Aged 45+

[LookingForSunshine]

Hello
I will be 49 in July - but still as fit as a fiddle!!!
I wondered what the chances are of getting a visa at my age. I understand my only route would be employer sponsorship? I am a First Class Sheet Metal Worker/Welder.
Has anyone on here managed to get a visa at 45+ years of age?
Thanks. Sunshine.

[keily]

hi try emailing these guys you knever know they might help Extraman - Providing the right people at the right time Home
cheers keily .

[keily]

look under international applicants // overseas opertunities

[Gollywobbler]

Hello
I will be 49 in July - but still as fit as a fiddle!!!
I wondered what the chances are of getting a visa at my age. I understand my only route would be employer sponsorship? I am a First Class Sheet Metal Worker/Welder.
Has anyone on here managed to get a visa at 45+ years of age?
Thanks. Sunshine.

What you want is by no means impossible.

Rule 1: Get an Australian pre-migration skills assessment.

http://www.immi.gov.au/asri/a-z.htm#top

Get the full offshore version because this is the easiest way.

To get the offshore version, are you a Sheetmetal worker or a Welder? In Oz they are treated as two different skills. DIAC officers use the full ASCO Code in order to work out what someone actually does, so it is prudent for you to examine the ASCO detailed lists of tasks for each of the occupations in order to work out what you actually do, too:

1220.0 - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, 1997

Rule 2: It is not possible to get a migration skills assessment at all unless you have (a) formal qualifications - NVQ3 or C&G3, usually if you are British; and (b) you did your apprenticeship according to TRA's Skilled Pathways A or B as described in their new UAC, published on 1st January 2010:

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Progr...rmCriteria.pdf

Are you OK on Rule 2? If not, you will be able to get the Australian AQF III certificate instead, so please come back to me about this.

Particularly in the main capital cities, DIAC now insist that a tradie is properly qualified. A lot of Aussie employers now insist on it as well because their insurers insist on it. People (including DIAC) are less fussy if you plan to live in the sticks of Australia such as Kununurra in WA but if I were you, I wouldn't choose K because it might well be too much of a culture shock for you:

State Migration Centre » Living in the Regions

Rule 3: There are some on-hire agencies such as Extraman and Workforce Solutions:

http://www.workforcesolutions.com.au/

Companies like these:

• Insist that the candidates must hold a full offshore skills assessment;
• Spent 2009 having DIAC reviewing whether they really need all the overseas workers they claim to need, and I don't know whether the Review is now complete - it may not be;
• A friend of mine asked Extraman not long ago - the Perth Office said that they had closed their international arm down. I don't know whether Extraman have re-opened it or what is happening about Workforce Solutions - you will need to phone both and ask them, I suspect;
• Will only sponsor you for the temporary 457 visa, though they will try to place you with an employer long-term with a view to the employer sponsoring you for Permanent Residency in due course. The quicker you get a skills assessment, the sooner PR becomes possible for you as well so it defo pays for you to get the skills assessment asap.

Rule 4: What sort of work are you used to doing? There is not much point in my telling you that a lot of Welders will be needed for the sea-floor pipes associated with the various North West Shelf Projects (oil and gas to the shore with offshore rigs) of WA (off the Pilbara Coast from about Onslow northwards) if you know nothing about this sort of work.

Rule 5: The Minister for Immi absolutely LOVES employer-sponsored Permanent Residency. It sends the migrant to the exact street in Australia that an Aussie employer wants him to go to and it gives the migrant a job to go to from Day One, plus it keeps the migrant working at whatever his original skill is. Be prepared to go anywhere in Oz, I suggest, though at under 55 it should be possible for you to stay near the coast.

The visas are here:

Employer Sponsored Workers - Workers - Visas & Immigration

Employer Sponsored Migration Booklet - Australian Immigration

There are no age restrictions on the 457 temporary visa but you want PR as soon as possible. The two main PR visas for you would be the ENS or RSMS visas, depending on where the employer is based and what is the most suitable for him. Age exemptions are possible with both of these visas so don't worry unduly about that at this stage.

Cheers

Gill

[LookingForSunshine]

Hi Gill
Thanks so much for your very helpful reply.
I would be a First Class Sheet Metal Worker. As my father owned a precision engineering company, I undertook a 'proper' four year apprenticeship. I have my original Deed of Apprenticeship papers. I also have all my original C&G certificates, along with various others.
Although I started out in precision engineering, I have almost 20 years experience in ductwork/heavy fabrication.
Thank you for your response - it actually gives me some hope that I have not completely missed the boat due to my age.