Ltrain

Sorry to butt in, but is this always true, or only if the course is unrelated to the skilled occupation? I was thinking of doing something similar (applying for PR while doing a masters degree course in Australia), but my course will be directly related to my skilled occupation. Should I re-think this strategy?

Thanks for the replies! I have looked into it a bit more since posting and wrapped my head around how bridging visas work (sort of), so I think I will be ok. Looking at the info on the DIBP website, they specifically say they're happy for international students to apply for PR if they can fill genuine skill shortages. Seems a bit backward to turn someone down for a student visa just because they have already applied for PR! After thinking about it a bit more, I decided to apply for the full masters degree course, so I probably won't have to worry about having to "renew" my student visa or faff around with bridging visas after all. I plan to use a migration agent for my 189 application in due course, but I was hoping to manage the student visa on my own as it seems more straightforward. Thank you both for your help & advice!

Hi all. I have been lurking for awhile, and have found this forum extremely helpful! I'm hoping to apply for a skilled independent (189) visa later this year. I will be finishing my ACCA exams in June, and hopefully become a qualified accountant once I get my exam results in August. Realistically, I think it will be at least a year from now before I could move to Australia. (I'm aware that accountants may be removed from the SOL. I will worry about that when it happens :cool:) Meanwhile, I have been eyeing up a graduate certificate / masters degree at University of Technology, Sydney for a couple of years. As I finish my exams in June, I could potentially start this course in July. I would probably start with the graduate certificate (1 semester) before deciding whether to do the full masters degree (1.5 years). So if I do this, I would be on a student visa that would expire in November, or thereabouts. If I apply for the PR while in Australia on a student visa (573 I believe), how likely is it that I would be able to get a bridging visa to be able to stay in Australia while a decision is made? If I were to get a bridging visa, and wanted to continue on to do the masters degree, would the bridging visa be sufficient for that, or would I need to apply for another student visa? Assuming I will eventually get PR, I'm trying to figure out how to manage things so that I can stay in Australia continuously from July, rather than having to keep moving back and forth. I hope that makes sense. I would be grateful for any advice you can give me