A Guide To Australian Migration

Last September, my wife and I were granted our Australian permanent resident visas. It came to us as a surprise. I have a friend who just migrated to the Land Down Under, and he got his visa after two years of waiting. I lodged our online application only last January. Nine months of waiting for our visa application to be approved is certainly a quick turnaround. We are very thankful for that. To those who are interested in taking the same path, I am writing this article to guide you.

First of all, you have to read through the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship. This is the official website on migrating to Australia. I like the way the site is set-up. It offers very comprehensive and detailed write-ups on how to migrate to the country. Under the General Skilled Migration Program, you can decide which visa subclass would you like to apply to. I opted for a Skilled - Independent Visa Subclass 175. This is good for people who have the qualifications to migrate to Australia, but do not have an employer or a relative who can sponsor their migration. There are a lot of other options which are suitable for your circumstances. The visa wizard on the Department's website will guide you through this.

One thing that you need to remember when applying is that Australian migration is based on a points test. There are specific qualifications which would merit you a certain amount of points. If you pass the points test, you can proceed with your application. In the Visa Subclass 175 for example, the passing mark is 65 points. Your age, English language ability and job experience will determine how much points you can accumulate.

Once you are certain that you can qualify for a visa application by passing the points test, you now need to work on completing the requirements. I took up IELTS first. I gave it my best shot, because the higher your band score is, the larger points you can earn for your points test. The next step that you need to complete is to have your job experience and credentials evaluated by an assessing authority. I am an engineer, and I had my credentials reviewed by Engineers Australia. If you are an engineer like me, you will have to submit a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) to prove that you are qualified. The website of Engineers Australia provides a good explanation on how this is done. My advice would be to carefully make your CDR. This is your ticket to Australia. This has the biggest weight on whether or not your application will be granted. I edited mine a lot of times. It took me a month and a half to complete it. I never regret staying up late just to make it the best way that I can. On December 2010, I received a letter from Engineers Australia. I got a positive result from their assessment.

After completing all the requirements, you can now lodge your visa application online. If you have complete documents, your application can progress swiftly. The Department will tell you if you're ready to get your medical examinations. If you are told to do this, you can assume that the likelihood of your application being accepted is really high.

There are people who hire the services of migration agents to get them through this. This is not to discourage people from seeking their help, but personally, I'd recommend people to apply on their own if they can. It's cheaper to do that. The only thing that needs the most attention is creating the CDR. If you are confident you can complete it by yourself, then you're okay to lodge an application on your own. It's not that difficult.

I have outlined the basic process of immigrating to Australia. I hope this helps, and good luck to your application!