Hi all, I am new to this site and was hoping if anyone could suggest whether the 175 or 176 visa is preferable?

I am a qualified accountant (ACA) but as my entry date to the ICAEW was less than 12 months ago I believe I will not get the MODL points and will therefore need to sit the English test to get the 120 points needed for the 175.

Alternatively my brother in law is a permanent resident in Oz and could sponsor us for the 176 which only needs 100 points.

Is one visa preferable/quicker to process than the other?

Any advice/experience of this would be gratefully received

Thanks

Waikiki

Remember that you must also meet the threshold worx experience requirement when applying for an offshore general skilled visa - 12 months of skilled work in the 24 months immediately before the visa application is lodged.

This said, depending on your employment duties pre qualification you may find you are able to apply and obtain MODL points within 12 months of your admission as a member of the Institute of CA's.

Best regards.

PS. As to visa strategy, I would consider applying for the 175 at first instance, and if you then have points issues and/or cannot pass the IELTS at the required level you might then move to the 176.

Technically, when you apply for a visa you apply under a visa class. Case officers are then required to assess against all visa subclasses under that visa class. Subclasses 175 and 176 fall under the same visa class (Class VE).

Thanks for the advice Alan, guess we try the 175 and see what happens. I have been being paid as a qualified accountant since i completed my exams and training contract in Aug 07 so hopefully they will take that into account.

Thanks again