EOI

EOI stands for Expression of Interest. It is also the next step upon receiving a successful skills assessment from your relevant assessment authority, in my case AITSL.

You can find all the pertinent information from this website.

It is important to note that an EOI is exactly just that, an expression of interest. It does not quantify as an application for a visa. It basically lets the Australian immigration department know that you are interested in migrating to Australia.

You'll go through a 13 step process where you'll key in pieces of information that you've gathered thus far - your employment records, your educational certificates, the IELTS results and any skills assessment by relevant Australian agencies.

At the end of it all, they'll compute your points and let you know if your EOI can be completed. You can always return to update your EOI as circumstances in your life change.

At the moment I have 65 points of which 25 of them come from being in the age group 33 - 39.
That will all change in April 2015 when I move into the next category of 40 - 44, which would only qualify for 15 points.
If that's the case then I would fall below the threshold of 60 points by only accumulating 55 points, so time is definitely of the essence.

Now that the EOI has been submitted, the dice has been cast. Of particular importance to me is the description on the website which states "You can receive up to 30 points based on the age you were on the day you were invite to apply (for the visa)".

Fingers crossed that I'll receive an invitation to apply for the visa before my birthday in 2015. On a side note, the processing time for visa subclass 189 is 3 months.

Lesson here? Don't leave off making a decision so late that the timings become too tight.


Browsing around on the website, under 'Invitation Rounds', several pieces of information stood out.
1) Invitations are issued twice a month.
2) Next invitation round is on 9 Jan 2015. (I wonder if there's a backlog that'll fill up the invitations or if mine would fall under this round)
3) You can find out the number of visas they are offering for each round - for subclass 189, there will be 1400 places on offer for 9 Jan.

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4) Invitation process and cut-offs:

• The highest ranked by points score are invited to apply first. 
• Equal points cases will be separated by the time at which they reached their points score for the subclass.
• EOIs with earlier dates of effect are invited before later dates.

Have attached a screenshot of the results for 14 Nov 2014 for reference with regards to the points just mentioned above.

Under 'Occupational Ceilings' you can find out how many spots they have allocated for your occupation for the year. Apparently, Australia needed 7002 Secondary School Teachers this year (the 2nd highest ceiling of all occupations) and only 229 spots have been allocated. Whilst I am happy that there is room to spare, I cannot help but wonder at the dearth of teachers in Australia.

AITSL registered mail

A belated Christmas gift arrived today in the mail. Certainly brought some cheer when it arrived!

After receiving notification on the 11th Dec that my assessment was completed, the results are finally here and favourable. We can start our application process :)

Upon opening the mail, I found 3 letters from AITSL;
1) Assessment for migration certificate
2) Skills assessment certificate (for awarding points based on the Qualifications and English Language Ability component)
3) Skilled employment claim (for awarding points based on the Skilled Employment component)

Just a quick recap;

Started with the IELTS on 19th and 20th September
Received IELTS results on 3rd October
Spent a bunch of time collating the necessary (Statement of Employment, Practicum statement etc)
AITSL assessment sent on 22nd October
AITSL notification that assessment was completed  11th December
AITSL registered mail received 26 December

All done roughly in the space of 3 months. Now on to the next step.

Tech Stuff - Smart Unlock

I love the functionality that Android has to offer, love the freedom that it allows its users to do whatever they wish to their phones.

Customization - clear icons, widgets, launcher

Now I would prefer to use my device without the trouble of unlocking it every single time. There used to be a time when I did not bother to lock it with a pin or pattern but having lost a device once and the resulting trouble that ensued, that was no longer viable.

Next up was experimenting with certain apps that would recognize when I was in a 'safe' environment and allow the usage of the phone without any hassle. This was a year or so ago though and maybe technology wasn't ready yet because it wasn't seamless, resulting in missed calls and stuff.

Which was why I was happy to hear that in Android Lollipop, devices would have the ability to unlock when near a trusted location. Unfortunately though, Android 5.0 has yet to appear on Samsung Note 3s in Singapore.

