Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Hi all;

Just starting out on our journey to emigrate to Australia.

I am married with 3 children, when we hopefully emigrate they will be 15,13 and 7

I am a qualified electrician and have been for 21 years now - i have my own registered company.

What I am trying to find out is -

1) What qualifications are needed to operate as an electrician over in Australia.
2) Is there a great deal of demand for electricians.

We are looking at relocating to Perth.

As much advice would be much appreciated (it’s a minefield)

TIA
Matt

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Hey Matt and welcome.

To work as an electrician in Australia, you need to be licensed for the state, so fir Perth you would need a WA A class license.

To obtain a license, you need to hold supervised workers license, undertake some additional training and testing, and carry out work in Australia that is supervised.
To do this, and for visa purposes, you will need to undertake a multi-part skills assessment. For electricians this will be Vetassess, Victoria University or Future Skills.

In terms of moving, and getting a visa, do you have enough points (or the ability to get enough) for a skilled visa?

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am 38 years of age and will be 39 when we are planning on moving, hopefully I am still young enough to emigrate.

On my 'to do list' is a phone call to The Down Under Center on Monday, unless I can establish this online?

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Vetassess have lots of info on their website regarding the skills assessment - https://www.vetassess.com.au/skills-...de-occupations

DUC assess via Future Skills - https://www.downundercentre.com/aust...ll-assessments

Points calculator - https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help...nts-calculator

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Thank you for links it’s much appreciated

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

No worries.

We have a forum section for electricians but it could probably do with some tidying - https://britishexpats.com/forum/electricians-97/

Been a while since I did my assessment and I think there may be a few changes but overall I think the process is much the same :)

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Many good MARA agents offer FREE ONLINE ASSESSMENTS, and it is worth doing a few of these. Be sure the person you are dealing with and getting advice from is actually a registered agent. There is always work for Electricians in Australia, even in migrant-saturated Perth, but focusing on getting your visa is the first step and checking the VETASSESS link is a good start. To work independently as a licensed Electrician in WA, have a look at https://migration.wa.gov.au/services...ys/electrician.

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.

The company I have been in contact with is The Down Under Center, I’m going to one of there seminars in early Feb.

i shall take a look at the link,

Do you know if I have to pay for the VISA upfront before knowing if I would be accepted?

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Accepted for what? Vetassess is the skills assessment which is required before applying for a visa (VISA is a credit card). If you mean accepted for a visa then no, you don't have to apply to find out. If you can get a positive skills assessment and meet the points, health and character requirements you will be granted a visa. And yes, you have to pay upfront for the application. The fee is not refundable.

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

Thanks for answering my question.

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

I've also spoke to the Down Under Center. I think you need to complete your skills assessment and english test before you do your expression of interest. The skills test ends up costing around £4000 I think. I was thinking of emailing a lot of contractors out there to assess the demand for sparks as I've heard mixed thing about how much work is out there.
Thanks

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

When I spoke to the down under Center they seemed very helpful and reviews are all very positive.

There is a seminar in Manchester which I am going to attend to gain as much info as possible before I part with my money.

As regards to finding work, I suppose it depends on how soon you are thinking on going, a lot threads I have read say it’s a waste of time to contact companies until you are either over there or ready to leave. Seems a bit risky doesn’t it, I to have children and have my own registered company with steady work, just think life will be so much better for my family in WA.

One of the things the Down Under Center offer is a personalised Facebook group for fellow expat Electrician’s in Perth, those thought of contacts maybe invaluable.

So so much to think about.

if you find out any information please share and I’ll do the same.

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

When I spoke to the down under Center they seemed very helpful and reviews are all very positive.

There is a seminar in Manchester which I am going to attend to gain as much info as possible before I part with my money.

As regards to finding work, I suppose it depends on how soon you are thinking on going, a lot threads I have read say it’s a waste of time to contact companies until you are either over there or ready to leave. Seems a bit risky doesn’t it, I to have children and have my own registered company with steady work, just think life will be so much better for my family in WA.

One of the things the Down Under Center offer is a personalised Facebook group for fellow expat Electrician’s in Perth, those thought of contacts maybe invaluable.

So so much to think about.

if you find out any information please share and I’ll do the same.

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

I guess it depends on what type of electric you do. I'm north of the river and domestic sparks are a dime a dozen here.

As for Perth being better, in what context do you think it's better? Have you been to Perth?

Re: Moving to WA qualified electrician.
 

We are booked to go over in October for 3 weeks.

I guess we are looking for a better work/life balance and the sun always helps things 😉

I’m an electrician that has domestic, commercial and industrial experience.What do you mean when you say ‘sparks are a dime a dozen’? Are you saying it’s hard for Electrician’s to find work?