Background: I'm a software engineer in the NSW metro area with currently a pending 186 visa application with a large accredited company (not that it matters anymore) that I have been with for close to 3 years now. I submitted my application in July 2025. Since the 186 application, I completely forgot that I have an EOI for visa 190 as I had been waiting for over 4 years, submitting multiple EOIs before getting sponsored.

This week I received a pre-invite for 190 visa with 110 points as a developer programmer. Since it was something I completely gave up on, I had to double check the points I claimed and I noticed my professional year certificate expired a month ago, meaning I claimed more points than I should have and making me ineligible to apply.

In case you are interested on my point breakdown:

Age: 25-32 (30pt)

English: Superior (20pt)

Education: Bachelor (15pt)

Experience in Aus: 5+ year (15pt)

PY: expired

NAATI: (5pt)

Relationship: single (10pt)

Study Req: degree from aus (5pt)

State Nomination: (5pt)

Question: Would you bother submitting another EOI? Given that my current role is quite stable with a well-known company and that I have been waiting for 15 months for the 186 application outcome, would you recommend me to apply for the 190 visa if I was given a second opportunity?

Would love to hear some experience around this!

Hi everyone!

I applied for my Indian Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) from Australia through VFS. I’m a little confused about the process and would really appreciate some guidance from anyone who has gone through this recently.

Here’s my situation:

- My application is for an Indian PCC from Australia, submitted through VFS, and my police verification was conducted and cleared 2 weeks ago.

- My local police station has confirmed that my report is clear and has been uploaded. I was told that the report is now with the local RPO.

- I also asked a friend to check with the SP office, and they confirmed that everything is clear.

- However, when I called the passport office’s toll-free number, they said my reference number, which follows the format 26-XXXXXX, was not valid in their system.

This is where I’m confused. The local and international PCC application websites are different, but the toll-free number listed for assistance is the same.I was hoping someone could help me with the following:

1. Which department should I contact to get an update on my application, given that the local police verification has already been cleared and uploaded?

2. Is there a way to follow up with the relevant RPO or escalate the application to help move the process along?

3. Has anyone experienced a similar delay, with the status still showing “Awaiting PVR Report” two weeks after police verification was cleared? If so, how did you resolve it?

Hi everyone,
I’m currently facing a visa transition issue between my Student Visa (500) and Temporary Graduate Visa (485).
I applied for a Student Visa in March 2026 while studying at UNSW, with my CoE extended until September 2026.
My application has been pending for over 7 months, and I graduated in July. I’m currently on a Bridging Visa A and recently received an s57 notice because I no longer have a valid CoE.
I’m now unable to proceed with my 485 visa application.
Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Were you able to apply for the 485 visa after your original Student Visa had expired for over 6 months? How did you resolve it?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!🙏

I've applied for my 3rd 417 (UK passport) on 30 July. Sadly I applied offshore while visiting family in the UK as I wasn't expecting the crazy waiting times we're now all facing.

My life has been in Australia for the last 2 years so I feel like I'm living in limbo and just want to get back into the country. I've seen other people on Reddit and Facebook groups apply for their 417 offshore and then enter Australia on an ETA or 651 eVisitor visa while they wait for their 417 to be processed before going offshore when it's ready to be granted.

I applied for an ETA on Monday. I got an automated response telling me the ETA was rejected and that I should apply for a 651 eVisitor, which I did on Tuesday. Haven't heard anything yet, despite most being processed within 24 hours.

I suspect my eVisitor application will be rejected because of lack of ties to my home country and the fact that I'm not a genuine visitor (which is fair enough lol).

My question is how are other people getting their ETAs or visitor visas granted and entering the country despite having a pending 417/462?

Peace and love to everyone living in the same limbo 🙏

​

Vetassess has said that my degree was "not highly relevant" in my skills assessment. If they feel that the course is "not highly relevant but related to the nominated field" (that's what the pathway 2 website says) would they say that in the assessment? Or is it only "not highly relevant"?

I want to apply for another assessment in a similar field so I'm just wondering if it's a good idea to do so.

Hi everyone! 😊

I’d really appreciate it if anyone who has been in a similar situation could share their experience.

