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ACS Skills assessment update
Migration Alliance members will be interested to learn about the following ACS updates which were received today:
Dear ,
This email is a notification of up coming changes to ACS skill sassessments.
Temporary Graduate - 485
As of Oct 28, 2013, the Recent Graduate application type will change name to Temporary Graduate - 485.
The assessment criteria will remain the same –
• Bachelor degree or higher with a major in computing that is closely related to the nominated occupation.
All applications lodged on or after Oct 28, 2013, will receive a result letter stating that the result has been issued for the purpose of lodging a visa subclass 485.
Graduate Skills Assessment
As of Oct 28, 2013, the Recent Graduate wanting experience considered application type will change name to Graduate Skills Assessment.
Only applicants that hold a valid Recent Graduate or Temporary Graduate - 485 skills assessment will be eligible to apply for a Graduate Skills Assessment.
The Graduate Skills Assessment is to allow applicants that have previously applied for a Temporary Graduate - 485 to have their work experience assessed for a permanent skills assessment.
The assessment criteria will remain the same and the Skill Level Requirement Met Date will be noted as the completion date of the relevant Bachelor degree or higher on the ACS result letter.
This change will affect all applications lodged on or after Oct 28, 2013.
End of Year Closure 2013
The ACS office will close from Dec 23, 2013 and re-open on Jan 13, 2014.
Phone and email enquiries will be not be available during this time. Please refer to the skills assessment website for information.
All skills assessments not completed before Dec 20, 2013 will be finalized after Jan 13, 2013.
Due to a high number of applications at this time, we cannot guarantee any application time frames.
Kind Regards,
The Skills Assessment Team
Australian Computer Society
Web: www.acs.org.au E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comments
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Friday, 18 October 2013This is outrageous!!. The students who will complete the course in November and December will be affected!!
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Friday, 18 October 2013
Does this mean that if I where to get my marks/course completion certificate on Nov, I will not be able to access by degree for Visa 189?
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Saturday, 19 October 2013
John it is clear that new graduates must obtain the skill assessment for the 485 visa fist according to the ACS announcement before they can obtain the skill assessment for the PR purpose.
This means logically there is a second level requirements to obtain the PR assessment letter otherwise it would be illegal to force students to get the 485 assessment first.
This second level according to the assessor we spoke to most likely means work experience but the ACS is keeping that a secret so far for some mysterious reason known only to themselves.
And yes this would mean that all students who cannot apply for the skill assessment before the 28th October will be forced onto a 485 assessment first which as the ACS says can only be used for the purpose of applying for the 485 visa.
You are welcome to contact the ACS directly and see what they say.
Regards
Karl Konrad -
Monday, 21 October 2013
What about students who have already had a degree assessed and expiring in December this year.
Will they renew their assessment after 28/10/2013 -
Monday, 21 October 2013
These important sections of the original ACS announcement have now been removed from their web site News Update page where the initial announcement (above) comes from.
"Only applicants that hold a valid Recent Graduate or Temporary Graduate - 485 skills assessment will be eligible to apply for a Graduate Skills Assessment.
The Graduate Skills Assessment is to allow applicants that have previously applied for aTemporary Graduate - 485 to have their work experience assessed for a permanent skills assessment."
They have now added
"Please Note: Further announcements will be made in the following week regarding this change."
Hmmmm, so what can this mean?
This short quiz may hold the answers.
1) Why is there no admission on the ACS web site which states those two paragraphs included in the media release on the 16th October was incorrect? Answer;
a) That the information they released on the 16th October was incorrect and they are too embarrassed to admit it, or
b) It was correct and for some reasons they are now trying to hide this information
2) Why is the ACS trying to hide this information? Answer;
a) The ACS think international students are a little slow and perhaps they cannot absorb too much information at once, or
b) The ACS are trying to avoid many complaints and objections from international students before any new rules become activated since it will mean every student who receive their results after the 28th October will be devastated.
3) Why is the ACS delaying the release of the information by saying further announcements will be made this week? Answer;
a) The ACS has foolishly made an announcement before they have actually worked out their policy for the new criteria of the Graduate Skills Assessment, or
b) The new guidelines have been discussed within the ACS and decided upon but they are deliberately keeping this from international students so they do not receive a rush of applications before the 28th.
