BBAUER Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 Hi Does anyone know if it is compulsory to do IELTS test and skills assessment if you are immigrating to Australia on a 457 visa. My thinking is that if you are required to do these then you might as well apply for PR visa. Please advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 FromDurbs Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 (edited) I am nooooo expert. I am currently waiting for my 457 to be approved. So I might still have gotten it all wrong. I understood that you do not need a skills assessment. You need to prove that you can speak English. This can be done if you received your secondary schooling or tertiary training in English. Or by doing an IELTS or other test (TOEFL, PTE) etc. You are exempted from proving your English skills if your salary is above the English language threshold - which I think is somewhere in the 90 000s. So yes you need the test, except if you went to school in English, studied in English or have a high salary. Edited October 10, 2016 by FromDurbs spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 WayneACT Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 As @FromDurbs said, you have to prove you can communicate in English. There are various ways you can do this and @FromDurbs has outlined some above. This only applies to the main applicant of the 457 visa, not the dependents/spouse. My wife didn't have to as she also held a British passport. You wont be immigrating on a 457 visa. Its a temporary long term working visa. PR visa application takes a lot longer than a 457 but is obviously better to have a PR visa than a 457. There are pros to a 457 visa, but also cons. You need to decide what works for you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jobizzle Posted October 19, 2016 Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 You don't necessarily need the IELTS, I had mine anyway when I applied for 457, but the Migration agent actually said it wasn't necessary in the end considering I had a degree taught in English. So I think it depends on your specific case, the migration agent employed by your sponsoring company would be best placed to tell you. If you have time, you might want to book your IELTS anyway, as I reckon the next available dates will likely be a couple weeks away, you can always cancel if the agent says its not necessary, or do it anyway as its useful to have down the line for any PR application. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Duggen Posted October 20, 2016 Report Share Posted October 20, 2016 As others have mentioned,you need to prove that you can speak English and the easiest way of doing this is to do an English test. With regards to a skill assessment, it is not needed. As Jobizzle mentioned though, the 457 is a 4 year visa. One can apply for PR after two years but this requires sponsorship for the company you are working for. I am currently on a 457 and one of the major drawbacks is that one is tied to the sponsoring company. That makes it pretty tough to leave your job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 WayneACT Posted October 21, 2016 Report Share Posted October 21, 2016 7 hours ago, Duggen said: One can apply for PR after two years but this requires sponsorship for the company you are working for. The bold bit is correct in some instances, but there is more than one way of reaching PR status from a 457 visa. Not all require you to wait the 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jobizzle Posted October 21, 2016 Report Share Posted October 21, 2016 18 minutes ago, WayneACT said: The bold bit is correct in some instances, but there is more than one way of reaching PR status from a 457 visa. Not all require you to wait the 2 years. Really? If theres another way I'd be very interested to know it? My occupation isn't on the SOL, so I figured I would just have to wait the 2 years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Riekie Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 We came on a 457 and didn't have to do the IELTS. Two years later our 457 sponsor, sponsored our PR through the ENS Visa option. We didn't have to do the IELTS then either. That was in 2004 & 2006 though and things may have changed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Duggen Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 On 10/21/2016 at 5:31 PM, Jobizzle said: Really? If theres another way I'd be very interested to know it? My occupation isn't on the SOL, so I figured I would just have to wait the 2 years? If your occupation is on the CSOL and you have a positive skills assessment, you can be sponsored for PR immediately by a company under the direct entry stream I believe. Happy to be corrected on this if I am wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 WayneACT Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 On 10/21/2016 at 5:31 PM, Jobizzle said: Really? If theres another way I'd be very interested to know it? My occupation isn't on the SOL, so I figured I would just have to wait the 2 years? Weird. I replied to this message but my reply doesn't appear. Maybe I forgot to submit reply ? Anyway, all the info you require is here http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/186- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jobizzle Posted October 27, 2016 Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Ok, so I have read the requirements and I understand there are 2 main options, 'Temporary residence transition stream' which is the option to apply after 2 years and doesn't need skills assessment etc. Then there is the Direct entry stream which has more requirements, the one I'm concerned about is that it says you must have never worked in Aus, or only worked for a brief time. So what is brief? I've been working for 9 months in Aus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 WayneACT Posted October 27, 2016 Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 < 2 years according to an immigration web site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 TeeTMI Posted October 27, 2016 Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 On 21/10/2016 at 5:31 PM, Jobizzle said: Really? If theres another way I'd be very interested to know it? My occupation isn't on the SOL, so I figured I would just have to wait the 2 years? If your occupation is on the CSOL you could look at as mentioned above - The Direct Stream 186 (requires skills assessment, and you can use this if currently in Australia on a 457) you could also look at a state nominated visa 190 (also require a skills assessment) - IF the state you are currently in will consider your occupation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jobizzle Posted October 27, 2016 Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Ok good, so a skills assessment costs about $800, so I guess I need to weigh up whether its worth doing it now, or waiting 15 more months. Besides the compulsory private medical I'm paying, I can't think of any other financial benefit of getting PR sooner, what do you all think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 WayneACT Posted October 27, 2016 Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 I am keeping my medical aid in SA anyway. With some of the waiting lists the way they are, I don't think its a bad idea. Financial benefit, well, how much would it cost you if you had to be sent back to SA? You also can't take out any Australian Life Policies if you are not a PR or citizen. Schooling, you have to pay school fees if you have kids - unless you are in the ACT and your occupation is on the SOL, then you are exempt. Some jobs require PR or citizen status. You can't get your RA money out of SA unless you emigrate. 457 is not considered emigrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jobizzle Posted October 27, 2016 Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 You make some good points, I dont have kids yet though, and probably don't need life policies yet either as I don't have much debt/dependants etc. But your point about RAs I hadn't thought of. My worry is that the skills assessment comes back that I don't have the correct skills then I've wasted the money! Oh well, thank you so much for all the advice, this gives me plenty to think about! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 BBAUER Posted November 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2016 On 21 October 2016 at 8:11 AM, WayneACT said: The bold bit is correct in some instances, but there is more than one way of reaching PR status from a 457 visa. Not all require you to wait the 2 years. Can you shed some light on more than one way please Wayne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 WayneACT Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 @BBAUER see either my post linking to the Aus immigration web site or TeeTMI's summary above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
BBAUER
Hi
Does anyone know if it is compulsory to do IELTS test and skills assessment if you are immigrating to Australia on a 457 visa. My thinking is that if you are required to do these then you might as well apply for PR visa. Please advise.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
17 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.