Hi all

My boyfriend is currently sponsored (visa 457) by his employer to work in australia. He's been working for 3 different companies for the past 2 years and a half as a foreman/construction supervisor.

Anyways, with the current worsening economy, his company will probably let him go.


-My boyfriend is 25 yo (30 PTs)
-works as a construction supervisor for the past 2 1/2 yrs in Australia
(50 PTs + 10 PTs)
-employed as construction worker for 3 years out of 4 years (5 PTs)
- A native English speaker (he's from ireland) (15 PTs)

My question is.....

1) I've checked the immigration website, with his work experience, qualification etc...he only has 110 pts. However the General Skills Immigration visa 175 pass mark is 120. So i'm wondering, if he's a native english speaker, can he still sit the IELTS exam and attempt to score 7.0 mark in order to get an extra 10 PTs for english proficiency?

2) is Visa 175 the right visa option for him? is there anything else he can apply?


3) I know when worse comes to worse, i should be able to sponsor him on a defacto visa. My permanent residency visa came through 2 months ago.

We have been together for 2 years and half and have been living together for longer than a year. However at the same time, i've heard stories about how hard, frustrating, complicated the process can be... If his company is really letting him go and he can't find any companies to sponsor him, it means we'll probably have less than 2 months time to organise the application which is too litte time!!


I hope someone with this area of knowledge can help!

Thanks a million