JH_2017

Hi all, I started the process for an Australian visa last year, but unfortunately Accountants are nor being picked at the moment. So I have an EOI in the system.

We have decided to start applying for NZ as that was also on the cards for us.

Do I need ro remove my OZ EOI in order to carry on with the NZ process?

Thanks,

J

Hi,

I an not answer all your questions, but will answer some from my experience:

As far as I am aware, ACA does fall under the accountant group.

When my skills assesment was done (CIMA) my experience was only counted from when my certificate was dated, and when I became an associate.

Hope that helps.

On 19/02/2018 at 06:55, VERYSTORMY said:

At the moment, accountants are not being invited regardless of points

Hi Verystormy, in your experience, do you think this will pick up again closer to the end of July when the new year of allocations start and that they are just stretching out the quota?

40 minutes ago, RheaMARN1171933 said:

IELTS, I meant. these 2 tests are delivered differently so you may find you are comfortable with one than the other. Honestly, the physical, mental and emotional conditions of the examinee has great impact on the actual results...it's not all about your English knowledge.

Ok, understand what you mean now. Let's hope that the examiner doing my remark is in a good emotional state!

Out of intrest, have you had any clients that has had a remark on their IELTS and it was successful?

33 minutes ago, Move2oz said:

Hi thanks for your reply, I’m really hoping I pass this time because I can’t possibly do any more revising than I’m doing ! I’m just not a academic person at all I’m definitely more hands on/practical. I’ve already passed both parts of my skills assessment, so this is really holding me up. Thanks for your comment ?

No worries!

Good luck with your test, if you remember, let me know how you get on, it is good to hear there are similar situations out there!

1 hour ago, RheaMARN1171933 said:

It's possible your learning style might be suited for IELTS then. I do have clients who had similar situation like you so perhaps it's worth giving it a try. Good luck

Hi, what do you refer to when you say 'worth giving ot a try'? The remark or PTE?

20 minutes ago, Move2oz said:

Hi my problem is, i have sat the PTE academic test 3 times now and scored miserably in the speaking every time. I need band 7 or above in the ielts or 65+  in the PTE in all aspects which i have got 65+ all 3 times in the listening reading and writing. So i am sitting the ielts in a couple of weeks and hoping to get 7's or above to give me the extra 10 points i need for my 190 visa. To be honest i thought the Pte would be a better option for me with you having to talk to a microphone rather than a person, i thought it would be less nerve racking, but the truth is i found it really hard talking about graphs and retelling lectures etc.

So my question is........ has anybody failed the pte speaking and found ielts alot easier ? what are your experiences? And any tips would be appreciated thankyou. 

Hi, I did PTE first time round and got silly stupid marks in speaking. So, after some research, decided to do IELTS. I need 8 on each section to get the 20 point for the language test.

I have done IELTs 3 times now - and it is just crazy. In the first 2 tests I got 9 and 8.5 on the speaking, and the same on listening and reading. However, writing came in at 7.5 both times.

My 3rd attempt I finally got 8 on the writing, but 7.5 on speaking (R and W above 8). On this occassion I have decided to contest it, so now I am waiting to see what they come back with. But that takes another 8 weeks.

I am at such a low point with these tests, that I am considering the PTE again, even though it clearly did not suit me.

So, I can not really give you a clear answer, I personally prefer the structure of the IELTs exam, but do believe it is pot luck and possibly a money making scheme.

However, I do think you will get a better score with IELTS speaking, speaking to a human was easier for me.

Good luck with your journey, hope you can get the scores you need!

18 minutes ago, lothar said:

I am sure a full member of CIMA will give you 15 points, but as you mentioned,  to be a full member you have  to have 3 years work experience after finishing Top CIMA exams.

Or did you only get 10 points even as a full member? 

Which is what  was trying to say in my previous post, if your degree already qualifies as Aus equivalent for accounting then you can use those three years experience towards claiming points for Work Experience.

 

Yes, I got the 15 points for my qualification as Aus equivelant.

But for my work experience, I only got 10 points - as you say that only counts from after the TOPCIMA which in my case is 7 yrs.

My agent originally thought I would be able to get the years I was working and studying CIMA counted as well, but they skills assesment did not agree to that....

Anyway, now need to get extra points from a state sponsorship which was not part of the original plan, but have no choice really!

Thank you for sharing your experience so far!

34 minutes ago, lothar said:

Reciprocal aggreemenrs such as ACCA, CIMA, ICA are 15 points, as the equal an Aus degree. I would assume ICAS is also part of that group.

One thing to bear in mind though, is the work experience you can claim points for only starts counting from the day they think your education becomes equivalent of Aus degree. For ACCA, CIMA etc. this is after getting the Charter.

