stevothespark

Hey folks ! Bit of a headache all this red tape ! Anyways, im heading out to Australia end of November on a working holiday visa with the girlfriend, eventually ending up in Perth just before Christmas. Im an approved spark here in Scotland and looking to get my electrical A license. By what im reading, money wise and that, is it best to go for the ARTC route ? I have friends in Perth, so i could use their address for getting stuff sent ?

So really just looking for advice, too many rip off merchants back here in the uk doing these vetassess stuff, plus, im in scotland and no1 does them up here !

Would love any advice

Thanks for your time folks !

PndJ

Hi Guys,

So I have just truned 44 and have completed stage one of Vetassess, now looking to book the practical part. It look like people are saying that Vetasses is not hte way to go. I know my age works against me with regards to points for our visa, does anyone have any suggestions of the fastest and £££ friendly route to take??
Cheers
Paul

elect42

Mate you have to do vetassess for immigration purposes, or you can't migrate from the UK permanently. What is being said if you want to become A licensed do not use your vetassess it takes too long to obtain A license while in Australia. You can go and apply for an ARTC certificate from TRA while in uk go that way shorter to gaining Alicense.
You will NOT get assessed for ARTC until u arrive in Australia people here saying that they are going to use a friends address will not work. Australia has got cute to this and they want supporting documents proving you actually live in Australia. Visa, passport, bank statement proving address, medicard, oz driver license to name a few. All systems now are linked and they do check.
I think Australia bodies read these discussions boards as they seem to catch onto things and change they're rules which makes it harder. The days of easy A license within WA our gone.

Goodluck

daluk

Hi Guys,

Pls can someone help???
It has been so confusing to get it straight as to what is required!
The Mrs is applying for permanent residency so what do i do? Vetass comes up again and again,...TSA seems to point me there as no one is prepared to give me straight answers.

I would like to get a WA electricians license, I mainly do domestic and some office, retail & commercial work in the uk.

Pls could someone help?
I am i perth only till tuesday and would like to know what i need to do before i leave .
Also if someone could give me the address for the TSA perth office it would me much appreciated. I called their no but they said that there was no one that could see me as they were a call center???

Look forward to being put on the right track.

Thanks
Dal

lledlledlled

Hi,
Myself and my wife have recently been contemplating a permanent move to Australia. I've been horrified to read how difficult this move seems to be. Is New Zealand any easier?
I am a fully qualified electrician, having served my four year apprenticeship here in Ireland. I have one year's work experience in addition to this.
What are my best visa and licence options? How long can I expect this to take and how much can I expect this to cost? Our preferred locations, in order, are Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide & Perth.
I naively thought Australia was crying out for sparks and all I'd have to do was apply for a visa, maybe do a course for a couple of weeks, pass an exam, and work away. I'm shocked by what I've read. Please tell me it isn't so bad!!
My wife qualified as a Primary School Teacher in Ireland last year and is currently working as a teacher for her DIP/probation year. Is there any advantage to my prospects in naming her as the main applicant? I have heard that Primary Teachers are not on the shortage list but that Early Childhood Education is and she might qualify to teach that.
Any advice would be really appreciated. Feel absolutely lost now!

Jockstar

Probably. But have you been to NZ or have you actually been to Oz? Oz in my opinion is better. Depends on lifestyle etc etc. I found NZ boring to live but was the most beautiful country to travel.
Depends. Brissi hard as Queensland sporadic on accepting the SA licence(easiest to get) Melbourne(hardest) Adelaide the easiest with SA licence as you are in SA. Perth(you can but will have to get on a course) Best to come over. Do your licence via PEER and then decide.

lledlledlled

I haven't been to Oz or NZ and it is unlikely we'll have the money to do a recce. Hands-down we prefer Oz but there's a hell of a lot of hoops to jump through in comparison to NZ. Wife lived in Oz for two years once upon a time.

I contacted an agent today who specialises in sorting visas an licenses for confused Irish sparks like myself. I am told that I can forget the WHV as I am 31 years old. Barring a miracle, sponsorship is unlikely so we are apparently left with the long (and expensive) route.

This is my understanding of it. Please let me know if I've got it wrong:
Apply to get Aussie Trade Recognition, involving a trip to London for a practical exam and a 12 week wait for a provisional sparks license.
Next I fly to Oz with wife, provisional license and temporary visa, costing €2200. I then seek work as a trade assistant getting paid 10-20% less than a sparks. If I'm lucky enough to get this work I'll do it for 9 to 12 months, after which time I can get a full license and then PR visa costing €4500. Then live happily ever after!

Are the above details accurate?

I think my main worry is securing the 12 months employment with the provisional license. How difficult will this be to get?

After re-appraising our situation, we have all but given up on the idea of locating near one of the big cities. We are prepared to live & work in a lesser known town as long as it isn't in the deep deep bush. Does this increase our prospects?

We appear to have a nightmare year ahead but we both still believe it will be worth it in the end.

You mentioned that SA would be the easiest state to get what we want. Does this apply given the long route we seem to have to take? We'd like to stay as flexible as possible regarding locations and settle on one where my wife has a good chance of regular work, especially seeing as I'll be on below average wages (if I get a job at all!).

In our circumstances, should I look more into the PEER route that you mentioned?

Thanks for the help.

steve`o

sorry dont understand the temp visa bit?
i suggest you talk to another migration agent form a comparison

try contacting george lombard or alan collet

http://www.austimmigration.com.au/site/

http://www.gomatilda.com/

derren7

Hi there,
After you have completed your exam then you can apply for PR. You won't be issued with a temporary visa. The visa application can take anywhere from 12 to 24 months, maybe longer in some cases. I don't know what the current processing times are.
Also, Vetassess, who carry out the assessment, do not issue licences of any sort. They just issue an Offshore Technical Skills Record (OTSR) which shows that you are a skilled tradesmen and then use this to apply for PR.
In turn you would then have to apply for a provisional licence/training permit from the local licencing authority of the state you intend to work in once you arrive in OZ.
As I understand it, to be able to go via PEER in SA you would need to apply for an Australian Recognised Trades Certificate (ARTC) because with an OTSR you will need to complete 12 months gap training although it may be worth contacting www.peer.com.au to get a clarification.
Also to further complicate matters, if you have an OTSR then you are effectively barred from applying for an ARTC which makes life a whole lot easier.
It's a bizarre system to say the least. You're not the first and won't be the last to be bemused by it all but as we say on site "you can only piss with the cock you got". There are no shortcuts and you're going to have to jump through many hoops I'm afraid.
Regards Derren

lledlledlled

Jesus, I'm in for a long journey in more than one way. My family and friends think I'm exaggerating this process because "sure there's loads of Irish and UK sparks in Oz". If they only knew the half of it.

It looks as though I will have to go the long route. Just how hard is it to get the required year's work on the Restricted License? I'm prepared to live in any town in the country that resembles a civilised society. Should I be able to find enough work?

What state(s) should I target? Are some easier to get work in than others? As I said, I'll slum it for that first year but after I get my A License (if I get it!) I'd like to settle in one of the big cities.

You can give it to me straight. Is my dream realistic?

rinkerdink

What kind of work do you do? The reason I ask is that having done the SA licence route I have had 3 jobs offered to me and none actually asked for it. The current job that I start on Monday only needs a restricted licence (I am in QLD) to do the job, it starts at $70k +O/T and will rise sharply with any luck...

Don't necessarily get too hung up on the licence thing unless you are expecting to be working on building sites. I have seen guys with restricted licences or less carrying out electrical work in control panels regularly too, not having a licence doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to find work. Obviously it is reassuring to have one though

derren7

Hi Rinkerdink,
Whereabouts are you working and what kind of work are you doing?
I'm wiring up shipping containers to be used as kitchens, offices, laundries, dongas for mining campsites which is different and enjoyable due to the blokes I'm working with but the firm I work for do a lot of domestic work, which I hate, and so far have largely managed to avoid but the current project is soon to end and I'll expect I'll be doing domestic work again.
I've applied for loads of jobs and seem to get very little feedback. Can you give us any pointers. From memory, I think we work in different fields, I'm a commercial/industrial installation electrician and I seem to remember that you have more of a maintenance background with install experience, correct me if I'm wrong. But any links/pointers would be appreciated as I don't want to get involved in domestic work again. By the way, I am in Brisbane.
Regards Derren

lledlledlled

Is the SA route open to me? I was told that I can't get a WHV because I'm 31. I'd have no problem locating in SA if that was a quicker way.

Do I not need to go through the proper channels (log book etc) if I eventually want an A License and PR? I had presumed the required gap training year had to be done with a reputable employer who stamped the book etc?

I work at Industrial/Commercial installations. I've also done plenty of domestic wiring in my spare time but not for a company. I'd be prepared to do ANY electrical work that ticked all of the boxes to get me the A License.

I'm prepared to go anywhere in Oz once it isn't too deep in the bush. What state is best to go for work on a Restricted License?

rinkerdink

Hi, I'm in Brisbane too, Bracken Ridge.

I'm industrially trained but have been working in commercial building maintenance and installation since the apprenticeship pretty much, latest job is in building management system controls, it's the one I wanted all along so very pleased! I should be working in fairly comfortable clean environments using a laptop and a terminal screwdriver most of the time with any luck

This isn't going to be much use to you but I suffered the same as you with zero resonse/ feedback! All three oportunities I have been offered started when a freind placed my cv on somebodies desk and told them to have a look at me. A few intense interviews later all of them came good in the end. I've concluded that the hardest thing is getting to that intrview table, once there anything can happen, it seems to be all about a personal recommendation very early in the process, my cv must be ok it's just a matter of getting somebody to read it!!

colinmaclec

I have had the same as well. Been in Perth for 4 months and applying for jobs all the time and i never get a response. I think it is really a case of who you know here. I have a very good CV but don't seem to get anywhere either!!!!!!!!
I too am working on portables for the mines. Decent bunch of guys i work with and its ok but i really want to be on bigger commercial sites.