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189 visa and ICAA questions


Theodore

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Hi All,

This is my first post. We’re a recently married couple that decided it’s time to jump ship for obvious reasons. We plan on making the move ASAP. We decided to not use an agent for the application as it seemed unjustifiably expensive and unnecessary.

I’ve done some reading on the immi.gov website and this forum, which has been very helpful - great forum. I’ll be applying for a 189 visa (just qualified as CA at end of 2013). I have a few questions about the whole process that are still unanswered and would appreciate any feedback.

1. How long did you guys wait for your unabridged birth certificates and are they really necessary?

2. Is it a good idea to apply for police clearance certificate (PCC) just after I do the EOI or is it better to wait for the visa invitation before applying? I’m concerned this might hold up the process unnecessarily. Not sure when the PCC should be dated.

3. The following questions are probably more specifically directed to other CA’s…

3.1. Does the nominated occupation preclude you from doing any other job? (I mostly have audit experience so far, but don’t want to do it again – currently working in Advisory.) Does it matter if I choose Accountant (General) or External Auditor on SkillSelect?

3.2. Is it necessary to get work experience assessed by ICAA or just qualification (SAICA membership etc)? I can get work experience reference/letter from current employer (Big 4 firm).

3.3. How long did it take to get your skills assessment results from ICAA? Do they post or email it? The SA Post Office doesn’t always deliver post where I stay…

Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you all and interacting in the future!

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Welcome. One thing you'll have to get used with immigration is that PATIENCE will be your new best friend.

After reading the immi site you will have a good idea of what is what and if they say they want unabridged birth certificates then they want unabridged birth certificates. Others will tell you that there are few if not no short cuts with immi. We all just eat the elephant one bite at a time.

Police Clearance is one of the last things to get so you'll only have to apply for them again if you jump the gun. There is a definite process with this and you just have to keep plodding.

From what I know about accountant jobs, you will have more luck with audit because it is universal whereas advisory / tax require local knowledge.

The assessment process takes into account your qualifications and work experience. You'll have to fill in every detail on all the forms - there are no short cuts as the process is very thorough.

Have you asked about getting a transfer to Australia through your current employer?

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Hi Theodore..

1: we waited 8 weeks or so. Absolutely needed. Not negotiable.

2: apply for PCCs, they take a couple of weeks, and are valid for a year I recall.

3: I'm in IT, so the bean counters up in here will guide you. I seem to recall that accounts are going to drop off the list,but check on the Immi website for the latest SOL and CSOL lists. There are also very experienced agents in this forum like SD_MOA who give a bit of free advice here and there, to which we are all very grateful.

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Thanks SurferMan and Crisplet. I guess I'll just have to follow all instructions to the letter... don't want to take chances anyway...

@Crisplet: I've already used that helpful thread quite a bit! I've asked about internal transfer... they'd be happy to ship me off to US, but Aus visa's seem like too much of a pain for them. Will be easier if I go the independent route.

Maybe I should just select audit as my chosen occupation and avoid unnecessary issues. It's still not clear to me if there are any restrictions on 189 visa regarding the job you actually end up doing...? Can one start a business over there on this visa, or will that require more paperwork?

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You don't have to get a job with the qualification you used on your visa. I know lawyers who became cleaners, IT people who retrained in aged care. On PR independent you can work in whatever field you want or start a business.

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Hi Theodore. My hubby is a CA (SA) and we have recently received our 189's so can hopefully answer some of your questions :)

1. You definitely need unabridged birth certificates for yourself and for your wife. Ours took about 4 weeks from date of application but I have heard of people who waited up to 9 months so get cracking on this ASAP!

2. We did our PCCs once we received our invitation to apply for the visa. They took about 3 or 4 weeks but we arranged delivery and collection via courier at our own expense to avoid dealing with the SAPO- very worthwhile with all the strikes at the time. PCCs are valid for a year.

3.1. You can work in any field you choose with no restrictions. We were advised to apply under "External Auditor" rather than "General Accountant" as auditors are more in demand and thus you are more likely to get the invitation faster.

