Appying for 175 visa in Oz???

[nicrock]

Hi all,

 

 

We are currently on a WHV in Oz which expires June 13th, we were going through the sponsorship process but had to withdraw the application as the compnay are closing. I have been welding for 11 years but only completed a 2 year informal apprenticeship, so I have no qualifications. My

 

I am looking to have my skills assessed by TAFE on the Gold Coast to see if I can gain my Certificate III. I was advised that this will enable me to class myself as a 1st Class Welder - if I fill in any skills gaps and pass the assessments.

 

I'm finding it impossible to find another welding job with my company closing as all require Qualifications aswell as experience. Hopefully the assessment process won't take too long so I can apply for the jobs as a qualified welder.

 

 

Were then looking into applying for a 175 visa whilst onshore if I get a Cert III, I believe we will be able to get a bridging visa with works rights whilst its being assessed? Then we just have to leave the country when the decision is given?

 

 

Can anyone give us any advice on this? We really want to stay where we have settled now and don't want to move which we may have to do with a state sponsored visa. The 175 seems like our best option to apply for to keep us here.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Nicrock

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

Were then looking into applying for a 175 visa whilst onshore if I get a Cert III, I believe we will be able to get a bridging visa with works rights whilst its being assessed? Then we just have to leave the country when the decision is given?

 

 

 

You will NOT be able to obtain a Bridging Visa if you apply for an sc 175 or a State sponsored sc 176 visa. The reason is because both are "offshore visas." Hence you need to be outside Oz when the visa is granted even though you can be in Oz at the time of application and throughout the processing period. Bridging Visas are only possible with "onshore visas" which require the applicant to be in Australia both at the time of application and at the time of the grant. The idea of a Bridging Visa is to enable the person to remain in Australia lawfully whilst the application for the main onshore visa is processed.

 

So although you can apply for an sc 175 or sc 176 with no probs, you would need another sc 457 visa to enable you to continue to work in Oz whilst the visa processing etc is done. If you can't get another sc 457 or better still an immediately permanent sc 856 ENS visa then you would have to consider a long stay tourist visa if you can afford to live in Oz without working, or possibly a Student visa which would give both you and your OH part time work rights. Or leave Oz for a while until your sc 175 or sc 176 visas have been granted.

 

As to which visa:

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/critical-skills-list.pdf

 

Welder is not on the current Critical Skills List which was published on 16th March 2009. However QLD is willing to offer State Sponsorship for the immediately permanent sc 176 visa:

 

Skilled Sponsored Eligible Skills List

 

Skilled sponsored visa

 

Skilled – Sponsored (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 176)

 

Australian General Skilled Migration Booklet

 

If you apply for an sc 176 then you should get fast track visa processing once you have QLS State Sponsorship. Because of the massive surge in demand for State Sponsorship since 1st January 2009 QLD (and most of the other States) are now taking anything up to 3 months or beyond to process State Sponsorship applications.

 

Quite how the delays at State level are supposed to improve the plight of a State which needs skilled workers urgently enough to offer them State Sponsorship as a carrot is anyone's guess. Everyone else realised that the whole system would simply become logjammed at State level so presumably the Minister and his advisers figured it out too.... The States do not have the money to hire extra staff so close to the end of the Financial Year and even if they get extra staff it will take time to train them etc.

 

I'd be inclined to think in terms of applying for an sc 175 visa anyway if your points total 120 or more but apply for State Sponsorship at the same time. Once you get the State Sponsorship both you and the State notify DIAC of the State's offer. If you then ask DIAC to change your application from a 175 to a 176 they will do so at no additional charge and without requiring you to submit a new application. Making the switch is informal, simple and free plus quickly organised.

 

To get a better idea of how this works please send a completely blank e-mail to aspc.processing@immi.gov.au You will get an auto reply within about an hour which contains the full text of their weekly information e-mail. Repeat every Wednesday or so because they change the information on Tuesdays if the information needs to be changed.

