chatterbox

Out of interest Ben, what are you taking as proof of your visa? Just a print out of the confirmation? It's annoying that they don't put a label in your passport! Thanks in advance.

Thanks Playghirl, useful to know. Fingers crossed that there is lots of work available for you.

Brilliant, thanks Bungo. Sorry, still getting used to the forum and where to put threads. I'm not sure how to move my thread so will need to leave it here!

Out of interest, how is the pay when doing relief teaching? Might need to start off in the supply pool and work towards a permanent job so would be useful to know.

Hi, We're planning on shipping our chocolate lab over to Perth at some point next year. Ideally we'd like to board him with whichever pet shipping company we go with before his initial flights over to Melbourne (I think that's the only quarantine open in 2016?). The reason for this is that we know our first few weeks in Perth will be busy, staying in a short-term rental, organising a long-term rental, sorting out jobs, furniture shopping etc, so it might be better for our dog to delay joining us until we're in our long-term rental. We'd be looking for a boarding kennel/pet shipping agency who would be able to do all the last minute preparations, like pre-flight checks, worming etc. Has anyone on here made a similar arrangement? If so, who did you go with? Did your dog have to travel far within the UK to get to the kennels? We're based in Scotland, so a drive to Heathrow would be a long trip for him! Thanks in advance - sorting out our dog is the most stressful and emotional part of this process!

Invitation has arrived at our end too. Delighted but disappointed for some of the lovely people on here who haven't heard yet - maybe emails are still coming through as I someone suggested might be the case (Captain perhaps?). Fingers crossed for you guys. Pommie - I might end up having the same problem as you as also front loaded medical checks. We'll be applying in a couple of days time once back from holiday. I can let you know if we hit the same hurdle if it helps eliminate potential issues for you?

Same from me. We're on holiday in Germany now so frantically trying to work out what time the potential invite email might arrive in order to find available wifi to check! All available limbs and digits crossed for us all. (secondary teacher, 75 points)

macca10 - I can offer advice re registration in WA if you need it, but clueless about the other states, sorry.

Hi janlo, thanks for your reply. In no way was I suggesting that UK teachers shouldn't have to seek approval to teach in Oz... I've already had my WATRB registration granted (george8181 - you're absolutely right, it wasn't a fun process at all). I was querying whether there was another form of registration which I've yet to learn about, perhaps along the lines of what george8181 has today referenced about the Department of Education. I understand that each state is different but I haven't heard of this for WA and was simply asking for clarification on here, as I consider you all to be such a fantastic source of knowledge. I have been teaching for over ten years and am head of large department, but still respect the fact that I have to prove my skills and experience to the country I hope to settle in...

Thanks george8181. When you mention the approval to teach, do you mean registration with the state teaching board?

Thanks benj1980!

Good point Selina - I forgot about the three weeks it took my application to reach them and for it to be acknowledged. It's a waiting game right enough, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. I guess I'm being optimistic Bungo, I could well be getting excited about the arrival of what could turn out to be a negative assessment. I really hope not! More nervous now!

Oh, that's a very good question macca10 - I hadn't thought of that. I've got the same qualifications as you and having been teaching Advanced Higher Maths & Stats I assumed I'd be okay to teach all the levels in Oz, but maybe not. Hope you don't mind if I eagerly monitor any responses you get!

Hi pih5ped, I lodged my AITSL skills assessment request on 2nd June. They say 10 weeks as the usual process time, but status changed to completed today which is exactly 7 weeks in. I'm really pleased it's been processed a bit ahead of schedule (provided it is a positive result when it eventually arrives through the post, but surely if it was negative they would have asked for more documentation - fingers crossed this is the case!). Have you already submitted yours? If so, you can check the status using this link (it became a bit of an obsession of mine as I checked it every day!): http://www.migration.aitsl.edu.au/CheckApplicationStatus

Thanks Selina - really helpful. I'll just need to find some patience!

Hi, I woke up this morning to read the following on the AITSL check status page of their website: "Application status: Assessment completed Your assessment outcome has been posted. Please allow up to three weeks for the delivery of your outcome to an address outside Australia." Is this likely to indicate a positive skills assessment? We're desperate to put our EoI in to get things moving so I can hopefully apply for jobs starting in January - is it too much of a risk to put it in before we receive the bit of paper? Any thoughts? Thanks!

Thanks Sammy and wolvesaussie. I have a feeling I might miss the boat to start in January. Fingers crossed there will be posts available for term two or three. I am a maths teacher but unfortunately not male!

Hi, Quick question - can you apply for teaching posts while your visa is still being processed? My AITSL skills assessment probably won't be confirmed until end July. We intend to submit an EOI straight away and front load out police and medical checks, however I can't see our visa being granted until say start of October at the earliest. I'm getting the impression that posts being advertised to start in January will all have been allocated by then - am I right? Thanks.

Hi everyone, Quick general question - do schools offer the option of interviewing for a permanent post by Skype? We're hoping that I'll secure a job before we fly out, but teaching full time in the UK means we can only plan a recce/visa validation/interview trip during the the UK school holidays and these dates don't seem to tie in with the main times for interviewing in Oz Thanks.