3.2. Get both work experience and qualifications assessed. You do need both.

3.3 The ICAA took about 12 weeks with my husband's assessment and we were emailed the results. They are very particular about wording and the format of your reference letters etc so be very meticulous in this regard.

Hope this helps! Good luck with the process!

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Thanks Splinky! That's very helpful. You're a star!

Seeing that ICAA is so specific about format and wording... Do you perhaps know where I can find some guidance on what they're looking for? I looked on their website but couldn't find anything specific.

Much appreciated!

Going to DOHA tomorrow for those birth certificates...

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It's a pleasure- glad to help. Send me your email address and I will ask hubby to send on the sample reference letters and any other info we received from our agent.

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Thanks Splinky! That's very helpful. You're a star!

Seeing that ICAA is so specific about format and wording... Do you perhaps know where I can find some guidance on what they're looking for? I looked on their website but couldn't find anything specific.

Much appreciated!

Going to DOHA tomorrow for those birth certificates...

Hey mate,

I don't know the sample you need, but this is the ACS (IT) one, and I don't imagine it to be very different, but check. in any event, this is what they would look for, albeit in a different layout perhaps.

http://acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/7570/Skilled-Employment-Reference-Example.pdf

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Thank you SurferMan and Splinky! :ilikeit:

You guys rock, I didn't imagine people would be this helpful on the forum.

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For your unabridged BC you need your parents ID numbers and their birth place down to the suburb (if I remember correctly) and whilst you are there apply for your unabridged marriage certificate too.

All the best.

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Hi there, I am just starting with the process of applying for the 189 visa as an accountant (I know there is doubt as to whether it will still be on the list), however I am wanting to get my skills and employment assessed with the ICAA. Do you have the format that the reference letters need to be written in so that I can advise the employers writing them what detail is needed. Thanks so much for all your help.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi All,

This is my first post. We’re a recently married couple that decided it’s time to jump ship for obvious reasons. We plan on making the move ASAP. We decided to not use an agent for the application as it seemed unjustifiably expensive and unnecessary.

I’ve done some reading on the immi.gov website and this forum, which has been very helpful - great forum. I’ll be applying for a 189 visa (just qualified as CA at end of 2013). I have a few questions about the whole process that are still unanswered and would appreciate any feedback.

1. How long did you guys wait for your unabridged birth certificates and are they really necessary?

2. Is it a good idea to apply for police clearance certificate (PCC) just after I do the EOI or is it better to wait for the visa invitation before applying? I’m concerned this might hold up the process unnecessarily. Not sure when the PCC should be dated.

3. The following questions are probably more specifically directed to other CA’s…

3.1. Does the nominated occupation preclude you from doing any other job? (I mostly have audit experience so far, but don’t want to do it again – currently working in Advisory.) Does it matter if I choose Accountant (General) or External Auditor on SkillSelect?

3.2. Is it necessary to get work experience assessed by ICAA or just qualification (SAICA membership etc)? I can get work experience reference/letter from current employer (Big 4 firm).

3.3. How long did it take to get your skills assessment results from ICAA? Do they post or email it? The SA Post Office doesn’t always deliver post where I stay…

Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you all and interacting in the future!

Hey Theodore,

My girlfriend and I are also both recently qualified CA's and also just started the application process. Here's some answers to your questions:

1. Apparently these are necessary for the eventual visa application. Friends of ours who are are also immigrating applied at DOHA 10 weeks ago and are still waiting. They have been told to not even call and follow up for progress until 12 weeks have passed. We found a company online that will get you unabridged birth certificates in 2 to 5 weeks (for a pretty big fee). After all the horror stories we read about home affairs and how some people wait for months, we decided to just pay them for the peace of mind.

2. The PCC is valid for 12 months. We both already received these as we needed them for previous employment overseas so hopefully they will still be valid by the time we apply for the actual visa. Ours didn't take long at all (mine was 2 weeks). I would recommend delivering and collecting your own documents from the Criminal Records Centre in Pretoria instead of leaving it up to SAPS to organise.