You can guess which answers I would choose. -
Monday, 21 October 2013
funny how unprofessional ACS is. They teach us to be professional and meet certain ACS standards while they are doing exact opposite. Why cant they just wait till july next year instead of rushing in? When i sent them email their reply was wait till next week so this is next week now why are they still not telling? is this ACS code of ethics?
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Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Disaster Looms for International IT Students
The Australian Computer Society’s Professional Assessment Manager, Berny Martinez, confirmed today that a 1 year work experience employment option after an Australian Bachelor IT degree is being considered as a requirement for international students to obtain the skill assessment for permanent residency.
It is also confirmed that the ACS is now moving to use a 2 stage assessment process, one being for the Temporary Graduate – 485 skills assessment and the next being a Graduate Assessment – for permanent residency. This will effectively dash the hopes of thousands if international students study IT in A
In an email to IMMIGRATION NEWS, Mr. Martinez stated “Currently, our Graduate result letters do not specify it is a Temporary Graduate – 485 skills assessment. This is a straight forward change to ensure applicants are submitting the correct skills assessment to DIBP.”
“The change will involve a name change of the application type and a statement in the ACS result letter outlining it is a Temporary Graduate – 485 skills assessment. The criteria will remain the same.”
Hmmmm.
I’m afraid we need to point out to Mr. Martinez that the skill assessments now issued by the ACS are not for the sole purpose of the Graduate 485 visa and have never been for the sole purpose of the Graduate 485 visa. They are simply a skill assessments, pure and simple. It is an assessment letter which has been used for years for many visa purposes both permanent and temporary applications.
To try and now say it is really for the Graduate visa only is just gobbledygook.
Now the logic becomes clear. Somehow because the current skill assessment for international students is really on for the 485 visa purpose, the ACS is bringing in the new Graduate Skills Assessment. As Mr. Martinez explains;
“The Graduate Skills Assessment is a different matter. We are looking at the best way to help applicants meet their permanent residency skills assessment requirements as post graduates.
We understand the real world challenges graduates face in finding employment in their first year after graduation and how this will affect their chances of meeting permanent skills assessment requirements.
We hope to release the final criteria for the Graduate Skills Assessment by the end of this week. We are considering a 1 year employment option after the completion of an Australian Bachelor degree and an alternative option of the completion of an ACS Professional Year Program after the completion of an Australian Bachelor degree.
These 2 options will give applicants 2 avenues to help them meet the permanent skills assessment requirements.
So it looks like we are going to be right after all. A second skill assessment layer which of course it must be harder than the first level otherwise one cannot justify a two stage process. While of course the official line is that the ACS have not decided on the final announcement yet, I wouldn’t bet on the fact that the one year work experience component won’t be a requirement.
In my opinion we will find it will be just as we predicted. Students will be offered the carrot of the mighty Professional Year Program (PYP). Of course the PYP will be a fine substitute for real life one year of work experience won’t it? Of course it has nothing to do to the probable 200% increase enrollments into the ACS administered PYP programs, does it?
“Of course not” I hear you scream out.
The ACS lets the cat out of the bag – a little too early it seems
It appears the News Update page on the ACS web site that appeared in the 16th October reporting on the new two stage assessment criteria, should not have been made available to the public. According to Thomas Shanahan the Communications Executive of the ACS;
“I also want to make it clear that we are not being deceptive or hiding information. It is correct that some information was posted in error, as it was in draft and under review. That information was removed to avoid any confusion and procedures have been strengthened to ensure this error does not occur again.”
Karl Konrad
Managing Director
Australian Immigration Law Services
and Editor of IMMIGRATION NEWS -
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
This is just unbelievable. its simply saying pack your bags, you paid the money. Lets say i start PY in October, finish in August next year.In July, new laws come in which mean it is possible I.T can be removed knowing most IT professions are on "flagged Occupation list" so by the time i spent another 12,000$ on a professional year and then have my occupation removed and with networking only remaining, i do a masters in networking since i am a programmer so that i can assessed as a "network engineer" paying another 40,000$.
