Simon.

Prologue

It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it is our choices. — Harry Potter

It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it is our choices.

Some people told me that with only four 6s in English and a score of just 55/50, I could never migrate. But is that really true?

With the right choices, anything is possible.

Here is my client E, 411611 Massage Therapist, score 55+15=70 (491)

23/04/07 achieved PTE scores of four 50s

23/05/08 skills assessment approved

23/05/16 departure application

23/08/25 received 491 invitation

She wanted to take this opportunity to share how she made it through this journey.

This article is dedicated to everyone onthe migration journey who is struggling. I hope my story can encourage every friend who is trudging forward alone under heavy burdens.

English Matters

Chapter 1

I am just an ordinary person born in the 1980s, living a plain and simple life like most women of my generation. Why did I ever think about migrating? That goes back to my first overseas trip in 2008. I went abroad to visit a friend — it was my very first time overseas. Although I was quite naive back then, most people I encountered during those few weeks of travel were kind. At that time, a Hong Kong film called Summer Holiday was popular in China, featuring azure seas, white clouds, blue skies, sandy beaches, sea turtles, and rolling waves…

What struck me most during that first overseas trip was the importance of English — whether filling in arrival cards on the plane or going out to explore, English was essential. Although I had a university degree, I barely scraped through my English exams, scoring just 68 on the degree English test. English had always been my weakest subject from childhood. I was heavily inclined towards science, especially maths — I rarely scored below 90 in calculus and linear algebra at university. But English? The very thought of it gave me a headache.

The wheels of fate turned on my flight home. The young woman sitting next to me was an accountant who had studied abroad for years — the same profession as mine. We chatted the entire flight, and she told me her husband was an overseas Chinese national, applying for skilled migration to Australia. Migration was not as difficult as one might imagine.A sudden thought struck me: why couldn’t I migrate too?

After returning to China, I searched everywhere online for migration information. I discovered that IT was also a popular migration occupation. Being human and somewhat lazy, I placed the burden on my long-term boyfriend at the time. His qualifications and three years of work experience were a perfect match — all he needed was IELTS four 6s to apply directly for PR, or IELTS 5.5 for a three-year TR converting to PR.(Note: this was the employer-sponsored pathway). Under my “pressure”, he started learning English and enrolled in New Oriental’s New Concept courses plus a basic IELTS class. After a few months, he told me he didn’t want to study English anymore — he said he’d do anything as long as it didn’t involve learning English.

At that moment, I knew his heart was simply not in studying or self-improvement. Although I was slightly disappointed, I didn’t push him further. I just told him to focus on work and earning money. And so we got married and had children in China…

Determination Matters

Chapter 2

Time flew by. Eight years passed and our little family grew from two to three, then four. Life pressures gradually increased, but we still made time to travel and see the world. In December 2016, we went on a trip to New Zealand and Australia, touring everything. After returning home, he told me he liked Australia and wanted to study English for migration. He planned to quit his job and study English full-time at home. Of course I supported him and enrolled him in the most expensive IELTS classes.My mother also helped look after the children.

After two to three months of studying, he didn’t even have the courage to register for the IELTS exam, and quickly lost his fighting spirit.He told me he didn’t want to sit the IELTS anymore. Learning English was too hard. What could I do? Give up on him — he himself couldn’t let go either. But staying meant expecting him to study with focus, which he couldn’t manage. Neither able to pick it up nor put it down, yet still wanting to go abroad. If the first time was my fault for wanting to go abroad and making him take IELTS, the second time — picking up English again to come to Australia — that was his idea, not mine. Within a few months he wanted to give up again, having never even registered for IELTS once. He didn’t even have the courage to try, and was not working, drinking heavily and losing his temper.This was probably what they call a midlife crisis.

I never believed in midlife crises — to me, it was the result of coasting through one’s youth. Those chaotic days continued for several more years. During that time, my grandmother passed away at 84 — considered early for our long-lived family. Not long after, my aunt, not yet 50, also passed away. Going home for her funeral and holding her cold hand, it was as if she were telling me:Don’t compromise yourself. Be brave, be yourself — because life truly is so very short…Both my grandmother and my aunt had one thing in common: they burned themselves to the very last moment for their families. After returning from my hometown, I deeply reflected on what I had been doing all those years.Had I ever lived a single day for myself?

Where It Truly Began.

Chapter 3

During Chinese New Year 2019, I brought my eldest child to Australia for a holiday. I needed to see once more whether I truly loved this place.

After this trip, I became even more determined to make the move.No matter how many voices opposed me.I quickly quit my job and started studying English at home, but soon realised the efficiency was too low.So I packed my bags and went to a language school to study English for over three months. In the beginning, I didn’t dare speak English for almost an entire week. By the end, I was chatting freely with my teachers about gossip and films. My speaking improved the fastest, and I made many new friends. Every day was just classes, meals, and sleep — my heart felt incredibly peaceful and content.My overall mental state improved enormously.Soon I returned to China to pack, planning to come to Australia for a look. And so, in December 2019, I arrived in Australia for the third time, initially just to scope things out。

Who could have predicted that an unprecedented pandemic would sweep across the world? In March 2020, Australia closed its borders.Just like that, my return flight was cancelled and I was stranded in Australia. Looking back, I thought: since I’m here, I might as well make the best of it.Perhaps fate was being kind, letting me stay in the place I had always dreamed of. I quickly applied to a school, and within two to three months my subclass 500 student visa was granted. I was already over 35 — no longer young. Here, I reconnected with friends who had migrated nearly a decade earlier. They had all settled down with stable lives and 2-3 children each. Having stayed in China for ten years, I wouldn’t say I regretted it, but I definitely envied them.

