Beat the 1 July 2012 changes - accountants apply now for Australia immigration!

Accountants looking to emigrate to Australia can apply under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program. You will need to meet the basic requirements for GSM, pass the Australian immigration Points Test and pass a skills assessment for your particular occupation to qualify for an Australian visa.

It is important to note that beginning 1 July 2012, Australian immigration will be introducing huge changes to their skilled migration program. It is expected that under the Australian immigration system fewer people will qualify and processing times will be longer. If you wish to come under the current skilled immigration programme you should apply for a skills assessment as soon as possible. You need to be ready with your skills assessment and, have passed the English language test before you can submit your immigration application.

GSM is for professionals and other skilled migrants who have skills in particular occupations required in Australia and who are not sponsored by an employer. Australian Immigration uses a Skilled Occupation List (SOL) as part of their points system. In order to qualify for skilled migration to Australia, you must nominate an occupation from the SOL.

The following are occupations listed on the SOL for Accountants:

• Accountant (general)
• Management Accountant
• Taxation Accountant
• External Auditor

In order to qualify for one of these occupations, you must have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor degree or higher. In some instances relevant experience and/or on-the-job training may be required in addition to the formal qualification.

Before emigrating to Australia as a skilled migrant you need to have your skills assessed by the relevant assessment authority for your occupation. For the above accountant occupations you will need to be assessed by CPA Australia, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, or the Institute of Public Accountants. They all assess professional qualifications in accounting for the purposes of skilled migration to Australia.

Documentation confirming educational qualifications and work experience will need to be sent to the relevant assessing bodies. You will be assessed based on 12 different core curriculum areas such as:

• Basic Accounting
• Financial and Corporate Accounting
• Business finance
• Taxation law
• Computer information systems

In some cases, you must be registered with or obtain a license from the Tax Practitioners Board in the state or territory where you want to practise as an accountant.

Once you have your positive assessment letter from the necessary assessment body, you can apply for the skilled migration visa electronically. You need to gain enough points under various points based selection criteria in order to qualify for the visa.

For the complete list of occupations on the SOL list please visit our information page.

If you would like to apply for Australia's General Skilled Migration program WorkPermit.com can help. WorkPermit.com is a specialist visa consultancy with over twenty years of experience dealing with visa applications. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.