A complete guide to Skilled Independent Subclass 189 Visa

Australia, as per United Nations Human Development Index, got ranked as one of the top 10 countries in the world, offering work-life balance, a world-class educational system and an excellent quality of life. All this together makes it quite valid for one to make a move towards getting the permanent residency visa in 2023 and settling in Australia. However, applying for the Visa isn’t an easy task, as during the application for the permanent residency visa, there are different categories from which one must make a choice based on what matches up with one’s specific requirements. In general, the General Skilled Migration Visa remains one of the popular categories in Australia for people willing to work and live there as permanent residents.

GSM doesn’t require the applicants to have mandatory sponsorship from the Australian employer, but the applicants having sponsorship, they can make an application within this visa category. GSM includes three categories, including

• Skilled Independent Visa or Subclass 189
• Skilled Nominated Visa or Subclass 190
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa and
• Subclass 491 for making a pick from.

So, if you are planning to move to Australia and to get Australian citizenship, the guide prepared by our experts about Subclass 189 visa and presented below is for you. Go ahead and give it a read to understand better about benefits, eligibility, requirements and the process to make an application for Subclass 189 Visa.

What is Subclass 189 Visa?

Skilled Independent Visa or Subclass 189 is the points-based visa system and a perfect way to allow the invited skilled workers to work and live permanently anywhere in Australia without holding the sponsorship from the Australian employer. The Visa also helps the applicants to,

• Study and work in Australia
• Stay permanently in Australia
• Enroll on Australia’s public health care scheme and Medicare
• Travel from and to Australia- 5 years
• Sponsor the relatives to come and live in Australia
• If eligible, help to become an Australian citizen.

As this is a permanent Visa, the applicants are allowed to live in Australia and become the permanent resident starting from the day the department grants the Visa. One other benefit as part of the Visa is that family members too can be included in the application.

Whether the applicant is living in Australia or outside, an application for a Visa can be made. If the applicant is applying in Australia, they must have the substantive/subclass 010 Bridging A visa/subclass 020 Bridging B visa/subclass 030 Bridging C visa. If this isn’t available, the applicant’s application will not be processed.

With the help of a Subclass 189 Visa, one can easily travel in and out of Australia as many times as they want for five years starting from the date of the receipt of the Visa. After this time period, one would be required to have Resident Return Visa or RRV visa (subclass 155/157) for re-entering Australia as a permanent resident. Because of it, the Visa will get digitally linked to the passport, and the passport will receive the label to reflect it.

Benefits of Subclass 189 Visa

• One can stay in any part of the Australia while enjoying the privileges and rights that are associated with the status of permanent residency.
• Eligibility to work anywhere within the Australian economy and to get the compensation that remains equivalent to the Australian citizen.
• Eligibility for all the social security benefits, including student benefits, sickness, unemployment benefits and more.
• Eligibility for the free healthcare cover charges that will be covering the medical treatment cost at any Australian government hospital.
• Eligibility to study anywhere and in any university of Australia.
• Eligibility for sponsoring permanent residency of the relatives after they spent some reasonable time living in Australia.

Subclass 189 Visa- Eligibility/Requirements

Invitation for application
One can apply for a Visa, only if they get invited. There will be a requirement for submission of an expression of interest or EOI through the applicant who is interested to make an application for the Visa. After the submission, the applicant gets ranked against some other intending applicants and then gets invited for making an application for the Visa. All such invitations issued, they are done regularly through the SkillSelect.

Skills Assessment
To ensure the application’s validity, applicants must declare that they have a suitable skills assessment during the invitation. To do that, the applicant will be required to provide the skills assessment copy with the application, and this copy of the skills assessment must be obtained within the last 3 years before the invitation date.
In case the assessment was for a shorter period of time, then such a period should not have passed. Further, for the skills assessed based on the qualification one has received in Australia holding the student visa, one’s qualification must be from their course study that is registered under CRICOS.

Age Limit
The applicant must be below the age of 45 when they get invited to apply for Subclass 189 visa. One can still make the application for Visa if they turn 45 after the invitation for application. However, if the applicant turns 45 after they have submitted the expression of interest but before they have been invited for application, in such a case, an invitation for application would not be made.

