Australian Visas and Expression Of Interest (EOI): Caution!

On 1 July 2012 Expression of Interest or EOI came into play and the very next day, on 2 July 2012 I wrote this post about it. This post is still relevant today and from time to time I do update the information where necessary. The last update took place 20 February 2018.

Every year the The Department of Home Affairs reviews and revises the visa application process. They look at the jobs on the skills list, how the points are allocated and the whole process of making the visa application.

Then they tweak it all and come up with some new rules and procedures and announce them, usually, on July 1.

Expression of Interest or EOI

Here’s the process step-by-step, I’ll explain each stage in a minute:

Skills Select

  • Expression of Interest
  • Getting picked from the pool

Expression of Interest

Skilled applicants will be able to go online and enter their own EOI. The information they will be required to input will be quite thorough, equivalent to the six pages worth of information required to complete a Visa Assessment here on BobinOz.

Getting picked from the pool

Technically, you could get picked out of the pool by any one of Australia’s states or territories who require your skills, or any employer, or even The Department of Home Affairs themselves. You will get an invitation if you are nominated by the states or territories or if your occupation is on the SOL and you meet the qualification criteria you will receive an invitation directly from SkillSelect. You can still find your own sponsor and it is probably advisable to continue looking for one as nobody is really sure just how many states or employers will be scanning this system for people.

Once you are selected or have found your own sponsor, you move to the next stage.

Visa Application:

  • Pay the Visa Application Charge (VAC)
  • Your information is then verified
  • Fast track to Australia

So, what happens at each stage?

Once you have been invited – by either Skillselect for an independent visa or invited on the basis of a state or territory nomination, you move to the next stage.

You have 60 days in which to apply after being selected. The great thing about this process is it is fast!

Pay Visa Application Charge (VAC)

Of course, your visa application will have a fee involved, payable to the Australian Government. You will be required to pay this fee with your application.

Your information is then verified

Remember that EOI you completed online a while back? I hope you didn’t tell any little white lies on it. I remember going for a job interview when I was about 18 years of age. Of course, I had a CV prepared. I never much liked the section called “Hobbies and Interests”, at the time mine were going to the pub, getting drunk and partying.

That’s not what a prospective employer wants to see, is it?

So I put sport and photography.

The interview went well, but right at the end, the interviewer said “So, what camera do you use?”

I looked at him in utter bewilderment; I’d forgotten my own hobbies. He reminded me of what I’d put on my CV and asked again what camera I used.

“It’s just a normal camera.” I said weakly.

Yes, many of us can tell little white lies to get that job on occasions.

DON’T DO IT!!

Not on an EOI. I will explain why under the pitfalls below.

Fast track to Australia

Yay! If all goes well, you will be in Australia in no time. But what about…

The pitfalls!

Caution!

When you complete your EOI online, there are no checkpoints in it. If you want to put yourself down as a brain surgeon with 15 years experience, you can. You can create a profile with 100 points if you want.

The system will accept it and place you in a queue.

Obviously, nobody in their right mind would do that, but maybe you’d be tempted to say you have four years experience when you have just over three? Or to say you have a qualification when you are still waiting for the result of that exam?

No, you wouldn’t do that, would you?

How about this then? There is a tick box somewhere along the line asking if you have had your skill assessed by the relevant authority. Maybe you are in the process of doing that, maybe you are thinking of doing it, maybe you tick yes.

Maybe you enter any kind of information into this document that isn’t quite correct. What happens?

If you enter incorrect information:

  • You are automatically refused when the discrepancy comes to light.
  • You will lose your Visa Application Charge fee.
  • You could possibly be banned from reapplying for three years.

The EOI that you complete online is a legal document, please complete it with 100% accuracy, or you could be very sorry indeed.

As I have said already, you can enter the information for your EOI yourself. At this stage, it appears that non-MARA registered migration agents can also charge you a fee to help you with this process.

“Yah, I’m an expert EOI form filler, here’s my card :-). I can fill it in properly for you for just $300!”

Kerching!

If you do not want to fill in this form yourself, and you do want help, I strongly suggest that you use only a professional MARA registered migration agent or a qualified lawyer. It’s a legal document and great care has to be taken when completing it.

The official Expression of Interest page

As you probably know, the rules, regulations and procedures can, and often do change at any time when it comes to applying for visas and migrating to Australia. Every effort is made to ensure the information provided by this website is as accurate as possible, but nobody is as up-to-date as the Australian government themselves.

