Relevance of the 60 Points Test
Courtesy of Department of Immigration and Border Protection
What is your "why?": Whenever I get asked how to come here, I initially ask why they want to come here. Their goal in life would determine if this country suits them or not. The land down under offers more opportunities if you are a Permanent Resident, especially if you are a citizen. It is not a popular destination for those people who just want to become an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) because of the reason stated previously. In saying that, if and when you do come here, you will be blatantly asked regarding your residency goals. And if you do not have any plans or if you are unsure, the 60 points test is the perfect guide. But, before you do anything else, you have to research first under the skilled occupation list (SOL), which changes yearly, if your skill is found there. (Any type of nursing is found on that list)
The SOL is a document stating the skills Australia needs. On that document, you will find the name of the skill on the left side and the assessing body on the right side. For nurses, our assessing body is called ANMAC (Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council). They will determine if you are skilled as you say you are based on the documents you need to submit (this is another topic you need to research, go to their website and research as I will not talk about this in my blog). Below is the link you can click to see if your skill is under the SOL.
https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/SOL
60 points: This is a significant number in applying for PR (Permanent Residency). You need a minimum of 60 points to be eligible for invitation. So the higher the points, the better the outcome for invitation. Fortunately for nurses, there is a massive shortage in the country. You only need the minimum points, 60, to be invited. The picture above depicts the evidences you need to meet the said criteria. This is all found on the immigration website. But, what I usually do is, I google a points calculator for Australian Permanent Residency application. This tool helps me determine if I meet the points or not. Also, this tool will ask you to select which visa you are aiming for before proceeding to the computation part. (You need to have an idea regarding the visa you are applying for. If unsure, go to the immigration website and research. Everything that you need to know is there, you just have to digest the information.)
Let me give you an idea on how this is met. When I applied for PR, I was 26 years old, with a bachelor's degree, an IELTS test score of 7+ in each component and 1 year of Australian nursing experience. I applied for subclass 189 visa (Skilled Independent Visa). Let me explain further: (using the calculator)
26 years old= 30 points
IELTS 7+ in each component= 10 points
Bachelor's degree in Nursing= 15 points
Australian 1 year experience= 5 points
Total: 60 points
Usually people fall short of 5 points but, there are ways on how to achieve it. You can either score an A for OET or 8+ in all components for your IELTS, you can apply for state sponsorship (if your skill is under the state's SOL, you can obtain an Australian degree which you took at least 2 years of full-time study (that's why some people opt for the 2 year bachelor's degree instead of the 1 year degree that I finished), you can become a translator (taking the NAATI exam), you have 3+ years of overseas experience or 1+ Australian experience or your partner is skilled as well (your partner has been assessed by proper assessing body of his or her skill). There are different ways on how you can achieve the points, you just have to choose which one you are willing to do and again research on how to do it. My choice was to go for the 1 year Australian experience.
Take home: Do your research as it will help you understand what you need to do. If it gets a bit tough to understand, ask someone you know who has done this in the past. If you are still confused but understood most of it and you need help with your application, hire an agency. I used an agency because I did not want to be stressed out the whole time. And since I also added my husband in my application, I wanted someone else to carry the burden for me. Think of it this way, you are paying someone to be stressed out for you. Be wary though, there are several agencies that would scam you and they can be very expensive as well. That's why researching is the key. By doing that, you would know if they are scamming you or not. Make sure the agency is a registered migration agent. You also need to determine if you are willing to go the distance because coming here is just the tip of the iceberg. What you do here can make or break you. You will have several trials along the way so make sure you have a big "why." Because at the end of the day, you need to go back to your "why" to help you push through all the difficulties you will have to face.
The SOL is a document stating the skills Australia needs. On that document, you will find the name of the skill on the left side and the assessing body on the right side. For nurses, our assessing body is called ANMAC (Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council). They will determine if you are skilled as you say you are based on the documents you need to submit (this is another topic you need to research, go to their website and research as I will not talk about this in my blog). Below is the link you can click to see if your skill is under the SOL.
https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/SOL
60 points: This is a significant number in applying for PR (Permanent Residency). You need a minimum of 60 points to be eligible for invitation. So the higher the points, the better the outcome for invitation. Fortunately for nurses, there is a massive shortage in the country. You only need the minimum points, 60, to be invited. The picture above depicts the evidences you need to meet the said criteria. This is all found on the immigration website. But, what I usually do is, I google a points calculator for Australian Permanent Residency application. This tool helps me determine if I meet the points or not. Also, this tool will ask you to select which visa you are aiming for before proceeding to the computation part. (You need to have an idea regarding the visa you are applying for. If unsure, go to the immigration website and research. Everything that you need to know is there, you just have to digest the information.)
Let me give you an idea on how this is met. When I applied for PR, I was 26 years old, with a bachelor's degree, an IELTS test score of 7+ in each component and 1 year of Australian nursing experience. I applied for subclass 189 visa (Skilled Independent Visa). Let me explain further: (using the calculator)
26 years old= 30 points
IELTS 7+ in each component= 10 points
Bachelor's degree in Nursing= 15 points
Australian 1 year experience= 5 points
Total: 60 points
Usually people fall short of 5 points but, there are ways on how to achieve it. You can either score an A for OET or 8+ in all components for your IELTS, you can apply for state sponsorship (if your skill is under the state's SOL, you can obtain an Australian degree which you took at least 2 years of full-time study (that's why some people opt for the 2 year bachelor's degree instead of the 1 year degree that I finished), you can become a translator (taking the NAATI exam), you have 3+ years of overseas experience or 1+ Australian experience or your partner is skilled as well (your partner has been assessed by proper assessing body of his or her skill). There are different ways on how you can achieve the points, you just have to choose which one you are willing to do and again research on how to do it. My choice was to go for the 1 year Australian experience.
Take home: Do your research as it will help you understand what you need to do. If it gets a bit tough to understand, ask someone you know who has done this in the past. If you are still confused but understood most of it and you need help with your application, hire an agency. I used an agency because I did not want to be stressed out the whole time. And since I also added my husband in my application, I wanted someone else to carry the burden for me. Think of it this way, you are paying someone to be stressed out for you. Be wary though, there are several agencies that would scam you and they can be very expensive as well. That's why researching is the key. By doing that, you would know if they are scamming you or not. Make sure the agency is a registered migration agent. You also need to determine if you are willing to go the distance because coming here is just the tip of the iceberg. What you do here can make or break you. You will have several trials along the way so make sure you have a big "why." Because at the end of the day, you need to go back to your "why" to help you push through all the difficulties you will have to face.
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