Skilled – Independent (189)
Skilled Independent visa subclass 189 is a permanent visa for 5 years, which gives you the rights to live in Australia indefinitely.
After you move to Australia you will have an options wither to apply for Australian citizenship in 4 years or to get another permanent visa for another 5 years.
The applicants should meet the following requirements:
- be under 50 years of age
- score at least 60 on the points test.
- To have a skill listed on SOL (Schedule 1) and to get a positive Skills assessment form a relevant assessing authority
- To have result in English test of IELTS 6 in each component or equivalent
The process to obtain a Skilled Independent visa subclass 189 is a 4 stage process:
1. English language test
At the moment there are 5 tests accepted by DIABP. The minimum score is IELTS 6 in each component, but certain occupations will require higher score
Alternative test scores benchmarked as against the IELTS band scale
|
English Language |
Test component |
IELTS |
TOEFL |
PTE |
Cambridge English: |
OET |
|
Listening |
6.0 |
12 |
50 |
169 |
B |
|
|
Reading |
6.0 |
13 |
50 |
169 |
B |
|
|
Writing |
6.0 |
21 |
50 |
169 |
B |
|
|
Speaking |
6.0 |
18 |
50 |
169 |
B |
2. Skills assessment
Applicant’s skills should be assessed by the relevant authority. The assessment varies between assessing authorities and may include assessment of qualification and post-qualification experience. Certain skills require higher English language score.
3. Expression of Interest
The System Skill select will automatically select the candidates with the highest score and sends the invitation to apply for a visa. For certain occupation groups the competition may be high and more than 60 points could be required to get the invitation.
4. Invitation to apply for a visa
Once the applicant invited to lodge the visa application, there are 2 months to lodge a visa application and to pay the visa fee.