Alma_

Thanks @wrussell Would it matter that this job is in a different occupation, so my most recent work experience would be in a role that's not on the shortage list? I don't want to lose my (hypothetical) 190.

We front loaded a 190 visa application in March 2020 with me as the main applicant. Current processing times stand at 5-6 months, however, I don't know how accurate this is in Covid times as I haven't seen many 190s issued recently. My question is, if I accept a job in another country (NZ) in a different occupation to the one I currently work in and based the visa application on, would that (negatively) influence the outcome? I would need to update the details on immiaccount, would that somehow put my application back to the bottom of the pile? Would it matter that my most recent experience change to another occupation that's not on the shortage list? (If I could see a realistic chance for the 190 to be issued in Sept -6 months from submitting-, I'd not be thinking about this job in NZ.) Many thanks for any insights!

My understanding is that for the skill assessment the OT Council only looks at your qualifying degree, be it BSc MSc, anything. As long as it’s WFOT accredited, it’s OK. They don’t look at experience at all. For immigration, the number of your professional years count from getting your qualification. I’m not an expert however, this is just my experience from having recently completed this process.

Then you should have a smoothless skills assessment. And be able to claim for all your experience in the EOI

Hi Is it a Graduate/Postgraduate Diploma? The general rule is that if your course is on the list of WFOT-approved programmes then you’re fine. https://www.wfot.org/programmes/education/wfot-approved-education-programmes If it’s an older programme that isn’t listed, I would contact the OT Council in Australia as they might still do an equivalency check and confirm whether your pre-MSc years count.