Darran Posted July 30, 2016 Report Share Posted July 30, 2016 (edited) Hello everyone! I'd like to start by saying what an amazing forum this is! I wish I had found it earlier... would have saved me R3200 on booking an unnecessary IELTS test for myself! My wife and I made the big decision to emigrate about 1 month ago. We had been tossing the idea around for the past two years, but the kicker came after attending a dinner party with close friends. One of the conversation topics for the evening (discussed as nonchalantly as the latest Springbok Test Match) was: "What is your strategy for getting all your children into one room when they attack you"! You see, we are farmers in the Natal Midlands (a.k.a "The coal face") with two young girls, and this and similar topics of discussion are not only common place at social gatherings, but very much a necessity! We decided there and then that we would look to move to a country where these conversations were not only foreign, but completely unnecessary! We have family in WA so the country of destination decision ended up being pretty simple. We will be applying for a 189 Visa, with my wife as primary applicant (Secondary School Teacher). I could have applied for state sponsorship as a Dairy Farmer, but we felt the process would be simpler/quicker with my wife as primary applicant. We have booked IELTS, applied to Maties for all required paperwork for my wife's skills assessment, sent off our PCC applications, applied for Unabridged certificates (birth, marriage etc.) and will hopefully be putting in our EOI at some stage in September (if all paperwork arrives by then). We are banking on having 65 points... I put together our budget for the move and nearly choked on the final figure...but then again can you put a price on the future of your children...? Edited July 30, 2016 by Darran 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natia Posted July 30, 2016 Report Share Posted July 30, 2016 (edited) Hi Darran, all the best for you and your families road ahead, its a nervewrecking journey that we are taking but a necessary step when it comes to protecting your famlily. Keep us up to date with your progress. Edited July 30, 2016 by Natia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhatMyles Posted July 30, 2016 Report Share Posted July 30, 2016 Good luck Darran. However your PCC date is used to determine your initial entry date when your visa is granted... It is advisable to apply for the PCC only after you get an invitation to apply for your visa. That way you will have more time to prepare for your initial entry after the grant. Are you using an agent @Darran? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DXB2OZ Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Darran, our kids ride their bikes happily to and from school, walk to the park and skateboard in the streets. Sometimes they catch the train into town and meet up after work for dinner. Admittedly they are both (just) teenagers, but the freedom they enjoy is unbelievable. I feel as if the whole world has become their oyster - what a bargain. Best of luck to you. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Thanks @PhatMyles, I realize I have applied for the PCC quite early but my strategy is to simply apply for it again (at this stage this is looking highly likely) if the time to receive our invitation is longer than I am ,over-optimistically, hoping for it to arrive. Just read a few stories of PCC's taking months to arrive while the families wait for this last brick to fall in place...we are also planning on leaving ASAP after recieving our grant (we are pretty liquid at this stage) so every month I can potentially shave off the process will be invaluable. At the end of the day another R192 spent is a drop in the ocean of expenses... We are still debating the use of an agent, but our case seems pretty straight forward so am hoping to get through it without one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhatMyles Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 I didn't use an agent, and got a direct grant. My case had no complications as well. I spent a lot of time on this forum and got all the info I needed. There is lots of valuable information on this forum I tell you. I followed in the footsteps of @RedPanda and @Atjan who were applying as engineers and had done the process before me, and were very generous with info. Feel free to ask me if you need help or clarity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 I will definitely take you up in that offer, thanks @PhatMyles! @DXB2OZ that is the EXACT kind of life we are looking to gain for our children! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted July 31, 2016 Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 Just as a 'by the way' comment, we found out on our activation trip during a chat with the local bank branch manager that it is, in fact, illegal to put up electric fencing or razor/barbed wire in Belgrave (maybe all of Melbourne?) And the look that went with the comment was: "Why on earth would anyone want to do that!?" It was a wonderful moment. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted July 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2016 @RedPanda That is fantastic. We had a similar experience when on holiday in Florida last year. On the shuttle ride from the airport to our hotel, a friend traveling with us asked the shuttle driver if "it was safe to walk to the shops". The driver had a puzzled expression on his face for a few seconds before responding..."of course, as long as you wear sunscreen". This was hilarious to us... