Killara

No, it will not mention anything about whether you are eligible or not to apply for PR or for any other visa. The Council does not give advice about eligibility for visas. http://www.lawadmissions.vic.gov.au/home/overseas+applicants/information+for+overseas+practitioners/migration+matters/

OP specifically asked whether it is possible to be granted the 189 visa first and then qualify as a lawyer in Australia. A lot of people would like to get the PR granted first. I certainly was glad to get PR first. Also, OP will need a visa to come to Australia to qualify in the first place. OP might like to be able to work in Australia while completing the academic requirements for admission. A PR visa would be of great use in that regard. Mike seems to forget that just because New Zealanders can come to Australia and have the right to stay as long as they want and have full work rights in Australia, that this does not apply to other nationalities. Practicalities such as having a visa to come to Australia in the first place perhaps? Practicalities such as being able to work in Australia while completing the academic requirements for admission? Unfortunately mike hasn't any idea about practicalities facing non-AU non-NZ citizens. When making such important decisions such as migrating to a new country, it is very important that professional advice be obtained. In considering migration matters, I would of course strongly recommend to ensure that any advice that you do get is from a registered migration agent.

"A positive skills assessment from a state legal admission board" does not mean admission as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW. The criteria for the grant of a subclass 189 or 190 visa is governed by the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, not by the Legal Profession Admission Board of NSW, or any of the State Law Admission Authorities (SLAA) for that matter. The SLAAs are however the relevant assessment authority for the legal profession occupations, and that of course makes perfect sense. It is possible, for some applicants, to obtain a positive skills assessment from a State Law Admission Authority, without having been admitted as a Lawyer in Australia... except, as we have all pointed out, it is very unlikely that the Legal Profession Admission Board of NSW would provide a positive skills assessment without the applicant first having been admitted as a Lawyer in NSW. An overseas legal practitioner can apply to a SLAA for an assessment of their qualifications and experience. DIBP will treat that assessment as a skills assessment (hence not necessary to be admitted as a lawyer in Australia to obtain a skills assessment). An experienced overseas legal practitioner may be able to obtain a positive skills assessment without having first been admitted as a lawyer in Australia. I have experience of this. It is not correct to say that any State or Territory in Australia has more lenient academic requirements than others. All States and Territories have adopted what have become known as the "Priestley 11" as the academic requirements for admission. For overseas legal practitioners (other than NZ applicants that is), each SLAA has adopted the "Uniform Principles for Assessing Qualifications of Overseas Applicants for Admission to the Australian Legal Profession" (the "Uniform Principles"). Each SLAA will assess an overseas applicant (other than a NZ applicant) for admission using the Uniform Principles. Human factors comes in to it then, and despite each SLAA applying the Uniform Principles in conducting their assessments, assessments from the different SLAAs are not necessarily, em, uniform. The point though, is that you will be told by each SLAA that the academic requirements are the same for each State and Territory.

Sorry @louisella, I don't know whether WA would be any better than NSW. It usually makes most sense to apply to the State where you intend to practise. However, once admitted in one State or Territory in Australia, you can apply for a practising certificate from any of the States or Territories. (Previously it was necessary to be admitted in each State in which you wished to practise. That is no longer the case.) As regards to the job market that others have raised doubts about, it is true that the market is very competitive with probably an over supply of local law graduates. An overseas lawyer with no experience could struggle to find employment as a lawyer in the capital cities but should have reasonable prospects in more regional areas. An overseas lawyer with a few years experience in any practice area should be able to find employment in the capital cities as the experience in practise will give them an advantage over local graduates with no experience.

As a lawyer you will of course be able to read the applicable Migration Regulations from which you will note that what is required is a positive skills assessment. The legislation does not explicitly require you to be admitted as a lawyer in Australia before you can be granted a 189 visa, but does require you to have a positive skills assessment, amongst other things. So, really the question is whether you can get a positive skills assessment without having been admitted as a lawyer in Australia. You have mentioned that you intend to apply for a skills assessment from either Queensland or New South Wales. On the Legal Profession Admission Board of NSW website,it says: Therefore, in order to obtain a "Skilled Migration Letter", a person will need to have overseas qualifications assessed in accordance with the Board's Rules and the Uniform Principles for Assessing Qualifications of Overseas applicants for admission and then be admitted as a lawyer. I think you are very unlikely to get a positive skills assessment from NSW without having been admitted as a lawyer in Australia, and I have heard that QLD is even more difficult than NSW, but the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board's advice on their website (quoted above) is not an accurate statement of the legislative requirements set out in the Migration Regulations. That said, it won't help you obtain a positive skills assessment from them, which is what you need. If you can obtain a positive skills assessment from a State Law Admission Authority in Australia based on your current qualifications and experience, then admission in Australia as a lawyer is not a prerequisite to applying for a 189 visa. For the 189 visa, you will see from the regulations that there are criteria to be met at time of application and at time of grant. The regulations do not provide for meeting the criteria within a timeframe after grant. In order to be admitted as an Australian lawyer, you will be required to complete some academic subjects and also some PLT (practical legal training) subjects. For the academic part, I am not aware of any possibility of sitting the exams in London and certainly not online (for the exams... though study online may be possible), but for the PLT part, I think the College of Law does have the option of sitting the PLT exams in the UK.