457 to PR - wait for 186 or go 189?? thoughts?

[clairebear82]

Hey,

 

So I am wondering which route to take and would really appreciate some thoughts!! ....

 

Basically, my situation is as follows:

 

I'm currently here as a Business Analyst on a 457 - having taken a transfer with my existing employer

Arrived in April 2013 (I know, still a newbie!)

I am ACCA qualified accountant

Been working as a BA for 5 years - the last 2 1/2 with the same company

30 years old (almost 31 eeek)

Hubby is also here on a spouse 457

 

so....

My plan is, and always has been, to switch to PR as soon as possible. I want to stay here indefinitely and I'm not overly keen on the 'temporary' side of my current visa - It makes me nervous!! (but that was the standard route for my employer)

 

Now, I know probably the easiest route for me to take is to wait 2 years and go down the transition route, employer sponsored subclass 186 visa.

 

But...

My concern with this, is that it is heavily reliant on my employer agreeing to sponsor me - now, I have no reason currently to believe it would be a problem. I have been with the company over 2 years and they obviously were happy to sponsor my current visa and pay a lot of money for me to be here!!

However, I am well aware that things do change and I can't guarantee that the situation will be the same in 2 years time - this is a worry!

 

so, to eliminate the concern and give me some security I am looking into the possibility of going down the skilled independant route, sublass 189.

 

So I was wondering, firstly if anyone has been in this situation or if anyone has any thoughts or advice?

 

My other question would be - if I go 189 - do I go Accountant or Business Analyst?!! (I have worked as both, but most recently and currently BA)

So I'm not 100% about points for my ACCA qualification - if they would count towards the BA route or not!

I think it would also be wise to do IELTS as well, to get a points boost

 

Any advice much appreciated! Thanks in advance :-)

[Quinkla]

I would go for PR as soon as possible. Remember, a 457 is there to suit your employer; a PR visa is there to suit you.

 

You are right to be nervous about having your long term plans depending on the whim or caprice of an employer. Moreover, there are many things that will make daily life harder on a temporary visa - such as loans, house purchase, healthcare, etc.

[Ozmaniac]

Would your employer consider sponsoring you now for a 186? You don't need to wait for 2 years provided you have 3 years work experience in your occupation and skills assessment (which you'll need anyway for a 189 application).

 

Because you need skills assessment for any of your current options, the occupation you select should be the one that gives you the best chance of getting a positive assessment and that will largely depend on your formal qualifications rather than your work experience. The ACS (Business Analyst) and the 3 accounting bodies (Accountant) have very different requirements so IMO, that will be the decider. Also, if nominate Accountant as your occupation, you'll need at least all 7s in Academic IELTS for skills assessment even if you're not going for a 189 points tested visa but the ACS don't require IELTS for people from English speaking countries. In that case, you would do IELTS only if you need points and it could be the easier General test.

[Rupert]

I cannot think of any reason why a 186 would be an easier route for you. It costs the same, takes longer and your employer has to jump through hoops as well. On the other hand the skilled migrant visa is moving very quickly at the moment and skills assessment for an accountant is an absolute doddle.

 

It is a no brainier to me, skilled migrant visa. You would need to do IELTS for the skills assessment, IELTS should be no problem for an accountant who is presumably using literacy skills every single day.

[Ozmaniac]

I was thinking the 186 might be a better visa at the moment because of the question of work experience years and the points for same. If you don't have IT qualifications, the ACS won't accept all of your recent work experience (for points purposes they reduce your experience by the number of years they equate to an acceptable IT qualification) and you may not have enough experience as a qualified accountant during the last 10 years if you go down that route. I completely agree with Rupert that a 189 would definitely be the way to go if you can get to 60 points with the occupation you decide to go with.

[TeeTMI]

30 years old (almost 31 eeek)

 

Now, I know probably the easiest route for me to take is to wait 2 years and go down the transition route, employer sponsored subclass 186 visa.

 

 

Another thing to consider is (assuming the points system remains the same) how will your points look later down the line, you will loose 5 when you hit 32 although may gain some for more experience, should your employer not follow through for one reason or another...

 

I have seen several cases where people were expecting their employer to support their PR application but the employer did not follow through, who have lost valuable points in the meantime whilst waiting.

[clairebear82]

Thanks for all your replies - it has helped a lot and I agree with the comments

 

I think the 189 sounds like the way forward - and I'm pretty sure I have at least the 60 points if I go with the Accountant route (plus I have checked the current stats and the ceiling for this year is over 9000, with 184 granted so far) - so I am going to look into applying sooner rather than later (or at least EOI and hope for an invitation!)

 

Looks like I need to be booking my IELTS soon!

 

Just one other question, if anyone knows the answer.....

 

I assume applying for this won't affect my 457 in any way (until, fingers crossed, the visa is granted) - but will there be any impact if, for any reason, the application is not successful? ie in terms of applying for another PR visa in future etc?

 

Thanks again