English language exemption for visa subclass 457

English language skill is part of the requirement for visa subclass 457. In order for visa subclass 457 to be granted, visa applicants need to demonstrate that they meet the English language requirement. In order to demonstrate that, visa applicants can sit for these tests; 

• IELTS; International English Language Testing Systems,
• OET; Occupational English Test,
• TOEFL iBT; Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test,
• PTE; Pearson Test of English, and
• CAE; Cambridge English Advanced

IELTS used to be the only test that was accepted by the Department of Immigration (DIBP), however, it is now accepted the results from more tests as mentioned above.

There are some exemptions if you are a passport holder from Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, UK and USA or you are in a certain salary range. This information can be easily found from the Department website. I will not mention it here. Instead, I would like to mention and explain about another English language exemption for visa subclass 457. The 5 years fulltime study and during these 5 years of fulltime study,  English language has been used to conduct the course.

I have a few enquiries on that, that is the reason that I wrote this blog.

Here are things that I would like to highlight about those 5 years full-time study requirement:

• It doesn't need to be continuously 5 years. It can accumulate.
• As we have lots of overseas students here in Australia, the time that you spend in college learning English, doesn't count. It needs to be a course that leads to some certification, not an English language course for overseas students.

I have to say that the English language requirement for visa subclass 457 has been relaxed a little bit compared to a few years ago. It shouldn't be too hard (just my opinion) to get the test score that the Department needs.

Good luck everyone.