Why You Need Legal Advice Before Lodging an Expression of Interest (EOI) – It’s Not Just About the Points
🧠 Calculating your points is one thing. Knowing whether your Expression of Interest (EOI) is legally valid and competitive is something else entirely.
Many people jump onto the Department of Home Affairs points calculator and select their age, English level, qualifications, work experience, and partner details. It spits out a total. But…
⚠️ That number means nothing if you can’t prove every single point with legally acceptable evidence under the Australian migration framework.
It’s not just about having a certificate or document. It’s about whether those documents meet the strict evidentiary requirements under Australian migration law. If they don’t — your application won’t just lose points. It may be refused.
⚠️ Common pitfalls we see all the time
Work experience: You might have years of practice, but if your employment history doesn’t meet the legal evidence requirements — such as being post-registration, paid, full-time equivalent, and supported by the correct documents — you may not actually be entitled to claim the points. And if that’s discovered at the visa stage, your application may be refused for over-claiming.
English language: All skilled visas require a valid English test with scores that meet the proficient or superior levels — that’s how you claim points. This is true regardless of what passport you hold.
➡️ At the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage, your documents are not being assessed by the government or a migration authority. That means even if you’re nominated, your visa can still be refused if your points were incorrectly claimed and the evidence wasn’t valid at the time you submitted your EOI. No one checks this unless you’ve paid someone qualified to assess it — such as an immigration lawyer.
Skills assessments: Just because your assessment says “suitable for migration” doesn’t mean it’s valid for your visa. If the assessment was issued under a different migration stream (like employer-sponsored) or for a different occupation code, it may not be valid for General Skilled Migration. Only someone trained to interpret the full assessment and occupation classification can give you accurate advice.
Partner points: It’s not just about your partner having a skill assessment. It needs to be in a migration-eligible occupation, and they need a valid English test with the correct scores. If they don’t meet the full criteria and you’ve claimed partner points, your nomination and visa may be refused for over-claiming.
🧩 Points are not everything — what about competitiveness?
We’ve worked with many clients who had lodged an EOI through a registered migration agent, and everything was done correctly. The agent confirmed they met 65 points, their occupation was on the list, and they submitted the EOI as per the requirements.
✅ That’s not a mistake — that’s what agents are legally required to do.
❌ But it doesn’t give you a clear picture of whether your EOI is competitive.
The problem? Without a deeper strategic assessment, you could spend years waiting or miss out on the best nomination options altogether.
⚖️ The SOLVi difference
SOLVi is not a migration agency. We are an Australian law firm led by Rhea Fawole, a Principal Lawyer with 20 years of government experience, including 12 years as a Senior Manager at the Department of Home Affairs.
We don’t just tell you:
✔️ That you’re eligible
✔️ That your occupation is on a list
✔️ That you have enough points
We go deeper. We assess:
✅ Whether your profile is actually competitive under current nomination priorities
✅ Whether you should adjust your occupation code, partner strategy, or timing
✅ Whether there are state/territory rules or policy shifts that will affect your chances
✅ Whether this is even the right visa strategy — or if you’re wasting time and money
Sometimes, we even tell people not to pursue skilled migration. That’s the power of real legal advice.
👥 Same Points, Very Different Outcomes
Two nurses can have the same total — but a completely different likelihood of success. Here’s a real-world example:
Applicant A
Age: 33 years → 25 points
English: Superior → 20 points
Qualifications: Bachelor of Nursing → 15 points
Work experience: 3–4 years post-registration → 5 points
Partner: Skilled partner with Proficient English → 10 points
Community Language: 0
Total Points: 75
Applicant B
Age: 43 years → 15 points
English: Superior → 20 points
Qualification: Master of Nursing → 15 points
Work Experience: 8+ years post-registration → 15 points
Partner: Partner has competent English only, no skills assessment → 5 points
Community Language: Yes → 5 points
Total Points: 75
🧠 Takeaway: Strategy Matters
Even with the same score, Applicant A may be a more attractive nomination candidate because:
They’re younger, offering more years to contribute to Australia’s workforce
Their partner contributes both skills and stronger English than Applicant B
Meanwhile, Applicant B’s age, weaker partner profile, and over-reliance on work experience may make their nomination less attractive — even though they have the same total score. But then, it could depend on the occupation code they had their skills were assessed under — perhaps it was more in demand in one location!
✅ Final Thought
Most people tick every box and lodge an EOI — often by selecting all visa subclasses and waiting to be picked.
But that’s not a strategy. That’s the lotto approach to migration — and it’s risky, expensive, and often leads nowhere.
SOLVi doesn’t just help you meet the legal criteria. We help you understand:
Whether you can prove every point legally
Whether your nomination is likely based on your actual profile
Whether skilled migration is the right path for you — or whether another strategy is better
📣 What to do next
👉 Book a consult
Chat with a legal expert from our team to assess your entire migration strategy, not just your points.
👉 Haven’t completed AHPRA yet?
Our Nurse Registration Course helps you get AHPRA registration — the first essential step for migrating to Australia as a nurse.
