Skilled Independent Visa
Subclass 189
(Points-tested Stream)
(Permanent)

Eligibility Criteria for the Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189)

Location

Applicants may be in or outside Australia at the time of application and visa grant.

Tricks and Common Reasons for Refusal

1 – Failing to Demonstrate Professional Skills Properly Against Skills Assessment Criteria

Apparently, skills assessment is the first step and challenge of the entire Subclass 189 visa process as it can be complex and even confusing, requiring an exquisite and to-the-point demonstration of your skills not only in the form of supporting paperwork, but sometime also practical/technical assessment. Therefore rushing into skills assessment without knowing exactly what a skills assessing body is looking for is highly risky and quite often leads to an unfavourable outcome. This is why hiring an immigration professional to assist you right at the beginning is important. ​

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2 – ”Irrelevant” Work Experience​

One of the most unfortunate yet common scenarios is the applicant’s work experience is deemed irrelevant to their chosen occupation by skills assessing authority. This is typically because the authorities decided the applicant was not actually performing the job duties they claimed and that even the applicant had chosen a wrong occupation to start with. When this happens, things go straight to square one, which is certainly frustrating. We have had numerous clients that went through exactly this before turning to us for professional assistance.​

We hence noticed it is not they didn’t do those jobs, but they simply failed to present their day-to-day professional activities in the submitted paperwork in a proper and acceptable manner to the assessing body. In view of this, we have made it part of our routine to thoroughly check through and revise every client’s work references, résumé and other employment-related paperwork where possible to ensure they are in line with what the authorities expect from your occupation so that you end up with a big smile.

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3 – Unfamiliarity with How the Australian Immigration Works and Its Mentality

In many cases, applicants prepare and submit their supporting documentation in a disorderly way, giving the Immigration a hard time digging through tons of paperwork to get things in the right order when picking up a new visa application. This will potentially lead to endless back-and-forth clarification and explanation, wasting both sides lots of time and can even result in a refusal of Subclass 189 visa.

This is common since applying for a visa, especially a permanent one, is the very first time to most applicants. For this reason, our team have developed our own system for labelling, coding, structuring and, where necessary, cross-referencing documentation so your application can be submitted in the most presentable and logical manner. Making your application stand out among all competitors has been our goal from day one.

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​4 – Careless Yet Costly Mistakes

Applying for migration is seen as a delicate work of art due to the staggering amount of attention, paperwork, and details involved. A seemingly minor/harmless error such as a typo in your résumé, a date entered wrong, or a tick in the wrong box in the lengthy visa application form can prove costly as the Immigration processes all visa applications strictly in accordance with migration law, in particular Migration Act 1958 and Migration Regulations 1994. Even a small error can be regarded as failing to satisfy a visa requirement and therefore lead to a visa refusal. To minimise such incidents, our team pay extra attention while editing and drafting every client’s paperwork and always proofread and also conduct a final review of documentation before submission.

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5 – Applications Not Being Decision-ready

Another common reason for refusal, even instant refusal, for Subclass 189 visa is submitting an application without all the required documentation. This happens when the application was prepared carelessly, or when the applicant was trying to rush an application for whatever reason (e.g. meeting a cut-off date of a major migration policy change which happens almost each and every year and often catches people off guard).​

Even with 43 years of team experience, we handle each application cautiously and meticulously like our first to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. Should a sudden change of policy hit and impact you, we are more than capable of advising you how to salvage your application in terms of what documents are mandatory at the time of submission and what can wait so you are never in danger of a straight-up visa refusal upon submission.

Key Benefits of the Subclass 189 Skilled Independent Visa

With this visa, you may:​

• migrate to Australia together with your family

• stay and live in Australia permanently

• potentially bring your extended family members to Australia permanently on parent visa or visa intended for other relatives

• access various government benefits, including but not limited to:

  • pension

  • unemployment and job-seeking benefits

  • concession cards for commuting

  • benefits associated with new-born baby

  • interest-free school loan

• travel overseas and back to Australia without limitations for any purposes (e.g. overseas holiday, visiting family and/or attending family matters in home country)

• access Australia’s public health care scheme (Medicare) which essentially provides free medical consultations, operations and hospitalization for a wide range of medical conditions

• work in Australia without any limitations

• study in Australia without any limitations

• attend free English language course provided by Australian government

• apply for Australian citizenship when eligible

Application Fees​

You may include your family in your Subclass 189 visa application so your entire family can migrate together.

First Instalment

• Primary applicant: $4240

• Each additional applicant aged 18 or above: $2120

• Each additional applicant under 18: $1060

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Second Instalment

A second instalment of $4885 applies for each applicant who is at least 18 and assessed as not having functional English at the time of invitation.

Please note: you may incur third-party charges, for example, for translation, skills assessment, English test, police certificate and health exam.

Processing Time​

Kindly note the processing time constantly varies. Please contact us for update.

• 75% of applications: 21 months

• 90% of applications: 33 months

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