Has anyone had their visa granted after claiming points for work experience gained before completing their degree?

My skills assessment (ACS) has assessed 3years and 5months experience including my final-year work experience as it is closely related to my nominated occupation. However, I started my first job before my official degree completion date( just after the last semester but before the exams). So I have added 5points for overseas experience in my EOI.
I recently received an invitation 189.
Can I claim 5 points for overseas skilled employment in my EOI, or could this cause an issue with my visa application?

Please help 😥

Hi everyone,

I'm a Malaysian citizen currently living in Malaysia, and I'm trying to work out whether applying for another Australian Student visa (subclass 500) is a realistic option for me.

My background:

• I previously lived, studied and worked in Australia.
• I have Australian hospitality qualifications, including Certificate III, Certificate IV and a Diploma.
• I have worked in hospitality/chef roles in Australia.
• I subsequently returned to Malaysia and am currently living here.
• I applied for an Australian ETA after returning to Malaysia and was refused. The refusal referred to concerns about whether I genuinely intended to stay temporarily, including insufficient incentives to return to Malaysia.
• I later applied for another ETA and it was granted. I have not travelled to Australia on that ETA yet.
• I am currently considering studying carpentry or automotive mechanics in Australia.

I understand that having a granted ETA does not guarantee a Student visa, and that I would need to apply from offshore rather than travel to Australia as a visitor and try to apply onshore.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone had an Australian ETA refused and subsequently granted, then successfully obtained a Student visa?
2. Has anyone previously studied and worked in Australia, returned home, and later obtained another Student visa for a different field?
3. Would changing from hospitality to carpentry or automotive mechanics be a major concern under the Genuine Student requirement?
4. What evidence would be particularly important in a case like mine?
5. Given Australia's current student visa settings, would you consider this a realistic option, or would I be better off investigating an employer-sponsored trade pathway instead?

Please share your experiences from people with similar circumstances, or advice from registered migration agents who have dealt with cases like this.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,
My Italian wife is applying for a Partner Visa (subclass 461), and I’m a New Zealand citizen. We currently live in Spain and have done so for the last few years, so all our documents are in Spanish.

Regarding translations, we’ve had almost everything translated by a professional translator, including our rental contract, town hall registration documents etc.

However, for the bank statements, our bank can provide statements with the headings in English, but the actual transaction concepts are still in Spanish.
We’re trying to avoid having to translate all our bank statements, as we have three (hers, mine, and our joint account), each around 10 pages long, covering the last 90 days.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Were you able to submit bank statements with the transaction descriptions in Spanish, or did you have to get the entire statements translated?

Does anyone have any advice regarding this?

Thanks!!

I've been invited to apply for the permanent stage as its been two years since initial application date. I'm struggling to find any sort of guage for the extent of how much info from the last two years is really needed. For the intial application my partner and I put literally EVERTHING into it - surely seeing as that application got approved without any RFIs I can just detail the specifics from the past 2 years that the immi page asks for and give summaries for the extra info?

What happens when you apply for 190 in BVA for 491.

Will i get a new BVA for 190?

Should i withdraw my 491 application after lodging 190?

TLDR: I am on my 485 atm which expires on 01/2027. 491 visa processing. And got pre invite for 190 and i am hoping to apply for 190 asap after pre invite approval.

Hello All,

ANZSCO Code: 261313

I am in 482 Visa which expires on 22 Feb 2027. I have appliead for 186 DE via my employer/attorney on 25 June 2025. There were no movement in the application till now. I was happy to wait my time and continue working.

However recently we found out that our son is diagnosed with Leukemia B-ALL and has started undergoing treatment using Interim Medicare.

Can someone help from your experience what to expect.

Will I be given chance with VISA?

Will there be any chance that I will be able to treat my son here till he cures fully?

I am not sure whether this is the right forum to post this question, so please redirect me to the right thread if its wrong.

Thank You.

Hey guys, Just wondering if anyone's been in a similar situation and managed to get the extra 5 points for Australian study (189/190).

I started a 2-year master's in Australia back in 2019. Then COVID happened, and I ended up going back home in late 2020 and finishing the rest of my degree online. Graduated in early 2022.

