189 Visa Application - Lawyer, Barrister, Solicitor

[LawyerAbroad]

18 hours ago, Anthony2019 said:

I also have trouble in deciding on which state/territory I should apply to for admission. Do you know if any state/territory is easier to get admitted? And if I apply to a particular state/territory does that later on limit my practice within that particular state/territory?

My only experience is of NSW. I chose NSW because it appeared a very efficient online application process. It was pretty straight forwards.

Admission in one state will be sufficient to secure recognition in other States and Territories.

[LawyerAbroad]

7 hours ago, Zami said:

Would anyone kindly  suggest me whether I am able to apply for Barrister occupation?

Hi Zami,

My background is as a barrister. I applied for my 189 visa as a Barrister and I was only as a lawyer admitted to the SC of NSW. I did not need to apply for or be admitted as a barrister in Australia to apply for a 189 as a Barrister. Your admission certificate does the job of a skills assessment, which is why you don't need a letter.

Good luck

[Anthony2019]

4 hours ago, LawyerAbroad said:

My only experience is of NSW. I chose NSW because it appeared a very efficient online application process. It was pretty straight forwards.

Admission in one state will be sufficient to secure recognition in other States and Territories.

Thanks for your reply! I note that they require me to send them the original admission certificate. However, my admission certificate is issued for once only. So I don’t really want to send the original to them. I’m not sure how their online application system could help. It seems that I need to courier original documents to them.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Anthony2019
Typo

[Zami]

15 hours ago, LawyerAbroad said:

Hi Zami,

My background is as a barrister. I applied for my 189 visa as a Barrister and I was only as a lawyer admitted to the SC of NSW. I did not need to apply for or be admitted as a barrister in Australia to apply for a 189 as a Barrister. Your admission certificate does the job of a skills assessment, which is why you don't need a letter.

Good luck

Dear brother,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I am really encouraged to read your posts.  Is this same for subclass 190 and subclass 489 / sub class 491. Would you let me know any source of this information?

i do not have much points as I lost points for my age. I am unable to apply for subclass 189. Now I am planning for sub class 190 or subclass 491( which will be implemented from 16th November, 2019). For subclass 190 , I can obtain 65 points and for subclass 491 , only 75/80 points .Solicitor occupation will be available in Orana and Barrister in Murray. Would you please suggest what i should do?

Regards.

Zami

 

 

[Zami]

15 hours ago, LawyerAbroad said:

Hi Zami,

My background is as a barrister. I applied for my 189 visa as a Barrister and I was only as a lawyer admitted to the SC of NSW. I did not need to apply for or be admitted as a barrister in Australia to apply for a 189 as a Barrister. Your admission certificate does the job of a skills assessment, which is why you don't need a letter.

Good luck

Dear brother,

I have another question. How did you get your points for job experience? How can a self employed lawyer prove job experience? 

Best regards.

[LawyerAbroad]

On 16/07/2019 at 15:02, Zami said:

How can a self employed lawyer prove job experience?

I did this by sending: 10 years' worth of electronic professional diary; 10 years' worth of insurance certificates; tax returns; and statutory declarations by colleagues confirming my experience.

[Zami]

On 15/08/2019 at 03:33, LawyerAbroad said:

I did this by sending: 10 years' worth of electronic professional diary; 10 years' worth of insurance certificates; tax returns; and statutory declarations by colleagues confirming my experience.

Dear brother ,

Thanks for your reply.

Do you know what documents are required for proving work experience of self employed lawyer?

Regards.

 

 

[LawyerAbroad]

On 04/09/2019 at 19:13, Zami said:

Do you know what documents are required for proving work experience of self employed lawyer?

Please see my previous answer. I used that information to establish I worked as a self-employed lawyer.

[Zami]

On 07/09/2019 at 03:57, LawyerAbroad said:

Please see my previous answer. I used that information to establish I worked as a self-employed lawyer.

Hi Lawyerabroad,

Thanks for your reply.

Did you submit any bank statement or any proof of professional fee? I will submit following documents:

1. A good standing certificate from Bangladesh bar Council stating that I was enrolled as a Lawyer in Bangladesh on ..............date and practicing till today

2. A tax clearance certificate from Tax commissioner declaring that i paid all the taxing from ............date to ..............I will not submit tax returns for each year separately.

