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The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

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Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#131

Post by Nursie »

sc0rb wrote: post #126
beilabs wrote: post #58

Here's my experience with the Australian Computer Society. Having studied abroad (Ireland), I was required to send in all of my exam results for my B.Sc, H.Dip & M.Sc. as well as a reference from each employer that I worked with in my field (Software Engineering). For the visa I was applying for at the time it required that I was certified by the ACS, have a minimum of 5 years experience. The process took 6 months fo…

Quick questions. Is it possible to migrate to Australia (Sydney) if you only have a DipHE (didn't finish last year of uni) and have around 2 - 3 years full time Software Engineering experience or MUST you have a BSc? Also, I am potentially doing this through my current employer rather than as a skilled independent migrant. Thanks Edit: I'm from London

Make sure your employer is willing to sponsor you on the other side. I worked for a large multinational in London that were not.

OTOH the independent visa gets you much better terms than the sponsored one. The sponsored one contains a provision stating you must leave the country if you're unemployed for a month (IIRC). BUT you will need to prove more experience than you currently have to get the independent PR visa. If you have the BSc it knocks a few years off the experience requirements.

I found the australian immigration website and a web community called PomsInOz very helpful for these things.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#132

Post by ern »

jpatokal wrote: post #110
Nursie wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went through the same process. Yes it took longer than I would have liked, but in general it went very well. Australia is very restrictive on immigration because so many people want to go there. I'm not really sure why they would restructure the system when this is the case, they have a relatively small population and extend a variety of state benefits to immigrants, so they don't want to be swamped.

Please read this, then come back and tell me that Australia's visa system is sane: http://gyrovague.com/2012/08/10/notarizing-your-fingerprints...

I thought the Singapore process for getting a Certificate of Clearance was the craziest part of his post. Getting fingerprints done should be easier, I suppose, but that isn't an indictment of Australia's Visa system, in itself.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#133

Post by sc0rb »

beilabs wrote: post #128
sc0rb wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quick questions. Is it possible to migrate to Australia (Sydney) if you only have a DipHE (didn't finish last year of uni) and have around 2 - 3 years full time Software Engineering experience or MUST you have a BSc? Also, I am potentially doing this through my current employer rather than as a skilled independent migrant. Thanks Edit: I'm from London

Your employer should be able to get you on a 457 visa fairly easily; they just need to prove that you are qualified to do the job and they can't find a local to undertake it. The 457 binds you to that employer for the term of that visa unless you find another employer to take it over. You would have issues getting a different visa than the 457 though, they require 5 years experience if you do PR by yourself.

Thanks for the info. I plan on doing an MSC at some point anyway so could always get PR (if I wanted it) later down the road.

Does the 457 visa mean that there is no requirement to meet the educational requirements for a Software Engineer on the SOL?

Effectively, my lack of BSc won't stop me if I can get on a 457?

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#135

Post by cromulent »

beilabs wrote: post #58

Here's my experience with the Australian Computer Society. Having studied abroad (Ireland), I was required to send in all of my exam results for my B.Sc, H.Dip & M.Sc. as well as a reference from each employer that I worked with in my field (Software Engineering). For the visa I was applying for at the time it required that I was certified by the ACS, have a minimum of 5 years experience. The process took 6 months fo…

It sounds like they are not following their own code of ethics.

"You will place the interests of the public above those of business, personal, or sectional interests".

http://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/7835/Code-...

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#136

Post by aohtsab »

jbarham wrote: post #124
aohtsab wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is interesting to hear. I'm in the process of applying for an Australian visa (no CS degree). To get an independent visa, I need 2 more years of work experience, before I qualify to apply to have my skills tested by ACS in very specific (and almost esoteric) programming knowledge. And this is only the first step to apply for an 'invitation to apply' for a visa. What are my job prospects as a US software develope…

> What are my job prospects as a US software developer seeking to emigrate to Australia? Frankly, assuming you have the right to live in the US, you are much better off staying in the US if you want to maximize your opportunities as a software developer vs. moving to Australia. I say this as a Canadian who worked as a software developer in Southern California for 4.5 years but moved to Australia two years ago, largel…

My boyfriend lives in Melbourne; hence the motivation to move. ThoughtWorks has an office in Melbourne, and Google in Sydney, but it was hard to find other pure tech companies in the area.

