Any advice appreciated. RMN applying AHPRA

[Emma83]

Hi guys

 

My partner and I have just decided to take the plunge and move to Oz. We are both Mental Health Nurses in the uk and are trying to get the stuff together to apply to AHPRA but its all seeming very overwhelming at the moment. Does anyone have any hints on how we can make the application process as smooth as possible? Or any hints regarding the CV? I have completed most of what they ask for in the CV but am not sure what they mean by clinical/procedural skils. Is this more aimed at general nurses?

 

I would really appreciate any help/advise people could give :wink:

 

Emma

[GilraenH]

Hi guys

 

My partner and I have just decided to take the plunge and move to Oz. We are both Mental Health Nurses in the uk and are trying to get the stuff together to apply to AHPRA but its all seeming very overwhelming at the moment. Does anyone have any hints on how we can make the application process as smooth as possible? Or any hints regarding the CV? I have completed most of what they ask for in the CV but am not sure what they mean by clinical/procedural skils. Is this more aimed at general nurses?

 

I would really appreciate any help/advise people could give :wink:

 

Emma

 

Hi Emma have you looked at visa options. DIAC is who issue them. You need to consider whether you want an independent visa and go anywhere in Oz or get an employer/job and be sponsored.

 

Have a look at the DIAC points test and see if you are eligible. If you go for an independent visa you need a skills assessemnt from ANMAC and registration from APHRA later on.

 

Australia has Enrolled nures/Registered Nurses and Midwives but not RMN,RSCN,RGN etc,

 

There are lots of threads with loads of info on here, have a read and come back with questions. :biggrin:

[Guest Nickyjrowland]

HI Emma

 

I would say make sure you have everything they ask for you can download a document from AHPRA site which is standards for registered nurse and this lists everything they assess. You will need an in depth transcript if training, all of your academic certificates that you list on application form (a tip would be don't add any certificates that you haven't got transcripts for) letters from employers covering 5 years that states your role, whether full or part time and responsibilities etc I also included copies of job descriptions. The CV follow their template to the letter and make sure you sign it. The clinical procedures are things like venapuncture, IV antibiotics, etc.

 

I followed everything to letter and got eligibility to register letter in 4 weeks. Just be careful of when you can realistically be there as you only have 12 months from when your eligibility letter has been granted to turn up at the AHPRA office in Australia to register. Also decide on what visa you want to go on as it may be more beneficial to do IELTS exam first, then ANMAC skills assessment, visa lodgement and then AHPRA this is on a permanent residence visa. A work sponsored visa I think

Is different although not sure of process for that as we went straight for Permanrnt residence 176 visa.

 

Good luck with the process

 

Nicky

[Emma83]

Thanks guys.

 

I have been reading lots of threads and have found lots of information but people are saying different things. We intend to go over on a sponsorship visa initially and apply for PR at a later time if we both want to stay (which I think we will). I think I have got the CV sorted now but i'm really confused about certificates. I have read that if I can provide my GCSE and A level Certificates along with a University transcript then I wont have to take the English test as they were all taught in English. The problem is whilst I have certificates for GCSE's and A levels I don't have transcripts, I'm not sure you can even get transcripts for them are the certificates themselves enough? I have also read that people have got letters from their secondary schools to say they were taught in english. The employment letters shouldn't be a problem either. I have only been qualified 20 months and have been with the same employer since then so I think I only need the 1 statement of employment and my manager has already agreed to do that. My partner has also worked in the same place since he qualified 3 years ago.

 

So far I have

contacted my uni for a full transcript (they have said they will send this directly to AHPRA when I lodge my application)

Written a CV based on AHPRA guidelines

Asked my work to provide a full training history (so i don't have to get all my certificates notarised) which I will use in my evidence of CPD

Ordered a copy of my birth certificate as I have lost the original (I hope they will accept this as it is a legal copy)

My manager has also agreed to do the statement of service and I have 2 referees

 

I know that i will have to get copies of documents notarised and these will be passport, birth certificate, training history and exam certificates

Obviously I will also need to send the completed aplication form. I will also need to get verification from the NMC but from what I have read I should wait until my application is recieved is that correct?

 

If you can see anything I have missed please tell me. I would just like to make sure I get it all right first time as I have read about people having real difficulty getting their registration sorted.

 

As for when we are looking to get out there, our aim is for January :biggrin:

 

Congratulations to you both on getting your visa's. Hopefully it me be me giving someone else advise this time next year!