3. Membership certificate from Supreme Court bar association

4. Membership of Dhaka bar association

5. A statutory declaration from one of my client

6. A statutory declaration from a colleague in the Supreme Court

7. Some copy of pay orders received from clients

Would please let me know whether I need to submit anything else.?

Regards.

 

[Zami]

On 16/07/2019 at 04:17, LawyerAbroad said:

Hi Zami,

My background is as a barrister. I applied for my 189 visa as a Barrister and I was only as a lawyer admitted to the SC of NSW. I did not need to apply for or be admitted as a barrister in Australia to apply for a 189 as a Barrister. Your admission certificate does the job of a skills assessment, which is why you don't need a letter.

Good luck

Hi Lawyerabroad,

I am not a UK Barrister. I am an advocate , Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Do you think that they considered you as a Barrister because of the fact that you practiced as a Barrister in UK? 

[KeefOnion]

HI all,

Bit late to this thread but was hoping for some advice regarding a skilled visa for lawyers. 

I have been in Australia approximately 4 years now (2 yrs working holiday, 2 yrs de facto). De facto visas have huge backlogs at present and I have been advised that my PR de facto visa could take another 28 months to grant (Crazy!), meaning a grand total of over 48 months without PR. 

I have questions in relation to skilled visas as I have legal qualifications, but not much experience practising. Here is my scenario:

 

2014: LLB from UK university 

2015-2016:First working holiday visa 

2016-2017: Second working holiday visa

-During this year I asked the legal admissions board in Victoria (VLAB) what I needed to do to qualify as an Australian lawyer. 

-They said to qualify for admission to the legal profession I needed to complete:

1. 5 undergrad modules (Ethics, Corporations, Consti, Admin and Civil Procedure) 

2. PLT course

Do this by 2022

(This qualified as a ‘skills assessment for migration purposes’)

 

2017-2018: First year of defacto

2018-now: second year of defacto

-I have complete step one of VLABs requirements (completion of 5 undergrad modules)

- I will complete the PLT by March 2020, hopefully being admitted as an Australian lawyer by May 2020. 

So come May 2020, I will be admitted as an Australian Lawyer/Solicitor. But with no experience actually practising as a solicitor. 

Would I be eligible to qualify for a skilled visa as a solicitor? Would I likely be invited to apply if I submitted an EOI? 

I currently work as a mediator/conciliator for commercial disputes. Somewhat legal related (2 years + experience).

[UdeMStudent]

Hey all 

It's my first time posting on here and I thought I'd give this a try as I've practically found no helpful ressources pertaining to my situation thus far! I'm a 25 year-old law student from Canada. I've previously completed a Bachelor's degree in political science, as well as a Bachelor's degree in civil law (I'm from the province of french-speaking Quebec) and on the verge of having completed my Juris Doctor in common law by the end of next fall. For a while now, my fiancé and I have been actively interested in immigrating to Australia once we've both completed our respective university degrees. We've been looking into the subclass 189 Skilled Indepedent visa procedure and by the looks of it, I'll have to apply with a total of 75 points as a solicitor or barrister - but I have no skilled employment experience as I have been a full-time university student for the past 7 years.

Firstly, I was curious in knowing whether or not I could apply with a skilled nominated occupation of solicitor if I have never  been one in Canada and only have the degree to back it? Although I would currently be admitted to sit for the Bar examination in my jurisdiction in Quebec, I choose not to because (1) I'm finishing up my common law degree to be able to practice outside of Quebec (i.e. in another Canadian province or potentially Australia) and (2) it's a waste of 10K$ for someone who knows she wants to move out of the province.

Secondly, I will be applying to get my equivalencies evaluated once I graduate from the common law program. Will the couple of courses I will have to certainly retake in Australia (i.e. constitutional law and administrative law) stand in the way of a positive skills assessment with the relevant Government body?

At last, I essentially wanted to get some honest opinion on how realistic (or unrealistic) the thought of getting this visa would be in a field in which I have no skilled employment experience. Has any one else applied for the 189 as a solicitor or barrister as a newly graduate? Are my 75 points way below what's needed in a similar situation? 

Thank you guys! I'd appreciate any help x

[wrussell]

Currently you would need 90 points which you wold not achieve without relevant work experience and you would not be able to satisfy the criterion (admission to practise in Australia) for the mandatory pre-migration skills assessment.

Edited March 18, 2020 by wrussell

[UdeMStudent]

27 minutes ago, wrussell said:

Currently you would need 90 points which you wold not achieve without relevant work experience and you would not be able to satisfy the criterion (admission to practise in Australia) for the mandatory pre-migration skills assessment.

