any application intended to be for a 136 will not be valid if it reaches the ASPC after 31 August.

Cheers,

George Lombard

welshtony

Hi Si

It is safer to give them the actual Assessment letter as they always insist on this - however, the law used to state that one of the the requirements for a valid application was " .. Satisfactory Evidence that your skills had been assessed ..."

DIAC decreed that "Satisfactory Evidence" was the formal letter from the assessing body either approving or refusing the skills application. This meant that you could lodge visa applications even when refused by the assessing authority in the hope that you would later get a successful review or new application.

From 01 October 2006, they changed the regulations to require that you provide ".. evidence that your skills ahve been assessed as suitable .." thus stopping applications where the skills assessment had been refused.

The other change, whether intentional or not, is that you now only need to provide "Evidence" of this - Not "Satisfactory Evidence".

Your Quality Assurance sheet is on DEWR letterhead, states that your skills have been accepted and names the designated occupation with ASCO code.

Can this be accepted as "evidence" ? possibly - definitely if it had a name on the sheet which I don't think it does.

I recently got an invalid decision where an on-line print out from the VETASSESS web-site was the evidence for suitable assessment using this argument.

I can run your situation past the ASPC if you like, to try and get your place back in the queue - if you want me to do this, pm me your details.

Re-submit the application anyway with a certified copy of the actual TRA approval letter assuming you still meet the pass-mark. You have nothing to lose if you then query the validity of the initial application.

Regards


Tony Coates
MArn 0635896

George Lombard

Hi Tony,

Actually the ASPC just mentioned last week that in the runup to 1 September they were being tough with this requirement, ie just wanting the actual assessment (or a certified copy) so while your argument is attractive, the best advice to Si would be to re-lodge immediately.

Goodness knows what the new legislation will say about these issues.

Cheers,

George Lombard

welshtony

Hi George

I am agreeing that it should be re-lodged immediately. The Manager at ASPC put it writing to me dated 23rd July that as the legislation had changed from "Satisfactory Evidence" to "Evidence" then the on-line print-out from VETASSESS was acceptable as evidence and they could not be so prescriptive as to insist on the actual skills assessment approval letter. So anyone who is waiting on a VETASSESS approval letter before 01 September can lodge with a print out of the approval if the official letter has not arrived.

Unfortunately, Si's case is slightly different and they may or may not accept the same argument as the applicant's name is noty on the TRA sheet.

Regards


Tony Coates
MARN 0635896

sipi

Thanks for all your help everyone.
Just one more question,When i re-lodge my app do i need to redo a new app with new dates on or can i re-use my invalid one.On the front page of app it has got a received stamp on it then a cross going through it.
Cheers
Si

welshtony

Just send it back as is with the skills approval letter

Regards


Tony Coates
MARN 0635896

Inglewhite

Hi Tony
Another question about the visa application 136 , can you pay by switch card as we don't have credit cards. If not , i will probably use the international bank draft i used fot TRA assesment, is it made payable to DIAC in australian dollars? or to the Australian High comission? Thanks in advance.

welshtony

Bank draft for A$2,060 is best form of payment anyway - payable to "collector of public monies DIMA"

Regards


Tony Coates
MARN 0635896

Inglewhite

Thanks alot Tony.