Lisa93

Hey guys I am just wondering for those of you that have had nominations approved, especially ones where no documents were requested, has your company ever sponsored before? My other half is being sponsored as a Plumber in NSW by a company he has been working for since March. They have not sponsored before and are looking into doing it more often to expand their business if this all goes well. Feel anxious about being the Guinea pigs... But just want to know if the majority of approved companies are well established so immi don't have to do as much research or are there first timers out there with success stories? Here is my timeline if you want to add it: Occupation Plumber Nomination lodged 13/05/16 Visa lodged 17/05/16 decision ready with Medicals and police checks etc Thanks

Thanks for your advice. I understand why you would need to have done the qualification and received a full licence because you are being nominated for a managers position, I guess that would be our case too if he was being nominated as a supervisor but it's just as a plumber. As a plumber in NSW you do need your own licence, it's just a case of whether it needs to be full or not when applying for 186 visa. If anyone else can relate please get in touch with me!

Hi there I see from your timeline that you were granted a 186 visa as an Electrician. My other half is a Plumber and has lodged his 186 application this week, however we are really concerned about the licensing requirements. He has a provisional tradesperson certificate which allows him to legally work as a Plumber, but it has come to light that an Electrician had their 186 refused because they were only working under supervision (the requirements of a provisional tradesperson certificate). Albeit a migration lawyer took it to the merit review and they eventually got visa granted because they proved he could still work as an Electrician and perform duties etc on his current licence... and immi document checklist for 186 visa does only state that "you hold or are able to hold the relevant licence". My question is, what type of licence did you have when applying and did you need a full licence after doing the Certificate III training and applying for an unrestricted licence? Or was your provisional okay? My partner is under the impression that if this is the requirement they will just ask him to do training... I know it is quite the opposite and they will simply just refuse because he hasn't met a mandatory requirement for the visa. Please help, going out my mind at the thought of losing $5K... Thanks Lisa

Hello My other half is a Plumber and currently holds a provisional tradesperson certificate from NSW Fair Trading. He has submitted 186 visa application and provided a certified copy of this licence. I am confused as to whether he needs a full unconditional licence (as per the old 186 checklist from 2013) or whether the provisional will suffice? The current checklist as of 2016 states that: Registration, licensing or professional membership, if required for your occupation in the state or territory in which you will be working. Documents from the relevant Australian registration and licensing authorities that show you hold, or will be able to meet, necessary registration and licensing requirements. The documents must specify both of the following: the type of registration or licensing held the name and contact details for the registration or licensing authority. He will be doing gap training to get the Australian qualification and full licence after the visa has been granted because we don't want to pay the cost without securing our PR - he is eligible for this training as he hold successful skills assessment and provisional licence, so therefore the "will be able to meet" requirement should be fine. Does anyone have experience with successful 186 visa applications recently been approved despite only holding a provisional trade licence? I read on a recent case example from a migration lawyer (dated April 2016) that a 186 application was refused because the Electrician was working under supervision, but they took it to the merit review and proved that he could still legally work as an Electrician on his current licence etc and therefore it was approved. Thanks and really hope you can help, we have already paid for application...

Hi everyone, I would just like some information on what the plumbers practical assessment is like from VETASSESS. My partner is intending on doing his next year but it would be ideal if he was familiar with the process and what to expect etc. I have read online that part of the Skills Assessment is to complete a "Training and Employment Guide" which includes all of your qualifications certificates, employment history, CV, references etc and I notice you have to refer to "Units of Competency Codes" in the contents page. I have looked at the fact sheet for the plumber (general) and there are loads of these codes, how would I know which ones to include in the guide and also how many are actually going to be included in the practical assessment? Also anyone got an idea of the locations for the assessment as I have heard some are in London but you can also attend Preston, which will save us £200 in train fares. Finally, I acknowledge that after a successful Skills Assessment, you receive an Offshore Skills Technical Record and also a booklet detailing the GAP training you need to undertake. Let's say you do particularly well in the Skills Assessment in the sense that you have 8 years work experience, managerial work experience and are competent in most if not all of the competencies, what kind of GAP training should we expect to have to complete? The only training I have seen that is delivered by TAFE NSW is a full on 9 month degree in Plumbing... if my partner has shown plentiful work experience and plumbing knowledge surely he would only have to brush up on a few modules? It's so confusing! Also does anyone have an idea as to whether VETASSESS/TRA set you up with a few employers to complete your supervision training with or is it all down to you? Thanks so much and apologies for all the questions!

