ab4122

Hi, We have had an initial assessment from a migration agent who says that my wife will receive enough points to qualify for a visa so we have now collated the information needed to get her skills assessed by AITSL, however the migration agent has now informed us that the various state nominations and other list change on 1st July each year so it may be worth hanging on before proceeding any further. We were considering going ahead with the AITSL skills assessment as it will take 10 weeks and that will fall a week or two before the 1st July date mentioned so if teachers are still on the list we would be ready to proceed however we get the impression that the job market is flooded with teachers so are they likely to be removed form the lists? (I know I'm asking crystal ball type question...) and would we risk throwing £350ish down the drain for the assessment, (I know it is valid for two years if we get a successful assessment). Secondly - our migration agent advised us that my wife should get assessed as a middle school teacher, (she did a science degree and then PGCE which was based around the UK middle school system which has now been phased out here), however the ages she has taught are between 7 and 13. According to the AITSL website: "It is important to select the ANZSCO that is relevant to your teaching qualification. AITSL will assess the initial teacher education qualification only against the requirements of the occupation nominated. As a guide, in Australia, Early Childhood (pre-primary school) teachers teach children aged 3 to 8 years of age. Primary school teachers teach children aged 5 or 6 to 12 years of age. Middle school teachers teach children 10 to 15 years of age. Secondary school teachers teach children aged 13 to 18 years of age. AITSL assesses one occupation only per application. AITSL is not able to advise you on which nominated occupation to select. For further information refer to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection Australian Skills Recognition Information (ASRI) website" Based on this short statement it would seem she would be more suited to being assessed for Primary school as although she hasn't taught 5-6 years olds she would have covered a broader range, (7 - 12 year olds), compared to the Australian middle school system where she would have only taught 10 - 13 years olds and no experience of 14 - 15 year olds. Thanks in advance for any help, information or advice that can be given

Hi We were advised that my wife needed evidence of at least 45 days supervised teaching fir her PGCE to be accepted. After numerous emails to her university we finally have a signed and dated document that states she has done 105 days supervised teaching with 7 - 14 year olds. We advised our migration agent, (we haven't actually signed with them, they just advised us to get the document before seeing whether we can start the process), and he says: "I am not sure off hand what the assessment would be. If you have a breakdown of the 105 days by class/year/ages I may be able to provide more guidance." Does anyone know if we need this breakdown of class/year/age to get a successful skills assessment. My wife did her PGCE over 15 years ago and we have only just managed to get this document, I don't think we will be able to obtain a breakdown of what days were spent where. Thanks in advance for any help - the who migration process seems to be an emotional rollercoaster, just when you think you've overcome a stumbling block and things work out you are hit with another potential dip/complication!

We are doing some research before going through the whole visa application process and my wife needs to have her qualifications/skills assessed by AITSL. She is currently working as a primary school teacher although has also worked as a middle school teacher for a number of years in the past. From looking at the AITSL website it seems as though they will not advise her on which category she should apply for. Does anyone know if there is a greater demand for either primary school teachers or middle school teachers? Or can anyone offer advise as to whether it would be more beneficial to choose one category over another? Will this assessment affect her employability - i.e if she was assessed as a primary school teacher would it stop her from obtaining a middle school teacher job or is that purely down to the employer and the AITSL assessment is just part of the Visa process to prove that she can/has experience to teach? If she is going to be the main applicant and I am going to be the secondary applicant, (or whatever the correct term is), as her husband, do I also need to get my skills/qualifications assessed for my career, (firefighter), or is it only the main applicant? Thanks for the help.

Hi, I'm new to PIO and would really appreciate some advice if possible... My wife and I have talked about moving to Australia or New Zealand for the past few years but have now decided enough talking about it and time to take action and put some things in place, (and my wife has decided on Australia). We have read various bits and pieces and realise we need to do more research but was wondering if anyone knew of a simplified timeline or order we should do things in? ie. Should we of sold our house before we even apply for a visa? do we need to have a visa granted before we can apply for jobs? If we do get a visa granted is that it, you have to go there and then or is the visa valid for a certain period of time? We are currently looking at the information we have received from migration agents and weighing up pros and cons and comparing financial information as to whether we should employ a migration agent or try and go through the process ourselves as again we have received various information and opinions. We are both 37 and have two children, (6 and 3) - we had hoped to move to Brisbane/Gold Coast etc but are open to other places. My wife is a primary school teacher, (she has worked in the Northumberland Middle School system, now works in primary and has done for the past 6 years but is also volunteering at a nursery to gain Early Years experience), and will be the main applicant. One migration agent has told us that the Victoria and Queensland Governments are the only ones offering sponsorship for Primary School Teacher whereas another two migration agents have said we would have to move to Western Australia? I have real concerns about what jobs I will be able to do as I believe I have a good range of skills and experience but that I could apply to various roles buy unfortunately I don't have a degree. I am a firefighter, (and now that I would have to gain permanent residency and then go through the whole application process), and I am part of the rope rescue team as well as carrying out all the other regular firefighter duties but I used to be a graphic designer, (but no qualifications - all tutored or self taught but did work for a design agency so have experience), and currently run my own design and photography business alongside being a firefighter. I also used to be a scuba diving instructor, first aid instructor and I currently coach a youth football team so have experience of teaching/coaching. Any help, guidance, advice, (and job offers...), would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Thanks for the advice - we were waiting to hear back from ISA to compare the two but getting frustrated now so will get in touch with Visa Bureau. Thanks again

We went to a migration event a year or so ago in Glasgow and were really disappointed, (it took me weeks to convince my wife to even go and the event was so disappointing it almost made her put a stop to the whole emigration plans there and then). I've just done a quick search of Go Matilda as I hadn't heard of them but they seem to get some really bad reviews. So far we have contacted two agents: ISA Group - they said that they normally do a free visa assessment within a couple of days of receiving your CVs but we are still waiting a month later, (they did say that they had a busy January but surely a month..., the first time I chased it up they never replied so I emailed a week later and this time they did reply and said that they were working their way through the CVs collected from Glasgow, (guessing another expo), and they'd endeavour to get everyone a response but he end of the week - that was last week and still haven't heard anything!). Immigration2Oz - they did do a free initial assessment but even after sending our CVs asked for the number of hours supervised teacher training my wife had and also said we would need written evidence of it, but that was over 15 years ago and she is a fully qualified teacher who has been doing the job for 15 years so we couldn't understand why this was so relevant? We didn't get chance to send it and they emailed us to say that we would be eligible to migrate on a skilled state nominated visa? Does this mean that the teacher training hours are no longer needed or are they guessing/making assumptions to see if we are eligible for a visa? We are new to, (and totally baffled by), the whole migration and visa options. Do people think that it is possible to apply for visa without going through an agent and does anyone have any experience of this? Is it worth trying or best to just stump up the fees and go through an agent? Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this please remove it, (new to the forum too), thanks