[GilraenH]

Thanks guys.

 

I have been reading lots of threads and have found lots of information but people are saying different things. We intend to go over on a sponsorship visa initially and apply for PR at a later time if we both want to stay (which I think we will). I think I have got the CV sorted now but i'm really confused about certificates. I have read that if I can provide my GCSE and A level Certificates along with a University transcript then I wont have to take the English test as they were all taught in English. The problem is whilst I have certificates for GCSE's and A levels I don't have transcripts, I'm not sure you can even get transcripts for them are the certificates themselves enough? I have also read that people have got letters from their secondary schools to say they were taught in english. The employment letters shouldn't be a problem either. I have only been qualified 20 months and have been with the same employer since then so I think I only need the 1 statement of employment and my manager has already agreed to do that. My partner has also worked in the same place since he qualified 3 years ago.

 

So far I have

contacted my uni for a full transcript (they have said they will send this directly to AHPRA when I lodge my application)

Written a CV based on AHPRA guidelines

Asked my work to provide a full training history (so i don't have to get all my certificates notarised) which I will use in my evidence of CPD

Ordered a copy of my birth certificate as I have lost the original (I hope they will accept this as it is a legal copy)

My manager has also agreed to do the statement of service and I have 2 referees

 

I know that i will have to get copies of documents notarised and these will be passport, birth certificate, training history and exam certificates

Obviously I will also need to send the completed aplication form. I will also need to get verification from the NMC but from what I have read I should wait until my application is recieved is that correct?

 

If you can see anything I have missed please tell me. I would just like to make sure I get it all right first time as I have read about people having real difficulty getting their registration sorted.

 

As for when we are looking to get out there, our aim is for January :biggrin:

 

Congratulations to you both on getting your visa's. Hopefully it me be me giving someone else advise this time next year!

 

I sent my o and a level certs, a letter from school on headed paper stating I attended school and was taught and assessed in English. - notarised

I contacted NMC for transcripts (my nursing schools were closed so they sent EU directives and these were sent to APHRA directly), a statement of entry - notarised (as my last qualification wasn't on the last one I had) and the statement of good standing (sent direct to APHRA) costs £34.

Uni transcript sent direct to APHRA directly

Identity docs (passport, drivers license, birth cert, marriage cert, bank statement, car insurance docs and mortgage statement) - Notarised

copies of certificates for all nursing training courses and degree and cpd courses attended in the last year. - Notarised

 

All documents were notarised by a Justice of the Peace which cost me nothing. It can also be notarised by a Notary or the Australian consulate in London.

 

Good luck :biggrin:

[Val Tibenham]

Hi Emma

 

Sounds like you are starting to get things organised. It is such a heap of paperwork for AHPRA so well done on getting started with it all :smile:

 

Always good to get the uni transcript request in early as most unis take about 6 weeks to get it together - by the way, how much are they charging you? mine was £75 and my daughter's was £60 :shocked:.

 

An offical copy of your birth certificate is fine (obtained from the General Registry Office).

 

You will need to send to the NMC for a form so that you can request a certificate of verification - http://www.nmc-uk.org/Registration/Planning-to-work-outside-the-UK/Planning-to-work-outside-of-Europe/. You fill that in, pay the £34 fee, and then send it back to the NMC after you have sent off your AHPRA application. Don't send off the NMC form before filing your registration as that can cause delays (if AHPRA receive the paperwork from the NMC before your application arrives, they have been known to return it to the NMC as 'not known').

 

The issue around educational certificates is longstanding and personally, I think it just depends on who looks at your application. Some forum members have had to provide a letter from their secondary school stating that they have been taught in English, others have only sent copies of their GCSE/ A level certificates showing their name and the name of the secondary school.

 

AHPRA are very firm about who is allowed to verify your documentation, and in the UK, that is either a Justice of the Peace, a notary public, or an Australian Consular/ Diplomatic Officer. Solicitors are not allowed to do this. Full details are available on : http://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Registration-Process/Certifying-Documents.aspx

 

 

Good luck with it all and look forward to reading your post saying that you and your partner have your registrations :smile:

[Emma83]

Thanks again for all the advise, its making things seem clearer. I will sort the NMC form out and contact my secondary school on my next day off and the uni have just requested I send them the address when I want the transcript sending. They are only charging me £10 as well which I think is brilliant (Thank you Salford uni).

