Dr_Ruaridh

Hello all,
I am a UK trained doctor who has just moved to work in Australia (from Aug 2012) for a year (at least). The moving process has been very long, arduous and stressful for me and several of my friends. Information on the net is at best hard to find, at worst simply incorrect.
I found the earlier post by Dr_Sam very useful: (http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=677916)

Here I have set out to update this for any prospective doctors moving to Oz.
I aim to make it very comprehensive, so bear with me. Hope it helps. Details correct of August 2012, and of course, things could change.

Summary:
1. Australian Medical Council (AMC) - takes roughly 2 months. Cost $600
2. AHPRA - takes 6 weeks. Cost $1277
3. Work visa (457 temporary business visa) - can take just 1-2 weeks if everything in place. Cost $340 application + £310 medical


1. Decide you want to move to Oz
2. AMC - you can do this part without a job in Oz, but you are spending £400, so you need to be committed to making the move:

1) Apply using AMC online application, I think choose all the possible territories which you may work in.
2) Pay your $600 - in my account this equated to £400 (ouch)
3) Obtain certifed copies of documentation:
a) find nearest/cheapest notary public near you using this. http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/find-a-notary
you can e-mail them for a quote
b) an alternative is the Australian High Commission on the Strand. For all copies they would charge around £250 though
c) For those of you in London, I used the very delightful Mr Brian Spear, in Southfields, who charged me £50 for the lot. (others quoted me up to £250)
d) Ask for 2 copies of each of the following(you will need the other copy for visa application)
e) Get copies of: Passport, driving licence, MBBS degree, Certification of FY1 competence from your hospital. I also got a copy of GMC certificate for good measure
f) I recommend that you scan to a computer these notarised copies of documents. These can be added to your work visa application (see later)
g) The notary will also need to witness you signing the declaration and sign it themselves
h) Unfortunately, friendly solicitors cannot notarise documents cos this is going international
4) Request Certificate of Good standing from GMC:
http://www.gmc-uk.org/cgs_online/
This will get sent DIRECT to Australia
5) Enclose 2 passport photos. This was a bit confusing, since some online stuff talks about 4 photos and proper certification of them, but I think these are now out of date. Just 2 photos with your name on the back will suffice.
6) Send to Australia. I opted for the courier service, which set me back £60 (more ouch), but is completely insured and guaranteed to get there
I would suggest couriering together if you can co-ordinate with friends also moving.

You will receive e-mail confirming receipt. About 4 weeks later you will receive a document saying: "Verification of Medical Qualifications"

A couple of weeks after this, you will get one saying: Certificate of Advanced Standing EICS Verification Pending
I think that is it.

3. Find a job in Oz
4. AHPRA:
It is recommended that your employer hospital e-mails you a copy of the ALPS-03 Application (Application for limited registration for post graduate training or supervised practice as a Medical Practitioner)
They must also e-mail you a copy of: Your position description and Your Training Plan

Fill in your bits
You will need to attach your 2nd certified copies of:
Passport
Driving Licence
Your degree certificate(s)
FY1 Competency
A (non-certified) copy of AMC Cert of Advanced Standing
A copy of CV
Include a "certificate of proof of entry on the Register" which can obtained from GMC website
Sign your training plans

Now the Payment section really confused me, cos I couldn't find any definite cost for the "Application fee" and "Registration fee" on their website.
Initially I put $1150 on the form, but they informed me that after I sent the application, but before I received it, they put their prices up. I sent an e-mail to the AHPRA person authorising her to take as much money out of my account as they need.
In the end I paid $680 Application Fee & $597 Registration Fee (note this is for NSW, others may be higher).
It may be an idea to just attach a note saying you authorise them to take money out your account.
I should note they don't seem to have taken the money out my account (yet) - maybe I'm lucky

You should then send the documents by post back to your hospital. This can then be counter-signed by your supervisors, and their bits filled in.
Please note that the ORIGINAL signatures from both of you need to be on the documents. This caused no end of back and forth on my application, leading to a delay of about a month. They can then send it on to AHPRA

PLEASE NOTE: following AHPRA registration, you will get a confirmation e-mail of acceptance "in principal". You can use this to get your work visa, but you will not be able to start work until you present in person to the AHPRA office in your state. Please bear this in mind when booking flights.
I for example, am working in far north of NSW. I sent my docs to the Sydney office, but flew into Brisbane (cos it was closer). This meant I may have had to travel all the way to Sydney before I could start work. Fortunately they acquiesced to allow me to present myself to the Brisbane office instead. You can try e-mailing them, but I can't guarantee this will work in every case.

5. 457 Visa

Your employer will sponsor you for a work visa. They will then send you a TRN (Transaction Reference number) which you can use to commence your visa application. It says the turn around time is 4-6 weeks, but some of my friends got it much quicker.
The visa cost me £237 ($340)
Once you have lodged your application, it will give you a TRN so you can check on your visa progress.
Before they grant your visa, you will need to add documents to it, and have a medical
Adding docs:
I basically added everything I had: passport, driving licence, degree certs. An important bit is obtaining proof of health/travel insurance for at least your first month in Oz. After the first month, I understand you will be eligible for Medicare
Once you have your TRN, you can also arrange your medical. This is of course annoying, since you have to pay £310 to some private GP for the privilege of doing something you could do yourself, but hey, lots of hoops to jump through.
There are 3 GPs in London who are acceptable by the Australian Immigration people. Check the website and book in. You will need an X-ray, Hep B,C, HIV and a medical check. It was all pretty efficient, and they will send the results through automatically.


