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Husband and wife applying on 189. Civil engineer


MovingSoon

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Hi all

I've decided to document our experience thus far to help anyone in a similar position.
189 skills visa application for engineers.
Husband civil engineering degree (me). Wife chemical engineering degree. Civil engineer to be the main applicant.
Decided to move Feb 2018, just did basic research and no real action.
Booked our Ielts rest for end of July 2018 - clearly we became more serious. Please see ielts section for my experience and advice.
Booked engineers Australia assessment end of August. Please see EA section below for our experience and advice.
Submitted EOI with 80 points on 1st week of November. Age 30 points, qualification 15 points, English 20 points, work experience 10 points and partner qualification 5 points. Awaiting outcome. Received an invitation 11th Nov 🙂
A few days after this we went to do our police clearance - weekdays only during work hours, not all police stations do it please check before. Cost is R114 , you need a copy of ID, cash and original ID. Wife and I went out of our way to go there together, but it seems that it is not necessary to go at the same time since it's separate applications. Obviously means one might come before the other.

Ielts test:
Since we both were having our degrees assessed, we assumed that ielts was the requirement. Not the case, pte is accepted by EA
Requirement was above 8 for me and above 6 for my wife - partner just needed competent English
Prepared for 2 weeks, were both comfortable - English is our only language, and we consider ourselves to be very good at it.
Wife got above 8 for all except writing. I got 8.5 and 9 for all except writing - 7.5. Devastating. I walked out of that test thinking it was a breeze, but this happened. Wasn't a major setback as we used it to apply for EA assessment - just needed to prove competent English there.
In general I would not recommend the ielts test - given the price you pay, it is definitely not well managed. Even if you choose a convenient date, you won't always do the speaking part on the same day. The speaking part is done at a dodgy spot - could easily be someone's house. The other tests are done at a large external venue which is very disorganized. After writing the test we were given someone else's vehicle keys, they insisted it was mine (no safes - they gave you a ticket number and kept your stuff in the book store). Should have taken the keys it was a Mercedes :-). The ielts people seem to bite off more than they can chew just to make money.
Booked the pte about 1.5 months later for myself - got a day about 2 weeks later - Saturday early October. Prepared for 1 week. Heed the advice about adjusting the mic and making sure it records you correctly as it is a computer. Pleasant experience - venue was packed to capacity - 8 people 🙂 I walked out of that test feeling I failed it, was already looking for the next closest test date. It was tough to me. Got my result that same evening (Saturday) - 90 for everything. Full marks!
Engineers Australia (EA) :
Also not the most pleasant experience.
Wife and I both had trouble uploading all our docs - system was always down. Tried different times of day, browsers, computers, etc.
Degree assessment only (wife) - copy of degree, academic record (only gave that later), ID, passport, change of surname, marriage certificate, English test. After about 6 weeks we logged a query online and received an email back requesting additional information - academic record. After uploading (took a while to try due to the faulty website) we received her confirmation letter 2 days afterwards. Cost R4474
EA work assessment:
I did skills assessment too. I'm currently in my 3rd post grad job, but with the first 2 it was above 5 years so I did not have current work experience assessed for obvious reasons.
Submitted the necessary docs like my wife did as above and also my cv, letter from both employers (letterhead, stamped, work duration, salary and job title), SARS docs (statement of account and ITA34).
Followed up after 6 weeks, got picked apart by the assessor - forget to upload passport, needed pension documents and job duties.
Advice to all is to get the job duties in the company service letter, but one company's HR refused to do so, they wanted me to contact all past managers and get them to first sign off on the 5 duties I wanted to be added to the letter. So I instead uploaded the job duties and performance review docs with the company letterhead, these were acceptable.
Pension docs were also a mission they needed it detailed month by MO th showing the contributions. Reached out to absa and momentum as they were the ones it was done with. Took almost 2 weeks, absa gave it to me on a spreadsheet with no letterhead so I had to beg them to write a letter confirming the spreadsheet was correct and the duration that funds were contributed for.
Took another week to upload these - the site had technical difficulties whenever I tried to upload. Had to finally phone them, and they agreed to accept it via email. Then waited another week before phoning again. They said they're still busy. I was worried that they were not going to accept the job duties one...
Early November I received the results : relevant Australian work experience: nil. Relevant overseas work experience: *dates that I was assessed for*. Misread the doc at first and thought that they rejected my work experience claim :/. Cost R7976.

Been researching places to stay - likely going to be Melbourne. We're glad we're not going on the sponsored visa given that you are slave to one employer, although this will mean the process is more expensive. I'm hoping that once we get the visa, I can do interviews via Skype and maybe secure a job (wishful thinking I know). Maybe that job will pay for relocation - container so we can take stuff from here to Aus (super wishful thinking).