It's a shame that there isn't a well-defined exchange program between countries like the US and AU. In all other aspects I meet the visa criteria head-on, yet the fact that I don't have a degree will slow me down by 2-3 years.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#137

Post by aohtsab »

astrec wrote: post #101
aohtsab wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is interesting to hear. I'm in the process of applying for an Australian visa (no CS degree). To get an independent visa, I need 2 more years of work experience, before I qualify to apply to have my skills tested by ACS in very specific (and almost esoteric) programming knowledge. And this is only the first step to apply for an 'invitation to apply' for a visa. What are my job prospects as a US software develope…

IIRC you don't need your skills tested if you have at least 5 years experience and can find someone to sponsor you on a 457 visa. After 2 years you can enter the transition stream for PR. You might find that easier than direct entry if you don't have a relevant degree. It's worth talking to an immigration lawyer even if you have to spring a couple of hundred bucks for the privilege. As for your job prospects, they're…

I haven't talked to an immigration lawyer; and I think that they will be able to clear up quite a bit for me. Mostly I've been working through this on my own, with some help from the Australian Embassy as well. I will get in touch with one. Thanks for the tip!

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#138

Post by rufus_t »

sc0rb wrote: post #133
beilabs wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your employer should be able to get you on a 457 visa fairly easily; they just need to prove that you are qualified to do the job and they can't find a local to undertake it. The 457 binds you to that employer for the term of that visa unless you find another employer to take it over. You would have issues getting a different visa than the 457 though, they require 5 years experience if you do PR by yourself.

Thanks for the info. I plan on doing an MSC at some point anyway so could always get PR (if I wanted it) later down the road. Does the 457 visa mean that there is no requirement to meet the educational requirements for a Software Engineer on the SOL? Effectively, my lack of BSc won't stop me if I can get on a 457?

After two years (IIRC) on a 457, you can apply for a permanent visa, and that's also easier - and more expensive, of course - with a nominating employer. At least at the moment, there doesn't seem to be any education requirement for the nominated permanent visa (but they have a tendency to change the rules quite often).

The 457 requires you "have skills, qualifications, experience and an employment background which match those required for the position". I never finished uni and got a 457 in 2008 (I'm Swedish). I did have ~10 years of experience though.

The Department of Immigration have lots of information on their site, http://www.immi.gov.au/.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#139

Post by sc0rb »

rufus_t wrote: post #138
sc0rb wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the info. I plan on doing an MSC at some point anyway so could always get PR (if I wanted it) later down the road. Does the 457 visa mean that there is no requirement to meet the educational requirements for a Software Engineer on the SOL? Effectively, my lack of BSc won't stop me if I can get on a 457?

After two years (IIRC) on a 457, you can apply for a permanent visa, and that's also easier - and more expensive, of course - with a nominating employer. At least at the moment, there doesn't seem to be any education requirement for the nominated permanent visa (but they have a tendency to change the rules quite often). The 457 requires you "have skills, qualifications, experience and an employment background which m…

I see that the 457 requires those things but I don't know what their criteria is other than what's on the SOL list which is a BSC or a lot of years of experience.

I'm trying to figure out if they will accept me being sponsored by my employer with my 2.5 - 3 years experience and DipHE... basically, will they take me despite my lack of BSc?

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#140

Post by arethuza »

drakeandrews wrote: post #48
jacques_chester wrote: post #15

I think I can explain the Electrical Engineering thing. A few years ago the ACS geared up to join some sort of peak body for professions. They took the view that they should represent all software professionals of any kind. Then Engineers Australia put in a competing claim for jurisdiction over software engineers. The scoundrels . I remember this because I was a student member at the time (hey, free BBQs) and they se…

Completely irrelevant, but I must say I like the phrase "everybody is pissing on everyone's curtains".

Even more irrelevantly, I'm rather impressed at how quickly Google has indexed this. When searching for that, rather splendid, phrase this page ranks top.
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