And after all that, you can now enter the country of Australia HOORAY

For my part, since my AHPRA didn't have both original signatures on it, that was delayed by a month, which meant I didn't have a work visa before I flew. I therefore applied for an eVisitor visa (free). This was delayed, because you're not meant to apply for a visa when you have another one pending. I therefore had to apply for an "emergency ETA" before I flew. I therefore entered the country on a tourist visa. My work visa was granted the next day. Don't try this....it is very stressful, but it is possible (this also happened to 2 other friends)

Things you may need to do after arriving in Oz:
Go to AHPRA (very quick really, they just check you are who you said you are). You will need you passport, and your Letter of Offer
Find a house
Buy a car
Get a bank account (just need a passport and an address)
Hospital documents: stuff to sign eg confidentiality, working with kids etc, but also immunisation history, so bring evidence of imms & TB checks etc
Apply online for a tax-file number after getting a bank account (www.iar.ato.gov.au)
Apply for Medicare Provider Number
Apply for a Prescriber Number
Apply for salary packaging. For me, this meant that I get my rent tax-free, saving a couple thousand dollars.

Cancel your licence to practice in the UK.
This is a controversial one. Registration with licence is £390, whereas just to be registered is £140. You can therefore save yourself £250, but bear in mind that most jobs in the UK will require a Licence to practice at the point of interview, so if you are returning to UK, it may be more trouble than it is worth. You can get your licence back by providing a Certificate of Good Standing from your current employer in Oz. I rescinded my licence, but most of my friends didn't
Transfer MPS membership to its partner in Oz (MIPS) - just call MPS and they will send stuff through


Right. Think that is everything. Let me know if you have any questions. Good Luck

osj

Hi Dr_Ruaridh,

I am in the process of moving from the UK to work as a doctor in Australia. I already have a job offer and AMC have found me eligible for advanced standing certificate. However they await EICS verification number which I have no idea how long it's going to take. My question is, is it possible to apply to AHPRA when as yet the advanced standing certificate has not yet been issued?

Dr_Ruaridh

Looking at my docs, the EICS verification took 2 months to come through. The 2nd AMC cert simply confirms verification of your medical qualifications, but you alredy have an AMC reference number and EICS number on your first form.
Basically I don't know the definite answer to your question. You can by all means send off all you AHPRA stuff, but bear in mind that they may later ask for a copy the 2nd AMC certificate. I didn't get certified copies of my AMC forms, I just photocopied them myself, so even if they need a copy, you should be able to just scan and send it to them

osj

A bit of detail here; I have this advanced standing eligibility by the PLAB route as I didn't train (med sch) in the UK. Here's the last email I got from AMC:

Your Competent Authority Assessment has been processed and you have been found eligible for the Advanced Standing Certificate
It is the policy of the AMC that all applicants must have EICS verification number before the Advanced Standing Certificate can be issued. At present your EICS verification number is still pending with ECFMG, once the verification number has been provided by ECFMG the AMC will issue you an Advanced Standing certificate.

I got this email about 2weeks ago but neither AMC nor ECFMG can give me the average timeline for this verification number to come through; ECFMG wouldn't even talk to me at all. My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that this is just like a case number that will enable AMC give me the certificate to proceed with AHPRA. The real verification itself, I expect, may take quite a few months because of the snail speed of my institution. I'm stuck trying to fill out the AHPRA form knowing I have an advanced standing certificate "in principle" but not being able to answer yes to the question about it or answering yes but not attaching the certificate itself. Any thoughts on this?

Ingkond

Hi. I'm at the stage of looking for a job, while still waiting for my ASC to be issued. Does anybody has any idea where to start looking for a job? Your advise would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

Dr_Ruaridh

There are a couple of avenues.
I got my job through one of my friends who already worked at a hospital in Oz. They provided me with HR's e-mail address. This is probably the easiest and most reliable
Second is via agencies eg IMR, MedRecruit, Challis etc. They are experienced and very good at getting results. Sadly, it seems more and more that they are only now recruited to fill positions in less sought after hospitals. Only rarely can they find a position in a Sydney/Melbourne hospital, but you can always try
Thirdly is via the territories' website - for example google New South Wales Health Jobs and you can register for notifications. This is reliable, but I found that they did not post jobs far enough in advance to make it worthwhile for an overseas applicant. Useful for some locum work though.
Finally, just go via each hospital's recruitment people. I sent out lots of e-mails to Sydney and Melbourne hospitals, with few results.

