136 visa question

[tommo]

My wife and I are going to apply for a Skilled Independent (136) visa. I've read that the spouse that has the best chance of meeting the visa requirements should apply as the primary applicant, if the application is successful does that mean that both spouses may work in Australia or just the primary applicant ? How does that work ?

If the primary applicant has enough points, should the other spouse bother getting their skills assesed ?

Whats the chances of us having to take the IELTS english test, should we do that so long ?

Thanks.

[Sam]

Yes, the spouse is completely free to work whereever he/she wants to. No restrictions on skilled independent 136.

No, if you are not going to claim the 5 points for spouse skills, don't bother with a skills assessment for them.

Yes, book your IELTS asap for both of you. They are fully booked a few months in advance unless you are lucky to get a cancellation for two. Also keep in mind the time you require to complete and receive your skills assessment, passport, personal documents etc because the IELTS tests are valid for 1 year only.

Cheers.

[Ajay]

Hi Tommo,

Only one of you need apply- your spouse then is a dependant on your visa. Under a 136, there are no work restrictions on either party.

Your spouses skills will only be assessed if you are claiming the 5 points, as far as I am aware.

Good luck!

Ajay

[kangaroo]

Hi Tommo

Sam has all the right anwers EXCEPT for the following:

If you DO claim the 5 points (as part of your 120 points) for your spouse (i.e. if she has relevant education and work experience in a SOL occupation), then YES, she will need to have her skills assessed too. Sam's right that if you do NOT claim the 5 points for spouse, her skills assessment is not necessary. (However, if she plans on working in Oz, it might be a good idea to do skills assessment anyway - future employers may request it.)

IELTS is not valid for one year; it's valid for TWO YEARS. Book your IELTS asap as the Jhb office is already fully booked (general IELTS) for rest of the 2006 year. They do have some 2006 space available for the academic IELTS - slightly more 'difficult' as it's a way of testing prospective students who plan on studying abroad. Am writing the academic IELTS on 4 Nov. One only needs to do general IELTS for immigration purposes, however if you feel your English is good, attempt to get in for academic IELTS still this year, as the general IELTS waiting list for 2007 is LONG!

Here is the link (British Council) you must book IELTS on:

Book for IELTS

PRINT your IELTS application form once you've filled in your details on the website, fax it to British Council together with proof of payment (currently R1670 for the payment month of October). The British Council will let you know via e-mail if your preferred date(s) is(are) available. They are quite quick with responding.

Good luck!

Edited October 26, 2006 by kangaroo

[Sam]

Sam has all the right anwers EXCEPT for the following:

If you DO claim the 5 points (as part of your 120 points) for your spouse (i.e. if she has relevant education and work experience in a SOL occupation), then YES, she will need to have her skills assessed too.

Ok, I just answered the question as it was asked. I didn't realise there was room for misinterpretation.

IELTS is not valid for one year; it's valid for TWO YEARS

Technically speaking you are right Kangaroo but for skilled independent the DIMIA only accepts an IELTS test result if it is completed within the last 12 months. Unless you specifically ask for and are granted extention. Read this.

Cheers.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Sam

[kangaroo]

Sam, I sure didn't mean to step on any toes...was merely adding to the helpful info you posted according to my knowledge. Thanks for the link - I wasn't aware that for PR application, one's IELTS must be completed within the last 12 months, so thanks for highlighting that!

I based my answer on the British Council's website which states that a person's IELTS results are valid for two years.

Cheerio

[Sam]

No worries.

[JohanK]

Hi Sam

Please help me if you can with this one or anyone ells. We now know that the IELTS test is only valid for one year according to DIMIA but if we have been living in Australia surly they will not reject the test if it is just a little over one year old, it was issued 29 October 2005 and we have been living in Oz since May 2006

I must say that this is one thing I cannot understand when it comes to Australia if I had an overall score band of 7.5 for the academic test surly my English capabilities could not have deteriorated that much.

[Sam]

Hi Sam

Please help me if you can with this one or anyone ells. We now know that the IELTS test is only valid for one year according to DIMIA but if we have been living in Australia surly they will not reject the test if it is just a little over one year old, it was issued 29 October 2005 and we have been living in Oz since May 2006

I must say that this is one thing I cannot understand when it comes to Australia if I had an overall score band of 7.5 for the academic test surly my English capabilities could not have deteriorated that much.

Hi Johan, on what visa category are you currently on? Because it differs per application type.

I had to go look this up and found the following for a PR application:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread....highlight=IELTS

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread....lts+valid+years

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread....lts+valid+years

Some say it is a grey area and others say it's black and white when the DIMIA only accept IETLS results completed within the last 12 months.

Maybe this confusion resulted because of inconsistancies. There were exceptions made in the past for nationals of english speaking countries who had their IELTS results extented at the case officers discression. Don't know if the key lies in the word nationals though.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Sam