The 189 visa is an independent skilled visa that allows you to remain permanently in Australia and it doesn’t require the sponsorship of a state or relative.
It is a points-based application and it is dependent on your occupation, and your occupation must be on the skilled occupation list to apply for this independent pathway to permanent residency.
There’s a variety of occupations on the list such as medical professions, IT professionals, engineers and a lot of trades including plumbers, chefs, and electricians.
You are allocated points based on the following factors such as Age, English language proficiency, work experience, educational qualification, etc, which qualify you for an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
So the first step of the process is to have your skills assessed, this is to ensure that you are comparable to an Australian qualified person in that same occupation.
so dependent on your occupation will be your skill assessing authority.
Some professions require English language levels such as engineers and others do not really once you’ve got the skills assessment.
To actually apply for the 189 visas, you first have to submit an expression of interest online, the expression of interest requires minimum points of 65 and it is free to submit an expression of interest.
Your expression of interest remains in the pool for two years and if for some reason you don’t get an invitation after two years, your invitation will be erased and you will need to reapply.
How long it takes to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) is dependent on your occupation which is also dependent on the number of points you earned.
So at the moment, the requirement is that you have to have a minimum of 65 points to lodge an expression of interest, however, 65 is not getting you an invitation to apply for a permanent residency visa or a 189 visa.
How It Works
There is a computer-generated invitation once a month, and the volume is dictated by the government.
But whether you’re going to get an invitation and when will be determined on the volume of applicants and applications in the expression of interest and also the level of competitiveness.
There are so many people really vying to get the same spots in the 189 that they’re pushing up the points.
In the last couple of rounds, a minimum of 70 or 75 points was required, and in some cases such as accountant required 80 points or higher.
So be aware that just because you’ve got 65 point to submit an expression of interest, it may not get you an invitation. However, scoring 75 points can make you feel a lot more confident.
How long it’s going to take to receive an invitation is really anyone’s guess, it could be a month or two it could be four months.
It’s just dependent on the volume of candidates, and if you’ve got 75 and others are scoring 80 and 85 points, they’re going to bump you off and they’re going to get the invitation before you even though you may have been waiting longer.
It is pertinent to ensure you score higher points in each considering factors such as age, English language proficiency, work experience, educational qualification, etc.
