New Assessment Levels Announced for Student Visas
August 14, 2008 by Mira · Leave a Comment
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Dear Colleague
New Assessment Levels have been announced for Student Visas.
These new levels will take effect from 1 September 2008.
There have been a significant number of changes;
- 43 countries across 118 education sectors have been moved to a lower assessment level rating
- 9 countries have moved to a higher assessment level.
Lower assessment levels have lower evidentiary requirements (eg financial requirements) and higher assessment levels of course have higher evidentiary requirements
For full announcement details, click these links:
Legislative instrument with new list
Had any experience with these changes yet? Tell us how they impacted your plans - just use the Comments box below…
| Here are some links to additional information on Australian Student Visas, and the Assessment process: …
All About Applications for Australian Student Visas - On your student visa, you are eligible to apply for packaged programs. If you are a citizen of assessment level 1 & 2 countries, you are allowed to convert a business or tourist visa in to a student visa. But citizens from country … Assessment Levels For Student Visas - Australia - You can find out your assessment level by looking up your nationality and visa subclass applied for in Form 1219i, Overseas Student Program - Assesment Levels or by visiting the DIAC website. Important: if you have an assessment level 2 … Visa Guidelines - Regardless of visa subclass or assessment level, there are a number of general requirements that international students must meet in order to be eligible for a student visa. These include requirements relating to: … how to get student Visa for Australia? - Once this information is received by the visa processing office, the preliminary assessment will be conducted. If the assessment is favourable, then the visa office will instruct the university to send the student an electronic … Student Visa Australia - Evidentiary Requirements - Your level of English Language Proficiency in relation to that required for your assessment level and education sector of study; The situation in your home country eg personal or financial commitments that may prompt you to return to … Australia Visa Information - Your application will be assessed according to your Assessment Level. Your Assessment Level is determined by the country of your nationality and the education sector for which you are seeking a student visa. |
Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1
Don’t Forget Your Pet When You Move to Australia
June 5, 2008 by Mira · Leave a Comment
If you are thinking of moving your pet to Australia, :) with you hopefully :) I suggest you first get an idea of what’s involved in this process so that you don’t get hassled mid-way.
The most important fact that you need to remember is that the entire procedure can be an expensive one and requires that you navigate through a few controls and restrictions.
I will briefly guide you through the various stages involved in moving your pet to Australia and, hopefully, save you time, hassle and money: Read more
Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1
Journey 4 - From Germany to Tasmania
May 22, 2008 by Mira · Leave a Comment
Some people think I’m crazy ….but some think I’m very brave.
I will let you judge for yourselves.
I’ve always been very independent and enjoyed traveling. Read more
Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1
Journey 3 - From UK Fireman to “Real Aussie”
May 22, 2008 by Mira · Leave a Comment
Our journey started 4.5 years ago.
My partner and I have decided to leave the UK, I already had a sister living in Australia and have visited a few times, the beaches, the laid back life style, the weather and all the possibilities for outdoor activities – surfing, scuba diving etc were very tempting so we decided to make the move.
We were both firefighters in the UK and enjoyed our work but apparently this was not in demand in Australia so we had a problem with skilled migration.
We hired a migration agent and were advised that our best option is to study in Australia and we were told that if we structure our studies properly, we may be able to apply for Skilled Migration when we graduate and this will enable us to get our Australian permanent residence.
It was a long term plan but if nothing major changed in the law then we had a good chance. We decided to go for it and I decided to study to be a Pastry cook.
I’ve always enjoyed baking and thought the move to Australia would be a good time for a career change.
We started the process of getting all our documents together to get them ready for lodgement to Australia House in London but then the worst happened.
In the medical tests that we had to do for the student visa application, the doctors discovered a cyst in my chest. I then had to start a series of additional tests to discover the nature of the cyst and I was later told that the cyst needs to be removed for me to satisfy the health requirements for the visa.
My studies had to be deferred by 6 months, I was operated and was at home for 4 months, no fire fighting and no scuba diving…….
All this time I tried to keep my spirits high and I’ve done pretty well I think.
I recovered well and got the go ahead from the specialist.
Finally we were able to lodge the application which was approved pretty quickly and we arrived to Australia, settled down in the beautiful Sunshine Coast in QLD. Have I mentioned the great beaches ???
We sold our house in the UK and that gave us enough funds to buy a plot of land and build our home, we truly felt at home and were very settled.
My studies were lots of fun, for 2 years I studied all aspects of pastry and baking and I found work very easily working in a few local cafes and bakeries, getting enough work experience which after completing my Certificate III enabled me to apply for a skills assessment with the TRA and nominate the occupation of Pastry Cook. Once that was completed our migration agent lodged our permanent residence application through Skilled Migration and that was approved after 6 months.
We couldn’t believe it! We were Australian permanent residents at last!!!! We already felt very much at home here so that made us feel like real Aussies….
