State sponsorship and the new Skill Select are pretty similar now. Both require you to get a state who is in need of your occupation. So you don't really have a choice of where you want to work anymore.

If not mistaken still can apply through Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa , but still go through skillselect right?

that's what i heard apparently, that the higher the points, the better. as for the state sponsorship, if i'm not mistaken, the agent doesn't make any money from it. so how did you get your agent to do it for rm750? is there any website i can see to find what the standard price is supposed to be if i apply by myself?


funny thing is, my agent says that state sponsorship no longer requires one to work for 2 years in the nominated state. so apparently, all i have to do is pay for the state sponsorship and i can still work anywhere i want. anyone can confirm this? sounds weird to me.

I'll be graduating in December, studying a total of 11 months...
Graduate visa requires me to have studied 2 years.

If I want to apply for independent visa, I will need to get an IELTS of 8 to have enough points (60)

Furthermore, I need to get a Skills Assessment (~$350), which can only be done after I graduate. And I was told they won't be working much during xmas & new year. Plus I have to wait some weeks for skills to be assessed.

Not forgetting ~$450 for an IELTS test which I need to get an 8 in all bands. And time for immigration to process my stuff.

And those above only qualifies me for an expression of interest with 60 points. I should rather not bother trying and go back to MY right??

Unless I have an employee sponsor?
Got called for phone interview, but employer can't sponsor me

This post has been edited by ysc: Aug 23 2012, 08:21 PM

11 months of study already proven you not eligible for independent TR/PR. you can only hope for employer sponsorship

anyway, if you have enough points with valid documents then i think that is not the issue anymore. they just need you to meet all the requirements with given minimum points and the chances of you getting approved is very high..


all my friends who applied for PR with minimum points have been granted(even in de facto)

Actually I think I'm eligible as long as I get that 60 points. The 2 years study thing has been changed and now contributes 5 points instead of being a requirement. The only thing is that, I would need an IELTS of 8 to get 60 points.

It still is a requirement for graduate visa though.


When your friends applied for PR? Was it recently?

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/

All state sponsored (visa 176) and general skilled migration (visa 175) PR has moved to Skill Select (http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/). Under the new Skill Select there are still a few options.

Visa 189 replaces the old GSM (visa 175). You still need to get nominated to be able to apply for PR but you are not required to state in any specific state.

Visa 190 replaces the old state sponsorship (visa 176). You need to stay for 2 years in the nominated territory/state.

Both costs AUD3060.

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Added on August 24, 2012, 7:15 amIf I'm not wrong you do require 2 years of studying in Australia.



Found on this website (http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-ski...-aust-study.htm)

Hope this helps.

This post has been edited by konichiwawa: Aug 24 2012, 07:15 AM

My husband just got his PR last month. We went with spouse visa route, and he got it within 2 months.

We did the application ourselves, and cost around RM 6.6k Now planning the big move for early next year.

Congrats and good luck! Let me know if you need any information if you are coming to Sydney =)

As referring to http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-ski...-table-grad.htm

Study Requirement is now under POINTS, no more under Basic Eligibility Req
Therefore, studying at Aus for 2 years just gives an additional 5 points. It is not a requirement.

Thank you The destination is Perth

My husband did both his bachelor and master degrees in Australia, but has never worked there.
I hope job market won't be too harsh next year for accounting / finance.

Ah fair enough. But would the 5 points be critical on meeting the 65 points requirement? Are you able to get 65 points without that?

I think there are other independent visas that only require 60 points. For those, I would need to get an 8 in an IELTS test...

I heard it is almost impossible to get all 8 in IELTS, unless if you are native speaker, but I could have heard it wrong

I've never taken an IELTS test before, so I really don't know the standard of my English.

For someone who has taken IELTS: How hard is it? How would you rate an average Malaysian's English level on the 9-point IELTS scale?

This post has been edited by ysc: Aug 24 2012, 12:30 PM

I just took my General IELTS and I have got 8.5. But then again, English is my first language. Another friend of mine is Chinese educated and his English is decent, he got a 8.5 too (which is a little surprising). Yet another friend whose first language is English too scored an 8.

Honestly, I don't think it's too difficult. I did mine in Australia though. Average Malaysian's English I would say is around 7.5-8. Just cut down on the "lahs" and "mahs" etc during speaking exams.

When you say decent, do you mean no grammatical or spelling errors at all in day-to-day speaking & writing?

Yeah. Well, everyone makes grammatical/spelling errors once in awhile. I think it's perfectly understandable. But if you are asking specifically about my friend, he still makes common grammar errors like past/present/future tense mistakes.

The only 2 tests which test on your grammar and/or spelling would be the speaking and written tests. The listening and comprehension tests are straight forward as long as you pay attention and don't make silly mistakes.


This post has been edited by konichiwawa: Aug 24 2012, 01:13 PM

From Konichiwawa's reply, IELTS doesn't sound too bad. Good luck

I've never done IELTS before. I got my PR 10 years ago under General Skilled Migration category, when it was so much easier than now.

10 years ago. Meaning right after uni? They had the graduate PR scheme. It indeed was a lot easier then.