Office Manager 3291-11

[Team Rennolds]

Hi All

 

Does anyone know the UK equivalent of the Australian qualification for an Office Manager? I currently manage a large office but have no formal qualifications. I need to take this qual so I can earn the extra 5 points needed as a spouse who meets the criteria. This will then take us to the 100 points needed, as soon as we get our qualifications.

I have researched trying to find the answer, and just wondered if anyone could help.

 

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

:radar:

[Team Rennolds]

Or even the Australian qualification and i'll start from there. Any help please anyone?

[Guest chris_mac]

Hi All

 

Does anyone know the UK equivalent of the Australian qualification for an Office Manager? I currently manage a large office but have no formal qualifications. I need to take this qual so I can earn the extra 5 points needed as a spouse who meets the criteria. This will then take us to the 100 points needed, as soon as we get our qualifications.

I have researched trying to find the answer, and just wondered if anyone could help.

 

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

:radar:

 

Hi Mark

 

I cant answer your question directly but i can point you to this link which may help:

 

The Australian Qualifications Framework - Qualifications & Education, Training and Career Pathways

 

Additionally, office manager only gives you 40 points, have you looked into the points system to see if you have enough.?

 

Please see basic points calculator:

 

Australia Skilled Immigration Points Calculator

 

Hope the info helps

 

Best wishes

 

Chris

[Team Rennolds]

Thanks Chris

That link should be really useful.

My wife is currently studying holistic massage, and as long as she scores 25 marks in the english test (which hopefully she will as she studied english at A Level), she will get 95 points and i will earn the extra 5 points as her spouse with the office manager qualification. Her sister is a resident there so we think 100 points will be enough under visa subclass 176?

[Alan Collett]

Hello Mark.

 

There is an organisation in Australia called Orion Training:

Orion Training and Performance Management | Brisbane Training and Managment

 

Orion can examine your competencies at a distance leading to the issuing of an Australian Diploma level qualification. That done you can apply to VETASSESS for a migration skills assessment as an Office Manager.

 

We have had a few clients go down this pathway, as certain States and Territories are sponsoring Office Managers for skilled visas, notably the ACT for a permanent 176 visa, and SA and TAS for the provisional 475 visa.

 

If you would like to discuss further feel able to telephone my colleague John Sylvester on Southampton 023 80 30 25 25.

 

Best regards.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hello Mark

 

You need to get an AQF Diploma. It does not have to be relevant to your occupation - such is the stupidity of the system. A Diploma in Jewellery Making would do perfectly well for an Office Manager under the present migration regime.

 

However the Orion Training Diplomas are more or less relevant and apparently Orion will tailor their programme so as to make it relevant to what you actually do.

 

Orion Training and Performance Management | Brisbane Training and Managment

 

The Diploma in Business Administration is said to be very basic, simple, costs $1,520 AUD and most people stroll it in a matter of weeks. The Business Management one costs about $2,000, I think, contains a couple of extra modules and is said to be more in-depth and detailed.

 

Vetassess accept the Orion Diploma without fail every time. You do the whole thing on line and Orion are familiar with why so many Brits are suddenly investing in these Diplomas. I am told that they are very helpful (Orion) if you contact them.

 

With regard to which visa, 100 points is enough for the Family Sponsored 176 visa. However I gather that your current Plan A is to rely on your wife, who is studying to become a massage therapost?

 

If I were you, I would not start from here as an Irishman might say!

 

I suggest you consider the following option instead:

 

1. Get your Diploma from Orion asap.

 

2. Apply to Vetassess as soon as you have it, nominating Office Manager.

 

3. Apply to South Australia for State Sponsorship as an Office Manager, which is on their List for the subclass 475 Provisional visa:

 

Make The Move :: General skilled migration

 

Please click on their link for the list of occupations for the Skilled Regional Sponsored (Provisional) subclass 475 visa. The pdf file works in a strange way and you do not get a URL at the top. Office Manager is on their List.

 

If you can secure Sponsorship from SA then at the moment you would get fast track visa processing. Your points would be OK, worked out as follows:

 

25 - Age (I believe you are 33?)

25 - Proficient English

40 - Nominated Occupation

10 - State Sponsorship

 

You might get another 5 points for Specific Work Experience but you would have 100 without it and without involvng your wife.

