Pathways to Claim 5 Extra Points Towards Australia PR

Are you contemplating to migrate to Australia under General Skilled Migration Visa?

If yes, ensure that you calculate your total points well in advance to assure your eligibility.

Australia has got the most organized and structured point-based system for Skilled Migration visas. These visas include:

• Skilled Independent Visa (subclass 189)
• Skilled Nominated Visa (subclass 190)
• Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 489)

To be eligible to lodge an Australia PR Visa application for any of the above visas, you require at least 60 points in the Points Test.

If you are planning to apply but are unaware of the importance of these points, here is a brief overview.

The point-based visas for Australia Immigration requires an applicant to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) via SkillSelect and get invited by Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to apply for this visa.

The minimum points you require to receive an invitation is 60. The more the points, higher are the chances of receiving an invitation.

Here’s a look on the criteria and the points awarded to you for the Points Test.

1. Age

2. English Language Ability

3. Skilled Employment

4. Educational Qualifications

5. Australian Study Requirements

5 points are granted for at least one or more degrees, diplomas, or trade qualifications awarded by Australian educational institution and meet Australian study requirement.

6. Study in Regional Australia

You can achieve 5 points if you meet Australian Study Requirement to have lived and studied in regional Australia or a low population growth metropolitan area at the time you are invited to apply.

7. Partner Skill Qualifications

You get 5 points if your partner meets the following requirements:

• Age
• English Language Ability
• Suitable skills assessment in a nominated occupation on the same Skilled Occupation List as used for your application

You cannot gain these points if your partner is–

• Not included on your visa application
• An Australian citizen
• An Australian Permanent Resident

8. Nomination

If you are nominated by a State or Territory Government for visa subclass 190 only, you can get 5 points.

** The above listed points for different criteria are referred from www.homeaffairs.gov.au

But, do you still lack five points to apply for your Australia PR Visa application?

Here’s a good news then!

You can gain these five bonus points for your point-based skilled migration visa just by getting NAATI accreditation in community language or by completing a Professional Year Program.Now that you know there is a way that helps you in getting 5 points, let’s understand what exactly is getting accreditation in community language.

NAATI CCL Test

If you are looking for benefits in your Australia Permanent Residency goals, you are eligible to claim 5 points under Credentialed Community Language (CCL) points at the Paraprofessional level or above, upon successful accreditation from NAATI.

National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters – NAATI recently introduced a Credentialed Community Language (CCL) Test that gives 5 points to international students for their point-based GSM Visa.

CCL Exam determines an applicant’s ability to interpret the conversation between two speakers speaking different languages.

In this test, you are required to interpret two dialogues that are conveyed to you via a recorded material. These dialogues include alternating segments of a conversation between an English speaker and a speaker speaking Language Other Than English (LOTE). You are required to infer the segments from English to LOTE and vice versa.

You need an overall score of 63 marks or more in the CCL Assessment Test with a minimum of 29 out of 45 marks in each dialogue in order to achieve 5 points.One more way of earning 5 extra points towards your Australia PR is completing a Professional Year Program.

Professional Year Program

A Professional Year Program is a well-organized professional development program that provides an applicant to develop communicative skills, gain practical experience and knowledge regarding an Australian workplace. This program runs for 44 weeks out of which 12 weeks are of internship.

The candidates who successfully completes this program not only gains the experience of working in an Australian culture but also gets eligible of achieving 5 points towards their PR visa application. One can be eligible to gain those extra points if he/she undertakes a course under PY Program that is in his/her Nominated Skilled Occupation List or an occupation closely related to it. Also, the course must have lasted for at least 12 months.

The Professional Year courses are currently available to graduates in the fields of Computer Science, Accounting and Engineering. Applicants can thus score 5 points if they have started and completed an approved Professional Year course in Australia within the last four years of being invited.

Only the fact that you have studied in Australia does not guarantee an approval for the GSM visa. These are few pathways that can help you boost your score for the Points Test and increase your chances of applying for the Australia PR Visa.

If you are considering taking CCL Test to claim the 5 bonus points and require detailed understanding for the same, you can sign up on CCL Tutorials and even undergo online preparation for your test here.