Timber Floor Au

We applied last March time ,via TRA , for our Skills assesment, well mine

<<thought pffft wot a breeze , we can do this ourselves, advice we'd been given was , if youve dunit , seen it, TELL the TRA..
In fact our advisor said , . every i , and - every t which we thought we'd done.....

Now those new to the TRA, its a real daunting experience charting out your whole skilled history, in fact its pretty Complex to say the least..
Here in the UK in my profession, we dont really get to do certification and have nice pieces of paper saying we had completed this and that .. so if you are in the same boat, chart every job you have done and break it down into your exact duties including dates, tools used (names and brands * TRUST ME ) , customer / client references, and when youve spent a couple of weeks or more doing it.... DO IT AGAIN !! cos they want INFO, they want tons of info, they wanna know ur inside leg measurement on the 12th May 1976.... and if you cant remember it, they will askya for it....

We submitted our Application , having done the sworn declaration and the Afi Davit bit, and sent it offf....

Several weeks later a envelope arrived, 1 solitary piece of paper,
DECLINED
:scared: we were gutted.. then we read small print and at 12 pm a few days later we called the TRA, and spoke with a case officer, I said , I wonder if you could give me some advice??

No problems Steve, wassup > just sent July to get ya case file ...

Ahh You talk and Ill read Steve...

So i did...

<laughter> < good or bad sign >?? i thought as i wasnt laffing

You Dill Pickle , your affit davits need to be countersigned by you, sheesh dont your Pommy solicitors know what a stat declaration is ??

Get em signed, shuvem in the post and I can tellya no wukkas m8,

He gave me his personal extension so that we could ask for info at anytime.. we posted the TRA re submitted application together with a further fee < prat

and Voila sorted... few weeks later , letter
APPROVED

The moral of the story,
If ya think youve dunit right you probably aint !!

If you have any queries, call TRA and speak politely, factually and be subserviant.. they are a GREAT BUNCH !!!

Steve

userjay

well definatly informative thanks timber.But you are either,mr super organised,have the memory of a hephalump or have the patientce of a saint lol.i am none of the abvove suffice to say its the agents way for me!!! cheers though

Timber Floor Au

Lol UserJAY,

I am neither believe me , and trust this fact lol... if you dont do it, your agent will ask you for it, either way they gottya < sniggers

userjay

oh right,eeeeerrrrmmm inthat case i may as well atemt this my self,is the diff in costs worth it??if so wats my first port of call then?if you dont mind my pickin your brains?mine is allready in a state of boil in the bag,i have annalisiss paralisiss lol :scared:

S Oldfield

Please dont remond me of what hell is...............

Lee-Louise

Hi all,

just had to reply to this one. My husband had to go through the TRA and we used a very good agent to guide us. But yes it is the most painstaking thing I HAVE EVER DONE!... ME...NOT MY HUSBAND...

All the chasing, and chasing and even more chasing it took months to get it together & your not wrong with how much info is needed. By the end of it I too became a qualified wall and floor tiler!!
.....The worst thing is just when you think you've done it all, you learn you need more......

......The best part, getting it in & getting approval !!!

Lee-Louise

Timber Floor Au

Your so right,..

Its really an ordeal, and what annoys me more than anything, as i am self employed, is getting references from PAST employers...

WHAT A RIGMAROLL !!

My wife phoned each and everyone and put the thumbscrews on them until they gave us what we were due.

Also worth noting, if you have worked for a company that has since gone bust , and you needed a referral letter from them, you can goto your local council or companies house , get them to confirm that business is now defunct and do a stat dec and witnessed and again .. phew you is off LOL

Timber Floor Au

Doing it yourself isnt the right or wrong way , but providing substantial evidensiary proof of your career is an utmost Prerequisite..

And not being silly neither, the info required is extraordinarily huge, my advice would be speak to a migration agent, and get there feel for your circumstances, because once you have TRA approval, as far as i know, that approval lasts for life, so you need to make sure the ASCO code you are applying under really is most relevant to your skillsmatch . if i can help just POST away

userjay

i have worked in any number of scenarios over the years from 1 off jobs to major companys,with no real record of continuity(i was young & non subscriptive).i havent always been totaly honest with mr tax man(weve all done it),will this come come back & bite me in the bum???in do have a good acountant though,she can eeeerrrrmmmm emulate(if you like) on wat continuity i have got lol.but my earnings would apear low,would this have an adverse affect on me.??? :scared: :scared:

Timber Floor Au

Reminds me of a saying my mate uses, not tax evasion but tax avoidance.

The predominant part of tra application is to show History within a skill i fear.
Another avenue to explore could be state nomination, or indeed the new visa class coming July'ish for rural areas, posts are on the site here or avail at IMMI or via gomatilda.com

Another avenue would be employer sponsorship, or as it appears you are self employed perhaps a business route !!!

Best speak to a Consultant me thinkssss !!!!

userjay

yes i think so,i have enough contacts to cover me for about 10yrs,so should be ok.have been offered job with ausrack,in brizz/sydney,so maybee sponsership a poss.a bit borin i know but i just have to say i am overwhelmed by the decency and help i have been shown by every 1 so far on this site,i remember a time when people were people were genuine in real life instead of cyber space. still decency is just that,has restored my faith somewat in my fellow humanbeenbags!!! so on that note,

cheers

Timber Floor Au

Good Onya m8, hav ya been to Oz yet??

userjay

no not yet,but il give you the irony on this,6yrs ago i me moi came up with the idea of going to oz,10 of us,neway 8 went (me not 1) 6 are still there 2 in sydney 4 in perth,all happy all doin well & all takin the p... with random phone calls (as you do).and am typin away in a desperate state tryin to get there tooth and nail (didnt have as much life bagage back then)BUT i will get there within 2 years ma determind!! just to pmsl at my mates

Timber Floor Au

:PARTY:


Similarly here but YRS behind, my dads brothers moved to oz late 60's on the £ pom migration..

So < smarty says cool, we can move to oz via family sponsorship < plays the KLAXON > nooo way, where they live in sydney is not a designated post code for family sponsorship pmsl,, < well not PMSL u know wot i mean lmaoo

So my view is, what happens happens n if nuffin happens BUGGAYAS ! lol

Lee-Louise

If it makes you both feel a little better, we went through exactly the same, and I too like your wife spent hours on the phone, writing letters, spoon feeding etc.

My husband is self-employed too and had to write down everything + stat.decs and witnesses to his history and let's not forget on the job training from 20 odd years ago!! He had to prove everything as he had no formal qualifications.

Trying to find people.............alive was a nightmare, so we really do understand and sympathize with the headaches you endured!

Lee-Louise