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/475/eligibility-applicant.htm

 

That is much less complicated than your current ideas, I would suggest. At the moment SA are taking about 6 weeks to consider Sponsorship applications submitted to them. If the visa application is ready for submission on line as soon as you get the approval from SA, you need not waste any time there.

 

The ASPC would process the visa application. At the moment their pledge is that all State Sponsored applications will be allocated to COs within 10 days of receipt by the ASPC. The CO should make contact with you within a fortnight thereafter.

 

Please send a completely blank e-mail to aspc.processing@immi.gov.au You will receive an auto reply pretty promptly. That will give you the gist of everything which has been happening since teh Minister for Immi re-vamped the entire thrust of Australia's skilled migration strategy with effect from 1st Jan 2009. Just forget EVERYTHING that I and others told you last year, please, because it is now a new year and a new game.

 

I will continue in a second reply so that this one does not become too much of a mouthful

[Team Rennolds]

thanks gollywobbler

 

looking forward to the 2nd reply

 

mark

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi again Mark

 

Now for the words of warning!

 

In March 2008 you said you are a Retail Manager. More recently you have said that you are an Office Manager. Which is it, please?

 

You must be very exact about this or you will waste a heckuva lot of money!

 

Office Manager is here:

 

Office Manager 3291-11 - Australian Skills Recognition Information

 

The more detailed - and authoritative - description of it is the one in the ASCO Code, which is here:

 

1220.0 - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, 1997

 

An Office Manager manages an office, not a retail shop floor. If you read the detailed description, he knows about health & safety rules & regs for the Office, will be involved in thiings like fire drills and will be involved in staff training and supervision. Do you do all those things?

 

Additionally, the way DIAC interpret the Code, you will produce an organisational chart showing who does what in this Office of yours. You will be at the top of a pyramid or you will be the hub of a wheel depending on how the Office is organised. However, the office cleaners will probably be answerable to you.

 

There might be a separate Health & Safety Officer who knows that the County Fire Officer will have a fit if he comes to call and finds photocopiers and printers obstructing the routes to fire exits or placed close to them because machinery can catch fire, the ink is highly inflammable and the printer cartridges produce very toxic gases if they catch fire. However the H&S Officer cannot rearrange the floor layout to suit the Fire Officer without involving the Office Manager. People LOATHE having their work-stations moved and they scream the place down if anyone moves their filing cabinets away from within easy reach.

 

There will only be one Office Manager because it is a full time job which means someone needs to be doing it for at least 38 hours a week. If the loos or the airconditioning pack up, everybody screams at the Office Manager to do something about it, and they scream at him if the stationery runs out as well. He may have underlings who deal with these individual tasks but nobody bothers about them because the workers just scream at the Office Manager and leave it to him to mobilise his army.

 

Your CV must demonstrate that you do genuinely have the responsibilities envisaged by ASCO and your current work reference MUST support this notion. I've seen a visa refusal recently where the occupation nominated was Project or Program Administrator. I've not seen the CV and the rest but I have seen the work reference. The reference describes the person's duties. The duties - as described by the boss - are the duties of the Project team's general dogsbody, not those of an Associate Professional Project or Program Administrator.

 

A busy CO will not say, "Come come, Sir. Surely your duties involve greater - and more professional - levels of activities and responsibility than your CV and this description of the office dogsbody suggest?" The COs just write "Dogsbody - elementary clerical role, way down in ASCO Group 5. Visa refused."

 

So you must be very clear about whether or not you genuinely are now an office manager because apparently you were not an office manager this time last year?

 

Also, in order to satisfy the eligibility criteria for the sc 475 visa, you must have worked in the nominated occupation or something very closely related to it for not less than a total of 12 months in the last 24 months. Your payslips must prove this. So is all this OK?

 

If not yet, there is some time in hand because you still need to get the Diploma, Vetassess approval etc. You can do everything except submit the State Sponsorship application whilst you clock up a year in the job. Do NOT jump the gun with SA because if you are not eligible for the visa owing to the lack of relevant Recent work experience then you are not eligible for the State Sponsorship either.

 

Details of the visa are here:

 

Skilled – Regional Sponsored (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 475)

 

The whole of South Australia is Regional so you can live and work anywhere you like in SA, (Personally I wouldn't recommend Coober Pedy or Roxby Downs though!)