Please bear in mind that the Australian recruitment year runs Jan to Jan (with interviews Aug/Sept time). Applying for a time outside of this is harder. You may be in a better position to get a temporary post until January, and then go for something more definite

Dr_Ruaridh

Many thanks for the further detail osj.
Firstly I should say that our cases are not entirely the same, so that I didn't receive an e-mail like yours. Looking back at my inbox I can tell you that:
21 Dec - stuff sent to AMC
25 Dec - Electronic confirmation of receipt of Good Standing
4th Jan - E-mail confirmation of AMC stuff received
25th Jan - e-mail from [email protected] with Subject: AMC EICS Diploma Status Update. This said:
The AMC has received your application and the Authorisation for Release of Information Form. You have sought referral to the Electronic International Credentials Service (EICS) of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates of the United States (ECFMG) for verification of your qualification. Your referral of EICS verification has been requested by the AMC to ECFMG electronically.

ECFMG has advised the AMC that your EICS verification request has been outsourced to the respective institution as listed below:

....
Your EICS reference number is: ******. Please provide your AMC Candidate Number with all correspondence / enquiries made to the AMC, and not your EICS reference number.

The Medical Board of Australia (AHPRA) has access to our online Credentials portal and can view all EICS requests to obtain information required to process registration applications. Please be advised that an EICS verification can sometimes be a lengthy process. Once a request has been sent by the AMC to the ECFMG, it is up to the institution and the ECFMG on how quickly it is verified.

The AMC will provide you with email updates on the progress of your EICS verification status. On confirmation of the verification as passed, the AMC will send an EICS verification notice to you including your EICS certificate.

Does that sound familiar?


23rd March - E-mail EICS Verification passed

Snail Mail versions followed each of those last e-mails.
I see your question, but I have an AMC number on the earlier of my two AMC documents (the docs with the green border), so I thought you can use this.

Again, the short answer is 2 months.
If you are in a hurry, you could try sending the AHPRA stuff off without your AMC number on, but you should be prepared to get an arsey e-mail asking you for it, and you may need to pay a penalty fee or something.

Ingkond

Thank you for your time I will try my best to look for a job now

meerkate

Really useful - thanks so much. My husband and I are both medical, have both worked in Oz and NZ before (Brisbane and Perth, then Dunedin) and are now contemplating The Return (part three)! This time we might check out Auckland though Still very impressed with how thorough and helpful your post was Dr R - will use your checklist!

DML

Great thread thanks. I'm a GP who has secured a job with Royal Flying Doctor Service hopefully starting in July. Paperwork is so slow isn't it? (and I've previously worked in Aus, passed my AMC exam and had full registration!). For those looking for a job (especially GPs) I can highly recommend the team at Plexus recruitment. The RFDS contract them to take potential staff through the registration process but they advertise other jobs as well and are simply fantastic. I guess the RFDS wouldn't use them otherwise. I will aim to post my experiences of the whole process in due course as it is a minefield and the more information you can access (like Ruaridh's thread) the better.

Dr_Ruaridh

The other thing I forgot to mention is that you can claim tax back when you leave the UK for the income you earned in your previous UK job. You need to fill in the p85 inland revenue form, and send off your p45 form from your former employee. Apparently you can get a good chunk of money back.

JxB

Hi Dr_Ruaridh,

Many thanks for your very useful and comprehensive post.

I am thinking about heading to Oz in a year or two and was wondering how you went about finding a post?

EDIT: Just seen you already had contacts at a hospital!

I know a lot of people tend to use recruitment agencies whereas others go direct to the hospitals. From what I have seen so far (and as you mentioned above), the official Australian RMO training posts seem to commence in January each year, running until the following January (with recruitment opening the previous June/July).

Obviously this poses problems if you wish to come back the following year and commence a UK training program (with an August start).

Do you think it is particularly difficult to find a job in Oz starting in August? Did other people you know have the same luck?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Mehmood 111

Hello everyone, great discussion, after weeks of search I finally found this thread, I have a question, really appreciate if anyone can answer it:
I have EICS advanced standing certificate through competent pathway but i am unable to figure it out that which position i can quality for to get that one year superivised training, Is it internship or RMO position? and whom should I contact- hospitals HR depat simply refer to a link for IMG australian board site.
I would really appreciate if anyone can help me out here. cheers

corcorana

Thanks for that post, very useful. I just wondered if you could confirm what the notary certifed exactly. I make it the signature on AMC form, the 3 pages of AMC form, and 2 copies of passport, drivers licence, FY1 cert, GMC cert and degree cert. Am I right in thinking the notary does not need to do anything else? For example he doesn't need to sign my AHPRA form or copy of CV etc?

Thanks very much

Alex

mugsk

Hi!

Very useful thread, but i have a few more questions id love some answers to!

I am just completing my f1 in the uk and am moving out to oz in october. im trying to apply via the competent authority pathway but im stressing out because i understand i need an amc certificate of eligibility before i can apply for the training posts (1 year supervised training for full registration) and they require proof of gmc registration. i have been signed off etc for full registration but await the paperwork, and of course it will be dated with effect from 7/8/13. given they take weeks to process that, i fear ill miss the dates for national application for training posts (25/7/13-15/8/13).

Is there any way around this? is everyone having to have a year wasted because of this clash in dates?

Will a letter from my hospital saying i have satisfactorily completed my f1 training be any use?

thanks so much for any clarity!!