Meanwhile, an app - Smart Unlock, has appeared in the Play Store that allows your device to function without being unlocked while connected to a trusted Wifi or Bluetooth device - which actually strikes me as a more secure method compared to Trusted Places by Android. Best of all? Root is not required.

Sadly I then found out that the developers claimed that Samsung had modified the native lockscreen in Android and the app doesn't work with Samsung devices. Still this should be useful for people on other devices.

The app (Smart Unlock) is free for trial for 7 days and available for purchase at 99 cents during this Christmas period.

Spark of madness

Robin Williams made me a laugh, brought me much happiness through his movies. For that I'll be forever thankful. I probably loved him most in Mrs Doubtfire, a role that gave him much room for comedic expression.

It's been a few months since his death which has been attributed to suicide due to depression so why am I talking about him now?

I came across a quote attributed to Williams, "You're only given a little spark of madness. You musn't lose it." and wondered idly how many of us have lost that spark of madess. How many of us have had it ironed out of us by the uniformity that society (or at least Singaporean society) expects us to conform to. How many of us have tried to be different only to be gently or otherwise guided back to the tried and tested path because it was safer and because it's always been so and to do otherwise is to invite the possibility of 'otherness'.

I worry about this because at times in the education industry, I worry that we are 'educating' the uniqueness out of our younger generation.

Anyway, I always felt that he approached his movies differently, genuinely - there was always a sense that he vested a part of himself in his movies. He will be missed.

#illridewithyou

Followed the whole #Sydneysiege story yesterday and while glad that it's over, am saddened by the loss of innocent lives - Katrina Dawson, 38, a mother of 3 and Tori Johnson, 34. The sad thing about incidents like these are the ripples they create. The three children will now grow up in a world devoid of their mothers' love.

All these and what for? A political message? A show of support for ISIS? A cry for attention?Pathetic.

Looking for the silver lining though, have been greatly heartened by the show of support for Australian Muslims in the form of the #illridewithyou campaign that's going on.

They will need it, for without doubt there will be people who cannot look beyond the idiocy of one man, instead choosing to paint a whole demographic with the same brush. Already one incident - here.

Cooking Daddy: Steamed Chicken with Red Dates and Wolfberries

Cooked this for dinner yesterday. Kids didn't mind it and J like it, so this recipe is a keeper. Needs a little tweaking to make it better.

Ingredients used:

• wolfberries (rinse and dry - instead of soak)
• red dates (soak - remember to drain and cut)
• 2 chicken thighs (maybe 1 more piece)
• slices of ginger to be julienned (forgot that on my first try)
• 1 tsp light soya sauce
• 1 tsp rice wine
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp flour
• white pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients together and cover to let it marinate. 
2. Place everything in a steamer, on low for 45 minutes.
3. Check if cooked by sticking a chopstick through the meat to see if juices run clear else continue steaming.

Notes to self:

• 45 minutes might have been too long. Chicken was a little tough. Check in on it earlier.
• Use a little bit more salt.

Weatherwise

I must have been a polar bear in my previous life.

On our recent trip to USA, we started out in wonderful cold weather in New York and Washington, both places which I would have loved to see more of. I only fell sick when I hit Orlando in sunny Florida - the one place where temperatures were Singapore-like. There must be a message in there!

On my way back, I kept wondering what the weather would be like all year round in Perth or Melbourne so upon our return, a little Googling was in order.

As you can see from the picture in the middle, there's no real let-up in Singapore weather. You get it in one single flavour - HOT. Melbourne weather has its highs and lows and I've read that it could go from sunny one moment to frigid the next. Perth weather looks really nice, except I can see myself dreading summers.

We'll see where we end upbut there are so many things to consider.

AITSL notification!

Received email from AITSL this morning!

My evaluation is done. No word on whether it's successful or not.
Went over to their website to check if it provided more information but it was more of the same.

Now all I have to do is wait another 5 working days for them to post the results and then I'll know if we can proceed with our plans.

I had sent in my application on 22 Oct so it has been 51 days - travel time included. Not too bad considering they had mentioned that the process could take up to 10 weeks.

Ouch. Just saw the message that delivery of outcome to an address outside Australia could take up to 3 weeks.

Ah the waiting.