 

I am aware that your wife's sister lives in the Northern Territory (Australia's best kept secret, the NT, in my view. I can't understand why people eschew it.) Do not think in negatve terms as Darwin and Adelaide being on opposite sides of a continent. Adelaide and Darwin are quite close together in Aussie terms. The Sturt Highway between the is good, sealed, fast road all the way now, with plenty of campsites, roadhouses etc en route.

 

Anyway the aborigines used to walk from Darwin to Adelaide so what are you worrying about? I am serious. That is how the route was opened up by John Sturt McDouall. The earlier expeditions had failed and the people had died. McDouall sought advice from the aborigines and took aborigine guides. They knew where all the rockholes, waterfalls and springs are in the desert. They travelled from one source of water to the next, navigating by the relative positions of the sun by day and the fixed stars by night. They knew that where there is fresh, clean water there is also edible vegetation. Animals go to drink the water and they are edible too.

 

What could be better? For 2 - 3 years you and your NT family get a choice of 2 States for cheap holidays with each other plus some proper exploration of Australia en route. Also if you happen to be visiting the NT and somebody in Darwin makes an irresistible job offer, you would be allowed to move to the NT. The whole of the NT is Regional as well so you could live wherever you like there as well. However if you are not living in Oz with a right to go and work in Darwin if you want to, plus a place to stay for a cheap rekkie of the NT, then your chances of a job offer in the NT are probably nil.

 

So I would encourage you to think of SA as being a sprat to catch a mackerel. But you MUST convince SA that you intend to move there and live there and at least give SA a reasonable chance to grow on you.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest proud2beaussie]

Excellent informative post ,Gill,if I may say so,Is there anything to do with visas you don't know !

I think you should take the place of the aussie immigration minister !

[Team Rennolds]

Hi Gill

 

Many thanks for all the information you provided last night, Nigel is right you are amazing in your knowledge.

 

In answer to your question, am I a retail manager or office manager? The answer would have to be both!! I'm not sure whether a case manager would see it that way, so i've popped my job role responsibilities below. I do manage a retail shop however I also have to control the office as well to meet company expectations.

 

I am responsible for the following:

 

1) Maintaining all office controls including completion & filing of sign in sheets, stock control logs, banking controls. I have just developed a system using excel which records effectively employees performance on a daily basis and runs alongside the minimum requirements set by the company to assist in instances of underperformance, so in relation to HR a constant approach is taken. This is now being used by all 21 stores across my region to get this consistency. I have introduced my own standards to ensure the office runs effectively in my absence including operational checklists.

 

2) All health & safety controls within the building, liasing with local fire officers, completing weekly fire tests, monthly health & safety checks, annual full risk assesments for health & safety, all maintenance issues within the building, assigned person of responsibility during an accident.

This involves making sure all office accommodation is exactly how & where I want it in accordance with Health & Safety legislation. I would incur personal fines if this wasnt correct & someone got hurt, however this has to be balanced with the smooth running of the office.

 

3) All training & development is controlled by myself. In the last 2 years I have progressed 3 members of my team to new roles within the company by structuring personal development plans, and also conduct monthly reviews to ascertain how they are developing. I also hold all in house training, laying down the standards that I expect in the office & shop floor environment. This has ensured that last year i twice got auditted by the company & twice scored above 90%. The audit covers a variety of areas including health & safety and operational controls.

 

4) Keeping wages including overtime within budget, and all other controllable costs such as travel, stationary, telephone calls, courier fees etc. During the last 2 fiscal years I have ensured that all these costings have stayed within budget, and have negotiated budgets with my manager.

 

5) All HR matters including sickness management through return to work interviews, all disciplinary investigations & hearings for misconduct or not meeting company standards. I actually support 20 stores in this role, regularly offering advice on & carrying out discplinaries.

 

6) All the above points as well as working for a international company, mean I have to constantly work with other departments in the organisation. This will involve direct, over the phone & email enquiries, and hitting action deadlines. I will also request information from them on a regular basis & communicate errors or requirements.

 

I hope this gives you enough of an insight into what I do. I am very capable of running my office / store it just depends on the criteria of what an office manager entails. Job titles mean so little these days, and I know that I meet all the criteria. I'm just hoping a case officer would agree.