Last option is we will pack up and leave, should get a job within a month. Haven't gotten into the finer details to do when getting ready to leave, but will be rushed - selling house and cars and everything we own, etc.
Started the visa application just need to upload the police clearance when we get it and we have already booked medicals for next week.
Any questions and advice?

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Hi guys

 

We moved here on my visa (mechanical engineer) and my wife got a job before we left SA. That was an opportunity for me to start my own company, which I officially opened last month. We move to Melbourne January this year, my advise is once you've settled pick an Aussie rules football team. Aussies in Melbourne don't watch rugby so that is the biggest culture shock (for me) thus far. There are a lot of civil projects going on in Melbourne and it seems there are lots of opportunities for civil engineers. Once you get your visa apply for a tax file number (tfn) immediately from SA as your employer will put you in the highest tax bracket without it (although they will balance it when you do tax returns). We financed a car when we arrived and you basically have to prove that you (a) have a job and (b) have money in your bank account (in our case the dealer said we have to have at least $10 000 in the bank to secure a loan for a $20 000 car). We wanted to finance a car to get a credit history. Other than that dealing with any government agency, bank, municipality, rental agency, school, department has been so easy and pain free (in our case). I jokingly said to my wife i'm waiting for the hiccup but there hasn't been anything yet.

 

Good luck with everything!

 

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Your situation and timeline is almost identical to ours. Also started this process at the start of the year, except wife is main applicant (Civil Engineer). I am a Mechatronic Engineer and Flight Instructor, we both had our EA Assessments done unfortunately we were unable to claim the 5 points for myself as Mechatronic Engineer is not an option for 189 Visa. But so one learns. Had the same issues with IELTS, eventually realised we could do PTE which was a much more pleasant experience. We received our invitation 11/10/2018 and submitted on 16/10/2018. All our Police Clearance and Medicals are submitted. We will make the move within 3 months of receiving Visa grant. Fortunate to have family that side to stay with while we search for jobs.

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My wife and I are both Civil Eng Techno's. Our timeline was a little bit longer. We did our PTE test on 22 Dec last year and submitted the EA skill assessments late in Jan 2018.  We received the MSA letters in mid Feb and submitted our EoI for subclass 190 (Victoria) on 26 Feb with 65 points. In August, I saw 2 opportunities on my company's career page in Australia for my specific skill set. As we did not receive anything after submitting the EoI, I applied and received feedback from the vacancy in Queensland.  After a lot of interviews and some negotiations, I received an offer in Darwin/Townsville. Two days after receiving the offer, we received the nomination from Victoria on 8 Oct 2018. Suddenly we had 2 options....

After some thought and discussing with friends, we decided to go for the PR visa...more permanent and I might regret not taking the opportunity...I turn 43 next year.

We have submitted all the returnable documents and paid for the application (eina...R82 500 - me, my wife and 2 kids) and will do our medicals on 5 Dec 2018. Not entirely sure about the duration of this application, but reckon that if all goes well, we should be in Oz mid next year???

 

Ps, we never did or submitted any work experience EA assessments - it was not required thus far. All we did is list our previous Employers to date - hope I did not miss something.

 

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Tons of jobs out here for Engineers with experience, especially from South Africa - seems like the Aussies like to hire South Africans as we tend to have a good work culture and are harder/smarter workers than the locals (shouldn’t say that :p). 

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On 11/19/2018 at 3:48 AM, bcuz007 said:

Hi guys

 

We moved here on my visa (mechanical engineer) and my wife got a job before we left SA. That was an opportunity for me to start my own company, which I officially opened last month. We move to Melbourne January this year, my advise is once you've settled pick an Aussie rules football team. Aussies in Melbourne don't watch rugby so that is the biggest culture shock (for me) thus far. There are a lot of civil projects going on in Melbourne and it seems there are lots of opportunities for civil engineers. Once you get your visa apply for a tax file number (tfn) immediately from SA as your employer will put you in the highest tax bracket without it (although they will balance it when you do tax returns). We financed a car when we arrived and you basically have to prove that you (a) have a job and (b) have money in your bank account (in our case the dealer said we have to have at least $10 000 in the bank to secure a loan for a $20 000 car). We wanted to finance a car to get a credit history. Other than that dealing with any government agency, bank, municipality, rental agency, school, department has been so easy and pain free (in our case). I jokingly said to my wife i'm waiting for the hiccup but there hasn't been anything yet.

  

Good luck with everything!

 

Thank you for the response and tips 🙂

 

Taking out our pensions and selling house so we will have enough cash in account for this. 

haha waiting for the hiccup, I feel the same the way things are going so smoothly at the moment. Knowing that we will be on the other side in about 6 months.

