An MRI Radiographer's Journey: Navigating the Australian immigration maze.

Hey all. I am aware there are bits of information specific to radiographers dotted around the forum, in different sections, but short of a tedious search marathon with various terms, I don't think it's straightforward to extract the required information. Hence I am starting this thread to document my experience.

This is how I intend to structure my journey:

Prep: Do I have/can I work towards getting the required immigration points? If no, do not pass through go, do not collect £100. If yes, continue below.

1. Get in contact with previous employers to get them to do reference letters as per the example provided by the AIR. The reason behind me getting this done first is that some employers will take forever to get it done, and you may have to keep jogging their memory about your request. Learning point: some employers will do the bare minimum, so if you have a good relationship with them, it might be wise to write a draft of what you need and send it to them.

2. Book Academic IELTS test, as there might be a long wait for a convenient slot. Prepare like nobody's business (ie get to know the format of the different parts, and what exactly is required for you to hit the necessary scores).

3. Get the following documents notarised: copy of passport, copy of Degree certificate and transcripts, copy of HCPC registration, and back of passport photo certified as a true likeness of me. These will be for the AHPRA registration. Cost: £100, and having to endure interacting with a knobjockey of a human (Done).

4. Get same items as above, plus all CPD documents certified by solicitor (I had 2 copies of each). These will be for the AIR accreditation. I had 163 pages that the solicitor certified. I dropped them off and collected 3hrs later. Cost: £120. (Done).

5. Sit IELTS test. Try and not daydream during listening part (harder than you think...). Cost: £155. (Done).

6. Contact the SoR and your Uni to get them to send AHPRA the necessary information (Letter of good standing and evidence that the Uni was inspected by a quality assurance body). Cost to me: £0.

7. Receive employment letters. Contact managers to advise that the information provided is inadequate. Prepare to be met with a pissy attitude. Cost to me: £brown-nosing and grovelling.

8. Try and remember every single place that you have lived in the past 10 years. When you've done that, pay for and submit fit2work international identity check. Cost: £110 (Exchange rate dependent). (Done).

9. Send further information to f2w if requested.

10. Await take 2 of employment reference letters.

12. Print out multiple copies of AIR application forms and rough fill a couple in.

12. Buy too many giant paper clips and bulldog clips, as insisted by the AIR. Refrain from giving in to the urges of your inner stapler geek. Cost: £10. (Done).

13. Continue to wait for IELTS results, and wonder in hindsight whether you should've sat the PTE Academic instead.

14. Start organising three folders of documents: AIR (Solicertified copies) AHPRA (Notarised copies) and Visa (Original documents). Intend to scan the latter, but realise that your All-in-One scanner/printer/fax will not scan if you've run out of in. Ask Google how to bypass this scam. Re-organise what you've just finished organising. Nope, still no IELTS results yet.

This is currently where I'm at.

Depending on your academic ability id recommend Pearson over IELTS if you need the maximum score to hit the points required

Thanks Bobbie, I went in with a view of getting a 7, and going for a State Sponsored 190. The test was more approachable that I first thought, so I feel 99% confident of getting a 7. Tbh I should have focused more during the listening part, as I now feel that I could've gotten an 8. Results aren't until Friday 26th.

If I get a 7, I'm gonna use this for the AHPRA application and send it off. I'm thinking of then doing the PTE General to bank maximum points. Am I allowed to do this?

As an addendum to part 6 in my first post above:

Ask Uni to provide the following details of the course: Curriculum, module descriptors for all the modules studied, and a letter to state that the course was taught in English. Cost: £20.

If I get a 7, I'm gonna use this for the AHPRA application and send it off. I'm thinking of then doing the PTE General to bank maximum points. Am I allowed to do this?

Yes, it's not uncommon for people to do the IELTS due to needing it specifically for skills assessment, then doing another test to get a higher score for claiming points.

Thanks MaggieMay. I think I may well have to resort to this. Let's see what the IELTS results being next Friday.

