Australia 190 Visa: Why I Claimed No Points For Work Experience

If you combine all of my hours worked in construction for both home remodelling and in the film industry, it would add up to five years experience in carpentry. When it came time to file my Expression of Interest (EOI) for New South Wales state sponsorship, self-doubt kicked in. Being self-employed half the time, I've had a dozen or more clients over the years. For each job I claim on my resume, I had to verify it by obtaining a certification of work letter from each client. Not only that, I would link a bank statement matching up how much was paid. Obtaining this information took up the bulk of the first phase of my skill assessment through VETASSESS... and I was still meeting new clients. Now imagine a case officer in the Department of Home Affairs having to go through all of these references, only to lose their patience. Picturing them passing the application over in favour of a more straight forward file nagged at my brain.

This better be square.

One day I get an email from my migration agent mirroring my thoughts, despite myself never bringing the subject up. They felt that despite my evidence and extensive CV, the complexity of being self-employed risked my EOI being delayed or rejected. Moreover, when I work in the film industry, it is through my union, IATSE. So who employees me in the eyes of someone not familiar with the film industry? The union? The payroll company? The studio? Well, confusingly a combination of the latter two. And why does my payslip list so many different departments and these movie-speak roles? This would be addressed in a "statement of work balance" I had notarised where I had to explain the work I did with evidence. So while I had work experience, both my migration agent and I concluded the amount a case officer would have to shift through could delay or risk my visa.

After finally submitting my EOI without claiming points for work experience, I was state-sponsored within two weeks with a total of 75 points: 20 from my PTE test, 10 from my skill assessment, 30 for my age at the time (32), 10 for being single (still a bachelor), 5 from state sponsorship, 0 from work experience. In the video below, I make my case for using a migration agent. Keep in mind, if you have a relatively simple application, you may do well going without one and save a few thousand dollars! Nonetheless, I encourage everyone to at least book a consultation with one before pursuing a skilled visa by yourself. For those who are self-employed either full or part time, I do strongly encourage the use of a migration agent for the reasons in this post. Make sure they are registered on the MARA database to avoid scammers and have good testimonials. Lastly, consider booking a mock skill assessment session with me to tilt the odds in your favour of passing. You can do so here.