 

Is there a minimum number of people that you would need to manage? I currently manage 12 people within my team.

 

If needed I could go & find a job as an office manager, and would definately do it to get into Australia. On the subject of Australia, my sister in law lives in Queensland. Would it be an option to get a regional sponsored visa for that state?

 

Many thanks again for all your advice, its greatly appreciated! As you can probably tell we are very keen to move to Australia and would like to do this as soon as possible.

 

Mark

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Mark

 

I edited your post just to split the paragraphs up and make it easier on the eye.

 

Now then, young man!

 

Here is the description of Associate Professionals as a Major Group within ASCO:

 

1220.0 - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, 1997

 

Tasks performed by Associate Professionals typically include..... administering the operational activities of an office or financial institution; organising the operations of retail, hospitality and accommodation establishments;.......

 

 

You must NOT be this person:

 

1220.0 - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, 1997

 

Shop Managers are not on the SOL.

 

What is the merchandise, please? The Australian Government is particularly averse to retail food shop staff/owners/managers apparently. Coles & Woolies have the food supermarkets sewn up in Oz and my guess is that they want to avoid a stampede from people who would insist on opening "corner shop" food outlets everywhere.

 

That said, your description of the office part of your duties is bang on the money for an Office Manager, I would say:

 

1220.0 - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, 1997

 

12 staff is not huge but an organisational chart that shows you at the top of the pyramid in your own office will be fine. A flow chart showing you busily "liaising with other departments within the organisation" will help as well.

 

It sounds as if what you are doing can genuinely be said to be at the senior end of Major Group 3 - Associate Professionals. At 33 you are too young to be the boss of Wundagoods PLC but in time you are likely to rise to Area Manager level (and are half way there now) and so forth.

 

Just avoid undue emphasis on the shop floor: you are so busy running the Office end of the empire that you can't be patrolling the shop floor all day as well so presumably there is another person who is the Shop Floor Supervisor or something along those lines?

 

However the acid test is that an Office only has one Manager according to DIAC. Is that bit OK?

 

Now let us turn to the Diploma you will need to obtain via Orion Training.

 

Orion Training and Performance Management | Brisbane Training and Managment

 

In terms of your current occupation the Diploma in Frontline Management sounds perfect for you if you intend to stay in the same line of work out in Oz? The Business Management one sounds like something a bit different but there is quite a detailed description of each one if you click on the links.

 

The tendency is to do the Diploma in Business Administration because it is said to be the easiest and cheapest of the ones on offer and can therefore be obtained quickly. I'm not convinced that it isn't worth a few extra weeks and some extra money in order to do one that would enhance your employability out in Oz.

 

I've never spoken with Orion but I am told that they are excellent, really know what they are talking about etc so I would suggest a careful discussion with them about which of the Diplomas will be the most useful to you in the long run out in Oz. I think it is a bit short sighted to see this solely as a device to satisfy Vetassess. Besides which via the Recognition of Prior Learning element I'd guess that you could do any one of the Diplomas pretty quickly.

 

Now for the question of State Sponsorship. Here is the link to all of the State & Territory migration websites:

 

State & Territory Migration Sites - australia.gov.au

 

The Australian Capital Territory is actually offering to consider nominating a limited number of Office Managers for immediate PR under the subclass 176 visa. However given the sort of place that Canberra is (seat of the Federal Government) my guess is that they might want office managers with specific Civil Service experience. However that is only a guess. In your shoes I would investigate what other businesses are in the ACT besides Government Agencies and I would also pick up the phone and have a chat with the ACT Migration Offiice people. They make it clear that they do NOT want an application from you unless you have had a detailed chat with them first, so it would do no harm to find out what sort of Office Managers they really want and so forth:

 

Business and Industry Development - Skilled Migration

 

I don't think I would be holding my breath about immediate PR in the ACT for you unless there is a lot of retail as well as Government stuff there. I have never been to Canberra so I have no impression of it. Our member Quoll has lived there for 30 years and is usually happy to answer questions if you post a thread with your queries about the ACT.

 

I suspect that Sponsorship for the subclass 475 visa from South Australia is probably a more likely option.