Its time to tell new potential students to Australia, don't dare to study I.T or ACS will make you make you very "professional"why couldn't ACS give us at least 6 month period? why targeting those graduating right at this moment?with which organization can we lodge our complains against A.C.S? or lawsuit our only option?
About PY let me add a comment, if that PY is so good and nice, i can a name a few colleges who offer "no need to study" environment yes of course we have very high standards of professionalism. A.C.S is going to make sure in future no international student makes a mistake of studying I.T and by next year we will only have only one occupation in S.O.L from I.T. If A.C.S think we will now do a professional year, frankly speaking, we are not going t get into this new trap you set up. I can tell you about 5 more students who have made same comments about this so i hope A.C.S realize this will be death blow to their revenues. Of course, it is very possible these very changes came from their business partners D.I.B.P who used the same strategy of sudden changes back in 2010.
fees for work visa + health covers + fees for PY + fees for another visa.
in mean time change the S.O.L.
"money our business". -
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
How about graduate students? Can students with a Master degree in IT or PhD degree still get the work experience exemption?
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Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Tony it is expected that recent graduates whether Masters or Bachelor qualified will have the work experienced imposed as a mandatory requirement before they can apply for permanent residency.
Sadly the major issue that possibly all recent graduates from this semester will be forced onto the 485 visa whilst they find work or perhaps do the PYP programs before they can apply for 189, 190 or 489 visas. It seems this points has been missed by those (not you) not involved in the migration industry and the hardship this will cause many international students currently completing their courses. -
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Wow! Bit of a storm in a teacup here! Weren't 485's always temporary? And shouldn't Karl's staff say that they work for him before they call this outrageous?
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Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Absolutely shameful for ACS doing all the drama at the time so important for students. Their ethics and code of conduct have gone down the drains...
I had my final exam paper today and went to ask admin as to when would be the earliest possible for me to get my completion letter -- 25th of November she replied. I requested her to make an exception and expedite the process if possible... The irony is at the very moment I got a call from my wife telling me about this new bullshit...
My scenario,
I quit all the work(driving) that I was doing in order to exhaust my savings deliberately as it would push me to find a job in IT industry.
I took the IELTS test to get 7 band
I had everything ready except for the skill assessment to file an EOI
& all ACS now wants from me and other students like me to inject another $12,000 into our lives for absolutely NOTHING!!! This professional year thing is a JOKE people. I have been applying for jobs and have been getting call and the first things the recruiters are interested in is the status of your visa.
By pulling up this little stunt, ACS is practically taking my professional career away fro me for at least another year.
This has to STOP!!!
I say all the affected students join hands (very peacefully) of course and demand a solid reason from ACS for doing all this and have our voice heard. This is absolute madness.
It will keep happening until barricaded. -
Monday, 10 February 2014
I am with you but, how can we leverage the petition ?
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Monday, 10 February 2014
I am ready to lodge the petition in court to remove this ridiculous rule what ACS has implemented. Where can we start from ? Any suggestions !
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Wednesday, 23 October 2013
where do we start? we have to make them provide us cooling period time just like immigration was forced to do in earlier cases. we can form a group and write petition to ask them to give us relief in form of transtional arrangement.
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Wednesday, 23 October 2013
where do we start? we have to make them provide us cooling period time just like immigration was forced to do in earlier cases. we can form a group and write petition to ask them to give us relief in form of transtional arrangement.
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Wednesday, 23 October 2013
where do we start? we have to make them provide us cooling period time just like immigration was forced to do in earlier cases. we can form a group and write petition to ask them to give us relief in form of transtional arrangement.
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Wednesday, 23 October 2013
I totally agree with you hash. What we can do is to have the word spread out as fast as possible and have a formally written request sent to ACS preferably through a Migration Lawyer. I can start my class fellows and mates and eventually we can have our say in this matter. Where do you live?
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Wednesday, 23 October 2013
The ACS has released a response to claims made by the Australian Immigration Law Service newsletter.
http://www.acs.org.au/news-and-media/news-and-media-releases/2013/response-to-australian-immigration-law-service-newsletter
Immigration blog
Doesn't anyone realise the significance of this? Thousands of graduates about to finish their courses will no longer be able to apply for PR, they will forced on the a provisional 485 skill assessment