Migration to Australia- (Part 2) - When the going gets tough only the tough gets going !

You can read our other parts of migration experiences here.

All this started 1.5 years back on Jan 2013.  Thanks to few friends who inspired us to take this huge step. It’s been a roller-coaster ride so far. Also many thanks to our immigration specialists AIMS – Things wouldn't be this easy without them.

Migration- Pure Rocket Science:
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Of all the other things like money, qualification etc needed for migration, the most important thing is PATIENCE. 

Step 1- Do we qualify ?

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The very first step is meeting the basic eligibility criteria. Thanks to our young age, our master’s degree and Arvind’s years of work experience.  And now comes the money. Forget the second part of migrating over to the country, Just to get the Permanent Residence for a family of two, it costs around 15000 Sg $ approx (inclusive of the agents fee). Again Thanks to Singapore money, for making it affordable. After all this is an investment.

            So with choosing the visa category, satisfying the points test, going through with IELTS, (not whining about the preparation for the exams as it all ended good), and the next step was skills assessment.

Step 2- Getting ready with the docs:

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            This was the most tedious step. Apart from Birth certificates, Education certificates, marriage cert, passports, we needed Service certs from all companies, bank statements from all banks, salary certs, letter of recommendations from all bosses of all companies, letter of resignations, letter of appointments, transcripts, medium of instruction certs, etc.. What more and what not?

            In Our case, we had to collect all these from India too, troubling our parents and friends back at India.

Step 3- Skill Assessment

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            Everyone who applies for a visa subclass 189/190 have to encounter this step. Simply put, the migration department of Australia evaluates the worthiness of our work experiences (to Australia standards) to offer us a Permanent Residence Visa. For this, they require us to write a CDR (Competency Demonstration Report) – A minimum 25 page report, listing all the work experiences detail for all the companies we’ve worked.

            The good part is, only the primary applicant has to submit the CDR and so for Arvind, he had 4 years work experience at 3 different companies. So it was 3 chapters in total accessed by EA (Engineers Australia).

PS: Now with India becoming a permanent member of Washington Accord, there is a rumor that the Indian engineering graduates may not have to go through this. But this remains a rumor till now.

Step 4- Submitting EOI and PATIENTLY WAIT, VERY PATIENTLY WAIT:

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            So After a wait of 14 weeks, the results of CDR Assessment came in leaving way for the next step.

            Submitting EOI (Expression of Interest) is basically filling up all the forms including the IELTS, Skills assessment results, submitting it and waiting for the invitation rounds to get an invite. This is the crucial part, as it may take upto 2 years (max) to get an invite. The invitation rounds are conducted twice a month. Each and every midnight of first and third Sunday was a sleepless night for us for about 7 months.

Step 5- YAYY! The Invite:

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            After a worthy anxious wait of 7 months, we were finally given the invite, allowing us to proceed with medical and police clearance. Though for the Police clearance we had to get from both India and Singapore. The end was not far.

Step 6- The Permanent Residence – The Great Escape:

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            Here we are, smiling with the granted visa. Thanks to our extremely supportive parents, AIMS, and all others who helped us in this journey. Words will never describe this Joy. Now that the seemingly hard part is over, can’t wait to migrate and start a relaxed calm, peaceful life in Australia. Of course with few fast races here and there.

After all what is life without UPS and DOWNS! J

NOTE: The whole migration process may vary from person to person, family to family. There is no least or max time. It depends on various parameters like points, age, qualification, nationality etc.

Sharing Our Timeline Below:

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Occupation Code     :     233411 Visa 189

9 MARCH 2013       :      IELTS Exam Written

21 MARCH 2013     :     IELTS Results Acquired

         8.5                  :     IELTS Band Score

27 JULY 2013          :    CDR Approved

7 AUGUST 2013      :    EOI Submitted

24 MARCH 2014      :    Received Invite

2 APRIL 2014          :    PR Application Lodged

23 APRIL 2014         :    Medicals Completed

14 MAY 2014           :    Case Officer Assigned

15 MAY 2014           :    Police Clearance Applied

21 MAY 2014           :    PC Received (India)

5 JUNE 2014            :    PC Received (Singapore)

9 JUNE 2014            :    Form 18, Medicals and PC Submitted

10 JUNE 2014          :    Visa Granted (happens to be our wedding day at 2012 :) )

PS: Not making this a very vague post, listing all the details, providing the links etc. This is just a go-through post to understand the overall Process.