New to this whole scene (and full of questions!)

[Kay79]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I have finally made the decision to immigrate to Australia. I'm feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing and have a million thoughts going through my head so I'm pleased to have found this forum. We are South African but have been living in Dubai for 11 years - time for a change! My mom-in-law lives in Perth so that's where we are headed. We visited her last year and fell in love with it as it is so much like Cape Town.

So, I have tons of questions to ask like:

1) Is it necessary to use an immigration lawyer or can you get everything done yourself?

2) I have heard mixed things about IELTS - some say everyone has to do it; others say a letter from your high school stating that you were taught in English means you don't need to do it. Which is correct?!

3) I know we need unabridged birth certificates - has anyone used the SA Fast Track service? I just know how long Home Affairs takes and I don't want to wait months.

4) After that, what is the next step?

Thanks for reading my message

[Tazzn]

Welcome Kay

1) We're using an agent but many have done it without one.

2) I am not sure about temp visa's but on the PR VISA's the main applicant needs to do IELTS and then your spouse can use a letter from high school

3) Sorry

4) next step I would think would be your skills assessment

[Neels]

Welcome Kay79. Best of luck here. We have also just got started with the process etc.. I think the manner in which you plan to enter (type of visa etc) will determine what you need to do next. This forum helps a great deal, but also have a look at www.immi.gov.au - that website is really very user friendly and packed with everything you need to know. Happy reading...

[Kay79]

Thanks for your replies, Tazzn and Neels. I know this is a very basic question, but how do I go about doing the skills assessment? Just noticed that I'm registered as a male...need to change that! I'm a girl! I think we will try for the 187 visa. Any idea how long the whole process should take? Is 1 year too optimistic?

[Neels]

To be honest, I think there are a lot of much better informed people on this forum than myself to answer your question.

We tried (started) to apply for a subclass 186 a couple of years ago, but didn't get very far due to mainly finances. Now I have found an Australian company that are willing to sponsor me. And if all goes well, my subclass 457 visa will be approved within the next couple of weeks.

Here is a link to follow that might give you some answers:

http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/187.aspx

I will also send you a PM with a pdf regarding SkillSelect

[Theunis]

If your budget allows the agent only really costs about R35 k to R40 k. I chose that route as it takes away all uncertainties and reading time. Effectively you really do everything yourself and he agents only really keep you in the right track and requests info when necessary.

[Kay79]

Congrats Neels! Thanks for your reply. I have sent you an email.

Thanks Theunis - I agree. We would rather have some help to make sure we're doing it properly than stress and hassle doing it ourselves. For what it's worth, my mom-in-law says getting citizenship is very easy once you've been there long enough so I guess that's why this part is so tough! Hang in there, everyone!

So, in terms of IELTS, can you do it online or must you go through a company? Is it hectic? I'm an English teacher so probably have no reason to worry but it sounds intense!

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to give me info

[Neels]

So, in terms of IELTS, can you do it online or must you go through a company? Is it hectic? I'm an English teacher so probably have no reason to worry but it sounds intense!

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to give me info

Well Kay79

I am as "boertjie" as you get. And I got a bar score of 8 on my IELTS in April this year. It's not all that bad. There is a lot of online material to practice with. But you can only do the actual IELTS test at a testing location. Start here http://www.ielts.org/

[Kay79]

Hahaha! Well, well done on getting a great score. I guess I will just do it - I should be able to ace it too. Fingers crossed!

[SurferMan]

Hi Kay79,

Welcome to the forum. And well done on deciding to come to lovely Aus!

1: No, you can quite easily do it yourself if you can read and follow the Immi checklist which they publish for free.

2: I did English all my life and still had to do IETLS, its easy - I say just do one and youre sorted.

3: Don't know that crowd, but you will need unabridged birth certs for everyone coming over.

4: look up Jordys sticky link the 100 step plan to migrate, its the lexicon to migration!

I will need your skills assessed.

Cheers

Surferman

[Kay79]

Hey Surferman! Thanks for the info - I read your IELTS comments last night Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Jordy's sticky link - will look at it now.

[Mara]

Read the following link, it appears there are changes afoot and that you may well be able to do it online!

http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php/topic/42896-changes-to-english-language-testing/

[Dill]

Hi Kay

We also live in Dubai and are planning to move to Perth at the end of the year. My husband and son already have citizenship, so I only had to apply for a partner visa, rather than a skilled one. Not sure if you will be applying from Dubai or South Africa, so will answer the questions I can from a Dubai perspective.

1) I didn't use an agent/lawyer as there was no skills/EOI element to deal with. Having said that, there was a huge amount of paperwork and documentation to complete, collate, certify etc but I would have had to do it anyway, even with an agent. Also note that the agents here may charge differently and may not be as reliable or as easy to deal with as those in South Africa. Processing times also vary from consulate to consulate and Dubai has a HUGE workload, which is worth bearing in mind. Partner visas in South Africa are being processed in 2-3 months (though that can change overnight). The same visa takes 12-18 months in Dubai, but family/partner visas have a longer waiting period as the criteria are different. Check the information carefully if applying from Dubai.

