Flagged Occupations - What exactly are our Options

[rgogada]

Originally Posted by JBY

That's what i'm hoping for, but i'm planning a fail-safe against a potential major slowdown in processing speeds in DIAC (It happened in the past). I'm waiting till April to get an idea of where this is going to go, also i applied towards the end of October so it kind of puts me with the November crowd.

We are heading into difficult times worldwide, most countries are shutting down or have shutdown their immigration doors, so you can never be to careful!

That's very true. On second thought I am thinking should I wait until June to file my 176? What if they stop accepting new applications few weeks before the July 1st, in the name of making the transition smooth. They did it before.

[rgogada]

Originally Posted by stormgal

Thanks for answering . Actually, I think the current rate is slow - nothing like before the holidays.

But just another brief question -
Will an application that is assigned a CO drop down to cat5 if the flagged occupations are removed? Or is having a CO considered "safe". How about the people who are undergoing "external checks" or who have yet to submit their Police Checks (as the process in some places is backlogged)?

I think once you got the CO you will be safe. CO carries out his process (external checks,pcc,medicals) as usual.

[JBY]

Originally Posted by rgogada

That's very true. On second thought I am thinking should I wait until June to file my 176? What if they stop accepting new applications few weeks before the July 1st, in the name of making the transition smooth. They did it before.

Yes, this possibility also crossed my mind, there are just too many factors to worry about aren't there ?!

In my opinion its safe to wait to atleast April end, by then you will have a pretty clear idea of where DIAC is headed, so say they are processing October-Nov Guys at April, good chance Dec-Jan will get processed by June so you can wait for 175. If not, you can apply 176 by april end or do the June plan (with risk of DIAC not accepting applications in June) .

175 is definitely a major advantage compared to 176, especially for ICT people as you know the IT market is v competitive and restricting yourself to 1 state might prove difficult. Which is why i'm willing to do all the waiting and nail bitting

[JBY]

Originally Posted by rgogada

I think once you got the CO you will be safe. CO carries out his process (external checks,pcc,medicals) as usual.

I second this, i too believe and according to what i read that once CO is assigned, you are immune from the whole Priority 5 hell. The issue is being without a CO.

[auzee_bujji]

Originally Posted by rgogada

I have filed my 175 (ICT Business Analyst - 261111) on 31/01/2012. And little later read about this flagged occupations list and their POTENTIAL possibility of removal from 2012 SOL. I met lot of other people who are in the same boat as myself. I have started this thread to concentrate on facts and options available right now for us.

Here are the few facts, I realized from my research

1. We can not file 176 online while 175 is already filed online, however we can file it by Paper.
2. Once the 176 visa issued 175 will be rejected as we can not apply for a second PR while holding one.
3. For ICT BA (261111) state sponsorship, currently we have only two options. VIC (Free) & WA ($200).
4. A lot of people saying removal of these occupations (at least ICT occupations) from 2012 is very unlikely. You can see from this link that ICT occupations were also flagged in 2010 SOL, but they had successfully made it through 2011 SOL. Even though these are flagged in 2011 SOL the research reports were not bad at all.
5. Even in case of the unfortunate removal of these occupations from 2012 SOL, they will still exist in 176 list. you can find all the five occupations that have been removed from 2011 SOL, are still present on 176 list today. However, how state sponsorship works in light of skillselect is not entirely clear yet (at least to me).

IF YOU FIND ANY OF THE ABOVE INCORRECT PLEASE LET ME KNOW, I WILL RECTIFY.

Now considering the above facts I am thinking the following strategy.

1. Apply and secure a State sponsorship.
2. File 176 by paper (with out PCC and medicals) in the first week of June. but make sure that it reaches them and you get the TRN before 30th June.
3. Let the CO come back for PCC, but don't send them untill 2012 SOL gets released.
4. If your Occupation is still there in 2012 SOL, request for withdrawal of 176 and let the 175 take its course.
5. Otherwise send PCC&Medicals for your 176 and withdraw your 175. Your fee may be refunded by DIAC in this case.

I do not know if the above is legal and allowed. let us discuss this out thoroughly.

IMHO, if the above is legal and possible, then this would be the best option for us, because this strategy secures us with best possible PR, what ever happens. While nobody wants the restrictions of 176, it is better than no PR (or very late PR).
However, we may feel terribly stupid, for unnecessarily panicking and loosing double fees in case our occupations still there in 2012 SOL. But if they do not, we all can pat our backs for a great timely decision.

rgogada,
Thanks for very detailed post. I'm also in the same boat. Curiously waiting for new the SOL to be out this year. Also thinking of raising PLE with similar queries to seek official advice from DIAC. I recommend this to other affected members too. Anything written from DIAC is something we can rely on.

[twister292]

Originally Posted by JBY

I second this, i too believe and according to what i read that once CO is assigned, you are immune from the whole Priority 5 hell. The issue is being without a CO.

When the priority processing directive was first issued, it included applications even in their very final stages.

From DIAC's perspective, your application is being "processed" from the time you apply all through to the actual grant.

[auzee_bujji]

Originally Posted by twister292

When the priority processing directive was first issued, it included applications even in their very final stages.

From DIAC's perspective, your application is being "processed" from the time you apply all through to the actual grant.

I agree to this, I saw a posting from a candidate in other forum saying that his priority was pushed down even after CO was assigned and awaiting medicals.

[auzee_bujji]

In paper based 176 what is the mode of communication between CO and applicant? is it thru email?

[vickey1]

Originally Posted by auzee_bujji

rgogada,
Thanks for very detailed post. I'm also in the same boat. Curiously waiting for new the SOL to be out this year. Also thinking of raising PLE with similar queries to seek official advice from DIAC. I recommend this to other affected members too. Anything written from DIAC is something we can rely on.

Hello Auzee,

Do you think DIAC can guide us in a situation like this if we contact them via phone or PLE or e-mail?

[auzee_bujji]

Originally Posted by vickey1

Hello Auzee,

Do you think DIAC can guide us in a situation like this if we contact them via phone or PLE or e-mail?

Well written direct questions (not putting lot of assumptions/if/buts) should deserve reply from DIAC. Questions on speculations may not be answered (e.g Question like will System Analyst will be on SOL 2012, etc).