godfrey family-lets go!

Hi

Is there any chefs out there who are just starting out with the process? If so, thought we could make contact and support and give/receive advice along the way!!

Actually, I am cheffy's wife as he is always at work it is me that looks for all the info!!!

Look forward to hearing from anyone!

Sara x

Mick-12

Hi there!!

We are not quite starting out as we have got our visa but hubby got his tra as a chef. If you would like any help just pm me your email address and i can send you what we have. We are in Gloucestershire and trying to get a meet organised if you fancy it?

Georgina (wife) & Mick (chef)

mad.chef

hello there .i am also a chef . just awaiting for our meds to come. if anyone needs help just ask . all i can say is that the TRA is the hardest part. and the main visa is easy just a long wait LONG .
all the best
Dave

Jonahs_mummy

Hi there

We are actually in Aus now, but if you need any help just yell!

Claire
x

Jane and Russ Middleton

Hiya,

We are here too (and I'm "The Wife") Same as Claire said, any info needed just yell...... Where are you headed ??

Jane
xx

godfrey family-lets go!

Jane and Russ Middleton]Hiya,

We are here too (and I'm "The Wife") Same as Claire said, any info needed just yell...... Where are you headed ??

Jane
xx

Hiya

We are hoping to go to the Brisbane area, just about to send off our TRA for the 2nd time-fingers crossed we have given enough info this time!!

Thanks to those who emailed me information as to what is required, it has been a great help!

Sara x

Tigeresswhite

Nicky'n' Mark

Hi there
This is our first post. We are just starting out on the TRA journey. I am the chef and Mark is the chef widow. After reading some of the posts on here and some of the other sites I am now worried that we will fail the TRA this time around. I did include some patisserie stuff in my application as some of my jobs have included this as part of the chef position. It is quite difficult to split these things as it is part of the job you do.
Have many of you chefs had refusals initially?


Just wanted to say hi.

mad.chef

hello there
i am also a chef and i did fail first time on the tra. but only because i never gave enought evidence of my work. i only gave 6 years and small references not in detail. but did pass second time and i gave them everything for 20 years of evidence 14 references that was hard to get.and they had to be detail of everything i did from when i first started 20 years a go.
just awaiting the YES OR NO everything else done
all the best
Dave

Tigeresswhite

Hi there Mad Chef.

I have had lots of problems getting people to write proper references, even though you say you need as much detail as possible and for them to write exactly what you did when you worked for them, I got like 3 lines of Nicky worked here.... whenever and was a good chef. There is one I am still waiting for after 6 months she still has not done it or given me the much needed menu's. I have kept phoning her and she says she will do it but still has not. I am concerned that what with these ones and the businesses that are no longer there or the bosses who are no longer there I am in trouble.

I have had to go back as far as you as well. How did you manage to get people to write these detailed references? I have given them guidelines and still not got there.

Sorry for whinging but not sure how to get more info if needed.

Nicky'n'Mark :scared:

mad.chef

Hello
yes it is hard. i had to do a stat declaration on one job. and had to blag a job reference from a company that i worked for twice. they did not remember me from then and would not look . but would give me a reference from 3 years ago as head chef. so i scaned the headed paper (it did look good and it was in colour)and did my own reference as a chef de partie and scaned the signature and stuck it on the letter i did and scaned it again. gave it to the solicitor to put his mark on it .and stamp to say it is a copy of an original and he never looked just gave it a stamp.hahahaha it worked.
what i did was to do the letters and got them to put it on headed paper after.
or they gave me headed paper and i did it and put there name on it. it was all true that i worked in them places. or you could get a place to say you have worked for them more years than you have to cover some places that you can not get a reference from. make sure you put everything in them like you use stoves/grills/fryers/ovens/mixers so on more things the better. i had some 3 pages long. pain pain. i could go on and on but you will get there it took me about 8 months to sort out. if you need any help just ask
all the best
Dave

the4ofus

Hi Sara,

I too am "the chefs" wife! We are just starting the process of applying for a visa, infact just about to sit down right now with some paperwork Hopefully we will be able to help each other out in our times of need (and from reading the other posts I think there will be loads of those times!)
Not looking forward to all this paperwork AT ALL.

Lynn

godfrey family-lets go!

Good luck Lynn!
We have just submitted our TRA for the 2nd time-fingers crossed all will be well this time!! Had loads of help from reading posts and some emails with info on were invaluable!
Have you done this part of your application?
We are hoping to go to Brisbane, where are you heading?
Keep in touch
Sara x

the4ofus

Good luck with your TRA, hope you get it this time. We haven't done that yet, just posted off TRA skills Assessments for the agent. We havent quite made up our minds - either Brisbane or the Gold Coast.
Let me know how you get on and great to hear from you.

Lynn

the4ofus

Hi Sara.

Happy new year to you and yours! How's your application coming along? Wanted to pick your brains - hope you dont mind! Our agent keeps emailing me needing more info - this is just for the skills assessment. They need documentation right back from when my OH started as a chef 20 years ago, he had only given detailed info back to 1997 and then submitted his CV, saying they can take any info they need from that, but apparently this is not the case. They need EVERYTHING. Obviously, I cant do it for him (or we'd be in Oz already!) and he can be a bit of a lazy git where paper work is concerned. Do you have any idea of the detail they are looking for from 20 years ago?

Cheers! Lynn

godfrey family-lets go!

Hi Lynn

Happy New Year to you too!!

We failed our first TRA application due to lack of evidence as we thought it was the recent years they would be interested in, but they need to know how they became a chef from a yts, cook etc.

My hubby typed up (or rather he wrote it out and I typed!) a detailed job description listing everything from peeling vegetables to which mixers he had used from his yts onwards, then did a declaration at the bottom to say he was no longer in contact with his Head Chef/Supervisor and got a solicitor to witness him signing it. It took ages to do as there was a lot of information to gather and some was from so long ago that he struggled with what he actually did!! In the end I think he enjoyed reminiscing about things to himself!!! Any-one he was still in contact with he emailed the stuff over and they printed it off on headed paper and signed it, this was a real pain as I don't think they realised how desperate we were to get it sent off because we had to keep chasing them-you know what chefs are like!!

We are still waiting to hear if we have a positive result from the TRA mind you, but I really hope we have put enough in this time, our agents said it was ok so they had better be right!!!

Hope this helps in some way, let me know when you put your TRA in, hopefully I will soon be posting that we have got a great big YES from the TRA!!

Take care

Sara x