 

My manager has agreed to do my statement of service but is off for 2 weeks now so I think I will use that time to get everthing else together. Think I had been trying to get too much done too soon and just confused myself. (We only started the application process on Monday). I also have to wait 10 days for my birth certificate so figure that gives me time to get organised and hopefully send the aplications off in 3 weeks or so.

 

I will make sure I post when our registrations are on the way and when we hear back.

 

Anyone got any advise on looking for jobs over there? At the moment we are thinking we will probably use Geneva Health Care as they have been advertising in the RCN and have seemed professional when we have spoken to them.

 

Thanks once again

[GilraenH]

Thanks again for all the advise, its making things seem clearer. I will sort the NMC form out and contact my secondary school on my next day off and the uni have just requested I send them the address when I want the transcript sending. They are only charging me £10 as well which I think is brilliant (Thank you Salford uni).

My manager has agreed to do my statement of service but is off for 2 weeks now so I think I will use that time to get everthing else together. Think I had been trying to get too much done too soon and just confused myself. (We only started the application process on Monday). I also have to wait 10 days for my birth certificate so figure that gives me time to get organised and hopefully send the aplications off in 3 weeks or so.

 

I will make sure I post when our registrations are on the way and when we hear back.

 

Anyone got any advise on looking for jobs over there? At the moment we are thinking we will probably use Geneva Health Care as they have been advertising in the RCN and have seemed professional when we have spoken to them.

 

Thanks once again

Is it a syllabus transcript or an Academic transcript they are doing for you.

I ask because they are very different, one is an a4 sheet and can be sorted quickly the other can take weeks to get together. They want to know subjects, hours, course details etc.

 

Have you considered approaching managers directly? Some nurses do well, especially mental health nurses if they approach employers directly.

 

Which state are you planning to go to?

[Emma83]

Is it a syllabus transcript or an Academic transcript they are doing for you.

I ask because they are very different, one is an a4 sheet and can be sorted quickly the other can take weeks to get together. They want to know subjects, hours, course details etc.

 

Have you considered approaching managers directly? Some nurses do well, especially mental health nurses if they approach employers directly.

 

Which state are you planning to go to?

 

 

I spoke to the uni and explained that I needed a full transcript including hours and what it was for and they have told me it will be £10. They seemed to know what they were talking about because it was them that told me AHPRA require them to send it straight to them. I already have an A4 basic transcript that I got with my Certificate. I will email them to make sure though.

 

We are fairly flexible about where we move to initially. Around Brisbane would be our first choice as we both have some family in Queensland and I spent a lot of time there when I was backpacking. I also really like Perth though and would be open to other area's if the right job comes up. I think we would probably draw the line at going too far north though. The Northern Territory, Northern WA and The Red centre were a bit too hot for me last time I was there ha.

 

We have thought about contacting managers directly. I guess our concern is that because we do not qualify for a defacto visa we might not both be able to get work in the same area where as Geneva Healthcare seem fairly confident they could find us both work. I guess we will just keep our options open. Once our AHPRA applications are underway I think we will have a more realistic chance of finding work.

 

Where abouts have you got work?

[GilraenH]

I spoke to the uni and explained that I needed a full transcript including hours and what it was for and they have told me it will be £10. They seemed to know what they were talking about because it was them that told me AHPRA require them to send it straight to them. I already have an A4 basic transcript that I got with my Certificate. I will email them to make sure though.

 

We are fairly flexible about where we move to initially. Around Brisbane would be our first choice as we both have some family in Queensland and I spent a lot of time there when I was backpacking. I also really like Perth though and would be open to other area's if the right job comes up. I think we would probably draw the line at going too far north though. The Northern Territory, Northern WA and The Red centre were a bit too hot for me last time I was there ha.

 

We have thought about contacting managers directly. I guess our concern is that because we do not qualify for a defacto visa we might not both be able to get work in the same area where as Geneva Healthcare seem fairly confident they could find us both work. I guess we will just keep our options open. Once our AHPRA applications are underway I think we will have a more realistic chance of finding work.

 

Where abouts have you got work?

 

That sounds great about the Uni, some have been charged £120 for the transcript. Are one of you Australian? I thought a Defacto visa was for the partner of an australian citizen?

 

Good luck with the job hunt! I am still looking for the right job, I have started to apply now though. :biggrin:

[Emma83]

Good luck to you too. I hope to hear you have found something soon :biggrin:. Neither of us are Australian but if you are married or have lived together (and can prove you have lived together) for more than 12 months and one of you gets a work visa your partner can apply for a defacto visa. Its not really possible for us to live together at the moment though due to travelling to work and me not driving so we need to get seperate visa's. I'm hoping that won't prove too much of a problem though as we are both RMN's.

