The notion of having to go for exam brings back all the memories of fear and anxiety of the past. Especially for someone who has not step inside an exam hall for more than 10 years. Lucky for us, we did not have to do the IELTS Academic format test, which from what we heard, was much tougher. A reasonable score from the General Training test was all that required of us.
This is just one of the requirements before you can lodge your application. Are you able to master English well enough to live in an English speaking community. This means that you must be ready with your English language test results (IELTS) BEFORE you lodge your application. Test result are valid for 2 years only. You only need to take the general training test unless advised otherwise by your skills assessing authority.
Since we are migrating the family as a whole, my spouse and I (or any other family member who is older than 18) were required to sit for this exam. The primary applicant must meet the minimum points score for English language competency of 6.0, whereas dependent applicants may pass with a lower score of 4.5. If the dependents fail, we must pay an additional fee which is significantly higher than the normal visa application fees. Therefore it is wise to put some reasonable effort in passing the IELTS.