So for example, if you did an accounting degree and that degree by itself is equivalent to an Aus degree your work experience can begin counting from the end of that degree. For something like ACCA, CIMA and I assume ICAS you would need to do articles or work for a few years to get the charter. Those years DO NOT count towards your Work Experience you can claim points for. 

Therefore if you did an accounting degree at Uni, it would be better to have that assessed if it meats all the minimum requirements (the 9 core areas) as specified on the ICCA and CPA website.

When my skills assesment was done (CIMA) I only got 10 points rather than the 15 my agent thought I could get, as it does depend on the amount of years in work after your qualification.

33 minutes ago, lothar said:

 

No there is nothing specific in the skill assessment etc or any technicalities that makes it "harder" than other occupations but because it is a pro rata occupation and there is a very high application rate on this route you simply need a lot more points than other roles and things like the skills assessment take more time than other routes.

For most other roles 65-70 points is enough but for accounting 75 is probably minimum if you want an invite in a reasonable time (or before you lose points for age etc) and the Accounting assessments are 5+ weeks (my wife's took 9 weeks) where my friend as a spacial scientist got his assessment back in under a week.

Because you need 75+ points, we needed the full 20 points for English, 15 for qualifications and then points between age + experience to get there.

We were lucky that my wife is 32 and has 10 years experience so we got 80 points in total.

Not sure if that makes sense  

 

Let me know if you have any questions, this stuff is all fresh in my mind at the moment so will be happy to help.

Thanks, ok understand what you mean now.

And yes, it's not been easy so far!

I might have some questions along the way..thank for the offer of help.

Are you already over there?

On 12/01/2018 at 14:56, lothar said:

Hi,

I don't think work experience assessment is mandatory but it definitely helps. We have applied under accountant for my wife so have just gone through the process.

When you submit your Qualifications to be assessed to either IPA/CPA or ICAA, there is usually an option to add Work Experience Assessment to it. It only takes a few days to do and only adds about AUD100 to the price but if it passes that you are pretty much guaranteed that you will pass when the DIBP look at it. These bodies require the same documents that need to be sent to DIBP so I found it was better getting it up front and paying 100 to have it assessed than risking sending it to DIBP and they decline the points after I have paid AUD7000 Visa Application fee.

You will need 75 points on your EOI to stand a good chance to be invited so its worth having the work experience assessed to see how many points you can claim for.

I think accountancy is by far the hardest route to get in, its best to do as much as possible for it.

Hope that helps.

Hi lothar,

I am an accountant, going through the process myself. Worried about all the constant changes and points being a moving target!

When you say 'accountancy is the hardest route to get in' - are you referring to specific things that you encountered?

Grrateful for any tips!

Thanks

2 hours ago, VERYSTORMY said:

There is no catch once you have a visa. But you need to complete what ever training is required and post qualification experience is required to pass the skills assessment and note that there is far from any certainty that the occupation will still be available by the time you are ready to lodge. Occupations are removed all the time - the next update is next week and last year over 200 were removed. Hence I always tell people studying to do something they enjoy regardless of it it will lead to a visa. 

Hi Verystormy,

Do you mean 200 occupations were removed last year?

I am very nervous about next week..I am an accountant and I heard that for a few years now this is an occupation that has been considered for removal...

Does anyone know if there will be December invitation rounds? I can't see anything on the website.

Another question not related to above, for those who have been through it, when you are at the stage of applying for you visa, and you pay the fees, do you get refunded if your visa is not granted/declined?

Thanks

3 minutes ago, RavenBlue said:

Yes I got an invite in the last round (16th August)

Have you submitted your skills assessment? 

Oh well done, you must be so relieved! Although I know it still is not the end!

How often are these 'rounds'?

I am doing my PTE next Tuesday and then hoping to send off skills assessment as soon as I get my score,  hopfully end of Aug. (hoping I get 79 all round first time!!)

On 31/07/2017 at 17:50, RavenBlue said:

Hi @JH_2017, have you found out how many points you would get? As mentioned, it is a very long wait for anyone with 70 points or less at the moment. 

For the skills assessing body, you can look accountant up on DIBPs occupation list, and next to it you'll find all the institutes. I did mine (both skills and work experience assessment) through CPA and it took about 20 working days.

Have you taken an english test yet? The CPA (and therefore I presume the other accountancy bodies) require you to have obtained a certain pass level in an English exam - normally either IELTS or Pearson (unfortunately being English or having English GCSEs / A Levels won't be enough). What test you can take and what score you must obtain will be noted on the accountancy body's website.

