Melly Hutchibon

Sorry just checked the OT council and you can apply from graduating, it was the PR visa that needed experience. The job descriptions will detail post qualifying experience needed and will likely vary on each role/speciality. Each region also appear to have different banding titles I don't think it's as uniform as the A4C bands here.

I think to have your skills/degree recognised for aus you need 2 years post qualifying full time experience check out cotrb. I may be wrong, there in an OT group on pio might be worth joining and starting a chat there x

Only 71.2% are in work, 7.8% of the population are unemployed, 22.6% are classed as unfit/unable to work and those stats are only for the working age population. So the pensioners, full time students and children are not included obviously. Many of those calculated in the figures work part time, so all things considered it's a pretty sorry state of affairs, and regardless of where you sit in terms of jobs, wealth or otherwise everyone has something to be unhappy about in the current UK economy, or maybe just me!

Happy New Year folks - hope your dreams come true whatever they may be x

I think the process is different depending on each health profession, there is an OT group which may be a good place to try to generate some discussion on the OT registration process if anyone is interested! Mel x

Hi Rosie, Thank you for your reply! From looking at the paperwork for all relevant OT AHPRA registrations it appears that a nominated employer/supervisor who is themselves registered is required - as is a stamped passport I think but I may contact AHPRA beforehand to see if there are other options! My COTRB stage 1 took 13 weeks so its great that your application was done so quickly. Will this be your first OT post since graduating or have you taken this post as a means of entering Oz? Good luck with your graduate post and your time in Tasmania! Mel x

Well it could be something or nothing, it's not actually that unusual to have a little blood in the stool now and again, I assume if it were larger more frequent amounts then your GP would expedite the referral. With that in mind and considering that your visa is approved, and arrangements are made I would go and would say nothing to immigration. Put it this way, potentially you could have already been in OZ, and there for had the same thing happened there you would have sought advice in OZ accordingly so I would continue with the plan. Good luck whatever you decide x

Hello everyone, does anyone have experience of AHPRA registration and how to go about it? I hold a 175 PR visa but I'm still in the UK and have not as yet validated my visa. Am I correct in thinking that I can only apply for 'limited registration for supervised practice' whilst I undergo my 6 months supervised practice (in OZ) in order to complete stage II - Practice Audit and receive my certificate of practice completion by COTRB. Thereafter I can apply for full registration from AHPRA?........ So to summarise I need to; 1. find an OT job in OZ 2. Arrive in OZ 3. Apply to AHPRA for limited registration 4. Apply to COTRB for stage II practice audit 5. Start work 6. Complete 6 months audit 7. Apply for full registration from AHPRA If that is the case how long does stage 3 take and are you allowed to work/earn money as an OT pending the registration coming through.... Any advice or experience of this process would be greatly appreciated! Cheers Mel x

Visa Granted Today!! :jiggy:Whoop Whoop sooooooooooooo pleased! That little nudge e-mail to the case officer maybe did the trick he he... Fingers crossed for all you guys still waiting - hope that your news when it does come is worth the wait :-)

I have just e-mailed my case officer, hopefully I will get a reply soon - I'm so impatient but actually getting nipped with the whole process now - we pay a bloody fortune for the Visa's & medicals overall so really I think were a little entitled to get a bit shirty when there are delays for no apparent reason.....I just want to know.......grr!

Congratulations to everyone getting their Grants - for those of us still unsure hang on in there! From looking at the posts there is clearly no rhyme or reason to the methods or process in which our applications go from medicals referred to health requirements finalised to 'grant'! I suppose there are just too many variables.......different visa's, application methods, medical conditions, and I suppose the efficiency of the elusive 'care officers'. Ho hum tum te tum....

Thanks for updating the tracker indyanexpress :cute:

Hi Lizgats my meds were referred on the 2nd August, and I noticed the health requirements finalised on the 15th, looking down the document list though the x-ray & med forms are showing as required - I assume that I'm waiting on the case officer finishing things off and letting us know either way - although I know the meds are finalised I dont know if thats good or bad - all I know is that there is a decision made!!! Biting my nails to the quick!

Health Requirements finalised 15/09/12.......still waiting.....hope we get some news this week - good luck everyone....

There are sometimes adverts for 'pool' staff, and also Perth is scheduled for new hospitals opening 2014 I think......

