lulu2014

Thanks for the update. CPA did reflect my Mat Leave as relevant on my skills assessment & have used this to claim points on EOI. Invitaion has been received and we hope to apply this week, finally!!

I know this is an old post but I wondered if you would mind updating on how you proceeded with the application & what was the outcome? I am currently in a similar situation where I have 2 periods of maternity leave and I don't know if I can claim points for this time or not. I know the safe option is not to claim however to get an invite I am going to need 75 points (Accountant) & without claiming the periods of maternity leave I will only have 70 points. I was paid 50% of my salary for both maternity periods & given that I was originally contracted for 40 hours that would mean I was remunerated for 20 hours per week during this time so would appear to satisfy the criteria however I am having difficulty getting a concrete answer. I am claiming 20 points for English & don't see any other options to increase points other than 5 points for partner but I believe getting a skills assessment for my partner would be a lengthy & costly process (he is a plumber) and if it is not necessary then we don't want to go down that route. Obviously if this is the only option then that might be what we need to do! I welcome any comments/advise, thanks

Hi CaptainC Thanks for the prediction, I appreciate it, this thread must keep you very busy!!

Hi mgreaves Thanks for your comments, I think to be sure of an invite I need to get myself booked in for PTE & aim to score high!

Hi Thanks for your comments, I know I should do the PTE & try to up my points but if I could do without it I would prefer to wait. Hopefully the last round results will be out soon, that should give a better indication as to when I might get an invite!

Hi Captain, I would appreciate your thoughts on my chances of getting an invite in the coming months. I have the option of retaking IELTS or similar to try & increase points to 75 but I don't mind waiting a few months on the invite if it is likely that I would still get one. 1. ANZSCO code -221111 2. Occupation - Accountant 3. Points score - 65 points 4. Date of submission of the EOI - 21/01/16 Thanks in advance!

I have just recently submitted my EOI & I did not do a personal statement, I have never heard of it. Just wondering is this something new and who requested it? Are you going through the process yourself or was the personal statement something your agent requested? Perhaps it is to be submitted with the visa application and not EOI - just a thought? Thanks

Hi Lorna Thank's for that, I feel a bit better about it now! In your case was there any employment in Australia and where there any requests from DIAC to provide documents to backup the information given in Form 80? I would have thought that best estimates would be ok but I didn't want to risk not getting a visa because of it. I guess if we can't get the information then DIAC probably wouldn't be able to get any more detailed records that we have ourselves don't but that's an assumption, I have no idea what resources they have, especially when the employment is in Australia!

That's good to know as I wasn't sure when it would come in! I logged onto skillselect to check the status I didn't realise an email was issued also. I submitted my EOI on 28th but because Accountants are being issued invitations on a pro rata basis I wasn't really expecting an invitation yet, I am hoping for one on 22nd Sept but I know I could be waiting longer... Good luck with your visa application!

Congratulations on the invite! I am still waiting on an invitation, fingers crossed we get it in the next round.... Just out of curiosity, what time did you receive the invitation? I checked this morning but my status is still EOI submitted

Hi I hope some of you on here can help me out with a query I have! Just to give a background I have recently submitted an EOI and I am waiting on an invitation to apply for 189 visa. I have started to complete Form 80 for both myself & my husband in the hope that we can speed up the process when the invitation is received. I am the main applicant and I have already detailed my employment on the EOI & can transfer this to Form 80 however I don't have exact dates for my husbands employment history for 2013 as we were on a WHV in Australia during this time and didn't keep a record of exact start & finish dates (we know approximately). We have tried to get in touch with these employers to get the information we need but with no success and I wondered is it possible to get this information from the ATO or is there any other way of getting such information? Also does anybody know if DIAC will look into my husbands specific employment dates with me being the main applicant or would it be ok to submit approximate dates & if so should we include a cover letter with the visa application to notify DIAC that the dates are approximate? I know that Form 80 is not required in all cases however I would prefer to have it ready so that if needed we can submit it and avoid any delays down the line. Just to note I have not claimed points for my husbands skills on the EOI as we didn't need the points & it saved time & money! Thanks for reading & I appreciate any advice you can give.