So yes, it was quite a long journey because of our specific circumstances and we had our share of trials and tribulations along the way mainly because of my health issue but looking backwards we are grateful for the decision we took.
Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1
Journey 2 - Next Top Chef in Australia
May 22, 2008 by Mira · Leave a Comment
I love what I do, I’m a chef.
I haven’t always been a chef, I actually used to be an engineer but that was for a very brief period of time until I discovered cooking.
I decided to do an 8 months cooking course and turn my passion into my work. I studied everything I could including pastry and baking and chocolate making and while I was studying I started working in a few restaurants to gain as much experience as possible.
It’s not easy but it’s like an addiction – if you love it you can’t stop!
And so I was working for over 6-7 years as a cook in France and life was good and busy.
One day my best friends left for Australia…
That was very sad but it was their dream so I was happy for them that they had found the courage to follow their dream.
We were very involved in their process and knew about it a long time ago, once they got their permanent visa in Australia they were trying to convince us to come and join them. They immigrated to Sydney and it took them a while to settle down and feel at home there but after a few months they were very happy there. They both found good jobs and bought a house and wanted us to join them.
My wife and I were trying to have a baby so we felt we have to be near our families in France and can’t leave.
We’ve never been to Australia but they are our best friends and a bit after our baby was born we decided to try and make the move and immigrate to Australia and be near our friends.
We heard that life is much easier in Australia and my dream is to open a restaurant and chocolaterie in Sydney. I know French restaurants are very popular in Australia.
Australia for me represents the land of unlimited opportunities.
Something seems very primal there, more detached from the chaos of the rest of the world and that’s a good thing.
My friends recommended we use the same migration agent they used as they were very happy with their service so we ended up doing that.
As I’m a chef we had to go through Skilled Migration. First we had to get my skills assessed with the TRA, that’s the skills assessing body that assesses cooks and chefs in Australia.
I had to provide very detailed letters of reference about my work experience and had to prove my qualifications and it took me a few months to prepare the documents but eventually we completed this stage and I was assessed by the TRA as a Cook.
The next hurdle was the IELTS, I had to do an English test but studying English wasn’t easy, when you work full time and have a baby and the last time you used your English was when you were 18 then it becomes rusty you know…. So I had to take a private English teacher and study seriously. I did the IELTS and passed it the second time.
Our visa application was lodged 6 months ago and we’re eager to get our permanent residence and arrive to Australia as permanent residents.
No matter what the outcome is, I am happy that we had the courage to go all the way.
I’ve always believed that if we want something we should go for it so that we don’t regret later that we haven’t given it a try.
Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1
Journey 1 - Destination Australia
May 22, 2008 by Mira · Leave a Comment
It all started 10 years ago…
This feeling of wanting a change in life, of wanting to do something different, experience the world and what it has to offer and not be stuck in a main stream life of work, mortgage, the mundane routine that so many of us go through…
So we decided to leave our very secure jobs and buy an around the world ticket with the final destination being Australia…….
Why Australia ?
We got the feeling that the people there are nice, life not as stressed as in other countries but above all there was this mystery that appealed to us, we really knew nothing about it and this “unknown” was very attractive.
We didn’t know if we wanted to immigrate to Australia, the word immigration can sound pretty daunting doesn’t it… we decided we wanted to spend some time in Australia and our first destination was Melbourne. An amazing city that was quite embracing from the very beginning so after 2 months we realized we have to find out how we can stay there.
Our dream was to become Australian permanent residents, we knew that would enable us to stay in Australia, live and work here and have a life without limitations because nothing is really possible on a tourist visa except traveling.
We felt we needed the grounding and the legal basis of living in this amazing country. Finding the right migration agent was quite a journey but we ended up choosing somebody who seemed reliable, professional and caring enough and we felt comfortable to work with. Skilled Migration seemed to be the best option for us as I was an accountant and accountants were on high demand (appeared on the MODL).
We first had to go through the skills assessment process so I had to get my skills assessed so that I could nominate the occupation of Accountant. At that stage we felt very stressed in time and going back home was not an option so we decided to apply for a skills assessment with all assessing bodies even though only one is enough so we applied to CPAA ,ICAA and Vetassess too (in case the first 2 are not successful).
We were very stressed in time as I wasn’t working and one of the basic requirements in Skilled Migration is to have recent work experience so in our case time was of high essence.
Luckily the first stage was completed successfully and all the skills assessments were positive and once that was completed our visa application was lodged.
It took about 10 months overall but our stress levels were pretty high, I remember I used to think that our determination and perseverance is being tested here…….
Getting the visa approved was one of the happiest days in our lives, it was too good to be true! We had to go overseas and get our visas evidenced in our passports at the Australian embassy in New Zealand and there was something magical about coming into Australia with a permanent visa in your passport and later with an Australian passport. We felt very proud!
Today, 8 years after our move and Australian citizens for a few years by now I can say that migrating to Australia was one of the best decisions we made in life that opened the door to many options. We took a leap of faith and it was definitely worth it!!!
Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1