Current update: HCPC and the SoR have sent letters of good standing to both the AHPRA and AIR today. I also received my f2w international identity check results today.

Evidently my Uni can send a detailed document containing transcripts, course hours both practical and theoretical, curriculum, detailed module specs and a covering letter, for a fee. It can however take up to 6 weeks to gather this info. I'll get them to send this when they've gathered all the info, but in the meanwhile I'm planning on sending my AIR application with what I've collated as of yet.

I've heard that DHL offers a better service than Royal Mail, so I'll probably use this.

So the latest update is: I have now posted my Skills Assessment to the ASMIRT (previously AIR). My OCD side compelled me to file all the separate supporting documents in an expanding folder, which then went into a mailing box (bubble-wrapped, as I didn't like the sound of it rattling about for fear of ripping the box). The cost for my obsessive side: the princely sum of £85 by Parcelforce Worldwide Express, guaranteed delivery in 4 working days, tracked and signed for.

Hey all. I am aware there are bits of information specific to radiographers dotted around the forum, in different sections, but short of a tedious search marathon with various terms, I don't think it's straightforward to extract the required information. Hence I am starting this thread to document my experience.

 

This is how I intend to structure my journey:

 

Prep: Do I have/can I work towards getting the required immigration points? If no, do not pass through go, do not collect £100. If yes, continue below.

 

1. Get in contact with previous employers to get them to do reference letters as per the example provided by the AIR. The reason behind me getting this done first is that some employers will take forever to get it done, and you may have to keep jogging their memory about your request. Learning point: some employers will do the bare minimum, so if you have a good relationship with them, it might be wise to write a draft of what you need and send it to them.

 

2. Book Academic IELTS test, as there might be a long wait for a convenient slot. Prepare like nobody's business (ie get to know the format of the different parts, and what exactly is required for you to hit the necessary scores).

 

3. Get the following documents notarised: copy of passport, copy of Degree certificate and transcripts, copy of HCPC registration, and back of passport photo certified as a true likeness of me. These will be for the AHPRA registration. Cost: £100, and having to endure interacting with a knobjockey of a human (Done).

 

4. Get same items as above, plus all CPD documents certified by solicitor (I had 2 copies of each). These will be for the AIR accreditation. I had 163 pages that the solicitor certified. I dropped them off and collected 3hrs later. Cost: £120. (Done).

 

5. Sit IELTS test. Try and not daydream during listening part (harder than you think...). Cost: £155. (Done).

 

6. Contact the SoR and your Uni to get them to send AHPRA the necessary information (Letter of good standing and evidence that the Uni was inspected by a quality assurance body). Cost to me: £0.

 

7. Receive employment letters. Contact managers to advise that the information provided is inadequate. Prepare to be met with a pissy attitude. Cost to me: £brown-nosing and grovelling.

 

8. Try and remember every single place that you have lived in the past 10 years. When you've done that, pay for and submit fit2work international identity check. Cost: £110 (Exchange rate dependent). (Done).

 

9. Send further information to f2w if requested.

 

10. Await take 2 of employment reference letters.

 

12. Print out multiple copies of AIR application forms and rough fill a couple in.

 

12. Buy too many giant paper clips and bulldog clips, as insisted by the AIR. Refrain from giving in to the urges of your inner stapler geek. Cost: £10. (Done).

 

13. Continue to wait for IELTS results, and wonder in hindsight whether you should've sat the PTE Academic instead.

 

14. Start organising three folders of documents: AIR (Solicertified copies) AHPRA (Notarised copies) and Visa (Original documents). Intend to scan the latter, but realise that your All-in-One scanner/printer/fax will not scan if you've run out of in. Ask Google how to bypass this scam. Re-organise what you've just finished organising. Nope, still no IELTS results yet.

 

This is currently where I'm at.

Although I am not a radiographer I can sympathise with your steps including paper clips! Good luck on your journey its (still) worth it in the end!

Thanks for the support Benj1980! We can't wait to get there. So much paperwork to sort out though.

