malkyboy74

You're probably just as well booking a couple of IELTS exams just in case, getting a band 8 in everything is not easy, and the writing in particular can be a bit tricky (took me 2 attempts) - get a bit of practice done and you'll have no problems though. Keep us posted with how you're getting on.

Good result with the Skills Assessment, AMSA must be taking efficiency pills. Get those orals booked! Don't worry, you won't need to re-sit your GMDSS exams. After you pass your Masters orals you just submit an application form for a GMDSS CoR (and pay $155), and they'll issue you with one. It'll be issued at the same time as your Masters CoR (which costs another $155).

I would wait until you have passed your AMSA orals to submit your employment verification request, I don't think that they would do it before then (but it wouldn't hurt to try earlier if you are in a hurry). When you are submitting your visa application scanned copies of all documents are all that you need - you don't need to send originals at all, it's all done electronically.

Captain R, I would work on AMSA taking 1 - 2 months to get through your Immigration Assessment. You should then get a letter of assessment which will allow you to book orals. I got AMSA to certify the copies of my company sea service letters (the girls in the AMSA offices can certify these letters for you), they then scanned & e-mailed them to me. I was then able to send the scanned certified copies to Immigration for my visa application. It's AMSA who have to verify your employment over the past 10 years too, there is no special application form (or fee) for this, just send all of your evidence to Seafarer Standards in Canberra along with a cover letter explaining what you're after, and be prepared to wait for another 1 - 2 months! It's a good idea to get the IELTS out of the way early too, it took me a couple of shots to get a band 8 in everything (bit harder than you may think!), and with the SkillSelect system you really need as many points as you can get. Good luck with it all, if I can offer any help or advice at all, just give me a shout. Rich T, I think you may be pushing it to get your visa application in before July - the problem is the AMSA factor, they do everything so slowly. You could be waiting 1-2 months for your skills assessment, then you have to book orals & medical, and even after you pass the orals they take another month or two to send you your letter of Positive Assessment allowing you to apply for you visa. Get evrthing done as quickly as you can, and you may stand a chance. Good to see you've booked IELTS, and apply to AMSA soon for employment verification too, as they will take time to respond to that. The visa is valid for 5 years, but you have to activate it within the first year - that means everyone on the visa has to clear Australian immigration before the first year is up, or the visa expires. Could mean quite an expensive holiday if we can't sell the house or line up work before then! As above, if I can give any help or advice, just give me a shout. Good luck.

Hi Rich, Have you got your orals booked yet, or are AMSA still doing your immigration assessment? Good luck with it all, the whole AMSA & immigration process is hard work, but will be worth it in the long run. After the AMSA stuff was finished, our visa application was processed very quickly - visa issued within 6 weeks. We are hoping to get out to Oz asap, but our house is taking a while to sell & I haven't managed to get a job sorted out yet. If you've got DP certification, or PSV/AHTS/Tug/Barge experience you will be laughing - unfortunately I don't have any of that! I was hoping to land a pilots job, but it's proving a bit more difficult to get into than I initially thought.....

Hi CaptainR, I prepared for the exam by studying the contents of the syllabus through the AMSA website - pretty much everything is contained on there. It's been about 11 years since I sat my UK Class 1 Orals, so I also did a bit of revision of UK Masters Orals syllabus (Business & Law, rule of the road etc.) just in case any of this was asked - none of it was, the orals purely dealt with the Australian aspects of things. Have a look at the Navigation Act, Marine Orders, and all the different functions of AMSA - pollution, National Plan, search & rescue etc. As I said, all of this is available on the website with the exception of the Navigation Act, and you will find a copy of this by googling "Navigation Act 1912". If you work through each point on the syllabus you won't go far wrong. The orals took around 30 minutes, and were nothing like as intense as the UK orals. I think AMSA are basically just making sure that you have not forged your CoC, and that you have a basic understanding of the Australian regs. Quite an expensive way for you to have to prove this though!! I did get a bit stressed out about the exam beforehand, basically because I was spending all of that money to travel out there & it would have been a complete nightmare if I had failed! Don't worry though - if you do a bit of preparation you will have no problems at all. You will also have to book an AMSA medical exam while you are over there, instructions on how to do this are on the website. One other thing to bear in mind when you get a bit further down the road is that AMSA are also the ones who verify your claim for visa points for overseas employment (eg. I'm claiming points for being employed in a marine profession for more than 8 years out of the past 10). If you are claiming points for this, send all of the evidence to them in plenty of time because AMSA take ages to deal with any queries or applications (as we have already discussed!).

Well done on making it out there, we've still got quite a few hurdles to cross! How did you get on with finding work? I've been applying for loads of shore based work & pilots jobs, and have had a little bit of interest, but nothing concrete so far. I'm a bit surprised about this tbh, because I've got loads of relevant experience for all the stuff I've been applying for. I'm hoping things pick up once my 189 visa has been approved. We quite fancy the idea of settling down somewhere around Brisbane, so the barbie could be a good shout!

Hello all, I've recently sat the AMSA Certificate of Recognition oral exam for my UK Masters Class 1 Unlimited. I sat the exam in Brisbane this September, and although I did get a bit worried beforehand, the exam was not too bad at all. The purpose of the exam is not to examine you on all aspects of the Class 1 ticket, they are only interested in your knowledge of Australian legislation (Navigation Act, Marine Orders, etc), AMSA organisation and framework, and any local requirements (MARPOL Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait Pilotage etc.). You will get everything you need from the AMSA website, so just make sure you spend some time going through it all before the exam. The worst thing about having to go through AMSA is how painfully slow they are at procesing everything - it took them over a month to complete my intial imigration assessement. Even after passing my orals, it took over 6 weeks for them to issue the letter to Oz Immigration saying that I had passed the exam! Got my 189 visa application in now though & been for medicals etc. Now just need to sell the house & find a job over there..........