 

The relevant extract from the current e-mail reads as follows:

 

GENERAL SKILLED MIGRATION

ADELAIDE PROCESSING INFORMATION

 

This is an automated e-mail response which provides updated information on

skilled migration applications being processed by the Adelaide Skilled

Processing Centre (ASPC). Please do not reply to this email address as

this mailbox is not monitored. Contact details for the ASPC are listed

below.

 

 

Priority Processing - Change From 1 January 2009

 

Following recent announcements by the Minister for Immigration and

Citizenship, in response to the current global economic environment,

processing of General Skilled Migration applications gives first priority

to applications in the following two categories:

 

1. Applications with a successful State or Territory Nomination; and

2. Applications where the nominated occupation is identified on the

Critical Skills List (CSL).

 

Note: Due to the number of applications in the above two categories, on

hand and being received, applications not on the CSL, or applications

without a successful State or Territory nomination, will be delayed until

those applications which meet the processing priorities are finalised. This

includes those on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)

 

Details of the Minister’s announcements can be found on the DIAC website

via the following link:

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new.htm#j

 

 

Priority Application Processing Information

 

Applications are now being processed as follows:

 

1. State or Territory Nominated Applications - once the department has

received and approved a nomination from a state or territory authority,

processing of the application will commence within 10 working days of that

approval. Should you need to, please lodge enquiries about your

application via: General Skilled Migration Post-Lodgement Enquiry Form

 

2. Applications with a nominated occupation on the Critical Skills List

(CSL) - are being processed in date of lodgment order. Information about

the CSL can be found on the department's website at:

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/critical-skills-list.pdf

 

 

 

Because of the above, State Sponsorship - entirely predictably - has become the new game in town. The Minister seems to have rushed the new game into the rule book without giving the States time to prepare for the inevitable onslaught.

 

Government Efficiency, possibly......??:skeptical:

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

 

 

 

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi again Nicrock

 

I am looking to have my skills assessed by TAFE on the Gold Coast to see if I can gain my Certificate III. I was advised that this will enable me to class myself as a 1st Class Welder - if I fill in any skills gaps and pass the assessments.

 

 

 

Are you in discussion with Gold Coast TAFE or with Skills Tech, please? I am interested because this is the first I've heard of anyone possibly offering AQF III assessments for Welders and I can think of half a dozen people who would be interested in doing this assessment as well as yourself. The Agents, between them all, probably know dozens of other people who would leap at this chance. The more candidates, the easier it is to convince the TAFEs to put a programme together.

 

I would be very grateful if you could please let me know which TAFE and a name and a contact phone number plus e-mail address would be very helpful indeed.

 

Please PM or e-mail me about this if you would prefer not to put the information on the public boards. If you click on my user name to the left of this post a drop down menu will appear which will offer both the e-mail and PM options as you prefer.

 

Very many thanks :hug:

 

Gill :notworthy:

[nicrock]

Are you in discussion with Gold Coast TAFE or with Skills Tech, please? I am interested because this is the first I've heard of anyone possibly offering AQF III assessments for Welders and I can think of half a dozen people who would be interested in doing this assessment as well as yourself.

 

 

Hi Gill,

 

 

We have only rang TAFE and they passed our details onto a guy who does the assessments. We don't know much information at the moment and if this is even possible. Hopefully it will be and I can let you know the details

 

Regarding the 175 visa, for some reason I thought we could apply for this visa onshore and be advised when we had to leave the country when the visa's granted? Just our luck that this isn't possible and we wouldn't be able to apply for a bridging visa either :arghh:!!! Nothings ever simple.

 

 

The 487 visa seems like our only option at this point then to save us having to leave Australia and we can't afford not to work whilst the visa is being processed. This is all being well that he can have his skills assessed and awarded the Cert III in the next 4 weeks to give us enough time. Would we contact the QLD government to ask to be nominated and then wait for their reply before then lodging a 487? How would we find out what region of QLD we would be able to live in? Gutted I may have to move from the Gold Coast, but beats moving back to the UK! :no: