rinkerdink

Hi,

I have today applied under the Sydney Accord for engineer status/ recognition on the grounds that I have a pre 1999 HNC. I realise this is an electrician forum and I am currently amassing the info required for a special class TRA assessment but as many sparx have HNC I thought it would be beneficial to share my experiences.

So far I have photo copied my certificate and notification of performance completed a very simple form and paid £57.50 - here's the link:

http://www.engc.org.uk/documents/Syd...m%20011208.pdf.

I will hear within 30 days of the out come. As it stands it is my understanding that if successfull I will recieve a letter of attestation from the 'Engineering Council UK' (ECUK) which is an agreed signatory of 'Engineers Australia' for assessing qualifications. This can then be sent to the TRA for assessment as an engineer for migration purposes - I am hoping this is a slam dunk mechanical process of acceptance given the pedigree of the attestation.

To me this all seems a bit too good to be true, it remians to be seen how successful this will be but it may turn out to be a very cost effective way of ammassing the points required before lodging a visa application. I will keep this thread up to date with the latest developments.

I apologise if this seems a bit off topic/ forum but it could make early academic effort worth it's weight in gold.

daviec33

This is exactly how i gained my visa a couple of years ago and it's a doddle!.

Letter from ECUK confirming HNC was good to go then I applied to Engineers Australia.

All very straight forward. Think the whole process took four weeks, ECUK only took about a week as I recall!.

Glasgow

I've been checking this out for a couple of weeks now, emailed the Australian eng council and the UK eng council, the UK council have asked when I got my HNC, Electronic and Electrical (1994), the Oz council basically said this was the cheapest way to go.

I had thought the £57.50 was to get the application form sent out to you only, reading it again it does look like its for the actual assessment of your qualifications.

I am still not convinced though as my qualifications are not on the ECUK accredited course database although the £57.50 form does say:-

"Where the Higher National qualification held by an applicant migrant is not listed on the Engineering Council UK website, and providing that certain criteria are met"

Its the "certain criteria are met" bit that that scares me!

daviec33

Think it depends on the breakdown of the modules that makeup your HNC award as some are worth more points than others. Also not all colleges offered the same modules.

As I recall i did

Calculus+Mathematics for engineering (nightmare!)
AC Networks 1ph+3ph
Electronics
Engineering project
The individual in industry (total nonsense)
Communication for engineering (More nonsense)
Quality Assuarance
Programmable Logic Controllers
3ph Motors and control techniques
Cable selection

There may have been a few others but I can't remember now and my certs aren't at hand!.

I'd say for £57.50 it's a decent gamble! ;-)

Glasgow

Got a reply today from the Engineering council, my HNC may be ok but it depends on the profile of the units, then a link to the £57.50 application form.

Got to be worth a shot, so I have sent for the the application form

(Still got a nagging doubt though, surely it cant be that easy!)

rinkerdink

WOW!!!

Letter of attestation came through today - that's within 2 days, I faxed my application over on Tuesday!

Now I need to apply to Engineers Australia to be rubber stamped (hopefully) and my official points allowance for my Visa application should hopefully follow.

I will keep you informed as promised.

rinkerdink

Hi,

I have the 60 points for an Engineering Technologist in the bag (well at least the letter to submit with a Visa application). Unfortunately this trade is not on the latest, most in demand list. This means I will be way down the pecking order in terms of case officer allocation. I will be pursuing the special class route now but it is nice to have this one in reserve!

If anything changes I will again update this thread.

Glasgow

Got my letter of attestation on Sat morning

Glasgow

Think I am on the same boat as you here rinkerdink, I have the letter of attestation (£57) allowing me to apply under the Sydney accord to be classed as an Engineering Technologist (250$) which is not on the most in demand list.

I have also contacted the Australia engineering council, to be classed as a Production or Plant engineer 2126-13, I would need to complete a Competency Demonstration Report costing 450$ with no guarantee of success.

3rd option is to complete the electrician special class assessment by the TRA (7000 word count already, can you have too much info?) for $300.

For the extra $50 the special class looks a better bet than the Technologist, mainly for the fact it is on the most in demand list.

Can anyone tell me what difference does it make on what occupation you are classed as when actually in Australia or is this just for visa application alone?

Also does anyone know the difference in waiting times between an occupation in demand and one not in demand?

Cheers

rinkerdink

I've been advised that the TRA route for special class would be best, this is for two reasons,

1) Engineering technologist is not on the MODL list
2) It takes you part of the way towards your license when you get to the next stage (albeit a small step) as you basically resubmit your original skills assessment paper work once you have a visa and can then hopefully proceed down the PEER route to a license.

I am by no means an expert but my current plan is (if all goes perfectly) to do the following.

Get TRA skills assessment postive.
Lodge visa applaication.
Wait for ages or maybe go state sponsored to Queensland which shortens the allocation of case officer time dramatically.
Get my visa.
Apply for my ARTC as an electrical mechanic using resubmitted TRA supporting documentation.
Register for the distance learning work book with PEER.
Fly in with family on a holiday to activate our visa's and complete the licencing test at PEER and get the license.

This is my current idea and I will be checking whether this is all possible once the skills assessment is out of the way. I will obviously appreciate it if someone could enlighten me whether this possible or not? I would simply love to have the license all boxed off prior to arriving in Oz to stay hence the holiday plan.

Is this plan realisitc or a pipe dream?