Well, it totally depends upon your educational qualification, work experience, age, personal attributes and other factors. One cannot really tell an easier pathway for Australia Immigration through state sponsorship or independent visa subclass.
I would suggest that in whatever visa subclass you fit in (eligible with good immigration point’s score) you must apply for that particular visa. Though, both Australia skilled independent visa and state sponsored visa are point based permanent residency visas. So, technically, there isn’t problem of applying to any one of them.
The State Sponsored visa entitles you additional immigration points whereas independent visa doesn’t give you any additional points. Australia Independent visa, however, do allow you to live and work anywhere in Australia.
There are many people who find getting sponsorship easy as compared to independent visas. if an applicant is not able to score desired points for independent visa subclass 189, they have the option to apply for visa subclass 190 provided their occupation is listed on relevant Australia’s occupational demand list.
As a Software Engineer, your occupation is listed on Medium and Long Term Strategic Skill List (MLTSSL 2018) that means you are eligible to apply for Australia skilled independent visa subclass 189.
A point based immigration system is followed to invite skilled and qualified workers to Australia through skilled migration programs. A minimum point score of 65 points are needed on Australia point assessment grid to be able to apply for Australian permanent residency. The points are calculated for age, educational qualification, work experience, language ability and other factors.
The higher are your immigration points, the better will be the chances to receive invitation to apply from Australian government.
The recent invitation round results of Australia has invited applicants with immigration points of 70 and above.
Thus, the easier method will be the one in which you have the highest possible chances of receiving an invitation from the Australian government.
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