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On 11/19/2018 at 6:52 AM, frosty said:

Your situation and timeline is almost identical to ours. Also started this process at the start of the year, except wife is main applicant (Civil Engineer). I am a Mechatronic Engineer and Flight Instructor, we both had our EA Assessments done unfortunately we were unable to claim the 5 points for myself as Mechatronic Engineer is not an option for 189 Visa. But so one learns. Had the same issues with IELTS, eventually realised we could do PTE which was a much more pleasant experience. We received our invitation 11/10/2018 and submitted on 16/10/2018. All our Police Clearance and Medicals are submitted. We will make the move within 3 months of receiving Visa grant. Fortunate to have family that side to stay with while we search for jobs.

Great stuff. Good luck to you guys :-). Pity on the Mechatronic Engineer points, but now that you have the invitation it doesn't really matter. 

 

All the best!

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On 11/19/2018 at 2:42 PM, Remote said:

My wife and I are both Civil Eng Techno's. Our timeline was a little bit longer. We did our PTE test on 22 Dec last year and submitted the EA skill assessments late in Jan 2018.  We received the MSA letters in mid Feb and submitted our EoI for subclass 190 (Victoria) on 26 Feb with 65 points. In August, I saw 2 opportunities on my company's career page in Australia for my specific skill set. As we did not receive anything after submitting the EoI, I applied and received feedback from the vacancy in Queensland.  After a lot of interviews and some negotiations, I received an offer in Darwin/Townsville. Two days after receiving the offer, we received the nomination from Victoria on 8 Oct 2018. Suddenly we had 2 options....

After some thought and discussing with friends, we decided to go for the PR visa...more permanent and I might regret not taking the opportunity...I turn 43 next year.

We have submitted all the returnable documents and paid for the application (eina...R82 500 - me, my wife and 2 kids) and will do our medicals on 5 Dec 2018. Not entirely sure about the duration of this application, but reckon that if all goes well, we should be in Oz mid next year???

  

Ps, we never did or submitted any work experience EA assessments - it was not required thus far. All we did is list our previous Employers to date - hope I did not miss something.

 

Great decision to do it on your own.

 

I feel that pinch with you - R61k for the 2 of us and to date we have spent over R80k. Got medicals booked for tomorrow 23rd Nov. Rosebank was full so we ended up booking with Hatfield and got it in a week.

Not a problem for the EA work experience because you were not claiming points for it. My wife's EA application was simple - academic record, degree and the other standard docs. What I would do is create a section called EA submission and upload whatever you submitted to EA on your immi account (just to remove any doubt with the assessor and make your application go smoother - this is the advice I received)

 

Good luck!

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1 hour ago, MovedAlready said:

Tons of jobs out here for Engineers with experience, especially from South Africa - seems like the Aussies like to hire South Africans as we tend to have a good work culture and are harder/smarter workers than the locals (shouldn’t say that :p). 

Yes same thing I hear. And once we have local experience it will be easy to move over to better jobs. 

 

Haha shouldn't say that since you're one of them now :D

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On 11/16/2018 at 6:08 AM, MovingSoon said:

Maybe that job will pay for relocation - container so we can take stuff from here to Aus (super wishful thinking).

hi, welcome and good luck with the VISA but it sounds like you are well on your way.
Some advise if you don't get the dream of a company helping you move, consider flying over with just bags and staying in "long-term furnished" accommodation, some AirBnB's do this or you can find companies that have a one-month minimum stay. They are usually cheaper in the long run than a regular hotel. And when you have a job then you can ship your things over. The move and living here become allot more affordable when you urn in $. 

We did something similar, had our stuff packed and sored by Exequ move, paid them for storage (not too expensive) and then once we were settled and had a job we got them to ship. it did mean we needed to stay in furnished temporary accommodation longer but it also meant we could move to ACT with little hassle and live in a one bedroom apartment rather than try to find a rental big enough for all our stuff without a job lined up. 

 

On 11/19/2018 at 12:48 PM, bcuz007 said:

We move to Melbourne January this year, my advise is once you've settled pick an Aussie rules football team. Aussies in Melbourne don't watch rugby so that is the biggest culture shock (for me) thus far.

Agreed Rugby isn't that popular here but they are football bonkers, especially in Melbourne! A couple of conversations here start like this "so what team do you support" "new here, haven't picked one, who do you support and why" 

 

have fun and enjoy the ride. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

On 11/23/2018 at 12:38 AM, Fidjet said:

Some advise if you don't get the dream of a company helping you move, consider flying over with just bags and staying in "long-term furnished" accommodation, some AirBnB's do this or you can find companies that have a one-month minimum stay. They are usually cheaper in the long run than a regular hotel. And when you have a job then you can ship your things over. The move and living here become allot more affordable when you urn in $. 


Thanks for the advice, it's a great idea!

