India to Australia - The PR process I followed

Want to move to Australia and don't know what to do? Well, then you are exactly where I was about a year and a half back. I tried going through an agent and all that jazz but I realized it was way too much money. Then I set out to do my own research and understand all that I needed to apply for a PR.

Since I had no knowledge at all and was researching all along the process, I ended up taking way more time than was actually required. I had to actually go through a lot of sites, YouTube videos and blogs to understand what needed to be done. When I entered Australia, the feeling of relief was overwhelming. To know that I singlehandedly managed the process from End to End (With a little help from the husband), was a feeling of achievement in itself.

Today when I think about it, I realized how difficult it was for me to understand the entire process. Gathering information from different sources was a hassle. Hence, I came up with the idea of penning down my journey at one place. This post is aimed at helping all those who want to move to Australia and do not want the hassle of migration agents. 

Before you start the process I would suggest looking up a points calculator online and check your eligibility. You need 60 points to be eligible to apply for a PR. Also, more the points, more is your chance of getting an invitation.

Disclaimer: The process described here is the one I used in August 2016. That was when I started this journey. We got out PR in August 2017 and we finally entered Sydney in January 2018. If something has changed post that, then I would not be aware of that.

TYPES OF VISA:

There are different types of VISA that one can apply for. I applied for VISA Subclass 189 - Skilled Independent. (Since this is the Subclass I applied for, I only know about this. In case you are looking at some other VISA type, then I don't think this post would be of much help.)

FEES:

For the above mentioned VISA the fees I payed was AUD 5400.

Primary Applicant (Me): AUD 3600

Dependant (My Husband): AUD 1800

You might need to check if there has been a change in the fees.

STEPS:

1. IELTS / PTE

2. Skills Assessment

3. PCC

4. EOI

5. Pay VISA Fees

6. Medical Test

7. Upload Documents

DOCUMENTS NEEDED:

1. Passport

2. IELTS Score card

3. All Education documents

4. All Employment documents

5. Skills Assessment Letter

6. PCC

7. Medical Test Results

STEP 1: IELTS / PTE

The first step is to apply for IELTS or PTE. Both of them are acceptable English Knowledge tests. We gave IELTS. For IELTS, I applied online. And the score is valid for 2 years. (Not sure about PTE).

STEP 2: SKILLS ASSESSMENT

This is an important step as the registered authority would assess your education and experience and check whether your qualifications and experience suit the opportunities they have.

To submit your documents for Skills Assessment, you need to have your IELTS score. So, once you give IELTS and are wating for your score, you can prepare all the documents needed.

a. Check for your occupation in the SOL list in the Skill Select site.

b. Check for the institute where you need to get the documents assessed.

c. Generally, the entire process will be online. So you would need to register with the institute and get all documents that they would need.

d. In my case these documents included the following:

- Copy of Passport

- Copy of IELTS scorecard

- All education certificates (Standard 10 to highest qualification)

- Experience letters of all companies you have worked with

- Reference letters from the HR or a senior member of the team from all companies you have worked with. (This is a note on a stamp paper mentioning the Date of Joining, Date of Termination, Brief description of role)

e. Ensure all the above documents are notarized

f. You would need to submit colored scanned copies of the documents (Unless mentioned otherwise)

NOTE: Please remember to check the IELTS score requirements before submitting the documents for assessment. Most of the institutes ask for a score of 7 or above; meaning you need to get a 7 pointer or more in individual sections and overall as well.

While you are waiting for your Assessment results, you can do the following:

  

STEP 3: PCC

This is the Police Clearance Certificate. This process has become really easy in India and takes about half a day. All you need to do is book an appointment online. On the day of the appointment take all the documents needed and follow the instructions. You will get your PCC at the same time.

STEP 4: Start the EOI

EOI is Expression of Interest. While you are waiting for your assessment, you can start your application for the same. You can fill out all the details you know and keep it ready. Once you receive your assessment, you can fill in the details like your assessment number, etc and then submit it.

NOTE: In case you are claiming points for your spouse, you would need to get his/her documents assessed as well. For that you would need to follow the same process as above. If your spouse's documents are approved and assessed, you get another 5 points.

STEP 5. PAY VISA FEES

After submission of the EOI ensure you have the following ready:

a. All education related certificates

b. All job related certificates

c. Assessment certificate

d. IELTS score card

e. All spouse related documents

f. Passport

g. PCC

h. Enough balance on Credit Card for payment - When we did it payment was supposed to be all at a time and in only one transaction. So ensure you have enough limit on the Credit Card you are planning to use.

Again, you would need scanned copies of the documents mentioned.

When you receive your Invitation, you would need to make the payment. Once the payment is made, an ID would be given to you and also a link would be activated in your EOI login page. This link would have placeholders for uploading your documents and a link for scheduling a medical test

STEP 6: MEDICAL TEST

As soon as the link for Medical Check is activated, please apply for the medical check for both you and your spouse(Generally you have a wait time of about a month for an appointment, depending on the city you are applying from). After the medical check, the results will be automatically updated by the medical representatives to the PR site using your ID. (If it makes sense).

STEP 7: UPLOAD DOCUMENTS

In your profile, you can start uploading your documents against the placeholders given. (Please note there might be a naming convention for the files. Please check before uploading)

AFTER SUBMISSION

Once you submit all your documents, you would just have to wait. Once your case is picked up, there could be 2 cases:

i. There is some information/documentation missing: In this case, someone would email you and let you know which documents are missing or improper. You would have 28 days to fix them in the site itself. (You don't have to send them anything)

ii. No issues with your information/documentation: In this case you would recieve your PR letter. In the PR letter you would be given a date for your first entry to Australia. We were lucky enough to get one year. Some people only got a couple of months. So my suggestion would be to be prepared for anything.

For us the entire process took a year as there was a lot of delay in trying to find the correct information and try and get everything straight. But then we were lucky in the sense that we got our invite in exactly a month. There are some cases where getting the invite would itself take some time. It all depends on the number of applications being picked up against a particular role.

You can also refer to the official site for further information. This site has been updated recently and has almost all the information needed in a very detailed manner.

This sums up my entire experience with applying for an Australian PR from India. In case there are any questions, please leave me a comment below and I will be happy to answer them.

All the best for your process! Hope everything works out soon!

References:

Official Site for PR process: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/189-

Points table: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/supporting/Pages/skilled/The-points-table.aspx

Points Calculator: http://harriswake.com.au/skillselectpointscalculator