Hi Matthewroberts As far as I understand it you can select 'not relevant' when completing the employment details. Doing this means that points won't be added for the work experience. There are a few discussions about this on the forum if you do a search. I have recently submitted my EOI and I have input work experience as 'not relevant' for employment that I was not 100% sure that I could claim points for (eg mat leave) so that I did not over-claim on points for work experience. Hope this helps!

Hi Red Hand I am completing my EOI and I am in the same situation as you were (Northern Ireland resident with Irish Passport) - just wondering how you completed your EOI? I have just received mu skills assessment this morning so I am completing my EOI for submission today Thanks

Hi mahfuzul80 I am sorry I can't offer you much advise on this, I have a similar query as I have 8 months of work experience in Australia but as it is not a full year it does not allow me any additional points in the EOI so like you I am unsure as to whether this type of information should be included. The EOI online application does ask that you detail all experience in the last 10 years however so this would make me think it should be included - but perhaps if it is not relevant experience then it is not necessary! Maybe someone with more knowledge in this area can help us both

So I spent most of today online reseaching CPAA v ICAA for my circumstances & I am even more confused about which to go with and if there is any chance of a positive assessment!! As far as I know a skills assessment is free for members of CPAA, however I am not sure if is free for associate members or full members - does anybody know about this? If the skills assessment is free for both full and associate members an option for me could be to apply for associate membership with CPAA which I should be eligible for as they have an MRA with CPA Ireland (basically I would have to complete study unit CPA118 –Ethics and Governance) and then I would be eligible for full member status. The fee for the assessment is £80 GBP and if successful I would then pay associate membership fee of £148 GBP. If I went down this route I could then apply for my skills assessment as an associate member - I had read that it is unlikely that CPAA is going to issue a negative skills assessment to one of their members and especially as I am exempt from all subjects except one and Ethics and Governance is not included in the core knowledge area's for accountants skills assessment anyway. I do keep coming across posts saying that ICAA is more lenient with regards to other non recognised accountancy bodies and based on what I have read I would be more inclined to go this route but what is holding me back is that when I emailed them they said that without a degree a positive skills assessment was not possible!

Hi Pumpkin Thanks for your reply. What you are saying is very true! If the work experience assessment is not needed then I can go ahead without it. I worked in an accountancy practice while studying for CPA exams and since I became a full member of CPA I worked as an Accountant in practice, I then moved to Industry where I took up a role as Company Accountant, I progressed within the company to Financial Controller and then Finance Director so I think my experience should be fine. I am going to select general Accountant as my occupation for skills assessment, I think this is the most suitable option for me however I am basing this on my own opinion that my job descriptions for the various roles fit the description of general Accountant, I had felt I was somewhere between Management Accountant and general Accountant but having looked into it further I have decided on general (I know they are within the same category but I would not want to be declined on an issue like that and I have read posts where people have been turned down for such things!) As I mentioned before I don't have a degree so I have prepared a matrix outlining the core knowledge area's and how the CPA exams I have done cover these area's. The core area's being: [TABLE=width: 247] [TR] [TD]Accounting Systems and Processes[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Corp Accounting & Reporting[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Accounting Theory, Professional & regulatory processes[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Cost & Management Accounting[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Finance[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Auditing & Assurance[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Legal Framework & Commercial Law[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Corporations Law[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Taxation Law[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Information Systems Design and Development[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Economics[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Quantitative Methods [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I have not been able to find any specific detail on the core knowledge area's which I would like so that I can clarify that I am have fully covered sufficient core area's- do you have advise on where I would find something like this? Also I was going to submit my application with only the CPA qualification and make no reference to not having a degree or to having IATI (institute of accounting technicians in Ireland) qualification because I don't think these are necessary, do you think perhaps I should request my IATI transcripts and syllabus' to strengthen my application? Has anybody in the same position as me ever received a positive skills assessment? I emailed ICAA and I have now got a reply to say that without a degree I could not get a positive skills assessment so it would seem my only hope is with CPAA. It is very frustrating to be a full member of CPA Ireland and think that I may not get a positive skills assessment for an accountant in Australia!

