To my fellow international students in Australia,
As shared in my latest post, I've successfully acquired the Australia PR visa under subclass visa 190 (Software Engineer).
Today, I am writing this article to share with you some of the important milestones in my climbing journey. I hope it can help those of you who are studying IT (or planning to study IT) in Australia, providing you with more information to better prepare for your journey and increase your chances of success.
I will also share important documents that partly helped me receive an invitation from Victoria (i.e. ROI for Visa 190 and Resume) via email. If you need them, please message me your email address.
Below is my 6-year process of studying and applying for a visa:
Jan 2016: I came to Australia to study Diploma in IT at Monash College.
July 2017: Completed the diploma and started studying for my Bachelor's degree at Monash University.
July 2019: Graduated with a Bachelor of IT, majoring in Software Development.
February 2020: Found a full-time job as a Software Developer in the Human Resources sector.
November 2020: Completed the Professional Year and achieved PTE 85.
February 2021: Passed the CCL exam.
September 2021: Submitted EOI for 189/190.
October 2021: Visa 485 Expired, bridging visa 407 activated.
November 2021: Selected to apply for Nomination.
February 2022: Nomination Approval, invited to apply for Visa 190.
August 2022: Training visa 407 granted and activated.
November 2022: Visa 190 granted 🎉
There are some important things I would like to highlight here:
At the time of applying, I was worried because the intake was very low due to Covid, and my job did not fall under the focus segments of the Digital Sector for Visa 190. So, my mindset was to score as high as possible and give it my all (my total score when receiving the invitation was 100).
When my Visa 485 was almost expired and I still hadn't received an invitation, there were two options: Visa 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) and Visa 407 (Training). I proactively shared my desire to stay and contribute long-term to the company, as well as my visa plan, with my manager a year before the expiration. And thankfully, PageUp agreed to support me in applying for Visa 407 which gave me enough time for the Visa 190 to come.
Seek help early from immigration consultants to plan. It will help you take the right action at the right time.
I hope the above information can help you better prepare for your upcoming steps. The journey is indeed full of challenges and uncertainty, however; don't give it up, Australia does need hard-working and talented individuals so focus on upgrading yourself.
If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to leave a comment or message me.
I also plan to offer some free mentoring sessions in the near future and share the experiences I have gained in over 3 years in the industry to help my fellow Vietnamese friends meet the standard to acquire their first job and have a better chance of settling in Australia. (I do have a plan for my non-Vietnamese friends as well, I'm starting small to optimise the quality first)
If you are interested, you can add me as a friend or follow me to stay updated on when I will be offering the sessions.
All the best!