English language requirement for secondary or dependent subclass 186 visa applicants
In most cases, each secondary or dependent visa applicants for subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme who are 18 or over, must pay an additional Visa Application Charge (VAC) of $4,890 each, if they do NOT have at least functional English, before grant of the visa.
The additional applicant charge will not be applied to those secondary or dependent visa applicants for subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme who are 18 or over, if they are found to have at least functional English.
So another way to look at it is, by each subclass 186 secondary or dependent visa applicant, 18 or over, having at least functional English, saves you from having to pay an extra charge of $4,890 to Immigration.
Functional English is met by:
Holding a valid passport Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States of America and is a citizen of that country OR
Holding a degree, a higher degree, a diploma or a trade certificate which required at least 2 years of full time study or training and all instructions for that award was conducted in English OR
Having provided evidence that you completed all years of primary education and at least 3 years of full time study in a secondary education institution in which all instructions was conducted in English OR
Having provided evidence that you completed at least 5 years of full time study in a secondary education institution in which all instructions was conducted in English OR
Having successfully completed at least 12 months of full time study or at least 24 months part time study towards a degree, higher degree, diploma or associate diploma at an institution or institutions in Australian in which all instructions was conducted in English OR
Having an International Second Language Proficiency Rating (ISLPR) which is rating scale basic social proficiency (test score rating 2 in EACH test component of listening, reading, writing and speaking) OR
Having an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) average band score of at least 4.5* (based on test component of listening, reading, writing and speaking) OR
Having a Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test (TOEFL iBT) total band score of at least 32* (based on test component of listening, reading, writing and speaking) OR
Having a Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE) overall band score of at least 30* (based on test component of listening, reading, writing and speaking) OR
Having a Cambridge English: Advance (CAE) overall score of at least 147* (based on test component of listening, reading, writing and speaking)
*NOTE: The English language tests listed above must have been undertaken within 12 months before the visa lodgement or be undertaken while the visa application is being processed.
