ENS 856/121 Visa

jockey#1

Hi All,

I am currently on a 457 visa for the last 10 months. I want to sort out permanent residency and my employer is willing to sponsor me for 856 visa.

My questions are:
Am i eligible for this Visa as i have under three years post qualified experience (I'm an accountant BTW) I have about 6 years exp in total.
Can i apply for 121 visa or does it have to be 856 visa as i am on a qualifiying visa. Is there any difference?
Can you leave the job then or are you tied into for the duration of the contract?

Is there anything else i need to consider?

Cheers

mandrake04

121 is offshore
856 is onshore

Both are being replaced by just one visa the 186 July 1st.


You need 3 years experience working in the occupation, so if you are applying as an accountant then you would need to have worked at that level for 3 years. If you have been an Accountant for 6 years then you are alright if you were like an Accounts Technician or something is that the same as an Accountant? Not sure how Accounting works.

The other thing is if you have not done 2 years on a Qualifying visa like 457 then you are going need a Skills assessment, there is no way around this.

Skills assessment for an Accountant requires a Mandatory 7.0 across the board of IELTS English test.

If you are granted ENS PR it is PR you can leave after a reasonable time and work in another job its nothing like 457. Of course the employer maybe have some kind of Employer/Employee contract that if you leave early you have to pay any cost for the PR etc.

jockey#1

mandrake04 wrote: »

121 is offshore
856 is onshore

Both are being replaced by just one visa the 186 July 1st.


You need 3 years experience working in the occupation, so if you are applying as an accountant then you would need to have worked at that level for 3 years. If you have been an Accountant for 6 years then you are alright if you were like an Accounts Technician or something is that the same as an Accountant? Not sure how Accounting works.

The other thing is if you have not done 2 years on a Qualifying visa like 457 then you are going need a Skills assessment, there is no way around this.

Skills assessment for an Accountant requires a Mandatory 7.0 across the board of IELTS English test.

If you are granted ENS PR it is PR you can leave after a reasonable time and work in another job its nothing like 457. Of course the employer maybe have some kind of Employer/Employee contract that if you leave early you have to pay any cost for the PR etc.

Cheers for your quick reply, appreciate it.

I understand the three years requirement but do they specify it has to be 3 years after you completed a degree or in my case a professional qualifcation?

I already have a skills assessment from chartered accountants of Australia as I was intending on applying for 175 but this visa sounds more to my liking.

I also have over 7.0 IELTS.

That's fine, i don't think my employer understands that I am free to leave after a reasonable amount of time :-) They are only paying the $520 I am paying the $3k!

mandrake04

jockey#1 wrote: »

Cheers for your quick reply, appreciate it.

I understand the three years requirement but do they specify it has to be 3 years after you completed a degree or in my case a professional qualifcation?

I already have a skills assessment from chartered accountants of Australia as I was intending on applying for 175 but this visa sounds more to my liking.

I also have over 7.0 IELTS.

That's fine, i don't think my employer understands that I am free to leave after a reasonable amount of time :-) They are only paying the $520 I am paying the $3k!

If you have been doing the exact same job for 3+ years then it wouldn't matter when you qualified, If you have the skills assessment and IELTS I reckon you are sweet.

jockey#1

Thanks for that.

I am just very conscious of paying over $3k to be told that I am not eligible for the visa. I thought i seen 3 years post qualified experience somewhere but i might have imagined it!

Mellor

If you are paying the $3K you can leave your job the day it's approved.


What was the pre-qualification experience.
If you were working in the same job while studing to get a formal qualification to match your role/abilities then that woudl probably count.
If you were workign aprt time while in college that won't count as you weren't an accounted at that stage.

jockey#1

Mellor wrote: »

If you are paying the $3K you can leave your job the day it's approved.


What was the pre-qualification experience.
If you were working in the same job while studing to get a formal qualification to match your role/abilities then that woudl probably count.
If you were workign aprt time while in college that won't count as you weren't an accounted at that stage.

That sounds sweet, having a crap week thus far so it would be nice to have the option to leave whenever I want!

To give you a brief background I was employed as a trainee accountant and started studying for professional accounting qualification (ACCA) I didn't do a degree. I progreesed to Audit Senior so basically I was doing the same job for 4.5 years in Ireland & I have been working here in Oz as an accountant for 1.5 years almost in the same company!

Feelgood

If you have a defacto partner on your 457 visa, what happens
to their visa when you go for the 856?.

Given the recent LAFHA announements I am thinking about going for an 856, but only have 1 year on my 457. This means I will have to do a skills assessment.

My missus is defacto on my 457 visa, so what happens to her visa when I put through an application for an 856?. Do she have to put through her own application?.

Traq

Hey Feelgood, I know a little bit about it as I just went through it myself not too long ago. You basically just add the missus as a de facto on your 856 visa, same as you did with the 457, but they'll require a little bit more proof as it's for residency this time.
Once the 856 is granted you'll both have residency then.

If you've any questions just shout while it's still all fresh in my mind!

mandrake04

Feelgood wrote: »

If you have a defacto partner on your 457 visa, what happens
to their visa when you go for the 856?.

Given the recent LAFHA announements I am thinking about going for an 856, but only have 1 year on my 457. This means I will have to do a skills assessment.

My missus is defacto on my 457 visa, so what happens to her visa when I put through an application for an 856?. Do she have to put through her own application?.

She's good to go on your application at no extra cost, since she's been living with you for 12 months it's a non issue.

Feelgood

Thanks for the reponses lads, that is good to know.

So basically if when I put through an application for 856 I'm on a bridging visa and so is she?. Can we leave the country and come back as normal?.

Also I take it she won't have to do a skills assessment?.

