Ursula Thomas

Hi Just need some advise please :-) We submitted the TRA pack (electrician general) last year and was 'unsuccessful' due to the Husband not having a HNC/D (only has an ONC). He has over 20 years experience which is irrelevant due to the lack of qualification. Apparently through The Down Under Centre we can re-submit the evidence and complete the practical assessment to get the piece of paper to complete the TRA process. Is this correct? 1. Gather evidence (same as TRA) - £250 2. Practical assessment - approx £1600 3. TRA application - approx £500 (again) How much success have people had with The Down Under Centre as my Husband is very sceptical about this process and the cost as its not guaranteed for the TRA process. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated, as I do not want to give up on the dream! We have no idea how to go down the 457 route to even get a foot in the door. Originally we were looking at Melbourne as we have family there, but after visiting Brisbane last year we loved it there! Thank you!

Thanks Barry! Will get the Husband to call later! How's your application going?

An update!! We spoke to the TRA case advisor very early this morning (flippin 2am! UK time!) There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for us but just looking for some advice from anyone that may have gone through the same situation. Since my husband doesn't have the AQF qual (UK-HNC) she advised - Via RTO (Registered Training Organisations) he can look at gaining the diploma, however after looking on the internet I cannot find any offices in the UK to discuss this? She said you go via training.gov.au but obviously they have a list of RTO's in Oz but I can't find anything for the UK. Once he gets the diploma we can appeal but we only have 60 days and time is ticking. (end of Sept) She stated that all the evidence which was submitted was good and acceptable, so we just need to sort out this diploma. Any advice/suggestions please! Thank you and sorry for waffling! PS Barry1986 - Yes we are in the UK

Thank you for all your advice. I have checked the above occupations and they all require AQF, which isn't good news for us. Is it worth appealing? Can anyone advise on what grounds, just gutted we can't even get through the first stage when we thought we had it in the bag....

Hi Baby Pom We have a family friend in Oz who's a migration agent and he advised us on the EET. We sent everything over to him to check, but it wasn't picked up that a HNC was needed which was a costly mistake. (We didn't pay him anything it was free assistance for this part..) Maybe we were too excited and stupidly missed it. So now we're thinking our options are 1. Husband goes back to college part time to do the HNC which puts us back 2 years (he'd be 41) 2. Try and get sponsorship on a 457 visa - how easy is this? Going to download CV onto REED 3. Does anyone know if all of the electronics/electrical TRA roles require a HNC, as if not could spend another £500 and re-apply under a different occupation category We are both so deflated this evening All help would be appreciated

Finally received our TRA response this morning and after collating lots of information we have received an 'unsuccessful'. Absolutely gutted :-( My husband has over 15 years experience but only an ONC not a HNC. Any advice please Reason was The level of an Australian qualification required for an occupation in Australia will generally be specified in the relevant industry-endorsed Training Package. For the occupation of an Electrical Engineering Technician, the relevant Australian qualification is the AQF Diploma Electrical Engineering. You have provided evidence of completing the BTEC National Certificate Engineering (Electrical/Electronic) issued on 11th August, 2001. However, this qualification is not considered to be comparable to the required level of the AQF Diploma Electrical Engineering. :ssign16:

Hi My husband and I would be interested. We live in Birmingham. We've visited Australia four times now as have family in Melbourne and have finally started the process, waiting for the TRA results! Keep us posted :-)

Definitely a lot of money just for the first stage! We would be looking at living in Melbourne as I have family living there. No he's not self-employed, always been employed by a Company Looks like we'llyton be going through the experience at the same time! Fingers crossed

It's for Electrical Engineering Technician. He's got his references sorted, all certificates gathered. Just got to finalise the application form & get the documents certified. Hoping to get it in the post next week, then play the waiting game.

Thank you! I'll go down that route as better to be safe than sorry!

Thank you! After paying $1000 we want to get it right! Will do the same

Hi I'm new to the site and my OH has finally completed the TRA application form; however the last part to be done is certifying the documents. I just need to check if a UK teacher can certify the documents required. If not can someone please advise who can. Thank you!