:nah: Still nuffink

My medicals have been referred for the same reason since the 2nd August and we have no idea when they will be finalised, there are many others who have also waited longer than me - sorry if that's not the news you were hoping for.

Oh this waiting game is driving me insane!!! Now feeling paranoid as to what the reason could be for my medical being referred - blood in urine or low blood pressure (or both) or something else.....will they just be finalised or refused I can't stand it....see no point in calling...I realise everyone is in the same boat! Just desperate (like everyone else) to know so that I can move on and stop this incessant time wasting looking for the Immi page to change to "finalised". Ha feel better for the offload!

Can we be added too? 175 visa medicals referred since 02/08/2012 :-( Ta Muchly

Oh and good luck - it's really exciting as well!

You need to check the conditions of the visa you are applying for. If you are seeking permanent residency/general skilled migration and are using OT as a skilled occupation on the list then you will definitely need to have your qualifications verified by COTRB. I would also check APHRA as I am under the impression that as of July 1st 2012 all OT's in Oz will need registration; and to do that you need your qualifications assessed - by COTRB. From my experience the COTRB assessment was by far the most laborious task in the whole visa process; you need certified copies of your course outline booklet, transcripts detailing every module subject and grade, and a certified copy of your degree certificate, two employer references (again certified) and you also need to arrange HPC to send verification of registration in the UK direct to COTRB. The COTRB also take exactly 12 weeks to process and that's all before you then start thinking about the visa itself. Again depending on the visa you wish to apply for, if OT as a profession is what your basing your application on check how much post qualifying experience you need - for me it was a minimum of 2 years of more than 20 hours per week - other visa's may be different. My only advice would be to do your research - decide on what visa you want to apply for - check the requirements of the visa then work at achieving each criteria in sequence before you apply. (it's a lot of money with or without a migration agent)

Good grief all you OT's are coming out of the wood work! There is an OT group on the POI but not much purposeful activity going on (sorry :-)) I applied pre 1st July on a 175 PR visa and the process was quite lengthy.... COTRB are quite specific on their criteria and with regards to conversion of qualifications it's dependent on WFOT approval of the course not the academic level so it's best to check but essentially a UK course should meet their criteria. The second stage of the COTRB is actually 6 months of supervised practice, its only after then that you can apply for full APHRA membership. Post qualifying experience depends very much on which visa you apply for, as does the IELTS requirements. As for Jobs that's as much of a guess to me as is to any of us. Many of the job descriptions state that you must have full APHRA membership which in itself will exclude migrant applicants where by others don't. My plan is to go to Oz for a visit to validate my visa and try to set up some visits to introduce myself to employers. I don't think for one minute that I will get a job by applying from the UK but hope to meet some heads of departments and then apply for any vacancy's thereafter. Looking forward to some chat though - will be good to see how we all get on! Bye for now Mel x

Hi Geordielass, I am very interested to hear how you get on, I had my medical on the 25th July and also had blood in my urine, my medicals are showing as referred and reading your post I now expect that I too might be asked to submit further medical evidence. I have had blood present in three more dip stick tests, two pre a course of antibiotics and again following the antibiotics only that time protine showed up too! I am due to see my GP again on the 29th so will have another test then and take it from there. Our NHS (Scotland) is a 9 week referral to treat so I fully intend to resolve this issue via them and not go privately if I can at all avoid it. Hope things go well for you - keep us posted! Mel

As a nurse I find that extremely patronising. It was not a comment intended to patronise, in some circumstances however the direct nursing 'line manager' may have very limited contact time with the nurse as opposed to the doctor or consultant with whom the nurse may work directly with, that's all I meant really.

I would say that your wife would do well to cite the Doctors for her references especially as they will be in the best position to report on her abilities in her daily clinical context, and provided they are written or submitted on headed NHS paper and detail that they have known her in a professional capacity for the last 3 years then I can't see there being a problem. Your wife may also wish to submit her e-KSF portfolio as evidence of her performance (assuming there is nothing damaging within it) - therefor if any reference is requested from her direct line manager it will have to mirror her e-KSF or she can easily challenge it. Perhaps something she could do in preparation is to ask her preferred referees for 360 degree peer/colleague reviews to be used as evidence of her core e-KSF competencies for her next review, which seem to come around very quickly having to be done every year!