Australian Immigration Story

I have quite a few friends asking about the Australian immigration process. So I guess it would be a good idea to put it in black and white before I forget all the nitty gritty.

My husband and I work in the IT industry. Well I used to work till the clear-blue showed two lines on it.This is only an overall picture and not very detailed. All detailed information can be found on Australian government websites.

Here are the steps in reverse chronological order

Transcripts –

Primary applicant needs to submit college transcripts . Transcripts need to be in English.

Reference letter –

Reference letters from direct managers have to be collected from current and all previous organizations. Reference letter should be issued by reporting manager or company HR with signature on company letterhead. If someone is unable to provide these , then a statutory declaration stating the reason as why its not available should do. However granting credits on such a declaration is on ACS’s discretion. We were not able to collect reference letter from my husband’s first organization and hence he did not get any credit for that period of work.

Writing IELTS –

Both of us wrote IELTS in the USA. My IELTS scores were irrelevant as I was not the primary applicant. However a score below 6 in any of the bands meant , secondary applicant/applicants would have to take some english classes once the visa was granted there are some extra visa charges associated.

EOI –

When we started the process, there was no EOI concept , however by the time we finished all our preparations , EOI was introduced . We thought it was good as one can be pretty much sure of the visa outcome , even before launching the application.

Final Visa Lodge –

We got an invite to lodge the visa within few weeks of submitting the EOI. We lodged the visa application and this is when we paid the visa fees. It was approximately 2800 AUD for a couple.

Medical –

We got our medical done in USA . I did my medical tests in Seattle , Washington and dear husband got it done in Minneapolis , Minnesota. Both of us had to wait for almost 6 weeks to get an appointment. We had to do a variety of tests like blood pressure, chest xray etc.

Police Clearance –

As we were Indian and staying in USA , we needed police clearance from both the countries . Also since were in usa , we needed clearance from state police and FBI. I got my Indian police clearance from Indian consulate in Los Angeles and husband got it from Indian consulate in Chicago. Process was quite hassle free and we could do everything online . Police clearance from USA was even easier.

Visa decision –

Visa was approved and we got the grant letter within 2 weeks after submitting the medicals and police clearance.