2) I didn't need to do IELTS but I know people often do it to improve their points score. It can definitely be done in person in Dubai, but the new changes may suit you even better.

3) I applied for my unabridged birth certificate at the same time as I submitted the application. I wrote a statutory declaration to say that I had applied for it from the South African Consulate in Dubai and attached the receipt and certified copies of my abridged birth certificate and my parents passports. The lovely Lebanese lady at the SA consulate told me it could take 3,6,9 or 12 months and may NEVER even arrive! Anyway, I got an email from the consulate and collected it within less than 3 months. I submitted it when they requested medicals, PCC and Form 80. I think that the only reason I got away with it is because the processing times are so long for partner visas. You might want to find out more about fast track services by doing a few searches or posting a specific thread.

4) Unfortunately I can't guide you on the specific visa except to say do your homework and find out as much as you can, even if you go with an agent. I highly recommend that you print the current version of Form 80 from the DIBP website so that you can see the level of detail required and start filling in previous addresses, employment, education and travel details. It took me ages!

Best of luck and enjoy what will hopefully be your last sweaty, sticky summer in "the sandpit".

Cheers

Dill

[Kay79]

Thanks, Mara! I wonder how they assess the speaking then.

Dill, thank you so much for your reply! I think we will go with an agent just to make it easier. Applying from Dubai but looks like we will use an agent in Aus. I had a good chuckle at the Lebanese lady at the embassy - I know who you mean!! I tried calling them 3 times yesterday but it was engaged and then rang off so gave up. I will first find out if the birth certificates are required and then use the fast track service. Congrats on the move - hope you guys are on track to get there by the end of the year and settle easily. I think we will have one more sticky sandpit summer here but hopefully we will be in Aus right after that!

[Jordy]

Just remember Kay that if you plan to work as a teacher in Aus you will need to do the Academic version and not the General version of IELTS. And even if you are an English teacher, one part of the test is a verbal test that is recorded. They give you a topic to speak on for 3 minutes and then record it. One of the things they are testing there is how strong your accent is and how many words you use that would not be understood by someone who is not South African. For example if say robot, bakkie, takkies, ya, etc. Words that even an English teacher uses. If an aussie were to listen to the tape recording would they know what a robot/takkie etc are?

[Dill]

Hi Kay

You will definitely need the birth certificates so you might as well get the ball rolling! People have reported getting them quite quickly recently, I think they have added resources as people need them more and more. There's also that whole thing about all minors traveling into or out of SA having to produce one to prevent child trafficking, though that seems to have been delayed.

Wishing you a smooth journey and shout if there is anything specific to Dubai that I may be able to help with.

Cheers

Dill

[Kay79]

Thanks Jordy - that is really interesting and I didn't know that is what they're looking for, although it makes perfect sense. I'll be fine - 11 years of teaching in Dubai has successfully knocked the usual South Africanisms out of me Strangely, the most difficult one to get away from was koki pen!

I've had a look at the practice tests and am slightly confused by the writing task that asks you to compare figures on graphs. What are they looking for there? Or is that the general not academic one?

Thanks Dill. I think I will go with the fast track place just to save delays. We don't have kids yet but will make sure we get the unabridged birth certificate sorted once we have one! Saves issues later. Thanks again - will begin the form 80 soon...

[DXB2OZ]

The important thing to remember with the writing is that when you are asked to compare figures, etc, you are being asked to comment on what is in front of you....and ONLY what is in front of you. Think of it as a running commentary. When you are asked for opinions, or arguments, remember your structure - opening, argument for, argument against, closing. General usually has a letter as task 1 - very important to learn structure of letter, correct form of addresses depending on formal or informal, correct form of closing - these are all things hardly anyone knows because hardly anyone still sends letters, much less worrying about form, but it is very important.

Practice tests with answers are your best friend. They show the correct structure. If you register with British Council, you should get free online training of 30 odd hours, called "Road to IELTS". Very useful, full of tips.

Good luck

[Kay79]

Thanks DXB2OZ - that's good advice. Fortunately, I know the format of a letter, but as you say, people don't write letters nowadays so you think they would modify it to an email or something, right?!

[liewelulu38]

HI

We have used http://www.bunnyhop.co.za/ in the past to get our unabridged marridge certificate fastracked while we were living in France. They gave us great service. We did the entire process by ourselves, it took a lot of time but we were successful in the end. Good luck!

[Nev]

yep, i also used bunny hop, they were really good

[Kay79]

Thank you, Nev and Liewelulu38. I used Docassist and the birth certificates were ready in 9 days! They are on their way to me via courier