LeetoOz

Hi - I'm new to this forum and so far it has been exceptionally useful.

I am currently exploring the possibility of getting a Skilled Migrant Visa under '2231-79 Computing Professionals not elsewhere classified' and understand that the ACS would do an assessment of my eligibility based on qualifications and working experience.

Reading through the ACS Assessments section on the wiki the ACS accept equivalent vendor certifications (i.e. MCSE, MCSD etc) in lieu of an IT-minor Degree or IT-major Diploma (i.e. Group B requirements).

My question is.. I gained my MCSE in 1999 (and would hope this would qualify) however does the MCSE need to be current? What I mean by this is would I have to have updated my MCSE certification to Windows 2000/XP (re-sat the exams etc) since first gaining the accreditaion OR is it enough that I gained the necessary initial qualification in 1999?

Any feedback or advice welcome.
Thanks,
Lee.

Mac SA

Hi Lee,

I dont think that you need to update your quals, as this would be the same as saying that your degree is 10 years old, so you need to do some additional subjects.

You ask if your MCSE needs to be current - as long as Microsoft still recognise you as having the MCSE (as far as I know Microsoft don't remove your MCSE qual after a period of time), then you will meet the education requirements. You will need to get a transcript sharing code to send along with your application from the Microsoft website https://mcp.microsoft.com/authenticate/login.aspx
(Go to the “View my” section on the left hand side and click the “Transcript Sharing Code” button).

You will also need to need the work experience which is 6 years in the relevant IT field.

Good Luck.

LeetoOz

Thanks Mac. Have logged into the MCP web site and can now provide the transcript sharing code as needed.. Many thanks.

BTW - I have 20 years experience working in IT in various roles with the same large blue chip pharma company. Only problem I have now is getting the visa agency I've been in initial contact to view the roles during those 20 years as IT related rather than what they call 'operations based'.

Pietie

No need to worry, I am quoting this from an e-mail I received from ACS themselves:

"In regards to your enquiry, the ACS currently recognises the following vendor qualifications as meeting Group B.



(Applicants with vendor qualifications MCSE, MCSD, CLP and CNE gained from 1997, and CDE , Master CNE , CNI , CCE , and OCM gained from 2004, and MCPD and MCITP gained from 2007, CISA and CISM gained from June 2007)."

As for your agent issues, I'll say what I also say when someone has ACS problems: get in touch with ptlabs, he's really good with IT related issues.

hemanth

Hi All,

Just need a clarification. I have done Bachelor of science (no computer subject during my 3 yrs degree) with 6 years of IT related work experience. I just went thru the clauses under grp b, and i did MCITP on 10th of this month. So will i qualify to apply under grp b having MCITP vendor qualification and 6 years of IT work exp, if so should i submit 2 projects with this?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks

Pietie

No you don't need to submit project reports for a standard ACS assessment, only for RPL.

hemanth

Thanks for your reply....

but all my 6 yrs of exp is before my MCITP certification.

Pietie

Don't worry, I was waiting out to have my 8 years experience for RPL, (would have met 8 years in January this year), then found out I could skip RPL by getting MCSE, and finished MCSE in November last year.

So I had 7 years and 10 months experience by the time I got my MCSE, and I received my positive ACS letter in March.

SD_MOA

Hello Hemanth,
It does not matter that your 6 years experience is before you obtained your MCITP. For a Group B assessment the ACS require that you have 6 years work experience 'at a professional level'. This is proven by the content of your CV and work references.

If you did not complete any IT training before you started working in IT the ACS would expect that initially your role was not at a professional level.

Feel free to PM me if you would like more advice.

Regards

hemanth

So you mean to say, all my 6 years was not at professional level as i didnt had any vendor certifiactions.

Thanks,
Hemanth

hemanth

thanks Pietie...but am confused now after seeing reply from SD_MOA.

hemanth

also one more thing...have you submitted any project for this.

Pietie

No, you only submit project reports if you want to do RPL.

What Stephen (SD_MOA) is trying to say is:
For a positive ACS Group B assessment you need to have 6 years worth of full-time experience at an IT professional level, (basically anything to do with IT above technician level), and the necessary qualification, whether it is a diploma or a vendor certificate. It doesn't matter which you get first, the 6 years or the qualification, you can even 3 years, get your qualification, and then do another 3 years, it really doesn't matter, as long as you have 6 years and the qualification once you apply.

So the short answer is, don't worry, ACS won't worry that you earned your qualification after you've had some experience, you'll be fine.

hemanth

Thanks a lot for clarifying my queries.

Also, if am not able to get my work details on the company letter head then is it fine if i enter all the detials on the paper and get affidivated the same.

Pietie

That's a tricky one, I'm not a migration agent so my info might not be entirely correct, but I suppose you would need to do 2 things:

1. You need to complete a statutory declaration explaining that your boss won't give you a detailed reference, but that you have asked a co-worker to give you one instead. Then you need to explain who the co-worker is, how long he/she's been working with you, and how they came to know so much about your everyday responsibilities.

2. Get a co-worker to write you a reference. Obviously this won't be on a company letterhead.