itsmylife

Hi everyone

Bit of a newbie here!

I've been wanting to move to Australia for the last 5 years, but you know how things happen and you get stuck in a rut, then a baby comes along etc.

So anyway, I gave myself a kick up the rear end recently and joined an agency, who are now trying to get me to go on a temporary sponsored visa. I'm not too keen after reading the wonderful information contained in this forum, mainly because of the medicare limitations, being tied to one job and the general uncertainty of it all. I obviously am tempted by the quick turn around they have, but feel this might be to the detriment to me and my family.

My main concern is regarding the hours that I have in work. I'm a paediatric nurse (6 years qualified), and in the last 24 months I have 8 months of work at 20 hours, having had maternity and sick leave. Following my sick leave I reduced down to 16 1/2 hrs. I am prepared to go in this afternoon to work and ask to have my hours increased again to 20. My main question is about applying, do I have to wait another 4 months before I can do any of my application for PR, or can I get my skills assessment and maybe my registration with QNC done even though I don't yet have the 12 months of 20 hours, as by the time I would be coming to do the main application for immigration I would have the 12 months completed?

Thanks in advance for any replies

Angela

itsmylife

Can anyone help please?

At what stage do I have to confirm that I have worked 20 hours for 12 months - can I go ahead with the QNC application and then on to the ANMC one? By July I shall have the required hours - will this only be needed for the Visa application or do I have to put everything on hold?

Thanks again

Angela

tiredwithtwins

hi,
due to several ongoing problems we have been on the visa trail for ove 4 years now, and due to recent changes in tra are now back to going on my skills as a nurse. as i too have only worked casual/part time for the last god knows how long, im back trying to get my weekly hours up to 20+ (but its proving difficult!). anyway, its my understanding that you can get your qnc done without any problems with the hours you work; the anmc (modified assessment) states no probs, except if you work part time there is a problem with the english language requirement ... i think if your part time you have to do the academic ielts test ... i shall go and look for links for you shortly, although if you are familiar with the anmc and qnc sites you should find the info ok. The 20+ hr week is a dimia requirement, and as i understand it is the only official body you have to prove working hours to.
shall go and look for links for you ... memory gone awol due to the several pints of magners ive just had!!!
sue x

tiredwithtwins

number 7 on this checklist from the qnc states what is required for them ... doesnt say anything about hours and neither does the competency statements it makes reference too either ...

http://www.qnc.qld.gov.au/upload/pdf...plications.pdf

this bit is on the qnc application package, section 6;

''6. Nursing & midwifery competence
In the interests of public safety, nurses and midwives
must be competent in their practice. Practice is
defined as including clinical care, education, research
and administration.
Competence requirements are that: • within five years preceding the application, the
applicant has undertaken practice in the relevant
area (no minimum period) OR undertaken a
period of employment which maintained nursing
or midwifery skills and knowledge OR undertaken
an accredited nursing or midwifery course; AND • the applicant is competent to practise as a nurse
or midwife; AND • the applicant’s state of health is such that they
can perform nursing or midwifery duties without
endangering any patient; AND • the applicant held a current licence to practise as
a nurse or midwife in the jurisdiction in which the
practice or employment took place, AND • the applicant is a suitable person to practise
nursing or midwifery.'' - states no minimum period required



i will go look for the anmc info ...

itsmylife

sue, thanks so much I really appreciate your reply... I didn't realise that I might have to do the language test... aghh! Will look into that further...

I have figured out that I can just scrape together 52 weeks at 20+ hours with the pattern of maternity leave/work/sick/work/reduced hours in 2 years.

If I had realised about the 20 hour rule before Christmas I would be well on my way to sorting everything out without having to basically scrape through!

So at least I can get on with the QNC stuff now, and I'll feel like I'm getting somewhere

Once again, thank you

How are you getting on with getting your application sorted? Will your work not let you increase your hours to 20?



Angela

tiredwithtwins

heres the link to the anmc standards for overseas nurses wishing to register ... its too late for me to decipher specifically, but im sure you can figure it out from here ...

http://www.anmc.org.au/docs/Internat...assessment.pdf

let me know what you think

sue x

tiredwithtwins

ah you are welcome

i work for nhs professionals, so im going to have such fun and games when it comes to getting a reference from them!! luckily i do regular weekly shifts in one dept and the matron is a gem so will hopefully not run into too many probs. its hard for me to get over 20 hrs a week in as i have 3 kids and no family support; we are hoping to be going this time next year at the latest, but if i cant get my hours up then it will be on a temp visa .
but its taken us this long to get this far, so another year of waiting isnt too much of a pain

itsmylife

I get this from the ANMC:
Applicant meets English language profi ciency
requirements as determined by ANMC policy.
Criteria 6.1
Applicant provides evidence of successful completion of an
English language test accepted by the ANMC.
Criteria 6.2
The requirement to complete an English language test may
be waived if the:
• Initial nursing or midwifery education was completed
in the United Kingdom, United States of America, The
Republic of Ireland, English speaking provinces of
Canada and New Zealand.
• Applicant has been registered and practised in
the United Kingdom, United States of America,
the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and English
speaking provinces of Canada for a period of 12
months full time continuous. This experience must
be no more than 6 months prior to application to
the ANMC and the professional reference is to
be provided, by the nurse or midwifery manager
attesting to the adequacy of English skills for nursing
or midwifery practice;


So I get if you have done your training in the UK, they will waive the need to do the test? I see what you meant though "for a period of 12
months full time continuous." but I think this can be read as, trained in the UK OR has practiced in UK full time for a year...? Goodness, its hard to work some of this stuff out... I'll have to look into this some more in the morning...

I know what you mean about the kids and work, I'm doing nights because of my little boy, we've little family support, and to put him with a child minder would cost as much as I would earn

As I mentioned earlier, we have been investigating for about 5 years, but this is really the furthest we have got, and are all geared up for it.

Ahh I hope that you can get sorted

At least there is still the temporary visa option for us as nurses, while its not ideal, at least not being able to get permanent visa for whatever reason doesn't mean the end of the road for us.



Angela

dandan1

Hi, Angela. Thought I might be able to help a little bit as I have just had my skills assessed, (positively!!), by the ANMC. I was only working 15hrs/wk when I sent off my application form. On my letter of employment confirmation my service manager put that I had been employed at the trust on a part time basis since March 2003, although I have been qualified 17 yrs, and the ANMC didn't query the number of hours worked per week. Also my level of English competence wasn't queried as I do believe they say if you were trained in the UK you are excempt from having to prove your competence. Hope this is of some use to you,
Tracey

itsmylife

That is great Tracey, thank you so much and congratulations on the skills assessment

When my ward manager writes my reference I will get her to state that english is my first language just to be sure.

Thanks again Tracey!

Angela

charlie-k

You are right, ANMC themselves do nor require English competency if you can prove that you did your training in England, however immi dept will ask for English test if you do not have sufficient points - 120
I fell short by 5 points so had to sit the test.

itsmylife

Hopefully we should be ok points wise, I work out that we would get 135, but it is good to know that the test can be done to "top up" your points if need be, another thing to keep in mind. Thanks



Angela

dandan1

Yes, I too, have to sit the dreaded test,(16th Feb).

tiredwithtwins

thats good to know tracey, thanks
what visa are you applying for?
good luck with the ielts test ...
sue x

tiredwithtwins

hiya charlie,
how did you find the ielts test? was it easy enough?
sue x