Recently arrived in Autralia on 175 Skilled Migrant Visa

bigbadcon

Hi folks,

My family and I have recently arrived on the sunshine coast (Feb this year) after getting the 175 skilled Migrants Visa which is very similar to the 189 visa that is out this year. (without the expression of interest stuff they have introduced)

I've gone through the following:

• Australian Computer society skills assesments
• IELTS
• medicals
• documentation
• budgetting
• researching
• set up costs etc

This forum has been a great help to me getting all of this sorted so I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has on the process.

Regards

bigbadcon

RORYBBELLOWS8

How long did the skills assessment take to come back with the results? What is involved for medicals?

Thanks

john.co

RORYBBELLOWS8 wrote: »

How long did the skills assessment take to come back with the results? What is involved for medicals?

Thanks

Hey Rory, I've recently secured PR (subclass 189) as well so can give you an idea of my experience. I'd an internationally accredited Bachelor Degree - getting it accredited over here by the relevent professional body took about 8 weeks (they listed a timeframe of 4-6 weeks on their website but after 6 weeks I had to keep ringing to check up on its status). Remember, I think you're supposed to have the letter of accreditation dated BEFORE you receive the invitation to apply for the visa (there are a few stories circulating about people who submitted their EOI and received the invite, knowing that their qualification would be approved in the interim, but this caused problems for their visa application since they technically couldn't prove that they had all the necessary points when invited - see page 10 of Booklet 6).
As for the medical, I did mine over here - cost about $350 and took about 2 hours. Think the clinics can get a bit busy but I found it pretty efficient. Myself and my gf did your medical before requested by our case officer so they posted us our results in a sealed envelope and Immigration can check the results online (all details on Visa Medicals here: https://www.medibankhealth.com.au/immigration-visa-medicals.asp?t=Visa+medical&cid=58 )\
Hope this helps...

bigbadcon

The skills assessment took 12-14 weeks from sending the application to getting the result in the post.

The medicals were about €150-€175 each (cant remember exactly) but we had to get them done for everyone in the family so it can add up very quickly.

We got ours done in http://www.materprivate.ie/health-check-centre/services/visa-medical-centre/

We got an appointment really quickly and had to do blood tests (checking for HIV etc) and a chest Xray and if you have any pre exisiting illness you are supposed to bring your medical history.

I was quite worried about the medicals as I have mild crohns disease but we flew through the whole process (probably because my medication isnt that expense and wouldnt be much of a burden on the Australian government for Medicare)

John, congrats on the PR and it's good that you have a more recent experience with the newer visa types.

skippy2

How do you find the sunshine coast just general stuff not work/visa related. We are thinking of heading that way in early 2014. Was it easy to find accommodation etc

RORYBBELLOWS8

Thanks Guys, that really helped. I am just waiting on my ACS results. It's been 13 weeks now.

bigbadcon

skippy2 wrote: »

How do you find the sunshine coast just general stuff not work/visa related. We are thinking of heading that way in early 2014. Was it easy to find accommodation etc

It depends what sort of lifestyle you want really. It is very laid back here because there is a huge retirement community up here (around 50% of the people on the sunshine coast are over 50)

I work from home so finding work wasnt an issue but if my work circumstances where to change we would probably have to move to Brisbane as there is almost no IT work here. Commuting is not an option either, spending 1.5-2 hours each way commuting to brisbane is not the lifestyle we came here for.

There is big competition for the rentals up here but you get way more for your money than you would near brisbane.

As a young family we absolutely love it here and if we can keep up this lifestyle for good theres no way we ever be going back home.

If your young and single and looking for nightclubs its not the place for you though.