Current status update:

So I sacrificed my lunch on Wednesday, to post my skills assessment via Parcelforce. Big mistake, turns out Parcelforce don't deliver to PO boxes in Australia. So I've had my package returned to me today-how lucky that I was off, otherwise i would've had to collect it at the depot on my next day off, which is in 2 weeks!! Buyer beware: the post office won't refund you for this-I've had to fill in an online claims form, and I now need to wait to hear back about my refund.

I managed to post the assessment again, this time using FEDEX, which I should've gone for initially in retrospect, as it's only 2/3 of the cost. And it's getting there sooner. Well I hope...

I have had some amazing news to balance things though-we were initially thinking of going state sponsored as I was being conservative with my potential IELTS results, hoping for 7s. Worst case scenario, I was going to use the potential 7s for the AHPRA, and sit the PTE in an attempt to get better scores to use for the immigration points. However, my scores came in today, and I've got an average of 8.5, broken down as W8, S8, L9, and R9, not bad considering English used to be my third language!! I can't express how pleased I am, especially now that we can potentially go to any state now... 珞

This is a lovely, interesting and useful thread so thanks for all the updates.

I'll be starting all this as a Podiatrist next year so alot of it is relevant despite the different assessing bodies/career.

I have my PTE booked 4 weeks today so really must do some more preparation before its too late!

Well done on the IELTS, sounds like you made easy work of it!

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Thanks GiveAGirlShoes! I thought a candid blog about my experience, warts and all, might make for a more entertaining read. I can't wait to get this done, as my profession is one the flagged list. So it might get removed next year, which is why I'm getting my arse in gear!

I've heard that DHL offers a better service than Royal Mail

So do all international couriers, and none deliver to PO Boxes.

So do all international couriers, and none deliver to PO Boxes.

Thanks for your comment. That's a very frustrating and expensive process that I'm going through then. What's my alternative then if I want my documents tracked?

Thanks for your comment. That's a very frustrating and expensive process that I'm going through then. What's my alternative then if I want my documents tracked?

All international couriers provide a tracking number.

Don't be saying that... Podiatry is flagged too and I won't be registered until mid July so I'm praying it stays on until next year!

Hopefully you're timing will be good enough as you've made a good start

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Well knowing my luck, I wouldn't be surprised if my profession gets taken off... But fingers crossed for the both of us! I'm sure you've got all your ducks lined up, ready to crack on as soon as you're able to. Gotta think positive!

Right, so I've finally sorted this PO Box business. Claim has been lodged with Parcelforce to get my money back, so hopefully that won't be an issue.

After having dropped my package off to my local Mailboxes Etc for shipping, and confirming that FedEx do deliver to PO boxes, I thought all was hunky dory, however, throughout the weekend, my tracking kept saying "label created" regardless of the millions of time that I'd checked it's status, in the vain hope that it was on its was for a Tuesday delivery.

As today's Wednesday, you've probably guessed that it hadn't even left the MBE store... Sooooo peeed off! But credit where it's due - the MBE guy had taken it upon himself to find a non-PO Box address for ASMIRT, and it was queued up to be collected late Tuesday.

So from my original posting date of Wednesday, it finally started its journey a week later. Might as well have sent it by normal post at half the price, and it would probably have got there by now...

On another note, my local notary is not around for the next 2 weeks, and I need to get my IELTS results copy certified so that I can post to AHPRA.

I'm starting to get very impatient now... Not that I was the most patient person to start with!

My application for accreditation finally reached Australia on the 5th of September, and was acknowledged on Monday the 12th, with funds taken from my credit card that week. Now the wait begins - apparently around 12 weeks, although I have heard this can vary considerably either way. I have finally had the chance to Notarise my IELTS copy, so I now am nearly ready to send my application to AHPRA. I just need to book an appointment with my solicitor to get my statutory declaration witnessed.

Money spent this time: £55 postage to Aus, £25 Notary, ASMIRT: £518.