Thank you very much for your reply, that was very informative. Well so far we have wrote our own statements, but looking at how long yours were I think we need to add to them! I will also look at doing a proper timeline with images. I have also scanned tickets and cards onto the computer and got around 8 pages of photographs from different times. How did you go about getting your parents etc to write the statements? I have been speaking to someone from the DIAC and they said you should use statutory declarations that you can get online, but which ever way you do it they have to be witnessed by a police officer, solicitor etc. We are also having a bit of an issue with proving we live together, as we do not own our own house - he lives with me, my mum and sister. According to my mum there is no official document we can get with his name on it, but I am currently speaking to the housing officer about getting this sorted. Would you say you had any particular problems with this side of the visa? Because obviously its really important that you can be included on the same application otherwise you would have to get your own visa, and I am not even eligible for most! And thanks for the link, it does go into a lot more detail so I will be sure to use it.

I have done some research and have decided against it anyway, its far too expensive and there have been too many bad reviews!

Hi, My partner Joseph is a Plumber and has been advised by a member of Down Under Tradies that he would need to complete a licencing course in order to work in the plumbing trade in Australia, which is fair enough. He said that the course is available in the UK and can be completed before migrating, which sounds fantastic. However, as always there's a downfall - it costs £3000 and only takes place in London (we live in Liverpool.) It takes place from Thursday-Sunday over two weeks and at the end of the course you are granted a provisional licence which will entitle you to work in the trade over in Australia. The man also claimed that depending on your experience and qualifications, you could even be granted a full licence whilst still in the UK. If not, you go to Australia with your provisional licence and work under supervision for 12 months and then you are granted a full licence. Although the course seems expensive and a lot of messing around, our only other option that I am aware of is to complete the training in Australia with a specific University. From what I have seen so far, it is basically like doing a whole degree in Plumbing (something which my partner already has) and although it is cheaper, you cannot work for an employer until you have completed the course, which is at least 12 months. Does anyone know about the Down Under Tradies and whether or not we should go ahead and do the training here? We are already persuaded as at least then my partner would be ready for work as soon as we migrate, but I thought it would be best to get some ideas first. Thanks very much and hope you can help

Hi, My name is Lisa Miller and my partner and I are hoping to move to Australia in 2015. We are currently filling in our EOI ready to send once we have completed the Skills Assessment and IELTS Test. My partner is the main applicant and I am hoping to be included on his application as a de facto partner (another issue I have which I will explain separately below) but so far I have not seen anywhere on the EOI that will allow us to fill in my details, despite saying his relationship status is "de facto". Please advise on where it may ask for my information and if it does not, should I just assume we will be asked for this information once we have received a proper invitation? In regards to the de facto situation, after reviewing all of the requirements for a de facto relationship, I would say that we are in one. However, we do not officially live together, although we do stay at each others houses on alternate weeks. We have been together for four years and have never had any periods of separation and we can provide evidence that we receive social invitations as a couple and we even have a joint bank account. Given this, do you think we will be regarded as a de facto couple? The DIAC have not given me much information on this, just that it is a requirement to have lived together for at least 12 months. We even considered choosing the engaged option on the EOI to avoid the de facto dilemma but I have heard that I can only be included on the application if we choose de facto. I would appreciate any help that you can offer with this because I really need it to get sorted ASAP, there is so much to consider we do not have the time to worry about silly things like this! Thanks a lot