Next came the matter of survival. Due to the pandemic, the embassy distributed health packs to every international student. We had student chat groups, and one fellow student had been a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner back home. In Australia, she worked as a massage therapist. I asked her to teach me some traditional Chinese massage techniques, and that was how I started looking for work. During the pandemic, Australia had severe labour shortages. My boss was very kind and taught me a great deal. I settled into the profession, working part-time on and off for two to three years.A year before graduation, I was truly anxious. To stay, I had to achieve IELTS 6 or PTE 50 within six months of graduating in order to apply for the 485 post-study work visa.

I tried everything in desperation — I enrolled in virtually every PTE coaching class on the market, including one-on-one sessions, spending a fortune. But every time, I was stuck on speaking, falling short by just a point or two. While juggling work and exam preparation, every morning I would wake up and cry for a while, then dry my tears and continue practising Read Aloud. After seven or eight consecutive attempts hovering around 48, I was truly falling apart.

A Hard-Won Turning Point.

Chapter 4

Time was flying. I had only six months left before my visa expired. I decided to stop working altogether and focus entirely on exam preparation at home.I organised all my school assignments. Then I found another one-on-one tutor. A month later, I registered for the exam again. My teachers all told me that with my speaking level, I was just throwing money away.But I still committed to sitting the exam once a month — if I didn’t, I feared I would completely lose my drive.

So I pushed myself to keep going. The more anxious I was, the worse my scores became — they even dropped. I was beyond tears, feeling as though the machine knew all my patterns from so many attempts and was deliberately blocking me. But I never once thought of giving up. If I didn’t pass within six months of graduation, I would lose my eligibility to apply for the 485 work visa.

After my 11th attempt, I started analysing why I kept failing. The issue was hesitation and lack of fluency in speaking. I steeled myself and decided: right or wrong, I just needed to be fluent and loud, with proper stress and weak forms, reading confidently and clearly — even if it meant contorting my face. Every morning without fail, two hours of Read Aloud and fifty Write From Dictation exercises daily.On my 13th attempt, I finally scored 52. When I saw that score, I was over the moon. That day was the last business day to lodge my 485 application — if I hadn’t passed, it would have been truly over for me.Because my age points were about to drop sharply, I had to get everything sorted at least six months before my birthday. Otherwise I would miss the post-pandemic migration boom. I had solved my speaking problem, but a new issue emerged — the reading section had changed. I was two sub-score points short in reading, even though my overall score was already above the threshold. Should I stop here or strike while the iron was hot?

After much deliberation, I decided to push on and achieve four 6s across the board.I drilled reading exercises relentlessly every day. Finally, on my 14th attempt, I achieved four 50s with an overall score of 54. I had conquered the greatest obstacle in my migration journey.14 attempts. For an ordinary international student, scoring 54 is not difficult. But for a mature-age mother, it was no easy feat.

In April 2023, with the help of Newstarsec, I smoothly passed my skills assessment. I applied for priority processing and it came through in about a week.I am especially grateful to Carry, who worked overtime on the weekend to help me lodge my 485 and processed my assessment as quickly as possible.

(Massage Therapist skills assessment approval letter)

After the assessment came through, the most thrilling challenge arrived: I only had 50 base points — how could I apply for skilled migration? And I had only five months until my birthday, after which I would lose those points entirely.Simon and his team members Mick and Carry discussed how to approach my state-nominated skilled migration application. In the end, they advised me to leave Australia and apply for skilled migration from offshore. I didn’t hesitate for a second and immediately booked my flight home.

After three and a half years apart — when I left, the children were still small. When I saw them this time, one was about 167 cm tall, the other 142 cm — two handsome young lads. Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t tell if I was happy or sad, because I had missed so, so much. The days without their mother had been one long stretch of isolation after another. I didn’t know if they had gone hungry or been wronged. But I knew clearly that I had to receive the state nomination invitation to make all these years of sacrifice worthwhile.

Heaven rewards the persistent — at the end of August, I received my invitation.

(Official 491 invitation letter)

If You Won’t Endure the Pain of Study,

You Must Endure the Pain of Life.

To be continued

In that moment, all I felt was gratitude. Thank you to Simon and the team — we all made the best possible decisions together. I have always believed in ‘leaving professional matters to the professionals’. The greatest cost on the migration journey is not money — it is time. The sooner you can act, the better. Listen to professional advice.

Of course, ultimately this world comes down to yourself. If you won’t endure the hardship of studying, you’ll have to endure the hardship of life. The fairest thing in the world is education — what you put in, you get back.

I remember my PTE teacher once saying: “After years of running classes, he noticed a pattern —when the visa is about to expire, that’s when students pass PTE“. Looking at the many friends around me, without exception they all passed just as their visas were about to expire. The reasons are worth pondering. I still believe that exams are the fairest contest in the world.In reality, life is far more cruel than any exam. Some people are born at the finish line, while no matter how much you give, sometimes the result is just a pass.

So take control of what you can, and leave the rest to fate.

Editor.

Closing Remarks

Everyone who comes to ask about migration starts by saying I want to migrate, but they are also full of worries about all the things they can’t do.“I can’t pass the English test” “I can’t go back to study” “My partner doesn’t have a skills assessment or the language scores””…

If you think more carefully, is it really that you can’t, or that you don’t want to?

Nobody gets through the migration process without some hardship.Some endure the hardship of study, some of language, some of money, some of time, some of their spouse…

Why is migration so hard?Because for most people, it is one of the most significant turning points in life.

So regardless of whether the policies are favourable or not, before you begin, ask yourself: Do you want it? Do you want it enough? Is your desire strong enough to overcome your obstacles?

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