Thanks for reply and good luck in your new life
I'm sure the sickness will pass, and be replaced with all out terror :scared:

Mike

We going to Melbourne, to the penninsula hopefully if we can afford it. We got a sponsorship from the victorian government as skills shortage , so waiting on visa from dimia. My husband was a plumber by trade but now serves as a gas engineer for British Gas, although they are taking him through as a plumber. We have been advised that the scottish qualification is equivalent to Australian requirements. There is a 'B' type gas qualification which i think is same as here so I dont think he needs to resit licence, but not sure about the English licence if same rules apply.

sarah-jayne

We are having a bit of a dilema. We got a email from dimia today asking for medicals , hooray at last but on the flip side asked my husband to provide his training agreement evidence of time served as plumbers apprentice. We called snijib, scottish qualification board and they dont even have him listed in the archives, he called the old college and said it was bpec, who was the qualifying body at the time, so it appears that he does not have the scottish qualification even know all training was done here. We cant contact the bpec dept now until monday, stressed out as we thought when we got every last certificate certified and traced it all back it would have been enough, but apparently not.
try this website if it helps with your licence enquiry.
http://www.immi.gov.au/asri/occupati....htm#licensing

sarah-jayne

Hi Sarah-Jayne

Sorry for the delay in reply, its total chaos here.
I hope it all goes well with BPEC and they give you the evidence needed. The whole thing is a bit of an uphill climb but hopefully all worth it in the end.
I applied for a Plumbers licence for Queensland by email. The girl at the licencing dept was extremal helpful and she requested I fill the form out, email it along with all my Qualifications (City & Guilds, CORGI etc) and she would look into it. I did this and she got back to me and said I could only have a Provisional Licence. Then when in Queensland I would have to sit 2 courses and get a job as a Plumbers Mate for a while until i had enough experience in Aus plumbing. Then I would qualify for full licence.
Its never easy is it.
Anyway hope this helps a little but its defiantly worth contacting the State Licencing body before you get over there, there have been lots of horror stories on this web site about Trades struggling to get a job because of the licencing thing.
bye for now
Mike

I totally understand your concerns having moved my wife and 2 young boys to Melbourne last November. I left a great job, fab village, great friends, dodgy family! and what we considered to be a 'safe and comfortable' life, but we just needed something more..... I had that 'hamster wheel' feeling!!

Our visa process started in march last year and when I now look back, I can't believe what we have actually done/achieved in the last 16 months or even really sure what our motivations where apart from warmer weather.

... but what I can say is that for us there is no downside, its a fabulous family enriching experience (immediate family anyway!!!). It's not a forever move for us, but we have committed ourselves to 2-3 years to ensure citizenship and we will make sure we make the most of every spare minute whilst we are here.

It's a fab country and the climate (even in melbourne!) means that we have a so much more 'can do/will do' attitude to doing things as a family in our free time.

Good luck.... its a great adventure, and it sounds like your past the point of no return!

Regards

Jamie

Thanks mike,
were going to contact the victorian licencing dept, to see what they say, fingers crossed we can get the evidence we need.good luck in your new adventure in aus, and hope you do well in the plumbing industry, it will all work out in the end.

thanks again
sarah-jayne

Lots of work for plumbers further north (after that bit of a storm) if you fancy trying your hand at roofing work. I doubt very much anyone will have licence issues either due to demand outweighing supply of willing labour.