nilv

Hi all,

I need to update my assessment with ACS to bump up my "skilled experience" and annoyingly the only periods of work that qualify for this purpose are positions I held on self-employed basis.

If I managed to secure detailed reference letters from my self-employed positions (as one would have done if they were employed on permanent basis), would it be sufficient? or must I do it only in the format specified in the ACS guidance notes under the section of self-employed applicants which is I supply a statutory declaration, business reg certificate, statement from client etc?

Thanks,

keytofreedom

Hi,

Have you managed to get the answers to this matter?
I've got exactly the same questions, so if you found out anything regarding the self-employment positions, I appreciate if you could share the information.
In case Statutory declaration is required, does it need to be written and signed by the Notary public?
What is a business registration certificate for self-employment - is it a letter from HMRC stating your unique tax payer's number (UTR) ?

Thanks.

nilv

I checked with ACS and they did what they usually do when you enquire with them - got a copy/paste of a paragraph from the guidelines on their site.

In short, you cannot provide a reference letter alone - see page 15 of the guidelines.

Its pretty messed if you worked through an agency (which most people in the UK do) as the agency won't be willing to write you a letter. The end client won't write you a letter either as they did not directly employ you.

keytofreedom

Yes, It looks like you need a Statutory declaration for Self-employment with all the details as per requirements:
*commencement and completion dates of your self-employment
* the occupation of employment and the capacity in which self-employed
* nature and content of the work you performed
* number of staff employed and their occupations.

I'm just wondering what details does each client need to provide as a proof of work complete and does the Statutory declaration need to be complete by some referee, e.g. client, coleague, etc?

nilv

The guidelines state that you must provide "Statements from your clients with details of the work performed and dates."

If like me you contracted in the financial services industry, you might find that none of the clients will write a letter owing to their policies.

The agencies I contracted through also have their own policy of not supplying this information.

So I don't know what to do next as i need to claim over a year of experience that will get me the points i need but getting these statements seems impossible for these contracts.

Does anyone know what other options exist?

old.sparkles

If you are only short by 5 points, have you looked at the state sponsored 190 instead of 189 visa?

nilv

You are a genius..! I dont know why or how i missed considering that option..!

I score a clean 60 points if i opt for visa 190 even without claiming work experience as the shortage of the deficient 5 points is filled by virtue of my skills appearing on the SOL for NSW.

Definitely submitting my EOI tonight using this route...

I looked around for the next date of invitation rounds specific to visa 190 but dont see them anywhere - only information seen is for visa 189 & 489. Any ideas...?

old.sparkles

If you receive state sponsorship, you are invited to apply for the visa. You will need to apply to that state for sponsorship so read up on what their rules are (different states have different criteria and application / selection processes)

nilv

Correct - i did exactly that and was glad to have done so after discovering that WA & VIC still require work experience so that's a no go.
The good news is NSW do not require work experience - provided you score 60 points so i am sending my EOI and selecting only NSW...woohoo..!

Many thanks for directing me to visa 190 :-D