Also just to add I had hoped that having my work experience assessed would perhaps speed up the visa application when submitted (my thinkinh was that if it is already assessed by CPA/ICAA then DIAC will be happy with this assessment and not need to investigate it further), does anybody have any experience with this? If it doesn't make a difference then perhaps I should just go ahead and have the skills assessment done, forget about the experience assessment, and get the EOI in as it is claiming only for 5 years work experience and forget about trying to get the extra 5 points. I had thought that the more points I had the faster an invitation would be received but I don't know if 5 points will make much of a difference. I know that ICAA offer a fast track service for skills assessment only so I could have this and the EOI submitted sooner than if I have to wait for the experience assessment which may not actually benefit me anyway. As far as I understand it is not a requirement to have experience assessed, if anybody knows different can you please let me know? All opinions welcome Thanks

I have 65 points, 30 for age, 15 for education, 10 for experience (if don't qualify for 8 years) and 10 for IELTS

Thanks for the replies. I am keen to get the EOI submitted to speed up the whole visa process and I can't submit it without the skills assessment so I wondered how long it generally takes to get an idea of the time frame we can expect. I have 8 years PQE however 8 months of this was in Australia so I don't have a full 8 years outside of Australia (which I want to use to increase my points) however if my experience pre qualification (whilst I was working in an accountancy practice as an accountant) is allowed then I would have well over the 8 years and this is why I wanted to have my experience assessed also. If I had the full year in Australia I could have had points for this but I am short 4 months. I am not sure if the requirements from DIAC are the same as CPA or ICAA so maybe it will be of no benefit to have my experience assessed anyway and perhaps I would be best to go with the lower points? I started out in accountancy by doing an accounting technician course and I then moved on to CPA so I do not have a degree and I see from both CPA & ICAA that a degree seems to be a required for a positive skills assessment. I have looked at the criteria for skills assessment for general accountant and I am confident that my CPA qualification covers all the core & most of optional areas so I was going to present this clearly in my application documents, probably in a matrix format, again any suggestions on this are appreciated! The more I look into the application the more confused I am about it! :huh: Thanks

Hi wrussel I had a look at the link but unfortunately CPA Ireland isn't included on the list of professional bodies that ICAA has reciprocal agreements with. I emailed ICAA also to enquire and they said that without a degree I would not get a positive assessment, it is very disappointing! Any suggestions? Thanks

Hi I just wondered if any of you can tell me how long it takes in total for skills assessment, ie from application right through to receiving the result? I had thought the 3-4 weeks was the entire timeframe but from reading other comments it seems that the post alone can take several weeks. I am just getting documents together and I was planning to apply for the skills assessment this weekend. I have gathered the following information for submission with my applicaion: CPA certificate of membership, letter of good standing & transcript Previous employer's testimonials & payslips/P60's Statutory declaration for current employment & payslips P60's IELTS test report I am not using an agent so if anybody can let me know if additional info is required or has any advise please feel free to share it Thanks

Hi I just seen your post & I wondered if you got a successful skills assessment with your qualifications? I am in the same boat you were, I am a member of CPA Ireland and I completed the IATI course and exams as my entry route into accountancy instead of a degree so that I would have work experience in conjunction with the exams. I am currently getting my documents together and I just came across information stating that a degree is needed in addition to the CPA qualification, I hope that this does not mean I can't get a positive skills assessment. I would appreciate if you can let me know how things worked out for you. Thanks