 

Alan Collett has mentioned that Office Manager is on Tasmania's sc 475 List. It certainly used to be but I can't see it on the current version so I am not sure about that. TAS can be fairly flexible and Go Matilda have a good relationship with the authorities in TAS (a lot of their clients seem to choose TAS I have noticed) so Alan may well know something that I don't know about TAS.

 

However because of your sister in law in N QLD (which my sister also says is lovely, by the way) my guess is that you would want to live on the mainland in Oz? If so the choice is SA, which simplifies matters!

 

I've heard of a British teacher who went to SA on a 475 visa (its forerunner, anyway) early in 2008. I don't know what subject she teaches but apparently she struggled to find work in SA. A perfect-for-her job came up in Cairns, she applied for and got it and the last I heard she has now moved to Cairns.

 

It is possible to move and it does happen but I cannot stress too strongly that it is not a case of grabbing support from the SA Government for the purpose of moving to Cairns or wherever. That is the wrong attitude and the wrong approach. The SA Government are not fools and they are on the lookout for the less-than-committed because they know full well that there are occupations on their own Lists which are not on any of the others.

 

For you I would say the right attitude is to think of it as a chance to get to know the Barossa Valley, visit Coober Pedy, find out about Matthew Flinders (he developed the Flinders Bar without which a magnetic compass on a ship does not work properly) and give SA a chance for a while. That is all they ask of you and it is not too high a price for their support. If you really can't put up with it long term then so be it but you are young enough to explore more than one small area of Oz before you eventually grow roots there!

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Team Rennolds]

Thank you so much Gill for all your help & advice. I agree with you about the managment diploma, and will get in touch with them to talk it through.

We fancy seeing lots of Australia so where better to start than SA? We just want to get in & make it work. Looking forward to pouring over some maps later.

Will keep you informed how we get on.

Mark

[Team Rennolds]

Hi Gill

 

Just checking something with you. Under the subclass 475 it says the following:

 

To be eligible for this visa you must be either:

 

nominated by a participating State or Territory government

or

sponsored by an eligible relative living in a designated area of Australia.

 

I just wondered if it would be easier to be sponsored by the SA government or by my sister in law? Or what was the advantages of one over the other?

 

Still waiting for Orion to get back to me. I'm going to ring them on Monday if they haven't made contact.

 

Thanks

Mark

[Alan Collett]

Mark,

 

The main advantage of State/Territory sponsorship of a 475 visa over the family sponsored option is the fact that it puts you onto the DIAC's priority processing list => you can expect visa grant months sooner if you obtain sponsorship by a State or Territory Government.

 

Best regards.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Mark

 

Sorry I have not been back to you sooner but I have been busy with other things this week.

 

I just wanted to say that Alan Collett is right about using State Sponsorship for this. Another of our members, Andrew O'Brien, is also being sponsored by SA for a 475 visa.

 

Andrew's visa was granted today just 4 weeks after the application was submitted. The lead-in takes time because you have to get the qualification, then get Vetassess approval and then get the State sponsorship before you can apply for the visa. However once the visa application is submitted it is the last bit of the red tape, which is good for morale.

 

I will have to investigate Andrew's travel plans! A friend of mine from here is off to SA. She e-mailed me a few weeks ago asking about flying to Perth and driving to Adelaide....

 

I wrote back saying cautiously, "Well you could do that but it is nearly 3,000kms by car and you would need to rest up in Perth for a few days before you set off.... I'd be more inclined to fly to Melbourne and take the coast road from there, maybe???"

 

So I need to check whether Andrew has plans to start in Darwin and walk to Adelaide or summat!

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Team Rennolds]

Thanks Alan & Gill

 

4 weeks is an amazingly quick turnaround. Andrew must be really excited. Wonder if he'll have a bit ot time elsewhere seeing the sights before starting his new life in SA? We are so excited that everything is coming together!!

 

I'm still waiting for Orion to get back to me, so going to get in touch with them on Monday by phone as can't wait to get started.

 

Also Alan as you are watching this thread, I just wondered how much it would be to employ your services as an agent? What is the benefit to ourselves of using an agent? (obviously your experience would be a massive help). As we know the path to take now, do you feel it would be beneficial to us?