 

Just an update to all: medicals done, showed 3 days late on my immi account that it was complete. My police clearance certificate was ready after 4 weeks, wife's was not even though we went at the same time to do it (probably takes longer since she had a surname changes, etc.)

We still have not had a case officer assigned to our application.

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20 minutes ago, MovingSoon said:

 

Thanks for the advice, it's a great idea!

 

Just an update to all: medicals done, showed 3 days late on my immi account that it was complete. My police clearance certificate was ready after 4 weeks, wife's was not even though we went at the same time to do it (probably takes longer since she had a surname changes, etc.)

We still have not had a case officer assigned to our application.

 

Strange that your PCC takes so long. Took us about 4 days from application to receiving it.

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6 hours ago, frosty said:

 

Strange that your PCC takes so long. Took us about 4 days from application to receiving it.

Strange indeed. The date on mine shows 27th November, we applied 9th November so just under 3 weeks for me. Was done at Sandton police station in Rivonia, phoning and asking if it's ready doesn't help so will go next week to see if my wife's is ready. 

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On 12/12/2018 at 10:07 PM, frosty said:

Strange that your PCC takes so long. Took us about 4 days from application to receiving it.

You're lucky my hubby took 4 weeks mine took 5 and then they still didn't out my maiden name on it despite asking and writing it on the form. had to re-apply and drove straight to PTA this time and got it after about 4 hours in the q. 

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Ouch. Well for anyone still looking at getting theirs, I can recommend going to Garsfontein Police Station. They are very helpful there.

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  • 3 months later...

Thanks to everyone for the advice and messages.

Just an update: Applied 9th November for PCC, received mine early December. Wife's was not ready so we checked on the website and it said that it had been collected. We had to apply to get it reprinted, and it took another week and did not have maiden name (do take note that the police officer refused to take our marriage certificate in November, saying that they will pick it up on the system. We then handed a copy of marriage certificate when requesting the reprint in PTA in January this year)

18th Feb CO made contact and requested PCC with maiden name as well as some employment letters from my side. Wife went to apply for PCC again and the Sandton Police station refused to assist - we asked if we can take it to PTA ourselves and they tore up the application. We considered coughing up R5k to get a company to assist. 

I then called the PTA head office and got hold of them, people on the other end were very pleasant to deal with as I explained the context and time constraints. The next day I went to PTA and they printed a new copy, with my wife's maiden name on it (they say I was lucky, and that the system does not allow more than 2 prints).

Now all info has been sent (3 weeks ago - uploaded and clicked the button confirming all info has been sent. That's all right? Cannot reply directly to the CO as there was no contact email address), and it's been 28 days since the CO contact. Getting anxious here as we see lot's of others getting their visa on immitracker and quicker CO response times, but I guess there's nothing else that we can do.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi all. Just an update: I interviewed with a large company who was willing to make an offer and assist with the relocation process once the visa came through. 18th April they made a verbal offer and we also received our visa grants 🙂 (exactly 2 months after CO contact) 

Melbourne here we come! 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Guys,

 

Just about to start with my application with Migrate2Oz.

Husband (me) Mechanical Engineer mostly Project management and FMCG production management experience. Wife (Bcom) but works in ICT Security consulting. Have had very positive feedback from Migrate2Oz.

 

Any advice re migration agents and or job availability. Looking around at sponsored jobs as another option but not sure that will be a viable way to go and seems like it's a bit of a hit and hope scenario.

 

Process can be a bit daunting.

 

Thanks

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On 5/17/2019 at 8:14 AM, Hechter1987 said:

Hi Guys,

 

Just about to start with my application with Migrate2Oz.

Husband (me) Mechanical Engineer mostly Project management and FMCG production management experience. Wife (Bcom) but works in ICT Security consulting. Have had very positive feedback from Migrate2Oz.

 

Any advice re migration agents and or job availability. Looking around at sponsored jobs as another option but not sure that will be a viable way to go and seems like it's a bit of a hit and hope scenario.

 

Process can be a bit daunting.

 

Thanks

 

Not sure what visa you qualify for or what your agent has indicated your options to be. Most people recommend going for a 189 (or 190) visa if you qualify/can afford it. Some people manage to find sponsored jobs, you can try and see if you get something, although the route to Permanent Residency after that is still long and not guaranteed. That's why most people go for 189/190 if possible.

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On 5/17/2019 at 4:14 PM, Hechter1987 said:

Looking around at sponsored jobs as another option but not sure that will be a viable way to go and seems like it's a bit of a hit and hope scenario.

 

I can tell you from experience with people I've worked with that were on sponsored visas.  It is a very very stressful scenario to be in because you are essentially tied to your employer.  Anything can happen, companies merge, retrenchments, etc etc.  

 

If it is your only way into Australia by all means do it, but if you have the opportunity to get PR at this stage do it!

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