It was successful in my case. I was recently granted a 134 Skill Matching Visa.
I took one of the routes that Alan is mentioning. I am still in the UK and I was already the holder of a SIR visa but when my occupation (welfare worker) came onto the occupations in demand list for SA in July 2005, I applied for state sponsorship (thinking I could apply for an STNI visa but this is not allowed) so instead I applied for the skill- matching visa with my state nomination.
I applied in December 2005 and was granted my permanent visa in June 2006. When I got my pbuttport back from the Aus High Commission in London, the SIR visa had been invalidated and the new permanent 134 visa attached instead.
As regards to costs, yes I had to pay another visa lodgement fee (around å£790) and pay for another set of medicals (around å£220) and new police checks (å£10.) I already had my skills buttessment from the AIWCW so I didn't have to pay for that again.
The benefits for me are:
1. That I now have the leeway of 5 years to decide on what I want to do and and get myself sorted out etc. before having to commit to moving (whereas with the SIR visa I would have had to be in SA by last month, July 2006 to make the time deadline.)
2. It's easier to get a job if you have a permanent visa. Especially if you are looking for jobs with local government which I was intending to do. (Now I'm thinking of retraining in the legal field.)
3. It will be a lot quicker to get citizenship. In total, just 2 years (3?) as a PR if I have the 134 visa. With the SIR 495 visa, I'd need to spend 2 years in SA on the SIR, then a further 2 years (3?) to gain PR on an STNI visa after the SIR.
Ielts Sender: George LombardThe difference is that for the designated sponsored visa you only need 4.5 if the state or territory of your sponsor has English language arrangements in place to allow you to undertake English...
Also, if the rumours are correct, it may be the case that DIMA is thinking about giving transitional protection to people who have a permanent residence visa granted before January 2007 (when the new 3 year rules for PR are supposed to be being made law). ie. if you have been granted PR before Jannuary 2007 then whenever you actually move to Australia, you will only have to have 2 years PR to get citizenship. If I had gone ahead to Oz with my SIR visa, I would not get my PR until AFTER January 2007 and hence I'd likely be looking at 3 years PR before citizenship.
All in all, I think it was money well spent in my case.
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