 

Regards

Mark

[Alan Collett]

Thanks Alan & Gill

 

4 weeks is an amazingly quick turnaround. Andrew must be really excited. Wonder if he'll have a bit ot time elsewhere seeing the sights before starting his new life in SA? We are so excited that everything is coming together!!

 

I'm still waiting for Orion to get back to me, so going to get in touch with them on Monday by phone as can't wait to get started.

 

Also Alan as you are watching this thread, I just wondered how much it would be to employ your services as an agent? What is the benefit to ourselves of using an agent? (obviously your experience would be a massive help). As we know the path to take now, do you feel it would be beneficial to us?

 

Regards

Mark

 

Hello Mark.

 

I can't make the decision as to whether or not to use an agent for you - much depends on how you feel about completing the forms, dealing with the relevant bodies from a distance, etc.

 

Maybe have a look at the steps you need to take to get yourselves to a point where you have visas in your passports, and decide whether you feel comfortable handling the process yourselves.

 

As to costs, our fees are fixed, but depend on each client's circumstances - we have a formula which we work to, enabling us to issue a Schedule of Costs once we have spoken with an enquirer. If you would like to explore this more fully maybe you can send me a PM or an email with your full name and telephone number (landline and mobile)? I can then arrange for one of the Go Matilda consultants in the UK to telephone you.

 

Alternatively please feel able to telephone our office in Southampton on 023 80 30 25 25. I would ask to speak with John Sylvester, as he has handled visa applications in the past for clients who have obtained Office Manager qualifications through Orion Training.

 

Best regards.

[Team Rennolds]

Hi Again

 

we are just starting to add up all costs involved, so we can know how much we need to get together.

 

I can't determine whether or not there is a fee from the SA govt when applying for state sponsorship?

 

Regards

Mark

[Alan Collett]

For now at least the SA Government does not charge a fee for assessing sponsorship application.

 

Best regards.

[Guest Cummings]

Hi Mark,

 

Our situation is very similar to yours, was just wondering whats the latest with Orion?

 

Were thinking about using them but cant find many reviews about them anywhere

 

Thanks

 

Rachel

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Rachel

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

I know people who have done AQF Diplomas via Orion.

 

The feeback I have been given is that although everyone got through the courses pretty easily because it was mainly stuff they already knew, they said that Orion went out of their way to structure the course to suit the person's actual job. They all said that they learned new stuff as well as proving what they already knew.

 

And Vetassess are 100% happy with Orion Diplomas. They seem to be offering a very good package.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[hawkwoodsonthemove]

Hello Mark

 

You need to get an AQF Diploma. It does not have to be relevant to your occupation - such is the stupidity of the system. A Diploma in Jewellery Making would do perfectly well for an Office Manager under the present migration regime.

 

However the Orion Training Diplomas are more or less relevant and apparently Orion will tailor their programme so as to make it relevant to what you actually do.

 

Orion Training and Performance Management | Brisbane Training and Managment

 

The Diploma in Business Administration is said to be very basic, simple, costs $1,520 AUD and most people stroll it in a matter of weeks. The Business Management one costs about $2,000, I think, contains a couple of extra modules and is said to be more in-depth and detailed.

 

Vetassess accept the Orion Diploma without fail every time. You do the whole thing on line and Orion are familiar with why so many Brits are suddenly investing in these Diplomas. I am told that they are very helpful (Orion) if you contact them.

 

With regard to which visa, 100 points is enough for the Family Sponsored 176 visa. However I gather that your current Plan A is to rely on your wife, who is studying to become a massage therapost?

 

If I were you, I would not start from here as an Irishman might say!

 

I suggest you consider the following option instead:

 

1. Get your Diploma from Orion asap.

 

2. Apply to Vetassess as soon as you have it, nominating Office Manager.

 

3. Apply to South Australia for State Sponsorship as an Office Manager, which is on their List for the subclass 475 Provisional visa:

 

Make The Move :: General skilled migration

 

Please click on their link for the list of occupations for the Skilled Regional Sponsored (Provisional) subclass 475 visa. The pdf file works in a strange way and you do not get a URL at the top. Office Manager is on their List.

 

If you can secure Sponsorship from SA then at the moment you would get fast track visa processing. Your points would be OK, worked out as follows:

 

25 - Age (I believe you are 33?)

