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Sri Lankans in Australia
Questions, timelines and warnings from people going to Australia or already living there.
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How long is the 189 EOI wait at 85 points right now?
I lodged an EOI for Skilled Independent 189 in March with 85 points, ANZSCO 261313 (Software Engineer). Still nothing. Everything I read online is from two years ago and the numbers do not match what people are saying in the Facebook groups. If you got an invite this year at 85 or 90 points, roughly how long did you wait after lodging? I am 33, so age points start dropping in a year and a half and I am trying to work out whether to sit PTE again for the extra 10.
Agent in Colombo charging Rs. 450,000 for a "guaranteed" 482
Writing this anonymously because the office is close to where I work. The pitch: pay Rs. 450,000 up front, they have a "partner employer" in Queensland, sponsorship is guaranteed, visa in three months. They showed a printed nomination approval with an employer name on it. I asked for the employer name so I could check the sponsor register myself. They refused, said it was confidential until payment. That is the whole tell. An approved sponsor is a public fact and any real one will let you verify it. A friend of mine paid. Four months later there was no nomination, no employer, and the phone number had changed. He has not got the money back. If an agent will not name the sponsor, walk out.
Subclass 189 granted after 14 months, here is the full timeline
Posting the whole thing because I could not find one honest timeline when I started. Skills assessment (ACS) lodged: 12 Jan, positive 3 Mar PTE Academic: 79+ on second attempt, 21 Mar EOI lodged: 28 Mar, 85 points Invitation: 11 Aug Visa lodged: 2 Sep Medicals and police clearance: 18 Sep CO contact (asking for Form 80 and a payslip gap explanation): 4 Dec Grant: 19 Feb Total cost, everything included, was about Rs. 2.1 million with the AUD at what it was. The biggest single line was the visa fee itself, not the agent, because I did not use an agent. Happy to answer anything specific.
IT job market in Melbourne, honest picture from 8 months in
I moved in on a 189 last year and I want to correct some of what is being said back home. It is not the 2021 market. Recruiters are slower, there are more applicants per role, and "Australian experience" is still asked for even though nobody will admit it is a filter. What did work for me: three months of consistent applications, a resume rewritten to the local format (two pages, no photo, no NIC, no date of birth), and taking a six-month contract instead of holding out for permanent. The contract turned permanent. Salary: I came in at AUD 105k for a mid-level backend role. I was told to expect 120k+ by an agent in Colombo. That was not realistic for someone with no local experience.
Sharing a place in Sydney vs living alone, actual numbers
Six months of real figures, because every "cost of living" page I read before moving was optimistic. Sharehouse, own room, Marrickville: AUD 310 per week including bills and internet. One bedroom apartment, same suburb: AUD 620 per week, plus roughly AUD 60 a week for electricity, gas and internet. That is a difference of about AUD 1,500 a month. For a student or someone in their first year I would say do not even consider living alone unless somebody else is paying. Bond is four weeks rent, held by NSW Fair Trading, and you will need it in cash before you have a job.
Skills assessment with ACS: what they actually asked for
For anyone doing an ACS assessment with a Sri Lankan degree. What they wanted from me: 1. Degree certificate and full transcript, colour scan, both sides 2. Reference letters on company letterhead, signed, with the writer's direct contact details and their position 3. Payslips or bank statements covering the same period as each reference letter 4. Passport bio page The reference letters are where people get stuck. A letter that says "worked as a Software Engineer from 2019 to 2023" is not enough. It has to describe the actual duties in a way that maps to the ANZSCO code, and it has to be signed by somebody who can be contacted. My first submission came back for exactly this. Second one passed. Two months lost.