A Singaporean In Australia

First and foremost I like to extend my appreciation for your well written and frank blog detailing your migration journey from SG to AU. I have been following it for a few months and had read probably close to 90% of your blog posts. 

I am a 40 yo IT Sales Professional Malaysian residing in Malaysia. I have a wife (36 yo) and a daughter (3 yo going 4 in December - probably around the same age as Albany). I had a chat with my wife on my intention to migrate to AU. Surprisingly she's supportive. Great first hurdle checked. Then I arranged to meet up with a migration agent in downtown KL). We had our first meeting yesterday. 

During the meeting he shared with me the steps involved, estimated timeline and cost for each step. Based on his calculation, I should be getting 60 points (65 points if I can score 8 and above for ILETS or 70 points if my wife can get 6 and above for ILETS). According to him, AU government/states are not looking for anyone with my skill set i.e. it's not on the SOL. He advised me to go ahead with the Assessment (AUD3,600) and he'll put in the Expression of Interest (EOI) once there's any requirement for my skill set on the SOL. The Assessment is valid for 2 years. 

Here's my dilemma. 

1. Is it realistic to expect there will be a need for someone with my skill set (IT Sales Professional) in AU for the next 2 years? Do I roll the dice now and hope my skill set will be required by AU within the next 2 years?
2. How often does the AU government update the SOL list? 

I hope my questions are not too dumb to be asked and thank you for your time reading this email.

P.s. The agent I spoken to has only 7 months under his belt and he couldn't answer some of my questions or maybe I am not getting the answers I am hoping for???

Hi Terence,

Don't do it.

I can't remember seeing IT Sales on the SOL since 2008. Don't take my word on it. What you should do is verify my claim. If the agent is worth the salt, ask him when was the last time this vocation on the SOL. We are not asking for the agent to predict when it will be on the SOL. That will be pointless. Past records though, can be a good tool to gauge the future. Since Australia had enjoyed a good past decade of economic growth, if IT Sales was never on the SOL during these years, it will never be for the next 5 where Australia will be going through a recession. If your agent cannot provide past data, go to the next one. He is not worth your time. 

The immigration department usually update the SOL once a year during July. However, there will be times there will be minor updates during the beginning of the year.

Perhaps your wife's profession may yield a higher chance if it is already on the SOL. You may wish to look into it.

Good luck,

asingaporeanson