25 - Proficient English

40 - Nominated Occupation

10 - State Sponsorship

 

You might get another 5 points for Specific Work Experience but you would have 100 without it and without involvng your wife.

 

Skilled – Regional Sponsored (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 475)

 

That is much less complicated than your current ideas, I would suggest. At the moment SA are taking about 6 weeks to consider Sponsorship applications submitted to them. If the visa application is ready for submission on line as soon as you get the approval from SA, you need not waste any time there.

 

The ASPC would process the visa application. At the moment their pledge is that all State Sponsored applications will be allocated to COs within 10 days of receipt by the ASPC. The CO should make contact with you within a fortnight thereafter.

 

Please send a completely blank e-mail to aspc.processing@immi.gov.au You will receive an auto reply pretty promptly. That will give you the gist of everything which has been happening since teh Minister for Immi re-vamped the entire thrust of Australia's skilled migration strategy with effect from 1st Jan 2009. Just forget EVERYTHING that I and others told you last year, please, because it is now a new year and a new game.

 

I will continue in a second reply so that this one does not become too much of a mouthful

 

Hi Gollywobbler, I've been reading through your post above and can see that you know alot about most things! I wonder if you could give me some advice, I am a Practice Manager for a firm of Accountants, I deal with - Accounts payable/received, payroll, general admin, HR, health and Safety, dealt with the office move, currently developing new systems and overhauling the way in which we deal with budgetting staff time on jobs, plus all other general office duties (have 3.5 yrs experience as manager, 6+ on top of that as a Legal Cashier). I am 28, my OH and I are wanting to move to Queensland. My OH is a 25yr old Landscape Gardener with his own business, he has 6+ years experience but has not employed enough staff over the years to qualify a business visa. Neither of us have qualifications to support what we do (other than an NVQ 3 Association of Accounting Technicians qualification), and we are completely unsure which route we should go down. We feel (like many others do im sure) as though we are going round in circles and just not actually getting anywhere, we just want to know if we should be applying for a visa or doing a qualification. I've been considering doing the CIPD course over here but have seen another post which says it's not recognised in Aus, OH has been wondering about doing an NVQ in Landscaping but that will take ages to complete and even then would need a skills assessment, and we just want to be on our way to Aus so that we can settlle down properly. Sorry to throw all this at you but your advice would be much appreciated! :unsure:

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Hawkswood

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

Forget about NVQs for OH. He is the one who leaps off the page as being the main visa applicant.

 

Australian Workplace Assessments by Australian Trade Assessments

 

Landscape Gardener

 

Landscape Gardener 4623-13 - Australian Skills Recognition Information

 

http://www.workplace.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/FA0FD1E1-8B74-4C11-AFBB-2C159890FF80/0/UniformAssessmentCriteriaSeptember2007.pdf

 

If OH can get an AQF III then he can do a pre-migration skills assessment under TRA Pathway E. I think the AQF bit will depend on whether he can prove that he is full-on properly skilled, experienced etc. In Oz, Landscape Gardening is part & parcel of the construction industry which is why the Master Builders Association can assess people for it. Darren Le'ake of ATA is a very nice chap so if there is any doubt about the quality of OH's work experience, he would be able to answer any queries - or the Master Builders' assessors would be.

 

Also AQF III is widely recognised in Oz and particularly so in QLD where it is almost necessary to have a ticket to breathe, though they haven't figured out how to regulate fresh air and leaves yet so Landscape Gardeners are enjoying a temporary reprieve (probably shinning up trees and dodging questions from those who would like to become their regulators, I expect.)

 

If this bit can be sorted, work experience means paid work, for not less than 20 hours a week. Do OH's accounts prove this beyond doubt? DIAC will be suspicious and will scrutinise this very carefully..

 

Right now I need to make an urgent call to Oz so I will post this and then come back to your questions later. Investigating the skills stuff for OH will give you more than enough to do for the moment in any case.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Team Rennolds]

Hi Rachel

 

Welcome to PIO!!

 

Gill is right about ORION, first impressions very good. I'm just rushing out to work but will post a reply tonight about timescales, costings etc and a contact name for you.

 

Thanks

Mark

[hawkwoodsonthemove]

Thanks for that Gill, OH's accounts are very good we've been told. I'll start looking into the training side of things now!