65 or more Points Score
As the Visa is points tested Visa, when the expression of interest is submitted through SkillSelect, the applicants get indicative points scores based on the claims made. In case one is unable to obtain 65 points a score, they wouldn’t be invited to apply for the Visa.

Competency within the English Language
During the invitation, one must be competent in the English language. It means one can prove that they are a citizen of and they hold a valid passport that has been issued by either the United Kingdom or Canada, the United States of America, the Republic of Ireland or New Zealand with the application. Further, one will also be required to prove that they have obtained either one of the below-mentioned English language test results,

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)- 6 band score for each of 4 sections (Writing, Reading, Listening and Speaking).
• Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based Test (TOEFL)- 13 for Reading, 12 for Listening, 18 for Speaking and 21 for Writing.
• Cambridge C1 Advanced Test- 169 at least in each 4 components.
• Occupational English Test (OET)- B in each of the 4 components.
• Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic)- 50 in each of the 4 components.

Meet-up Skills Requirement
The applicant’s occupation must be on the relevant eligible scaled occupations list for subclass 189 Skilled Independent Visa point-tested stream.

Health requirement
Applicants and their family applying for the Visa must meet up with the health requirement as asked.

Character requirement
The applicant, along with the family members who are aged 16 or above the age of 16 and are applying for the Visa, they must meet the character requirement.

Paying back debt to the Australian government
If the applicant or any of the family members, including the ones who are not applying for the Visa, owe any money to the Australian government, it must have been either paid back or have been arranged to pay back.

Signing Australian values statement
Applicants who are 18 or above the age of 18, they must have completely read and understood Life in Australia booklet. The applicant must also confirm to respect the Australian way of living and obey the Australian rules and laws when they are signing or accepting Australian Values Statement.

Mustn’t have Cancelled Visa or Previous Refused Application
The applicant will not be eligible for Subclass 189 visa if they have been previously refused or cancelled visas while they were in Australia. In any situation as such, it is better to discuss the assess of eligibility with someone knowledgeable or of authority.

Application for Subclass 189 Visa

The application process for the Visa is quite straightforward, and one just needs to follow the below-mentioned steps,

• Collect the required documents, including the IELTS score and all the other documents that are required to be submitted, as asked.
• Next, submit, Expression of Interest to the online SkillSelect system and get a minimum 65 score.
• Receive the invitation to apply from the end of the Department of Home Affairs (Australia).
• Make sure to apply for Visa within 60 days of time starting from the day the invitation has been received.

Subclass 189 Visa- Processing Time & Factors Affecting it

The processing time of the Visa is dependent upon different factors. However, on an average, the Skilled Independent Visa Subclass 189 Visa, takes around eight months to one year to be processed.
Different factors get taken into consideration by the end of the Australian home office when deciding upon the visa application. Some of such factors are,

• Accuracy of the visa application and all relevant documents that are attached to it.
• The response to further information, as asked by the home office.
• Time required for verifying information that has been shared with an application.
• Number of applications in total.

Subclass 189 Visa- Processing Cost

The base cost for the Visa comes to around AUD 4,115. Apart from that, an extra charge will be based on the applicant’s age. For the applicant who remains under the age of 18, the amount would be AUD 1,030 and for anyone above the age of 18 would be charged AUD 2,055.

There are some other charges that are associated with skills independent visa 189, including,

• $500-$1000 (approx.) Charged as skill assessment body fee. The fees is dependent upon the occupation.
• PCC and Medical fees along with state nomination fees. These fees, too, are dependent upon the occupation of the applicant.
• IELTS Test Fee- $300-$400 gets charged approximately for the test.

Australia is a charming place to not just work but to settle there with family and to build a successful career. However, it is not easy at times to complete the entire process of a Visa on your own. This is why taking the help of trained or informed professionals with Australian migration law and choosing trusted providers from the industry for the services, becomes important at times. It wouldn’t just help with the application process but will also help in assessing the eligibility before applying. So in case you are looking forward to moving to Australia, now is the time to connect and speak with the consultants who can help you all through the process.
Good Luck!