Thank you @wrussell. If you don't mind, on what were you basing the need of 90 points on? Also, for the second part of your answer, would that mean that I'd have to apply say, for a student visa, in order to complete the required equivalencies to be allowed to practice in AUS, and only then would I meet the criteria for a positive skills assessment?

[Marisawright]

4 minutes ago, UdeMStudent said:

Thank you @wrussell. If you don't mind, on what were you basing the need of 90 points on? Also, for the second part of your answer, would that mean that I'd have to apply say, for a student visa, in order to complete the required equivalencies to be allowed to practice in AUS, and only then would I meet the criteria for a positive skills assessment?

You're probably aware that you need 65 points to be allowed to apply, but the process is competitive.  Only the candidates with the highest points get picked.  For some time now, there have been so many applicants with 90+ points, everyone else simply languishes in the queue until their application expires. 

https://www.iscah.com/will-get-189-invites-march-2020-estimates/

[wrussell]

Quote

on what were you basing the need of 90 points

Recent invitations to apply.

If you apply to practice, the relevant authority will let you know what further criteria you must meet,

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[Rzmoses]

Stumbled across your post from a Google search. A bit of a background my partner is a qualified junior barrister in the UK and in Malaysia. She has recently lodged an EOI on a 189 as a solicitor. We've noticed that the barrister route appears to hold much less applicants. My partner has done all of the same subject as listed above and was wondering if there was any separate accreditation (called to the Bar of (Australian state) that you completed to be recognised as a Barrister for migration purposes. It appears from what you have written that it was the same requirements to apply as a solicitor. Please feel free to PM me would love to get your thoughts 

[VERYSTORMY]

38 minutes ago, Rzmoses said:

Stumbled across your post from a Google search. A bit of a background my partner is a qualified junior barrister in the UK and in Malaysia. She has recently lodged an EOI on a 189 as a solicitor. We've noticed that the barrister route appears to hold much less applicants. My partner has done all of the same subject as listed above and was wondering if there was any separate accreditation (called to the Bar of (Australian state) that you completed to be recognised as a Barrister for migration purposes. It appears from what you have written that it was the same requirements to apply as a solicitor. Please feel free to PM me would love to get your thoughts 

Has your partner obtained a skills assessment 

[Rzmoses]

Yes she has, she's been admitted as a lawyer in Victoria, Australia. I should clarify to explain her education history. She completed her Bachelor of laws in the UK and was called to the Bar of England and Wales. From there she returned to Malaysia for the pupilage and was admitted as a Barrister and Solictor in Malaysia. Since then she has migrated to Australia and completed the necessary assessments to be recognised as an Australian solicitor. We have lodged a 189 under the solicitor route. She's not been called to the Bar here in Australia, however she is a qualified barrister in Malaysia and the UK. She's not qualified as a Barrister here, given the circumstances is she also able to the 189 through the barrister route as oppose to the Solictor route?

[LawyerAbroad]

8 hours ago, Rzmoses said:

that you completed to be recognised as a Barrister for migration purposes

Being invited to apply as a Barrister and being invited to apply as a Solicitor are two identical routes by two different names. They both have the same skills assessment requirement, which is admission as a lawyer in Australia.

 

Both occupations are WELL within their occupation ceilings. So your main concern should be maxing your number of points to be invited not which occupation to apply under.

 

2711	Barristers	1,000	<5
2713	Solicitors	4,650	27

 

Hope that helps, good luck.

[Rzmoses]

Thanks for that. She is currently on 75 points. We were under the assumption that as there are less applicants under the Barrister occupation that this may expedite the process.

Is this not the case and that points are simply equal looked at across both legal professsions?

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Rzmoses said:

Thanks for that. She is currently on 75 points. We were under the assumption that as there are less applicants under the Barrister occupation that this may expedite the process.

Is this not the case and that points are simply equal looked at across both legal professsions?

For the 189 visa, there is a threshold and you must have above that threshold to stand any chance of being invited.  Currently she would need over 90 points.

[UdeMStudent]

Does anyone know if you also need 90 points+ in order to apply for the state-sponsored 190 visa? I'd be applying as a solicitor or barrister.

[Afrochic+61]

@UdeMStudent, see if this might help. List of 190 occupation invites including points. 

https://www.iscah.com/state-190-invitations-20192020/