 

Finally seem to be making headway with this paperwork now, so exciting to know that the wheels are finally in motion. scary too though.

 

Hopefully we are all going to be living and working in Oz soon :biggrin:

[GilraenH]

Good luck to you too. I hope to hear you have found something soon :biggrin:. Neither of us are Australian but if you are married or have lived together (and can prove you have lived together) for more than 12 months and one of you gets a work visa your partner can apply for a defacto visa. Its not really possible for us to live together at the moment though due to travelling to work and me not driving so we need to get seperate visa's. I'm hoping that won't prove too much of a problem though as we are both RMN's.

 

Finally seem to be making headway with this paperwork now, so exciting to know that the wheels are finally in motion. scary too though.

 

Hopefully we are all going to be living and working in Oz soon :biggrin:

 

Emma thanks! Have you taken advice over the visa? If you qualify for defacto you should be able to come over together on a visa with one of you the main applicant. You should only need separate visas if you don't qualifiy for defacto. :smile:

[Emma83]

Emma thanks! Have you taken advice over the visa? If you qualify for defacto you should be able to come over together on a visa with one of you the main applicant. You should only need separate visas if you don't qualifiy for defacto. :smile:

 

Unfortunatly we don't qualify for a defacto visa. We are both nurses though so hopefully it won't be too hard to both find work. Might just take us a bit longer. Keep us posted on the job hunting. Sure you will find an amazing job

[GilraenH]

Unfortunatly we don't qualify for a defacto visa. We are both nurses though so hopefully it won't be too hard to both find work. Might just take us a bit longer. Keep us posted on the job hunting. Sure you will find an amazing job

 

Good luck, mental health nurses - RMNs are in demand in Oz so you should be okay, separate visas or not. :biggrin:

[Guest Joanne1983]

Hey guys.....

 

I'm just starting the application process myself, and as you will know well it's extremely baffling!

I have my uni transcripts from my nurse training (it has on practice hours, setting etc). I've gathered together my birth cert, drivers licence, university qualification certs and i have a letter from my secondary school stating when i was there and that i was taught in and assessed in english.

 

I'm also in the process of compiling my cv and my ward manager is putting together a reference letter for me.

 

Next on my list is my APHRA application, which im dreading as i've only heard bad things about it! I'm planning on going to Sydney as i have family there, and going on a working hol visa. I've read on quite a few threads that the Sydney office has a huge backlog of applications and can take over a year to process apps. Some people are advising folk to apply to different city offices in order to quicken the process. Do you know anything about this?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated :-)

 

Jo x

[Emma83]

Hey Joanne

It sounds like you are further along with this than me as I am still waiting on my birth certificate and letter from my secondary school. I would check about the transcripts you have though, my uni have said they have to send the transcripts to APHRA directly as APHRA request this. Also what have you done for your CPD? I am still waiting on my trust to send me all of my training history.

 

I have not sent my application yet but have read a lot of posts from people saying that they have recieved them quickly if they have sent them to some of the smaller offices. It won't affect where you can work though as the registration is for the whole country.

 

Hopefully we will both have better experiences with APHRA than I have read about others having, if I come across any problems or get any tips I will post them on here. My manager is back from her holidays next week so my aim is to have everything ready for then so I can get the reference and send it off.

 

Fingers crossed it all goes according to plan.

 

Emma

[GilraenH]

Hey guys.....

 

I'm just starting the application process myself, and as you will know well it's extremely baffling!

I have my uni transcripts from my nurse training (it has on practice hours, setting etc). I've gathered together my birth cert, drivers licence, university qualification certs and i have a letter from my secondary school stating when i was there and that i was taught in and assessed in english.

 

I'm also in the process of compiling my cv and my ward manager is putting together a reference letter for me.

 

Next on my list is my APHRA application, which im dreading as i've only heard bad things about it! I'm planning on going to Sydney as i have family there, and going on a working hol visa. I've read on quite a few threads that the Sydney office has a huge backlog of applications and can take over a year to process apps. Some people are advising folk to apply to different city offices in order to quicken the process. Do you know anything about this?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated :-)

 

Jo x

 

Unless you have a definite job offer apply to the smaller offices like Adelaide or Darwin they are reported to be the quickest for most posters recently. :biggrin: