NSW 2019 ! Process so far, arriving and settling in

[satosa]

To those who have gone before....and to those who are on their way.

 

This is basically my first post. I have been lurking around this forum since about 2015. Some of the posts have helped me, so thank you, but perhaps some of my own experiences can help someone else.

Like most people we have reasoned back and forth, considered this and that, and will do so for a while still....

 

To summarize our process thus far:

 

We are a family with young children intending to migrate to NSW in 2019. We are currently awaiting VISA approval (190 SS).

Myself and my wife are both accountants (I am now also CIMA and CPA Aus registered).

I went for an LSD trip at the end of 2016. Only aimed for South Australia so mostly only visited there.

We have not used an agent thus far.

 

Our first expression of interest (EOI) aimed for the 186/187 VISAs - which was originally submitted in May 2017.

At that stage we had done all english tests and skills assessments and our points came to a total of 70 without state sponsorship. 

Nothing came through, as these VISA sub-classes basically seemed dormant and some the VISA rules changed later in 2017.

 

I changed the EOI in May 2018 to 189 and 190 SS (NSW).

The accounting profession had by then become very competitive in terms of immigration thresholds - the minimum to get an invite for the 189 VISA still seems to be 80 points.

So no chance for us with only 70 points - and the immitracker and expatforum indications were that even state sponsorship invites were issued at 85 points (after the 5 additional points).

For IELTS Academic I had scored well (L:8.5; R: 8.5; W: 7.5; S: 8.5), but the writing kept me from the "superior" English score and the 10 additional points we needed.

Booked for Pearson PTE test in May and wrote in June. Did all the practice tests and mid range training package before I wrote.

 

On Pearson test day, it felt like everything went wrong. The person next to me was shouting in the mic, I was struggling to hear myself think, made silly mistakes, mumbled, in the writing section I scrolled down, wanted to insert space for a paragraph break with the time almost up for the section...in a rush it appeared that I had hit backspace, then with the seconds ticking down I wanted to undo, but it appeared that I had deleted the whole paragraph..!

Walked out of the test feeling disappointed and started to look for the next test date to give it one last go.

 

Received the result the next day - not a perfect score, but I got what was needed to my amazement. Now we had the 10 additional points to give us a total of 80 (for 189) and 85 (for state sponsorship). 

 

So we updated our EOI for 189 and 190 NSW SS. We decided to go with 190 NSW SS in addition to 189, because of the risk that the SOL might change - there was mention that Accountants may be removed at some stage.

Also, although we aimed for Adelaide (South Australia), the occupation lists for South Australia has dropped accountants by then and also had other (restrictive) conditions attached to it that NSW did not have.

NSW closed applications in mid June 2018 and opened up again towards the end of July 2018.

We received a NSW "pre-invite" in the last week of August 2018. Submitted docs by first week of Sept 2018. Got approval to apply for a VISA by end of September 2018.

 

Got police clearance done early October and all docs were submitted on Immi Account by 11 October. Medicals followed and clearance provided by end of October.

So our case has now been in the system for 60 days.

 

Thus far, as far as I can see, all of the above may have been a big task - but ahead lies to more difficult task of selling off, packing up, flying over and settling in.

 

So now were are hopefully headed for NSW somewhere, at some stage, hopefully before July 2019. 

Let me know if you have any questions about the above - as stated before, we have not used an agent.

 

No worries mate

 

[data]

Hi @satosa

 

Good luck with the rest from a fellow CA CIMA. Also have a young family 5yr old and 1.5yr old. Not easy but we'll worth it particularly for the kids. Be open to start low and work your way up.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

[satosa]

Hi @data

 

Thank you for the note of encouragement and advice. I am prepared to start low, adjust, adapt, rethink...getting a job is better than none, hope to get almost any local experience once we arrive, open to some volunteer work as well. 

 

And thanks for mentioning about the kids..All the best

[Roxanne]

Hi @satosa, 

Thanks for your post. Much like you, I've been lurking around on this forum with the odd post here and there. I really have found some useful advice on here, but have also freaked myself out at times wondering if I have crossed all t's and dotted all i's in our application (fingers crossed that we actually have!!). 

I certainly related to your Pearson's experience - the nerves certainly got the better of me that day, but thankfully a positive result in the end. 

My husband and I submitted our 189 visa application in November 2018 .... and now we wait. And wait. And wait. 

I am not an accountant, but like you, I'm open to any opportunity. Once we hear from our CO regarding our application, I am going to start looking and applying for jobs (I am an Occupational Therapist). 

 

Anyway, I just thought I would connect as we are also hoping to be over there by July this year. 

Here's hoping, hey! 

 

All the best!

 

 

[satosa]

Hi Roxanne,

 

Nice to hear from you. Where you planning to go?

We are still waiting, almost on three months, but we expect to wait another three.

 

If you have not already, you can also check out the processing times from the sample on: https://myimmitracker.com/en/au/trackers/consolidated-visa-tracker-sc189

 

All the best, hope we get that prized e-mail soon

[Roxanne]

Thanks @satosa .

We are looking at either Melbourne or Brisbane, but honestly I will go where ever I can find employment. 

 

Thanks for sending through that link. Looking at some of the documents requested, I'm beginning to feel like I crossed those t's I referred to earlier, but you never know. I did not submit payslips, but have those at the ready should the be requested. 

Quick question - do you have an unabridged birth certificate? I'm beginning to think maybe I should apply for one, just in case...  

[satosa]

Hi,

 

Yes, we all have one and submitted it with our application.

The older certificates are titled "Unabridged Birth Certificates", but recently they issued only a "Birth certificate" - with reference to my children's birth certificates.

 

As far as I understand the birth certificate is a definite requirement - so I would apply for one as soon as possible, for yourself, husband and any other applicants included.

The process can take very long. We applied for our birth certificates before submitting an EOI. But it took a few months.

Not sure at which home affairs offices you will apply for it, but It is advisable to pay a fee for the service in order to get it faster.

 

There is a lady here in Gauteng that may be able to help. Her name is Leigh-Ann Miles, Cell: 083 296 3968. e-mail: ezeedocs@gmail.com 

If I remember correctly, you will have to pick up the documents yourself, so be prepared to take leave for a day/half day, take a chair, snacks, water, perhaps a book, and go and stand in the cue before 6AM if you have to come to Pretoria.

 

Not sure if you included a marriage certificate and family photos (to prove relationship), but those are usually required as well.

 

Hope it helps...

 

[ChrisH]

14 hours ago, Roxanne said:

I'm beginning to think maybe I should apply for one, just in case

 

We did my wifes through Bunny Hop: https://bunnyhop.co.za/

 

They courier everything to you so very easy, only took a couple of weeks.  I don't think an unabridged birth certificate is a mandatory document (@TeeTMI can you confirm), but I would recommend just getting it anyway because you never know when you will need it.

[MJO]

On 12/10/2018 at 12:05 PM, satosa said:

We received a NSW "pre-invite" in the last week of August 2018. Submitted docs by first week of Sept 2018. Got approval to apply for a VISA by end of September 2018.

If I read correctly, you waited about three months to receive the invitation / nomination email from NSW as accountants? I hope this trend continues!

 

As a matter of interest, did you submit separate EOIs for the 190 and 189? I get conflicting views for this online as some are saying that once you receive a nomination, your EOI is locked so will not receive a 190?

 

I stumbled across this (http://www.successmigration.com.au/can-i-submit-more-than-one-eoi-skillselect/) which says you should submit one EOI if its for a 189 or 190 which is what I have done. Any other thoughts on the pro's/con's of submitting just one EOI?

[satosa]

Hi MJO,

 

Yes, it is correct, it was about 3 months, but you have to take the following into account:

 

1). We made our submission early in June, and the yearly skills lists and selection cycle runs from 1 July to end of June. So the quotas for the cycle ending end of June 2018 was almost filled. In fact, NSW had filled their needs by mid June and stopped inviting.

2). Each year, after closing in June, NSW only starts inviting a couple of months later. In prior years they only started inviting as late as September. This year, they started inviting a bit earlier, towards the end of July if I remember correctly.

 

So the point is that in reality they only took about a month to issue the invite, which is good news.

But as far as I have read, they do not have a fixed pattern for issuing 190 NSW invites. It depends on their needs at the time, and then obviously on points, and superior English.

 

We had one EOI, which had both the 190 and 189 on it.

It is risky for me to comment here, but I can only  state also what I have read elsewhere and what had happened to us:

 

Yes, your EOI is locked if you have one EOI, which means that you will not receive a 189 invite after a 190 immi account invite.

Note that you may still receive a 189 invite if it is still in the NSW state "pre-invite" stage, but once they approve and the Government asks you to sumbit a VISA application, then tour 189 invite will be locked.

 

We would have received a 189 invite on 11 October 2018, but by then our process had already reached the 190 VISA application stage, and our 189 EOI was locked.

If we had two separate EOI's, then we could still have received a 189 invite whilst having started the 190 process. So that is a PRO.

But you have to consider your particular scenario, timelines, invite patters, and skills lists to make a wise choice.

 

On the CON side, if you are selective between 189 and 190, and discard one after you receive and invite for both, then you have wasted or delayed someone else's invite (for the interim at least).

Also, I am not sure if the Aus government has some way to monitor duplicate invites for the same applicant.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

[Ren]

Hi Satosa

 

Thanks for your post! We are in very similar shoes to you. Both my husband and I are CAs and have 2 small kids (2.5 and 5.5 years old). Your description about how you experienced writing the PTE did make me giggle because we had a similar experience! Preparing for that test made us both feel like English had suddenly become our tenth language, nevermind our first...and let's not even mention how shocked we both were at how badly our spelling skills (or lack thereof) are! Somehow we also managed to get our superior English results on the first go.

 

So we lodged on 11 December and the wait is absolutely killing us! We would need to activate our visa by November this year so we were hoping to make the move in October to give us enough time to find a school for the boys before the holidays... however we have now been waiting for 106 days with just radio silence! It is so daunting and scary but we have decided to take a plunge of faith and start marketing our house with the intention to still go over in October - hopefully we will have the visa before then!

 

Have you received your visa yet? I would love to hear about which suburbs you guys have looked at and the process you have followed to find schools.

 

All the best!

R  

[satosa]

Hi Ren,

 

I noticed that the 189 processing times are quite quick and that the processing times for 190 also started to pick up.

We received our VISA's on 12 March!! It took 152 days for us, which is faster than the current average processing time.

We have to land before October 2019. And our house is also on the market - got an offer last week, subject to paperwork etc.

(About selling the house - no one told us, but if you have a loan,  you have to give the bank 90 days notice to avoid paying penaltly interest).

 

So I am sure your VISA's wont be too long.

I know what the wait feels like, but just hang in there. I basically checked immitracker for patterns on a daily basis :)

By the way, for 190 VISA, I see they are now started processing October and November submissions - so maybe just another 2 - 4 months.

One thing I read somewhere, which I think helped in addition to submitting a thorough application, is to show the case officer that you are actively interested in getting the VISA.

We did this by submitting updated letters of good standing for 2019 and our latest payslips.

 

In taking this plunge of faith; we often wondered how you do this without anything definite (like a VISA).

So all you have left is to work on the averages - ito processing times; time to sell your house, time for transfer of ownership etc.

 

At this stage it is hard to say which suburbs. Where and when I find employment will determine much.

Sydney is obviously expensive. We might aim for a place like Newcastle or Wollongong, or surrounds.

But Sydney, although expensive, might also work if I find employment there.

 

What suburbs are you looking at?

 

We have not checked out schools since we plan to homeschool, Lord wiling, if possible. So I won't be able to say much on that front.

 

All the best, hope the visas come soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Makie]

Hi guys, when uploading payslips do you upload them as individual documents one for each month or do you combine them per year or per company. I have been asked to upload payslips for a 3 year period that I worked for 3 companies. I have most of them but I am not sure how to upload them. Please advise anyone who has done this. Thanks

[satosa]

Hi Makie,

I only submitted a few payslip per employer and grouped the documents per employer.

But  if you are requested to upload all payslips, the I think/suggest it is best to group the payslips per company, otherwise you will exceed the document number limit.