Which visa will be easiest

[PinkPirlie]

I am mid-30s Brit with Australian partner of 4+ years living in U.K.  We will likely marry next year. 

We plan on moving back to Australia in maybe 2/3 years. We may have a child by then. 

I am an ACA qualified accountant with undergrad BSc economics and finance degree and two MSc unrelated to accounting which were necessary for my previous career.

I have three year's experience in accounting to date (ACA training contract) and have been in a senior role since March as gained promotion ahead of full qualification. 

I am not 100% on whether I can claim the 3 year's experience if I go skilled migration route. So I will either have 3 or 5 year's experience by the time we want to move.

Points are tight due to my age, so will potentially need to bolster with the English test.

We could also do a partner visa. 

Those who have gone through the process - what is going to be easiest / cheapest? 

I'm keen to ensure I get PR straight away so there are no stresses further down the line. 

I want to start getting all the documentation we require gathered together and ready for when we submit as I don't want to be scrambling around looking for historic things later down the line. 

Many advice is most welcomed. 

Thank you  

 

[Amber Snowball]

I’m far from an expert on this but I would say go the partner route. Accountants are needing stupid high points to get invited and may be removed from the lists in the coming years.

Also, skilled visas are a competition whereas partner visas are a queue so a much more guaranteed pathway. As long as you can provide all the necessary evidence.

Maybe consider a MARA agent to at the very least check your application if not fully manage it. The partner visa gets a lot of scrutiny and refusals due to fraudulent applications.

Others will know more. 

Good luck!

[wrussell]

From what you have posted, completing the preliminaries such as skills assessment, Expression of Interest and so on, would be unlikely to result in a invitation to apply for a visa as an accountant under the current criteria. 

There are no cheap or easy permanent visas. May I suggest that you consult one of the registered migration agents who posts on this forum for an assessment of your visa prospects?

[PinkPirlie]

Thanks for your help so far. 

It is all quite frustrating as we got together together early 2015 and I planned on applying for a skilled migration then as a town planner - with a career history of over 8 years and with extra points for my age at that time I should have had no issues being invited. 

However in July 15 it was removed from the list of occupations so I was no longer eligible. 

At that date we decided it would be easier for him to move to the U.K. as he has dual citizenship. 

Three plus years later, we now have a house, mortgage, jobs, life, etc. in the U.K. but as his parents are getting older and in their 80s he is keen to move back in the near future so he can be closer them if anything were to happen. 

I will reach out to some agents as suggested. 

Many regards. 

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, PinkPirlie said:

I am mid-30s Brit with Australian partner of 4+ years living in U.K.  We will likely marry next year. 

We plan on moving back to Australia in maybe 2/3 years. We may have a child by then. 

 

In that case, apply for the partner visa.  The only real snag with the partner visa is the waiting time (which I think is about 18 months at the moment), but you've got time so that's not an issue.  Just be sure to apply in plenty of time.

As WRussell says, as an accountant you have zero chance of getting a skilled visa, because Immigration are swamped with applications from accountants and there's already a good supply locally.  So they are picking out the applicants with very high points (85+) and ignoring the rest - and that is not likely to change. In fact, they may even take it off the list shortly.