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted August 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 This has to be a record...my wife's unabridged birth certificate arrived 8 days after applying for it. Even the ladies at home affairs couldn't believe it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 6 hours ago, Darran said: This has to be a record...my wife's unabridged birth certificate arrived 8 days after applying for it. Even the ladies at home affairs couldn't believe it! wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 All the best @Darran My wife is an Early Childhood Teacher and we initially started with an agent but it was such a terrible experience that we eventually cancelled our contract (after having paid R13k!!) We didnt really learn much from our agent or get much assistance to be honest as Facebook forums/groups and this forum helped us more, so i decided to do things on my own and "touch wood" we have received our invite for NSW 190 State Sponsorship! We booked our medicals today and go for them on Thursday next week and then we lodge, pay and submit everything for our Visa application. We got our PCC in June 2016 so we feel that we have enough time to get things before we need to leave and we had these before we even did our EOI. This forum is great and i feel you can do it on your own but just make sure of the following: • Double check and double check every document required and submitted • Make sure your work experience and points claimed are 150% correct • If you feel you have a potential health concern then explore that now already Hope this helps somewhat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted August 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Thanks @Deezo! We will definitely be triple checking everything before submitting. We are awaiting IELTS results, and if we get the results we need we will be submitting to AITSL in September for the skills assessment. My wife doesn't have any relevant work experience unfortunately (she is actually a practicing dietitian but has a PGCE from Stellenbosch) so relying on age and IELTS to get most of our points! All the best with the final preps for your Visa app! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Only a pleasure Ok so then unfortunately you will have to use IELTS and age for points My wife will also only have 3yrs experience at the end of this year since she qualified so we only got 55 points We thought it was all over but then we found out about the 190 which our agent kindly omitted to inform us about! So yes we are happy we got an invite at least and we are on a permanent residence visa which is what we wanted. Thanks again and all the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 Received my IELTS results this morning: 8/8/8.5/9 (overall 8.5). One small step completed, now onto the next! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted September 5, 2016 Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 Congrats @Darran Those are good scores!! 20 points in the bag All the best with the new steps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted September 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 Thanks @Deezo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted December 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 (edited) It's amazing how small delays can add up so quickly! We were hoping to submit my wife's skills assessment (SA) to AITSL in September, but somehow only managed to submit at the beginning of December (due mostly to errors by the commissioner of oaths we used to certify the documents...long story). My wife's Academic IELTS results were 9/9/7.5/9 so sent them off for a re-mark hoping to get the 7.5 for writing bumped up to an 8 (for the 20 points), which unfortunately came back negative. Her marks were good enough for the SA so we decided to go ahead and send it in the meantime (she will do a General IELTS in the new year). The SA has been received in Aus and the payment has been taken off the credit card, so lets hope the asssement is positive! We have found the process and communication from AITSL to be very efficient so far: email confirming receipt of documentation and payment arrived within minutes of FNB notifying me of the transaction, they recommended we use an Aus address for the result certificate to be sent to (due to our lack of Post Office efficiency) and within an hour of submitting a new address we received a reply confirming it had been updated. The delays however are not the end-of-the-world as we found out in September that my wife is pregnant with our third (due April 2017)! We will now be waiting for him to be born before (hopefully) submitting our Visa application. So now onto researching the forum for all things "visa" and "pregnant" related... :-) Edited December 11, 2016 by Darran 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted December 11, 2016 Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 Congratulations to you and your wife @Darran Amazing how the universe understands timing ..... Sure all will go to plan. Take care. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 Since your application is going to be close to the changing of the 'visa year' I would suggest that you just keep an eye on things like pro rata skills, or how many places are still open for her and if they are likely to keep her skill on the SOL. I'm not saying there is trouble for teachers, I don't know what their situation is. I'm just saying, keep an eye out and make sure you're not caught napping in the end. Oh, and of course: Congratulations on the expected little one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted December 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2016 Thanks @Husky and @RedPanda! Excellent point regarding the changing of the visa year, we will make sure to keep all our ducks in a row and submit as soon as we have the little ones passport in hand! Definitely don't want to take any chances with the new visa year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted January 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 Just got the email from AITSL that my wife's skills assessment result will be posted in the next 5 days! Exactly 7 weeks from when they received it. We gave them an Ausie address so hoping we get it by early next week. Can't wait to know the result! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FingersCrossed Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 @Darran - Awesome. Bet it all went well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted January 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 We are super stoked right now! My wife's AITSL skills assessment has come back positive! The first big requirement can now be ticked off the list. My wife will be re-doing the IELTS in March to go for the 20 points (missed out by half a mark the first time round) and if all goes well we should be submitting EOI at the end of March. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazK Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 That is awesome news, @Darran! Being able to tick things off feels like quite an accomplishment! Good luck with IELTS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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