I am preparing for PTE and planning to appear for the exam by mid June 2019 and eventually apply for Australian PR by end of June 2019. I would like to claim 5 points from my Spouse as he has all the skill and criteria required. He has a Proficient PTE score which is valid till 4th of August 2019.
Given that the processing time to receive the Invite letter would take few months, my query is “Does my Spouse PTE score have to valid till the time I get a response from Australian government? In this case he will have to re-write the PTE, clear it and get a new report which is valid for next 2 years. OR will the existing PTE report which is valid till 4th of August 2019 would suffice for my application and claiming 5 points from spouse?”
The date on which you make payment and submit your visa application (after getting an invite) is considered for checking and locking the PTE score card date.
So, if you get an invite before 4th August and are also able to submit your visa application before 4th August, your spouse’s current PTE score card can be used.
Else, he will have to take the test again.
I am the primary applicant where my skill is getting asessed by ACS.
My spouse job role is a taxation accountant. In order to claim points for the spouse, does her job needs to accessed by the concerning authority?
Can we claim the points just by her college degree or work experience is a must?
You can only claim spouse points if skills assessment is positive.
As a rule of thumb : Skills can only be acquired while working
To break this down, ACS will follow their standard process to assess the application (like they have done yours) They will assess education and work experience, if the work experience is relevant, the outcome is positive.
Hello @Anil.Gupta@v.chow my spouse has a positive assessment with more than 70 in all modules of PTE (I am claiming 5 points). Her occupation is part of the same occupation list (mine is 261112 and hers 261111) and I am the primary applicant. She has given her PTE on Nov 27th 2018, so would her score would only be valid till coming Nov 27th 2019?
I am worried incase I don’t get an invite before that even with 80 points at the moment.
Hello @v.chow. Actually I read the post (which states spouse PTE is valid for 12 months) and was confused on wife’s PTE score eligibility. I have submitted the EOI on 8th Nov 2018, but my DOE is 1st July 2019 with 80 points for 261112.
hmmm… OK, I have just read this authored by @Anil.Gupta
I may have to be corrected here, though I do not understand the logic of restricting an English test result to one year, when the provider (Pearson) mentions it is valid for 2 years.
@anonymous15 for your reference, apologies If I have mislead you.
@Anil.Gupta, Could you share the official channel where this information was taken from please ?
Hello @v.chow - I googled a lot about this and see that 12 month eligibility is only for functional English. My wife has a positive assessment along with competent score in PTE, so I am assuming its not applicable in my case. All her education has been in English medium and was submitted for a positive ACS assessment, so I would like to believe her score will be applicable for 2 years.
The 12 month criteria for PTE is only applicable if the secondary applicant’s education is not in English medium and has no other way to prove English abilities apart from taking a PTE test.
@Anil.Gupta - Your views if my understanding is correct or I am just being optimistic
Extract from one of the googled links.
### Functional English
If your spouse or partner has less than functional English, then you would need to pay the “English Education Charge” to cover English language tuition in applying for skilled migration.
You can show you have functional English ability by providing evidence of one of the following:
1. Completion of a degree, higher degree, diploma or trade certificate that required at least 2 years of study in English medium 2. Completion of all years of primary education and at least 3 years of secondary education in English medium; or 3. Completion of at least 5 years of secondary education in English medium; or 4. Scoring at least 4.5 averaged over the four components of the IELTS test within the 12 months before application, or during processing; or 5. Completion in Australia of at least 1 year of full-time study or equivalent part-time study towards a degree, higher degree, diploma, or associate diploma in English medium. 6. In some circumstances, functional English can be established via interview
The official rule only says that spouse English Functional score is counted valid for 12 months on Australia immigration site.
There is no separate clarification provided by the Australia immigration as to other higher English score would be valid for more time or not.
But, after speaking to multiple people who have gone through the process, I believe that any English score above ‘Functional’ level is counted valid for 2 years.
@v.chow@Anil.Gupta - Post the November rules my points would be 85 (currently 80) for 189, as my spouse is skilled assessed by ACS with PTE score. The only thing I need to check is would the DOE change post 16th Nov when points change? This would be a disadvantage as my DOE currently is 1st July. Did you guys have any information from any source about this.
I had written to Iscah a week back and they said DHA informed them nobody would disadvantaged but they haven’t communicated how they will put the process in place.
It just makes me anxious if the DOE get changed and my position in the queue is lost
If my understanding is correct, once you fill in the details and submit, points should automatically update without a change in DOE, after the new rules come into effect.
I have submitted the EOI on 8th Nov 2018, but my DOE is 1st July 2019 with 80 points for 261112.
But anyways 80 is the new 70…! 
so more reasons to be happy.