3.1 No - as other people have confirmed, it does not matter which occupation you select. We decided to go with External Auditor (I am also out of auditing, currently in financial services at one of the big 4 banks). The ceilings for external auditor are lower that general accounts but the invitation rate seemed to be lower as well last time I checked (only about 40% of the external auditor ceiling had been reached whereas the general accountant was over 50%). Apparently if "accountants" are removed from the SOL it would apply to general accountants only (and not auditors). Thats another reason why we chose the latter.

3.2 You do not need both qualifications and work experience assessed as part of the skills assessment at ICAA. It is all about the points on your EOI. I chose not to get experience assessed, and only qualifications because we would already have more than the 60 points needed without the experience. The experience assessment looks like a lot of extra effort but you can do it if you want the extra 5 points (although some people have said that only post CA experience counts and articles doesn't, I don't know if that is true).

3.3 ICAA advertises a processing time of 2 weeks. I think it may take longer if you are having experience assessed as well. We just DHL'd all the documents to them last week and they arrived with them today so we are starting the countdown from now. They email the skills assessment results.

Hope this helps! We are pretty much is exactly the same boat so if you have any other questions / come across any tips for us then give me a shout! :ilikeit:

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Hey Guys

I decided 27th January 2014 to move to Perth to join my family there.

I started getting my documents together and this is my time lie to date below;

27 January 2014: Started Getting Documents together
8 March 2014: IELTS Test
24 March 2014: IELTS Results
25 March 2014: Submitted my documents to CPA Australia for my skills Assessment
14 April 2014: Got back my Positive skills Assessment from CPA Australia
18 April 2014: Submitted my Expression of Interest
11 May 2014: Received my Invite for 189 VISA
12 May 2014: Completed the VISA application for my 189 and Paid the fee
12 May 2014: Uploaded all required Documents
14 May 2014: Received and uploaded Police Clearance Certificate
20 May 2014: Medicals Done
21 May 2014: Medicals uploaded and complete by HATMED.
2 June 2014: First Contact with CO, requested further documents
2 June 2014: Submitted further Documents.

Documents Uploaded
National Identity Book
Passport and all pages of passport
Unabridged Birth Certificate
Unabridged Marriage Certificate
IELTS Results
Police Clearance Certificate
CPA Skill Assessment for Migration
CPA Skilled Employment assessment for Migration
Bachelor of Accounting Science Degree Certificate and Academic record
Honors Bachelor of Accounting Science Degree Certificate and Academic record
Employment letters from all my previous employers
Employment letter from current employer
Latest Payslip from current employer
Employment contract from current employer
Downloaded and completed for 80.

Additional Documents requested:

Bank Statements for 4 years
Payslips from employers for 4 years
Tax Returns for 4 years


Any Idea how long they will take to Grant VISA? if they grant visa.


Regards

Donavan


The above should assist all accountants to determine what to upload as supporting documents to fast tract the process.

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Hi there

These are the details that need to be written on the reference letters from the employers:

1. Must be on company letterhead - this must clearly indicate full address (street and PO Box) of the company and any telephone, fax numbers, email and website addresses.

2.
Include the job title that I had when working

3.
Provide proof of service (i.e. exact period of employment).

4.
Detailed job description or task list (tasks copied from the Australian Burearu of Statistics (ABS) occupation definitions will not be accepted).

5.
State how many hours per week worked in the role and whether the role was full or part time. (Apparently it is important to say :

6.
State whether the role was permanent, temporary or contract.

7.
Be signed by direct the line manager, CEO, or HR representative - name and position of signatory must be typed or stamped below the signature. A reference with an illegible signature will not be accepted.

8.
Include the direct contact number of the person writing the reference.

9.
Applicant's salary

If all these details are included, the reference letter should be sufficient. I hope this helps.

A payslip is needed from each employment being assessed.

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