Gordon S

Hi

I am a 25 year old fully qualified elrctrician in the UK. I will be going over to aus soon on a 417 working holiday visa. Will I be able to do electrical work? Even if its working as a labourer under supervision? Just something to get my foot in the door to start withh as I only intend to work half the year and travel the rest :-) Any help will be much appreciated

Gordon

old.sparkles

You may get lucky and pick up trades assistant work - not easy though even for those of us who have licenses to work under supervision.

Gordon S

Ok thanks. I'm struggling to get my head around how to eventually get my licence to work as an electrician. It seems rather complicated. Can you give me a summary/step by step process to get this done?

old.sparkles

The easiest way would be through South Australia.

When you get to Australia (anywhere) you would need to apply for any ARTC with Trades Recognition Australia. The initial cost for that is $930 - plus another $1000 if you have to do the Trades Test - info here http://www.innovation.gov.au/Skills/...s/default.aspx

If you are successful in getting an ARTC which has a minimum 90 day processing so you'll have to stay put once you've applied or get mail forwarded (or get PO box maybe), you bring it to South Australia and sign up to do wiring rules with Peer Veet - http://www.peer.com.au/Training/Upsk...8/Default.aspx which costs $830 plus books (another $700 ish if you can't get second hand copies) and takes a week and a half.

If you pass that, you take the cert and your ARTC and around $500 to the CBS office in Adelaide - http://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/wcm/licensi...-registration/ and they will send you out a license in a couple of weeks

Good guess is it might take around 6 months start to finish

Gordon S

Ah that's much easier to understand :-) thanks. Would it be wise to apply for the ARTC as soon as I get to Australia then? Get the ball rolling even if I go off travelling for a couple of months? I have friends who are residents in Melbourne and brisbane so I can use their address to receive mail. Is the only way to apply for the ARTC through that website?

old.sparkles

You need to read the guidelines - the application is a bit full on from what I remember - and you need to make sure you have all the documents they need. If you go off travelling you need to be reachable as they may call you - or be able to return to do a practical assessment. You will also need to have something with an Australian address to add to the application I believe (been a while since I've read all the guidelines as OTSR holders cannot apply until OTSR conditions are met and then not really worth it)

If you are planning to do the 3 months regional work to stay 2 years, or if you are thinking about migrating permanently in the future, it's worth doing but otherwise I don't think I'd sink $3k or more on it

Gordon S

I'm hoping to gain permanent residency eventually and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen :-) thanks so much for helping me understand the process clearer. If I have anymore queries then I'll be in touch

old.sparkles

Just to be clear - an ARTC will help you get an SA elec license. To work in other states you would need to apply for their license by mutual recognition - which can be easier in some states than others. If you later want to apply for independent PR you will still need to do OTSR with Vetassess or similar - and having an A class will mean you get a technical interview rather than practical assessment. OTSR's cost around $2500 I think. Visa application for single person is around $3500 plus medical / police checks but you can ask nearer the time

Gordon S

Will the ARTC be beneficial to get even if I wanted to get a licence for Victoria or queensland? Im sorry I'm not understanding what the OTSR is or what it means?

old.sparkles

OTSR = Overseas Technical Skills Record which is what is needed for a PR skilled visa application

If you get the ARTC then SA elec license you can apply for other states by mutual recognition but not all states will want to accept an SA license as there is not period of supervised employment on this route. NSW has accepted applications this was - QLD will accept an NSW license on mutual rec and WA will accept a QLD license - or so I'm told. I'm still working on the SA one since I do have OTSR and not ARTC

Jockstar

You can work in NSW without a licence. As in theory you will be supervised by a licenced sparky. Loads of work at the moment in Sydney

old.sparkles

might have to have a look myself - need to try and get this logbook done with

Gordon S

brill thanks for the advice! just been looking through the ARTC application form. It's clear about submitting the trade certs that I have plus a portfolio type document showing my work record, but it talks about they will only accept documents certified by an Australian migration agent or persons listed in the statutory declarations? do I need to get an agent to sign my application?

old.sparkles

You can use a notary public or JP, teachers, dentists, doctors etc - https://www.gov.uk/certifying-a-document