mgreaves

No, I did the police checks and medicals a couple of months before I even had an invite when I had lodged my EOI. I knew roughly when I would get an invite and I knew my case was straight forward so that the application should not take long to be processed, I also knew that I wanted to be in Australia by June 2016 so I was not bothered about the date implications. Yes if my application had taken longer I would have needed to get more checks, I did the checks in October and my grant was December so this only gives me until October to enter the country but for me this was not an issue and as I said I planned and will be over there by June! The main disadvantage with doing the checks now is that they are only valid for one year, so as you suggested if your invitation comes late, and/or your application takes a while it may mean you need to enter the country very soon, or redo these parts.

I did not do anything different to get a direct grant and there is no difference in process etc. it simply means you have already provided the case officer all required documents so he does not contact you, therefore just make sure you upload everything at time of application. I had already done my police checks and medicals and had all documents scanned and ready to upload the day I applied. I made sure I uploaded everything I thought which could be useful, so for work; contracts, payslips, P60/P45's, references. For my de facto relationship photos, bank statements (joint and solo), a signed statement, bills. For my education everything I used for the skills assessment. Various forms of ID; passport, driving licence, birth certificate. The only thing which I did not upload was form 80, I have seen a few people recently mention they were asked for this, however it is a long form so I took the risk.

Good spot I had wrote down 30th also, a bit annoying for those waiting still and that makes quite a difference. So only 1 month cleared with 250 invites which means over a 6 month backlog of 65 pointers, this most likely means that new 65 pointers will not get an invite.

This trend cannot continue as there are only a limited number of accounting places left, averaging the number of places out per invitation round means only 140 can be invited per round, if more are invited still then the cap will simply be reached earlier.

I wasn't aware of these so thanks. However reading all of the states websites it is still not clear if this is valid as I will be a permanent resident. Some states seem to imply they are valid for 12 months, some reference if you are a visitor referring to both citizens and overseas, but some states seem to specifically say if your have PR then it is only valid for 3 months. Or maybe I am just interpreting it all wrong! I think it may just be easiest to use my friends address so ensure I am covered.

It looks as though 2 full months worth of 65 pointers were invited and this was 250 people. However this trend cannot continue, there are only 1270 slots left which is only 141 a round. I would guess that if you are a recent EOI submission with 65 points you are not going to be guaranteed an invite.

I am a numbers person, I am detailed by nature as I have to be all day everyday! I am leaving a lot of planning until we get there, I just wanted to make sure that I don't end up causing myself lots of paperwork simply to buy and drive seeing as this will eat in to both time and money.

I am after a bit of advice regarding getting an Australian driving licence and not sure due to the differing state rules. Our current plan is to fly in to Sydney in June to activate our visa, drop some stuff off which friends and then fly back out a week later to South East Asia to travel for 3 months (ish). We will then return to Australia and plan to travel around for 6-9 months (money permitting) before deciding where we actually want to live and work. I am currently looking in to driving around Australia as part of this travelling and this has got me trying to figure out what to do about a licence. Looking on the NSW website you need proof of address to get a licence, it does mention a reference can be used in place of this, but I am not sure what to do and when due to our timings. Would it be best to apply as soon as we arrive for a NSW driving licence even if that is not the state we plan to end up in, using our friends over there to write some form of reference so we can get a licence without an address? I assume we are not able to simply drive around Australia on our English licences, I think we have 3 months to get an Aus one and I assume this is from visa validation? I assume the fact we won't have an address until about 12 months after activating the visa/arriving has no impact on how and when we get a licence?

I did not get the score I needed in IELTS twice, having lived in the UK since birth and I only managed 7 and 7.5, personally I would recommend the PTE-A if you do not get the score you need from IELTS. PTE-A v IELTS: The turn around for PTE-A is much quicker as you get the results next day unlike IELTS where you have to wait 2 weeks. PTE-A is computer based where as IELTS is paper based old school exam style. IELTS all 4 sections are clearly separate, you sit listening, then reading, then writing, then have to wait around all day before doing speaking unless you are lucky and get the post lunch slot, with PTE-A you may be answering both reading and speaking at the same time, so for me this meant that I could make up some writing marks outside of the essay style questions. With PTE-A you can leave once you finish (I finished in half the time required), unlike IELTS where you will be there from 9am until 1pm, you then get an hour lunch break and have to come back for your speaking which could start any time between 2pm and 5pm. Regardless of which exam you do though, make sure you practice! It is not guaranteed you will get high marks even if you are from England and have spoken English your whole life.