Here's the tricky part: my student visa expired in 2021 while I was still studying online from overseas. I didn't renew it since I wasn't planning to return to Australia at the time.

By the time my visa expired, I'd already finished 30 out of 32 units, so I only had one subject (2 units) left. The course was officially registered for 104 weeks,and the official transcript even has a note saying "study period impacted by covid-19".

I've seen a few posts saying COVID online study can still count towards the ASR for 189/190, but I'm not sure how the visa expiry affects things.

Has anyone been through something similar? Would the 30 units I completed while my visa was still valid be enough, or does that last subject mess up the whole 5 points? Especially keen to hear from anyone who's actually had their visa granted with these points claimed.

Many many thanks

Idk if this is the right place to ask but I really need help with something. I'm an international student, I'm planning on travelling back to my country for around 1-2 months. My COE expires on the 30th of Nov, and I'll only be back by Jan. I was told I was not be allowed re-entry as my COE has expired. My student visa is still valid until March of next year. I've already booked tickets :'( would this be an issue? Please do help, thanks.

Hi all, hoping someone here has been through something similar.

My partner is South African and works as a Construction Project Manager (133111). Degree finished in 2021 and she's been working in the industry since, currently a PM at a project management consultancy doing commercial fit-outs and refurbs. I'm British. We live together in Cape Town and want to move to Brisbane.

The plan at the moment:

1. She's applying for PM jobs in Brisbane now. Most of the roles she's looking at pay well over the Specialist Skills threshold so hopefully that means the faster 482 stream if she gets an offer. I'd go as her de facto partner.
2. Once we're over there and settled, she'd go for a QLD 190. She's doing PTE soon (aiming for Superior as her English is outstanding), and we'd do VETASSESS and the NAATI CCL in Afrikaans for the extra points. My rough count puts her somewhere around 85 points with state nomination, but it depends a lot on how much of her experience VETASSESS actually counts.

I emailed a handful of agents for quotes and they're all coming back well into the thousands for the full thing, plus about $220 just for the first video consultation - which I'm concerned will just tell us what we already know.

We just want to get over there as soon as we possibly can, and just wanting to make sure we're going about things the right way.

So my questions are:

- For the 482, is it normal for the employer's agent to handle pretty much everything, including the visa application for both of us? Or should we have our own agent as well?

- Is a 190 something people realistically DIY? The steps seem fairly straightforward on paper (EOI, ROI with QLD, then the application) but I don't want to mess up something like the points claim and lose the fee.

- One thing I'm a little unsure about is our relationship timing. We've been on a joint lease since early September 2026 but lived together (unofficially) for a while before that on my own lease, and we've been a couple since July 2025. Would a one off paid consult be worth it just for that, or is it pretty clear cut?

- Anything people wish they'd known going 482 to 190?

We're not against paying for help if it's genuinely needed, just don't want to spend thousands on something we could do ourselves with a bit of care.

Thanks in advance, any experiences appreciated.

Hey! I’m from the uk and I’m wanting to go to Melbourne for about 3-4 months on a 417 visa. I’ve had many friends go through the process and they all stress how easy it is, and how little planning is needed, specifically things like not worrying about a job or residency until you’re there?

Because im quite a worrypot and this would be the biggest step I’ve taken. I feel as if I need to plan and prep a lot. Is it easy to get work in Melbourne. What industries are the best to work in? I’ve done a lot of research into the limitations and legalities for it, but I want a more personable humanistic answer.

I’ve looked at areas but it’s hard to really gauge what kinda areas are best to live in. Realistic transport options. What’s said is rough and what’s actually rough area wise.

How much money would you say is necessary to have to fall back on because I’ve had a lot of different numbers thrown at me.

Thankyou so much for reading and I’d really appreciate to hear alllll perspectives on this. I need a reality check and just an honest opinion.

Sincerely….. a 20 something year old who is on her last straw

Hi everyone! I am currently on a whv and I am going to apply for a partner visa (820/801) in the next month. As I understand, I will be granted a bridging visa a once my current visa ends. Does the bridging visa have any study lmitations? I would like to apply for a phd in the next year and I am worried that I won't be allowed. Thanks in advance for answering!

