[quote="aiddamsetty"]Hi a little about myself I am a Canadian who just did a working holiday visa gig in Ireland last year. Guys I fell in love with the country and would like to go back.
My initial game plan was to get my chartered accounting designation here at home and then try to get a work permit or green card for Ireland. Then I discovered the 1A stamp visa.
So I have a couple of quick questions what would be the procedure in obtaining the 1A stamp visa? Do I require to register myself with the ICAI first and then try to apply for a trainee vacancy? And are there any canucks out there who have a 1A visa?
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. And pls don't hold it against me for supporting Tipp in the all-Ireland:)[/quote]
Hi,
Can you explain more about your background such as education, past experience in Ireland (recognised by ICAI?) and Canada? Are you fresh grad? What kind of jobs are you looking for in Ireland?
There are basically 2 ways to start an accounting career in Ireland, either 1) as a trainee with an ICAI/ACCA/CIMA training firm (go through the local exams and required training/work experience) or
2) get your membership of The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and then look for a job in Ireland as a qualified CA. The visa and qualification requirement are totally different. I dont see the point why you would like to register with ICAI first and then look for a trainee vacancy. As far as i know, everyone doing ICAI lectures looked for a vacancy first and then the firm would have a contract between the firm, ICAI and the individual. It is totally different from ACCA. You do not pay for the tuition, books and exam fees to ICAI anyway. I know people who want to get registered with ICAI before starting their contract but they were educated/worked in Ireland before who can claim previous exemption with ICAI before starting a contract.
For route 2, you get qualified in Canada, look for a job in Ireland with a firm. Depending on your Irish firm, you may not need to acquire ICAI.
If you are interested to get a 'converted ICAI membership', have a look of
http://www.icai.ie/en/General/About-Us/ ... greements/
You will need to sit for Law exam (CAP 1) and 2 tax exams (CAP 1, CAP 2). Mind you, ICAI is probably the most difficult compare to all UK, Irish, Canadian and US exams at similar level. This is rather flexible when compare to route 1 as you normally just need to get registered by Nov for the coming exams in May and June of the following year.
Visa requirement: Green card/work permit, employment letter, passport (no ICAI contract required but you might be asked to show your qualification)
Route 1 is a lot more complicated. It depends on your previous education and experience. If you were not educated in Ireland previously, ICAI normally will not give you any credit.
Assuming you haven't done any recognised Accounting exams and not intend to study Accounting at bachelor/post grad level in Ireland, your ICAI contract with a training firm is 3.5 yrs, normally start from Nov. If you aim to get an offer with the big 4, it's probably too late for 2009. On line application deadline is around mid Oct, interview scheduled in Nov and everyone has to accept/reject all big 4 offers by late Nov/early Dec of a contract starting in Autumn of the following year. As a non EU national who does not have an Accounting degree in Ireland, your best bet is look for the big 4 in Dublin. Smaller firms would not prefer to pay for your visa fees and your ICAI tuition fee is higher than Irish graduate (Irish graduate may claim exemption of the 1st or even 2nd year of ICAI exams)
If you have secured an offer from a training firm, you basically dont need to arrange for anything before coming to Ireland other than your offer letter (particularly in the case of Big 4).
I think all Big 4 has a deal with ICAI that you just need to get a letter from HR to prove employment, your passport and previous GNIB card to GNIB. You would be getting a training visa and the GNIB guys would be happy enough to give you a stamp 1 for a year even without an ICAI contract and you go back every year. It would be helpful if you can bring some sort of membership registration letter but i doubt anyone could get the ICAI contract within 4 weeks of arriving in Ireland. My HR has asked ICAI to send a letter to GNIB saying im with the firm while the contract was processing. I forgot to bring my GNIB card to GNIB card in the first time but the officer said he has received a letter from GNIB (not sure if he checked) but the GNIB officer said they did not receive the letter when i returned on the following week and no one from ICAI was on the phone when the GNIB people called them (as expected). It is a pain to deal with ICAI. I couldnt imagine if my firm does not have a deal with GNIB and/or im not British national myself (i used to get stamp 1 even i was a student) as GNIB said they just wanted to see my employment letter, my brand new passport and old GNIB card. I got my contract after about 3 months but there are quite a few people who were not registered even till now and some of my friends are still missing half of the textbooks which ICAI has promised to send (the lectures start in Oct every year). I just hope my name is on the exam list next week
ICAI probably is the best in Ireland & UK but it is not easy to go through the contract. With no Irish accountancy qualification, you are expected to do 3 years professional exams on top of full time work. This means 9.30-5.30 lectures at least every other Sat and Sun plus over time work during the week
. The only advantage compare to ACCA is you will get a paid study leave of 4-7 weeks before exam.
The reality is you would probably get more $ as an Irish CA but many people in big 4 would be let go after they complete the contract.