As per what I thought would happen, the waiting game began back in mid September, once both my AHPRA and ASMMIRT applications were acknowledged. I asked my university to send sealed copies of my accreditation, module specs, clinical practice hours etc, which they did so by signed for Royal Mail, but guess what, 4 weeks on they still haven't been delivered...

ASMMIRT were kind enough to accept scannd copies from Uni, however AHPRA wanted them sent again. Needless to say I was starting to loose my mind.

On that thought, I left the country for some well want sunshine in the Canaries. Just got back last, night, and there was a nice and fat A4 size envelope marked "air mail"...

It was my Positive Skills Assessment from ASMMIRT!!!!! This was dated on the 10th of October, so it took less that 4 week. I can't express how relieved I am.

I could effectively now submit our EOI for 189, however my wife is 12 weeks pregnant, so some re-thinking is in order as to how we approach the next steps.

Money spent: £429 AHPRA Fees, £55 postage to Aus, £5 Solicitor to witness Stat Dec.

FedEx do deliver to PO boxes ???

Well its about time I updated my thread. So the latest updates are:

I received email confirmation of my AHPRA registration in principle on the 28th of December 2016, just over 3 months from when I posted it. The only correspondence that I had between those two dates were an email to say I hadn't submitted my CV and a statutory declaration (when in fact I had). I decided to phone them, and managed to get through to my case worker, who after having a rummage around the folder I sent, finally found them.

My joy at receiving my approval in principle was short lived though, as I realised it was conditional to me presenting within 3 months to one of their offices to confirm my ID. They also wanted me to email them within 1 week to advise of my decision. This would not normally have been a problem, however, my spouse is pregnant, with the birth of our child being around the middle of this year, and after having had a difficult pregnancy, I was not really prepared to leave her by herself.

So after mulling over this decision over a few days, we decided to withdraw my application, and reapply once we're ready to travel. Needless to say this was not an easy decision, and I was gutted when I informed my case worker of my decision.

However, I was talking to a colleague of mine about my Aus plans, and he seemed genuinely flabbergasted that I had decline registration. He made me realise how hard it had been to gather all the required information in order to make an AHPRA application, and he also stated that not everyone gets registration without the need to jump through more hoops. Also, even though I would not need to re-submit my statements of service, IELTS results, and University paperwork, I would still need to make another application, pay for it, and there is also the possibility that AHPRA my have changed the goalposts.

Now I'm not one that gets easily influenced, however I thought that the man's arguments made perfect sense. So I immediately fired off an email to my case worker (2 days after having declined), stating that I wished to revert my decision. She got back to me on the next working day, stating this decision is out of her hands, and she was gonna have to put my request to the registration director (eek!). I spent the next few days worrying about it, even though this was out of my hands!

They came through with an answer within a week - I was allowed to proceed!! Happy days!!

I got this email on my way to work, and I did the next best thing - immediately booked my flight to Perth (shortest travel time) before I changed my mind (again!).

This is getting exciting now. So I ordered a Lonely Planet guide to WA, which arrived today. I have had a sneak peek, but tomorrow I will be poring over it to try and set a sightseeing itinerary!

The deed is done! With less than 6 months left on OH's passport, we went to the Newport Passport Office and renewed it on the same day. Apart from it costing £132, the whole experience was pretty painless. We submitted the completed application in the morning, and came back 4moms later to collect it.I had already gathered and scanned all of the other requirement documents, so as soon as we returned home, I scanned the new passport and submitted our 189 application.My wallet is now £3400 lighter...

Did you need AHPRA to apply for the 189? I'm thinking of leaving it until nearer the time and after visa approval, but I've not not my head in this recently (final exams and dissertation) so I'm wondering if I've got it wrong?

I know you need skills assessment, but AHPRA, I'm really not sure now ?

All sounding good for you though ?

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Hey. Good luck with the finals! The end is nigh for you!

The 189 visa requires only that you have a positive skills assessment for a profession that is on the SOL.

AHPRA is only required for employment purposes.

You can have only a skills assessment (without AHPRA) and get granted your visa. You can then choose to do ANY job you like, as the visa isn't linked to you working in that SOL profession.