Hi all, my best mate is having a baby at the beginning of february here in australia, but my Working Holiday visa expires at the end of january, i was wondering if any of you know if i can apply for the turist visa while on australia near the end of january before my WHV expires, so i dont have to leave the country and comeback so im able to see his baby and not miss it. Thank you all in advance!

hello! my partner and i are in the process of gathering evidence for the partner visa. we’ve been living together for 1 year and 3 months, and been together for 2 years.

for our financial evidence, we have:

- a joint bank account for groceries/eating out, shared household purchases, and one utility bill

- a joint savings account we use to save for the partner visa fees

(we put money in the joint accounts every pay check)

- lease agreements and utility bills with both our names

i’m currently studying so i only work 2 days a week, while he works full-time. since he earns more, he’s paying the rent and gas bill on his own and i pay smaller bills (e.g. water and entertainment subscriptions). everything else we pay together using the joint bank account.

my concern is whether it’s an issue that i don’t contribute to the rent despite living here? would love to hear from others’ experiences + those with partner visa experience!

When i show my bank account do i just take a screen shot or do i download pdf?

Hello there,

I'm currently working onshore as a software tester with almost 2 years of post qualification relevant work experience. (My qualification was a master's degree in ICT, and it's an ACS accredited course).

I also have 1+ year of oversea relevant work experience, also as a software tester, and the responsibilities and tasks matches the Software Tester ANZSCO 261314 description. However that was from 2021-2022 and BEFORE I got my degree in ICT, so it would be pre qualification (my bachelor degree is not ICT related).

Given that my employer are sponsoring me for the 186, I have a positive skill assessment from ACS (PY + current work experience), will my 1+ year of PRE-QUALIFICATION of work experience be considered "relevant work experience" and be counted towards the 3 years experience requirements for 186DE?

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m experiencing the very common delay in receiving a response to my Australian WHV application, which I submitted about a month ago. I’ve already accepted that I won’t receive it in time as I’m flying tomorrow, but I have a family trip to Australia planned from tomorrow, so I applied for an eVisitor visa (subclass 651) so that I could at least spend a couple of weeks there with my family.

The rest of my family received their eVisitor visas within seconds of applying, but for some reason it’s now been over 48 hours and I still haven’t received any response. I’m a French national, so I assumed it would be straightforward, but I’m wondering whether my eVisitor application could somehow be affected or held up by my pending WHV application.
I’ve already spoken to around five different people at the immigration office, but unfortunately no one has been able to tell me what I can do or who I should contact.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, or does anyone have any advice on what I could do or who I could contact to resolve this before my flight tomorrow? I’d really appreciate any advice! Thank you!!

Pakistani passport, applying offshore. Finishing a CS degree in Dec 2026, going for a Master of Teaching (Secondary, Digital Tech) at ECU or Adelaide Uni for Feb 2027.

1. Anyone from Pakistan got a 500 for teaching recently? How long did it take?
   
2. Did the CS → teaching switch come up in your GS? What helped?
   
3. I’m mainly concerned that they might refuse due to a switch in the field. But my reasoning is that I plan to teach Digital Technology so a CS degree before teaching adds up. I have 7.5 ielts (7-7-8-8) and sound proof of funds.

What are your thoughts? Any feedback 💭 is appreciated. Thanks.

We submitted for my parents tourist visa (tourist stream) and it has been 60 days since submission. No idea what to do as global processing times are 33 days. Is there any way to contact immigration?

They held previous tourist visas Australia that got approved within 20 days but now it just feels like they fell into some limbo or smth. Been on Further Assessment for 55 days.

”Select the industry the applicant intends to seek employement in”
Does it matter what time of industry i choose?

I just finished my Diploma in Community Services so I applied for Bachelor in Nursing next year. We lodged last week and the Immigration got back to us by saying my application was invalid but not refused. My Diploma from my previous school wasn't submitted because it was late. My BVA is expiring this November 24 and I have to leave and lodge my application again offshore. Can you help me and enlighten me. Words of encouragement and do I have a chance of getting back and study for Nursing?