Steve1977

My wife and I and have been looking to move to Australia for some time now, but what we both lack is any kind of trade or skill that it is in demand.

After spending probably about 40 odd hours scouring the diac website i've come up with a route that i reckon could work.

I've been looking at doing a 1 year Wall & Floor Tiling Course based in Nerang QLD. Which would get me an AQF III Cert. As far as I can see, by doing this, in order to pass the TRA, I would forego the usual 4-5 years experience needed and instead just need 900 hours of 'experience' in a 'closely related role. Has anyone had any experience of this with the TRA and do you think it is possible that i would be able to get that experience in 1 year whilst also studying? Most importantly, do you think the TRA would see it as acceptable experience?


The other issue I have is that, by only doing a 1 year course rather than 2, it looks like i would only be able to apply for a 175 visa so i'd have to leave the country shortly after the course completed . One of the rquirements is to have 'recent work experience' which must be 20 hours per week minimum, which coincidentally also happens to be the most hours i can work on a student visa. Do you guys think it would be likely i could get an employer almost immediately within arriving the country willing to take me on for 20 hours per week whilst i'm studying?
Also for the purposes of minimum wage requirements, would they be able to employ me on a 1st year trainee wage (which i think is around $7) which i'd be happy with btw if it means i get a job straight away!

So, in your opinion, could this work???

Any help or tips you may have would be fantastic, as this is just at the planning stages, i wanted to ask you guys before forking out to speak to a migration agent just to see if i've missed any flaws in the plan?

Thanks a lot in advance.

mandyp

You need to do 2 years study to be able to go the student route to PR.

Cheers
Mandy

Steve1977

Thanks for the advice Les, i'll give you a call on monday, but to just to clarify in the meantime, if i was to also do the 'Diploma of Building and Construction' which they offer as an added option to the Wall & Floor Tiling for a second year, that would be classed as related or complimentary?

And also during that second year, after i have acheived the AQFIII, if i was to work as a tiler for someone this would go towards my 900 hours experience for the TRA requirements and would it be classed as 1 year of 'fulltime' experience towards the PR visa requirements? Even though it would only be 20 hours a week?

Thanks again in advance for any of your comments/advice!

pumpkin blossom

. The 900 hours does not have to be post qualification. A simple search on here for people who have come over on this route will show you that. I also have an e-mail from TRA telling me it can even be before you start the course for this route (not for normal TRA route).
There is no way to go onto any other visa if you didn't already have the 900 hours of related work experiance as you need that to get the TRA assessment which you need even for the 18 month temp graduate visa.


OP, you would still need two years study. Have a search for student visas, there are many of us who have tried to look for shorter, cheaper ways. The only other way is to do pretty much what you have said, but then find a sponsor. Most of us would rather study for the extra year and then go to PR rather than risk a temp visa with so many people having problems on them.

Good luck

Steve1977

Ok, thanks for that! I have one issue that doesn't make sense though.
It seems like everyone seems to say that i need to do 2 years of study.

On the 175 visa, the requirements only say that you need EITHER 2 years of study or 12 months recent work experience (12 out of the last 24).

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...ence-study.htm

Which leads me back to my original comment, could I kill 2 birds with one stone and complete the 900 hours study AND the 12 months experience during just 1 year of study using my 20 hours a week work allowance?

Kingseat

Blimey....I about wet myself when I read your post Les. Not my understanding either as I am with PB's comments.

Steve1977

Have just put another message on here but it hasn't appeared for some reason, so i'll say it again.

I'm confused about 1 matter. Seems like everyone is saying that I HAVE to do 2 years study. I know this is certainly the case on the 885 886 visas, which is why I was looking at doing the 1 year AQFIII then just going across to NZ for a while so i can apply for a 175 visa. Now that visa only states that you need EITHER 2 years study or 12 months out of the last 24 work experience.

Which leads me to my original point, could I kill 2 birds with 1 stone and complete the 900 hours experience for the TRA and complete the 12 months work experience required for the 175 visa during my 1 year of study using my 20 hour a week work allowance?

It seems too good to be true, so was wondering if anyone can find a flaw with this?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

pumpkin blossom

I believe that has to be full time work, which 20 hours a week does not meet. Sorry.
Depending on the days of your course you might not be able to get even a full 20 hours a week anyway. I study mon-wed, but some courses are 5 days a week. Where I work is not open on weekends, so I manage to get 15 hours a week at the moment.

Steve1977

Are you talking about the requirements for the TRA or the visa itself because i just found this off the DIAC...

Recent work experience requirement

To meet the recent work experience requirement, you must demonstrate that you have been employed:

* in an occupation listed on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL)
* for at least 20 hours a week
* in a paid position
* for at least 12 of the 24 months immediately before lodging your visa application.

Steve1977

and i'm pretty sure i've read elsewhere that the TRA dont require the 900 hours to have been done as 'full time work', just as long as the 900 hours are made up in total which by my reckoning would equate to 17hours a week on average over the year.

I think i better get this checked with a migration agent eh? Like I said, it seems as if its too easy!!??

chelov62

Hi Steve

The 900 hours required by TRA can be completed during your study time but must be outside of any work experience included in the course. As you know you are only allowed to work 20 hours per week during term time and full time in the holidays. Any work that you do outside of the course is deemed part of your 20 hours so the 900 hours will be part of your working time.

The criteria for DIAC of '12 months work experience' could not be met during the time you are studying as this need to be work carried out at a 'qualified level' and until you had completed your course you would not be deemed 'qualified'.

Opting for the 2 year course would enable you to apply for TRA once the Certificate III is completed (plus the 900 hours) and then apply onshore on completion of the course for your visa.

I hope this is of assistance but if you have any questions, please dont hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Cheryl

pumpkin blossom

Yes you are right about the 900 hours, they could be spread equally over 2 years if that is what you wanted.
I would certainly check it out about that visa, but another thing to think of, if you only signed up for a one year course, when it finishes, you would have to stop working, and if that visa takes anywhere near as long as a lot of them it could be a fair while until you could work again. And you possibly might not even get a holiday visa to take you up to the new visa (you don't get a bridging visa for off shore visas), in which case you have to work out what to do with rentals, furnature etc.

And like I said, it can be hard to get a full 20 hours a week work. Not one out of the 15 people on my course has managed it (not for the full year anyway).

Good luck

mandyp

You need to be able to pass the points test at 120 points. . you need to study for 2 years so that you can claim the points for the qualification.

Cheers
Mandy

Steve1977

Brilliant, thanks for that guys! it thought it sounded too good to be true!

So, this is what i'm now thinking then, there is a 2 year course which does Wall and Floor Tiling in Perth, but i dont really want study there. I'd sooner be on the gold coast as thats where we have lots of friends and so forth.

So, i mentioned this just before, if I did a 2 year course in Nerang on the Gold Coast, the 1st year is Tiling, the 2nd year is Building and Construction.
Would the 2nd year be classed as 'relevant' to my PR application of tiler??

The other bonus is Nerang is classed as 'Regional Australia' so, that would be another 5 points I think!

mandyp

Nerang is to be taken off the regional list if it isn't already. . .

Cheers
Mandy