steandleigh

Are there any fridge mechanics out there who are in the process of or who have already gone through the TRA for their skills assessment. Any advice or top tips would be greatly appreciated! And of course - The BIG Question - how long did it take?!!!

Thanks, Steve.

SteveBannister

Do a serch for 'R Bartlett' posts and air conditioning posts. I know that Richard is in air conditioning and he will help you.

Welcome to the forum by the way!

Steve.

r.bartlett

hi steve

thanks for that..

there are a few fridge guy's lurking here ..;-))

anyway i have done my tra and have got the visa ready and waiting for validation

first thing-don't just think 'au is desperate for fridge guys they will be bound to accept me'

a friend who did the same M.O.D apprenticeship in mechanical fitting worked for Trane for 4 years before applying and was told
he didn't have the necessary fridge qualifications to apply for refrigeration ticket.
however he applied as a general fitter and got in that way..

I was also self employed the infomation needed took 4 months to get to submit stage...

i used a tra pre assessment agent in perth who advised me on what was needed and how ensure it's success....

he also knows the examination board so mine only took 2 weeks from application arriving at TRA to approval.

(I can't prove that these two are in anyway connected but it was the fasted i've heard of..)

TRA are somewhat behind now and 3-4 months is not unusual..i hear


if you have anything 'dodgy' then i recommend them but if you have
a) an apprenticeship
b) formal qualifications -C&G TEC NVQ etc
c) several yrs out on the tools -post quailifications

then TRA is not too difficult. even so mine run to something like 10 a4 pages


if you want a copy to look at email me and i'll send it to you..



cheers

richard

steandleigh

Thanks Steve and Richard for the advice. I have employed a guy in perth also, ( John Nye - ring any bells? ) and according to him there shoulden't be too many problems. I've paid for a priority assessment but from what I can gather it's still going to take a while. Do either of you know anything about "Fast - tracking" your application? Is it only for specific proffessions or state nominated folk or can anyone pay to have it done? How long has it been for you so far from time of initial "getting the ball rolling" to the stage where you are at now?

Cheers mates, Steve.

r.bartlett

at the moment fastracking is a bit of a joke..

my application would not/should not be considered 'normal'

i first started getting tra info back last oct. by feb it was ready

2 weeks later tra ok
state nomination was approved ok

meds and police checks done and application sent

i got approval in around 4 weeks from application hitting adelaides desk -this includes 2 letters requesting further info

(although they didn't even get the last info they asked for but went ahead and approved anyway........)

however my application -like others- was in around the june 'silly season'and loads got approved in record time whilst others looked on..

expect 12 months -or if you get state sponsorship 4 months- from application submittment

cheers

richard

seang

is there any thread you can recommend that would give a general pointer to the time of year that seems to be good to apply?

r.bartlett

i don't think there is an actual 'time' which is better than anyother..

however all i can say is that the end of year for the allocations is june 30th..

it has been surmised that this year they were behind and needed to sign off some pronto to make the numbers 'right'

however this hasn't been officially confirmed although several informed sources (here and otherwise) independently have mentioned this as a real possibility

cheers

richard

seang

thanks for that Richard