Traq

If you're on a 457 when you apply for the 856 you don't go onto a bridging visa. The 457 just stays active til the 856 is granted, so circumstances there won't change.

Nope, no need for a skills assessment for the other half, you'll just have to get leases etc. certified to show you've been together for the past 12 months.

Feelgood

Traq wrote: »

If you're on a 457 when you apply for the 856 you don't go onto a bridging visa. The 457 just stays active til the 856 is granted, so circumstances there won't change.

Nope, no need for a skills assessment for the other half, you'll just have to get leases etc. certified to show you've been together for the past 12 months.

Awesome mate, thank you.

jank

Be aware that afaik from 1 July, your other half will have to pay a fair whack for the visa too. At the moment she/he can get on for free, only cost really is a medical. This saves you a few grand.

I applied back in Feb and am still waiting.... hope to hear now any day.

Mellor

Feelgood wrote: »

So basically if when I put through an application for 856 I'm on a bridging visa and so is she?. Can we leave the country and come back as normal?.

Also I take it she won't have to do a skills assessment?.

no bridiging visa no skills assessment for her.

Traq wrote: »

Nope, no need for a skills assessment for the other half, you'll just have to get leases etc. certified to show you've been together for the past 12 months.

I don't know if they'll need to leases and such certified. The 457 for the past 1 or 2 years is a pretty decent piece of evidence. A subsequent DeFacto should be a breeze to get through.

statina

sorry to thread bump but work are just about to apply for my nomination for the 856. they have asked me do i want to put in my application along with the nomination. I dont know whether to or not with the changes comin in july. im applying under the 3 years fulltime experience and skills assessment but this option wil be gone come 1st july. im abit reluctant to submit the application along with the money when im not sure if it wil be even acknowledged by 1st july.

on the other hand,maybe id have a better chance of having my foot in the door with the application and nomination together. I have only 1 year completed on my sponsership and dont want to wait another year before applying if i can help it. I have rang Immigration twice but ive got conflicting answers....Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance

statina

rang immigration and got a sound person on the phone so i can put in the nomination and application in together and it wont be subject to the changes in july

jockey#1

statina wrote: »

im applying under the 3 years fulltime experience and skills assessment but this option wil be gone come 1st july. im abit reluctant to submit the application along with the money when im not sure if it wil be even acknowledged by 1st july.

on the other hand,maybe id have a better chance of having my foot in the door with the application and nomination together. I have only 1 year completed on my sponsership and dont want to wait another year before applying if i can help it. I have rang Immigration twice but ive got conflicting answers....Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance

I'm in a similar boat myself. Do you have three years POST QUALIFIED experience because they insist on that as far as i know.

I've only done a year on 457 so i have to wait another year :-( Really thought i could get it sorted now so it would be one thing less on my mind but that's life. I just have to wait and hope they don't change the rules drastically in 2013!

statina

Yeah I have 3 years fulltime experience so Im okay. Hopefully there wont be any more changes to the rules for you

Mellor

Putting the nomination and application in together is always a good idea as it can speed up processing time. For example, your application case officer can look over it and be ready to approve it as soon as nomination is approved.

jank

Yes, this is what I did. Nomination and Application was approved in the same day. Other wise one has wait almost twice as long. The only benifit is of course if the nomination is turned down, you save your self the guts of $4k.

statina

yeah in gonna put both in at the one time and pray that the nomination goes through ok! it should do as there hasnt been any bother before, fingers crossed!

jockey#1

statina wrote: »

Yeah I have 3 years fulltime experience so Im okay. Hopefully there wont be any more changes to the rules for you

I have 6 years full time experience but not 3 years post qualifed so i have to wait.

Anyone have any idea what they consider exceptional circumstances to get passed the work experience requirement?

statina

Would appreciate any of your help for filling out Form 80. For listing the holidays (including short breaks!) in the last 10 years, did ye list every single holiday or just what was stamped on your passport? I have all the dates of holidays back to 2005 but I havent a clue after that!

Also about the any other National Security Cards bit- I had one in America when I was on a J1 but I lost it on a drunken night! Do I need to ring America Social Security to find the number (!) or can I just not mention it?!

mandrake04

I filled the entire page at the back of the form (Full A4), I put in all the details of travel stamped in my passport plus all that I could remember around Europe etc that wasnt stamped and submitted it.

As it turns out afterwards there was a few countries in Europe I had been and totally forgotten to mention and only remembered afterwards and it had no effect on the grant of my visa. So I wouldn't get too worried about City breaks in Europe as its half arsed anyway it's not as if you stamp in and out of these countries.

You could explain about the ID card and you have honestly no idea of the number, just tell them it was for holiday reasons anyway. They are understanding enough that sometimes it's not possible to remember this stuff.

statina

Thanks so much for the info. Another thing, I have lost two previous passports(!), do you think I need to put that in? Theres a question about "have you had any other passports!.....i dont really want to put it in cos along with the lost american social security card, they may start asking more and more questions!!......My drunken days in college are coming back to haunt me!

mandrake04

I put in my details of my previous expired Irish passport because I still have it minus the corner cut of it, I also have a British passport that I have never really used but included that in the Form80. Also I supplied colour photo copies of all my passport pages that had stamps and visa's in them.

Really it up to you what you put in it, in hindsight I think it's OTT they are more intrested in those nationalities that pose a higher risk but have to get everyone to do the same forms as a point if fairness.

saraj14

Just wondering if someone could let me know how much a de facto visa after July 1st is?

Mellor

Depends if its a defacto on a 457 visa, a PR visa, etc

statina

Just going through the checklist making sure I havent forgotten anything before submitting. I presume I dont have to fill in the Form 47A "Details of other dependent family members". My partner is going defacto on the visa but I am presuming he is covered under the main application form 47ES?