For this reason, is always best to get your information directly from The Department of Home Affairs. Here is a link to their page on this subject:

Finally, I want to provide you with a link to the Australian government’s page where you can submit an EOI, login to SkillSelect and also check occupational ceilings and the current invitation round numbers. Well, you can do a lot more than that when you visit…

Comments: Please read…

Since this post went live on July 2, 2012 it has attracted a huge amount of interest and, at the time of writing this, approaching 2000 comments.

It is obvious that this process, Expression of Interest, is hugely confusing and many of you are having problems with it. Almost all of the comments below are questions about this process.

I would need to be a MARA registered migration agent to know the answers to these questions and I’m not. The above article was written after I had spoken at length to a professional MARA agent, for any of you who have read the article, you probably now know as much about EOI as I do.

I am keeping comments open on this post, but I will not be able to answer any questions. Hopefully somebody else who does know might pop by with an answer, but I would also suggest that you do have a quick look at all the comments that have already been made as your question may have already been covered.

Good luck to you all,

Bob

PS. The notices below, in a way, repeat what I’ve just said above but they also fully clarify my situation when it comes to comments.

Important: Please read before commenting…
legal_notice

And for those looking for professional assistance…
vas_notice

Visa Assessment Service
{ 1869 comments… add one }
  • Harinderpal Singh August 14, 2019, 1:51 pm |

    Hi I had got the Skill Assessment done through Vetassess 2 years back and they gave me an experience of 4.1 years. If i have to apply now for EOI will i be getting scores for 4.1 years category or 4.1+2 years as I am still working in same profession. What to do in case i want these two years to be added in my skill assessment score.

  • April July 26, 2019, 3:10 pm |

    Hi,
    I need some advise. I have already submitted my application for 190 visa. But my EOI and my application has some discrepancies in one of my studies. I overlooked when submitting my EOI that the tertiary that you need to put in are those completed or ongoing. I withdrw on one of my studies but i hv put it on my EOI. In my application i didnt put it but i included it in form 80 as withdrew. Will that have an effect on my application?

  • Rahul April 17, 2018, 4:24 am |

    Hi Guys,
    I really would appreciate your help.
    Ive recently received my pre-invite and I have 15 days to accept the same.
    My question is –
    Should I change my staus to “Enagaged” as I recently got engaged before the pre-invite came in?

    Will adding a Fiancé change my points and will my EOI get rejected on the basis of my changed relationship status.

    I plan to get married in the next few months so I can I have my would be wife with me when I get my PR.

    Should I not update my relationship status now and directly update my visa applicaion to status”married” as I would be married in the next few months.

    Hoping to hear from you!
    Thanks

  • DIVYESH April 8, 2018, 7:23 pm |

    Hi Bob,

    Can you please confirm whether Engineers Australia Still accepts affidavit/SD provided by one’s Line manager with mentioned Job duties for the purpose of Employment assessment.

  • Smit Patel April 7, 2018, 3:27 pm |

    Hi Sir,
    I have submitted an EOI with NSW for 190 state nomination. Now I want to submit EOI for 489 state sponsor ship with NT. They are asking me for statement why you are now seeking nomination from NT though you have already applied for 190 with NSW.
    What should I write in the statement?

  • Pooja Saini February 21, 2018, 6:08 pm |

    Hi
    I have a query regarding calculation of work experience. In skill assessment I qualified for 4.7year out of 7years in October 2017. Now I am planning to apply for EOI in April 2018. So, will they consider my experience same as assessed in SA or they will count post SA experience also (I will provide all relative documents i.e. salary slip and bank statement).

    Regards
    Pooja Saini

  • Saby November 21, 2017, 2:59 am |

    Hello Bob,

    The information above is indeed very helpful. But, I have a query which might be not so common.
    I got my ACS on 16th Dec 2015. Then due to certain circumstances, I could not proceed with the process. However, on 16th Nov 2017, I submitted my EOI. So, as my ACS will expire in one month from now, will I be able to proceed further with visa processing if I get the invitation for visa application? Or Do I need to get my ACS again?
    Your advice will be of great help to me.
    Thank you,
    Saby

  • Mini November 15, 2017, 3:30 am |

    Hi Bob,

    I submitted my Expression of Interest for Victoria with 70 points for System analyst on October 28th and I am currently waiting for an invitation to apply. I understand from Victoria website that this is the current process-we don’t have to notify state, just apply EOI and wait. Please correct me if am wrong.
    Also please can you give some idea on how long it will take to get invited to apply for visa? Thanks very much.

  • Syed avaiz September 29, 2017, 2:38 am |

    Hello sir,

    It was nice to get the information above.

    I have filed my EOI on July 2017. I have 65 points.
    My IELTS result is dated October 2015 since it will complete 2 years will i have to take IELTS again.??

    Your awnser will be helpful for me.

    Thanks

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