Hi folks, I'm planning to put in my EOI fairly soon (provided my skills assessment is a positive result - fingers crossed!). I've read that I'll have to provide any previous visa numbers from trips to Oz from the UK in the past when applying for my 189. I've only visited once, in May of 2005, for a month. I don't recall having to obtain a visa - would that be right? I have a stamp in my passport from landing in Sydney. Had eVisas started back then? Have I just forgotten that I applied for one?! Thanks in advance

Hi Aryan, Thanks so much for getting back to me. Here is the info you requested: 1. United Kingdom 2. Onshore 3. 189 4. Teacher Thanks again!

Hi, I'm just about finished collecting all the paperwork for my skills assessment (finally!). I decided to have a sneaky peek at the next stage, i.e. what is required for the visa application, in the hope that my skills assessment will come back positive. I read the following on the info website: Skilled employment: evidence of working full-time in skilled employment in the 10 years before you were invited to apply, such as: employment references contracts, pay slips, tax returns, group certificates any other documents that you provided to the relevant assessing authority to obtain your skills assessment, including any documents relating to your employment history. Do you need to include all of these, i.e. so I definitely need the references If I have the payslips. I was hoping not to tell my work until much nearer the time, as we're planning to apply for the visa a year in advance of hopefully moving over, therefore I didn't want to have to ask my manager for a reference right now. If the reference does need to be submitted, will is definitely need to include the salary and whether it was permanent or temporary? The reason I ask is that I've really struggled to get the confirmation of employment letters for my skills assessment from my various places of work (current and previous). To have do ask them to do another letter is a bit of a nightmare (the skills assessment one didn't need salary or perm/temp). I really wish I'd looked ahead, but didn't want to overwhelm myself at the time Employment references must meet the following requirements: be written on the official letterhead of the company or government department providing the reference; the letterhead should indicate clearly the full address of the company and any telephone, fax numbers, e-mail and website addresses; the name and position of the person authorised to sign the employment reference should be typed or stamped below that person’s signature; the contact telephone number of the person writing the reference should be included in the letter; the letter should indicate the exact period of employment (including whether permanent or temporary, full or part-time), position(s) held, the duties undertaken and the salary earned - positions should not be described by generic titles (eg. research officer, public servant) but according to the nature of the duties undertaken (eg. research chemist, accounts clerk); and a payslip from your current employment should also be included – this is especially important from applicants working in government departments.t

Hi, I'm just about finished collecting all the paperwork for my skills assessment (finally!). I decided to have a sneaky peek at the next stage, i.e. what is required for the visa application, in the hope that my skills assessment will come back positive. I read the following on the info website: Skilled employment: evidence of working full-time in skilled employment in the 10 years before you were invited to apply, such as: employment references contracts, pay slips, tax returns, group certificates any other documents that you provided to the relevant assessing authority to obtain your skills assessment, including any documents relating to your employment history. Do you need to include all of these? I was hoping not to tell my work until much nearer the time, as we're planning to apply for the visa a year in advance of hopefully moving over, therefore I didn't want to have to ask my manager for a reference right now. Also, if the reference does need to be submitted, will is definitely need to include the salary and whether it was permanent or temporary? The reason I ask is that I've really struggled to get the confirmation of employment letters for my skills assessment from my various places of work (current and previous). To have do ask them to do another letter is a bit of a nightmare (the skills assessment one didn't need salary or perm/temp). I really wish I'd looked ahead, but didn't want to overwhelm myself at the time Employment references must meet the following requirements: be written on the official letterhead of the company or government department providing the reference; the letterhead should indicate clearly the full address of the company and any telephone, fax numbers, e-mail and website addresses; the name and position of the person authorised to sign the employment reference should be typed or stamped below that person’s signature; the contact telephone number of the person writing the reference should be included in the letter; the letter should indicate the exact period of employment (including whether permanent or temporary, full or part-time), position(s) held, the duties undertaken and the salary earned - positions should not be described by generic titles (eg. research officer, public servant) but according to the nature of the duties undertaken (eg. research chemist, accounts clerk); and a payslip from your current employment should also be included – this is especially important from applicants working in government departments.t I appreciate that I should be asking a visa agent these questions, but we'll never save up enough to go if we need to pay for that too. Thanks so much in advance - I'd be lost without this forum!

Thanks, Millie. That's reassuring to know. Have a great weekend.

Hi, I've just seen this piece of news. I'm so sorry for 200 teachers and education staff affected, my heart goes out to them all. Does anyone have anymore info on this? It's a scary prospect as a secondary maths teacher who is currently planning the move across from the UK. How would you rate the mid/long term prospects for finding a teaching post? We're concerned that we couldn't cope financially without me earning, so need to consider the impact of this news carefully before going any further forward. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/teacher-redundancy-over-200-wa-education-staff-face-job-decision/story-fnhocxo3-1227327361010 Thanks.