Just to give you an idea of timings - I took my English test in the last week of April, applied for my skills assessment at the start of May, lodged an EOI (75 points for 189 and 80 points for 190) in early June and I'm still yet to receive an invite! It has taken longer at this time of year because accountants filled up their 189 quota for the 2016/2017 year back in April, and so weren't eligible to be invited again until the new year kicked off on 1st July. Things are moving again now, but slowly. There will be a massive backlog to get through.

In short, calculate your points first to make sure you're even eligible - and then be prepared for a lengthy process!

Best of luck

Have you had an invite yet ravenblue?

4 hours ago, plewis24555 said:

Hi All. I noticed that the occupation ceiling for accountants has increased for 17/18! Does anyone have any idea if the points requirement will reduce as a result?


Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

My agent did not mention anything about that. She just said they are surprised every year that accountants are still on the list as apparently it has been considered to remove accountant from the list previously.

As far as I havr been told, accountants still need to achieve 70 points.

Thanks

12 hours ago, supercow said:

Hey JH, it sure is a relief being on this side of the fence!

2 years ... wow, it feels like a different person wrote that, and in many respects that is the case!

I've never been the most thorough student, and it also applied to my PTE preparation, it's a character flaw of mine I "knew" my English ability is excellent, therefore I didn't feel the need to do any studying in the strictest sense of the word. I read through the question types' explanation and  did the mock tests twice, just so that I understand the question format and what I could expect to happen in the exam. I also re familiarised myself with the general "template" I'd use for the long form essay (Introduction / supporting and secondary point / elaboration / wind down / outtro & conclusion).

 

Thanks Supercow.

Would you say it was all worth it and are you now happily living in Oz?!

Thanks Ravenblue....

Thankful for any help laevans!

On ‎31‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 17:50, RavenBlue said:

Hi @JH_2017, have you found out how many points you would get? As mentioned, it is a very long wait for anyone with 70 points or less at the moment. 

For the skills assessing body, you can look accountant up on DIBPs occupation list, and next to it you'll find all the institutes. I did mine (both skills and work experience assessment) through CPA and it took about 20 working days.

Have you taken an english test yet? The CPA (and therefore I presume the other accountancy bodies) require you to have obtained a certain pass level in an English exam - normally either IELTS or Pearson (unfortunately being English or having English GCSEs / A Levels won't be enough). What test you can take and what score you must obtain will be noted on the accountancy body's website.

Just to give you an idea of timings - I took my English test in the last week of April, applied for my skills assessment at the start of May, lodged an EOI (75 points for 189 and 80 points for 190) in early June and I'm still yet to receive an invite! It has taken longer at this time of year because accountants filled up their 189 quota for the 2016/2017 year back in April, and so weren't eligible to be invited again until the new year kicked off on 1st July. Things are moving again now, but slowly. There will be a massive backlog to get through.

In short, calculate your points first to make sure you're even eligible - and then be prepared for a lengthy process!

Best of luck

HI RavenBlue,

As a fellow accountant...

The agent I am working through said that I am eligible to apply for the 189 visa, based on my CIMA qualification. However, I looked on the CPA website as you mentioned, and on there it states that you need 7 core areas, including Business Law and Economics. I did not have these 2 subjects as such. It is something you touch on in CIMA, but not separate subjects as such.

I will be calling the agent later to understand, but seeing as you have gone through the skills assessment, can you give me advise? Did you have these 2 items as separate subjects?

Thanks! 

Hi Supercow,

2 years later and I find your post very helpful. However, I am still undecided which one to go for, as I think I have skills in both. So, may I ask how long you took to prepare for your PTE test? I need to be realistic on time frame , but am a bit limited with test dates around, so in the end which one I goes for might be determined by which date works best for me.

Also, the basic book you bought  [I think I saw somewhere in the threads - would you say that is enough for a quick turn around time? I am wondering whether the marked mock tests packages is worth it...

Anyway, I guess you are so relieved it is over.....and not writing this post!

Thanks!

Thanks for the info.

 I would need 20 to be in the best position.

I have read up that with the PTE one you are doing the speaking/talking on the computer - is that a bit strange? Is it disruptive of you are in a room with others doing the test?

How long do they both take to get results back?

Hi All,

I understand that you can do the IELTS and Pearsons tests and that you need to achieve certain scores.

I need to book a test in and was wondering if people would share their opinions on which of the 2 they prefer?

TIA

Thanks everyone.

I am in contact with an agent, so will talk through the options with her.

Thank you for all the advice.

Thanks Jays, I haven't read up on the 190 much yet, but will look into it.

Does it also allow PR after a set period of time? And is it easy to get a mortgage on it?

Thanks,

Thank you very much, your info is been most helpful.