In today’s article I show you how to immigrate to Australia as an Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher (ANZSCO Code 241111) through the Australia Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) – Points-tested stream which does not require a job offer.
What's Covered in This Article
With the Australia Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) visa, you can immigrate to Australia as an Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher and:
- work and study anywhere in Australia
- sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence
- if eligible, become an Australian citizen
- stay in Australia permanently
- work and study in Australia
- enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
- sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
- travel to and from Australia for 5 years
- if eligible, become an Australian citizen
- Newly arrived residents may have to wait before they can access certain Australian Government payments and benefits.
Eligibility:
- have an occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list. Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher is currently on the skilled occupation list
- have a suitable skills assessment for the occupation.
- The assessing authority for Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers is the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited
- For your application to be valid, you must declare that you have a suitable skills assessment at the time of invitation.You will need to provide a copy of this skills assessment with your application.Your skills assessment must have been obtained in the 3 years before the date of your invitation. If the assessment was for a shorter period, that period must not have passed.
If your skills were assessed on the basis of a qualification you got in Australia when you held a student visa, the qualification must be from studying a course registered on CRICOS.
Be this age
You must be aged under 45 when invited to apply for the visa.
You can still apply for the visa if you turn 45 after you are invited you to apply.
If you turn 45 after you submit your EOI but before you are invited you to apply, you will not be invited to apply.
Be able to score 65 points or more
This is a points-tested visa.
When you submit your EOI in SkillSelect you will be given an indicative points score based on the claims you have made. If you do not obtain a score of 65 points you will not be invited to apply for this visa.
If you are invited you to apply for the visa, your invitation will state the number of points that you must score when your application is assessed for grant of the visa (this score may be higher than 65 points, depending on your claims in the EOI).
When you lodge your application you must provide evidence supporting your claims.
To calculate how many points you may score use the points calculator.
Have this level of English language
At the time of invitation, you must have at least competent English. – CLB 6
Test cannot have been undertaken more than 3 years before the date of invitation
Meet health requirements
You and any family who apply for the visa with you must meet the health requirement.
If requested, family members not accompanying you to Australia might also need to meet our health requirement.
Meet character requirement
You and family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa with you must meet the character requirement.
The character requirements are set out under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958
- be invited to apply for this visa.
You can only apply for this visa if you are invited to apply. See before you apply.
Submit an expression of interest (EOI) to let the Home Affaris know you would like to apply for the visa.
After you have submitted an EOI, you will be ranked against other intending applicants and might be invited to apply for the visa.
Invitations are issued regularly through SkillSelect.
- satisfy the points test
How long you can stay
This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia indefinitely. The visa has a travel component that expires 5 years after the date of visa grant.
You become a permanent resident on the day you are granted the visa.
For citizenship purposes, your permanent residence starts on the day:
- you are grant the visa if you are in Australia
- you enter Australia on this visa if you are outside Australia
Include family
You can include members of the family unit in your application. You can:
- include them when you lodge your visa application
- add them after you lodge your application but before we decide on your visa.
Family members who apply for the visa must meet Australia’s health and character requirements.
If your partner or dependent children are not included in this application, tell you need to explain the reason why (for example, they already hold Australian citizenship or are a permanent resident).
Cost
The visa costs AUD4,115 for the main applicant.
There is also a charge for each family member who applies for the visa with you.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator.
You might have to pay an extra charge for any applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English. This charge is the second instalment. Pay it only when we ask you to. We ask for the charge only if we are going to grant the visa.
The second instalment charge for family members is AUD4,885.
The Visa Pricing Estimator does not include the second instalment or other costs. You might also have to pay other costs for health checks, police certificates and biometrics.
Apply from
You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when we decide on your application, but not in immigration clearance.
If you apply in Australia, you must hold a substantive or a subclass 010 Bridging A visa, a subclass 020 Bridging B visa or a subclass 030 Bridging C visa, otherwise your application will not be processed.
Processing times
- 25% of applications: 23 months
- 50% of applications: 25 months
- 75% of applications: 36 months
- 90% of applications: 39 months
Applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and actual processing times can vary due to individual circumstances including:
- whether you have lodged a complete application, including all necessary supporting documents
- how quickly you respond to any requests for additional information
- how long it takes to perform required checks on the supporting information provided
- how long it takes to receive additional information from external agencies, particularly in relation to health, character, and national security requirements
- for permanent migration visa applications, how many places are available in the migration program
Travel
You can travel in and out of Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date we grant the visa. After 5 years you will need a Resident Return (RRV) visa (subclass 155 or 157) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident.
Visa label
Your visa will be digitally linked to your passport. You will not get a label in your passport.
Step by step how to apply for the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)
This visa lets invited workers with skills we need, to live and work permanently anywhere in Australia.
Step 1
Before you apply
You must submit an expression of interest (EOI) through SkillSelect to let Home Affairs know you want to apply for this visa.
Step 2
You will need to provide documents to support the claims you make in your EOI and show you meet the other eligibility criteria
Step 3
When you have your invitation you can apply online. You can be in or outside Australia.
You have 60 days from the date of your invitation to apply for the visa.
Step 4
We will let you know when we have received your application.
If you are granted a bridging visa you will receive notification of your visa grant.
Step 5
You can be in or outside Australia when we decide your visa application but not in immigration clearance. We will let you know our decision in writing.
If we grant your visa, we will tell you:
- your visa grant number
- the date your visa starts
- your visa conditions, if applicable
Keep a copy of the decision.
If we refuse your visa, we will tell you:
- why we refused the visa
- whether you have a right to a review of the decision
We will not refund the application charge if we refuse your application.
