The Skilled Independent Visa Subclass 189 is a permanent visa which allows skilled workers to live in Australia. This visa does not require sponsorship from an employer or state/territory Government, however skilled workers must be both qualified and experienced to fill Australia’s current skill shortages. To be eligible for this visa, applicants must be skilled in an occupation on the Skilled Independent Visa Occupation List (SOL)
At the time that you are invited to apply for this visa, you must:
1. Be under 45 years of age
2. Nominate an occupation that is included on the relevant Occupation List (MLTSSL)
3. Have your skills assessed by the appropriate Australian skills assessing authority as suitable for your nominated occupation
4. Have competent English
Once granted, the Skilled Independent Visa is a permanent visa which allows the applicant and accompanying family members to:
1. Live and work anywhere in Australia indefinitely, with no restrictions
2. Study in Australia, with access to subsidised education
3. Access to Medicare
4. Apply for Australian citizenship (after meeting appropriate requirements)
5. Be able to sponsor family members for certain visas
6. Apply for social security payments
7. Travel in and out of Australia for 5 years
Note: Although the visa is granted based on the holder being skilled in a specific occupation, once granted the holder is not required to seek or maintain employment in this occupation.
Anyone who wishes to apply for this visa MUST first be INVITED to lodge an application by the Department of Immigration. In order to qualify for an invitation, you must lodge an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI), which sets out how you meet the requirements for this visa.
STAGE 1: INITIAL ELIGIBILITY:
The first step that we will take is to conduct an initial assessment of your eligibility for this visa. This involves reviewing your qualifications, work experience, English language and other circumstances, to establish whether or not you are likely to meet the relevant requirements.
As part of this initial eligibility assessment, we will consider which MLTSSL occupation(s) you are likely to be able to nominate, and whether or not you are potentially eligible for a positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority for that occupation.
We will then provide you with informed and comprehensive advice about your ability to meet the minimum standards that the Department of Immigration requires migrants to fulfil, in order to qualify for an invitation to apply for this visa.
Note: Our initial assessment of your eligibility does not guarantee that you will (or will not) in fact obtain a positive skills assessment, or be issued an invitation to apply for this visa. In particular, whether or not the Department of Immigration issues you with an invitation will depend upon how your points test score compares to the scores of other potential applicants, and whether or not the Department of Immigration deems your nominated occupation to be required in Australia.
STAGE 2: SKILLS ASSESSMENT
Should our initial assessment indicate that you are eligible for a positive skills assessment and EOI, we will prepare your skills assessment application.
For each skilled occupation listed on the MLTSSL, the Department of Immigration has specified an assessing authority that may carry out skills assessments for that occupation. Only a skills assessment conducted by the relevant assessing authority will be accepted by the Department of Immigration in support of an EOI. We will provide you with a full list of the information and documents required to support your application. When you have provided the necessary details and documents, along with the required assessment fee, we will lodge your application with the applicable skills assessing authority.
STAGE 3: EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)
Once you have received a positive skills assessment from the skills assessing authority, we will prepare and lodge your EOI. Although you do not need to provide supporting documents at this stage, you MUST be able to provide evidence that the information supplied in the EOI is correct at the time that you are invited to apply for the visa.
You will subsequently receive a result and points score from the Department of Immigration, which is used to rank you against other applicants who have lodged EOIs for this visa. The ranking is based partially on whether or not your occupation is a skill that Australia requires at the time your EOI is assessed. If your EOI is successful, you will be invited to lodge a visa application.
Note: The Department of Immigration retains an EOI for 2 years from the date that it is lodged. During this time, your EOI can be updated if any of your circumstances change (e.g. you obtain a new qualification or skills assessment). If your ranking changes during this 2-year period, based on either your changing circumstances or Australia’s changing skill needs, you may be issued with an invitation to apply for the visa at that point in time.
STAGE 4: VISA APPLICATION
Once the Department of Immigration has invited you to apply for this visa, we will prepare and lodge your visa application within the specified time frame, together with all of the documents that support the information that you provided in your EOI. This includes your skills assessment, English language test results, qualifications, work references and all other required documents. Should your visa application be approved, you will be granted a permanent visa. You may be either in Australia or overseas when your visa is granted.
HEALTH
Main applicant and all of the family members must meet health requirements.
CHARACTER
You must be of good character.
You might be asked to provide police certificates for each country you have lived in for 12 months or more, over the last 10 years (calculated immediately before the time the visa application is lodged), since turning 16 years of age.
Police Certificate is valid for 12 months for the immigration purpose.
If you have a substantial criminal record, you cannot pass the character test. For example,
You have been sentenced to 12 months or more in prison.
LOCATION
You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when a decision is made.
DEBTS
You must have repaid, or have arranged to repay, any outstanding debts to the Australian government.
VISA CANCELLED OR REFUSED
You might not be eligible to apply for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused while you were in Australia.
Base Application Charge: AUD 3,755
Additional Applicant Charge 18 And Over : AUD 1875
Additional applicant charge under 18 : AUD 940
8 MONTHS
PLEASE NOTE: The actual time taken by the Department of Immigration to approve an application and grant a visa varies from case to case depending upon an applicant’s particular circumstances, and the amount of supporting information that the Department requires.
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