The backlog of 70 pointers should now be more or less cleared, the results from the 3rd Feb round will hopefully give an indication of the number of 65 pointers in the backlog, the last invited was 2nd July so there is a full 7 months. Hopefully it is good news for those waiting, but it also should mean if you can push to 70 points you may now be guaranteed instant invitation as an accountant.

If you are not given your PIN straight away (due to not meeting ID requirements) then you have 90 days to present yourself, however the letter you receive says you are allowed to ask for an extension to 12 months.

That was my original intention, my partner is dyslexic so didn't want to do the IELTS, in the end as we didn't have a visa and thus didn't have all the valid ID so we had to use me for the skills assessment, which took longer than I wanted, although still within our time frames!

In that case you may get the PIN straight away, if that is the case as you have suggested if you get a quick decision you will need to pay a renewal fee come June. It took 8 weeks from start to finish for my application to come through, but I did not have a visa so did not meet the ID requirements and thus do not need to pay a renewal fee.

If you are applying from the UK and have not yet been to Australia/have no visa yet you will only get a letter stating you are ready to register but you will not be given your PIN, you will have 12 months (90 days by default) to show yourself at an AHPRA office to finalise the registration and get your PIN. In the above scenario you are not fully registered until you go to an AHPRA office and thus do not need to renew your registration if they send you this letter quickly.

You are not likely to get a 189 visa with 60 points, the current minimum is 70 points, the last time 65 was accepted was 2nd July, and the last time 60 points was accepted was 24th March 2015, that was before the cap was reduced. You will need to find a way to increase your points if you want a 189 visa. The other option is a 190 which boosts your points, but then you are morally tied to a state.

Yes this is correct, I got my degree in 2010 but did not qualify as an accountant until 2015 (I was lazy when it came to submitting my log book) and I was able to claim 4 years work experience, although as I said in the earlier post as part of my degree I was doing the job of a CIMA accountant but was unable to claim this as it was before I finished my degree.

Just to add to this for when you get further in to the process, if you are claiming for work experience this is from after qualification, so any work done before you fully completed your ACCA can not count towards work experience points. I did 12 months management acocunting work during my degree which was the same level as qualified accountants in the team, however they would not accept this for points as it was before I had completed the qualification, I was still going to meetings with senior staff by myself and talking finance as well as doing everything else the qualifed people did but it did not count. It should not matter but I am CIMA and used CPA A to assess me as a management accountant.

Simply look at the past results for each invitation round, every one states the date/points for accountants. All since July are 70 points, the last time 65 were accepted was 2nd July. Being an accountant I simply set up a spreadsheet and update this every month so have the data to hand.

Ah, this is refering to the yearly fees you pay, if your registration is complete in the last month before the year ends, they are saying you will still be registered for a full year before having to pay the yearly fees. If you are reigstered before April, then you will need to pay naother years subscription come 1st June. I think that until you get your PIN you are not officially registered and thus do not need to pay the renewal fee, at least that is what I am expecting, when we land in June and finalise the application and get the PIN, my partner will then have 1 years full registration ebfore needing to renew.

Do yo umean the date on the actual application form itself? These are changed regularly, you need to make sure you are using the latest version, I think you are refering to this date and it simply means that after 31/05 you will need a new form as the questions will change, however if you have already submitted before this date this is irrelevant.

You can generate the HAPID you need to book the medical yourself from your Immi account you do not need to wait for a case officer to request this if you are not bothered about the year date it is valid for. As I had already booked my flights I preloaded all my documents the day I paid and applied and somehow had my visa a week later, no case officer, but from what I can tell this quick a turn around is very rare. I did not do form 80 though as this looked horrible so I was hoping I did not get asked.

Good news for fellow accountants, they invited 125 in the first round of Jan so the number is slowly increasing! Backlog for 70 is now 19th November, 65 still stands at 2nd July and 60 all the way back at 24th March 2015. Hopefully you will get your invite next Thursday Ferrets.

Congratulations on AHPRA registration Charlotte, the visa itself should be straight forward! Our house is up on the market and that is the final thing to sort out. Flights to Sydney are booked in June but not sure where we are going to settle yet, we plan to travel first.

Yes a simple email is enough, it took them 2 weeks to acknowledge my request for an extension, someone else said they got an instant resposne, so as usual do not panic if you hear nothing.

I'm afraid you can't do the modified assessment until you have your actual pin number. If you went over on a WHV and completed your registration then you could do the modified assessment, but not until you are fully registered.