Guest guest48800 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Thanks Woodster. Yes it was Ian Harrop that are one of the companies that I spoke with. I got a good feeling from them too, them and Go Matilda. He mentioned that someone took a webcam skills assessment and they were only in there 30 mins which made me wonder if that was you!! Yes he also mentioned that different states have different ways of doing things. He said that one (not sure which) you needed to have about $25,000 behind you which I am hoping we will have before any visa's are granted. I think for us it would be Queensland as a preferred. That is where a lot of the work for hubby is but Vic too would not be a problem. WA are not one that is accepting Aircraft Mechs at the mo as there is quite a lot of work down there too but I guess once you are there, you only have to stay for a couple of years before you can move. Sometimes I worry that we are going to spend all this money and then decide we don't want to go at the last hour. However, a bit part of me knows that if we don't try it, we will regret it and at the end of the day, it is only money!!! :eek: That's exactly our philosophy too! You've got to give it a go or you'll never know. :biggrin: We've said that if we get out there, and VIC isn't what we thought it would be, (worried that we'll be moving 10,000miles and get similar weather), then we'll look at relocating to another state. Go Matilda were our other option too, they came across well and also have good reviews on here. Yes, the 30 minute interview was my OH! He said he felt a bit 'seen off' in a funny kind of way, as it was disproportionate (s'cuse the spelling, not sure it that's right) to the amount of stressing he'd done beforehand! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S92LAME Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I personally wouldn't recommend Aviation Australia, Padstow TAFE in Sydney is another college that can evaluate licenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linzie24 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Ah now I knew that I had seen that before somewhere on here about Aviation Australia but could not remember where and was planning to do a search on this. So what is wrong with them S92LAME? Tell all. I will have a look at TAFE Sydney and see what they say. Awaiting an email from Queensland Aerospace Collgege. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S92LAME Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Ah now I knew that I had seen that before somewhere on here about Aviation Australia but could not remember where and was planning to do a search on this. So what is wrong with them S92LAME? Tell all. I will have a look at TAFE Sydney and see what they say. Awaiting an email from Queensland Aerospace Collgege. They charge $100 to enroll then take your stuff to be looked at, then if you want the certificate it costs $1500. ive heard from a few people that they are not the best for dealing with. i was recommended Queensland aerospace, but have no dealings or info with Padstow TAFE. last time i looked though i think they were the only three approved by CASA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ian877 Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Hello Deb & Ian, How was the interview? Hi Woodster. Sorry it has taken us so long to reply but we have had family visiting and we haven't told them that we are hoping to migrate yet!!! Well, OH went for his tech interview and he was only there for about 30 mins. The apprehension was for nothing as all went well and he spent most of the time generally chatting to the other fella in Perth. Just recieved confirmation that the skills assessment has been successful. We are still a bit baffled as our migration agent has stated that my OH's Certificate IV in Aeroskills (mechanical) can be used to apply for a provisional licence when we get to Australia. He was hoping to apply for jobs before we get to Oz but how can he if he has to apply for prov. lice. when we get there? Just wondering if you could shed some light on this. Kind regards Deb & Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S92LAME Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Hi Woodster. Sorry it has taken us so long to reply but we have had family visiting and we haven't told them that we are hoping to migrate yet!!! Well, OH went for his tech interview and he was only there for about 30 mins. The apprehension was for nothing as all went well and he spent most of the time generally chatting to the other fella in Perth. Just recieved confirmation that the skills assessment has been successful. We are still a bit baffled as our migration agent has stated that my OH's Certificate IV in Aeroskills (mechanical) can be used to apply for a provisional licence when we get to Australia. He was hoping to apply for jobs before we get to Oz but how can he if he has to apply for prov. lice. when we get there? Just wondering if you could shed some light on this. Kind regards Deb & Ian I wouldn't take much notice of what the Migration agent said. you cant get a licence simply from having an aeroskills cert. its not as simple as that. the only people who can give you any credible info that you can use is from CASA themselves. but like the CAA, sometimes even they dont know. best thing to do is to email the maintenance licensing section and ask what you need to do to convert your licence. they will hopefully give you the lowdown, since they are in the transition period going from CAR31 to CAO 100.66. it is possible to get your license converted before you go, if you have a UK, EASA licence, but you may need to do the Aviation Administration Exam before you get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ian877 Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 I wouldn't take much notice of what the Migration agent said. you cant get a licence simply from having an aeroskills cert. its not as simple as that. the only people who can give you any credible info that you can use is from CASA themselves. but like the CAA, sometimes even they dont know. best thing to do is to email the maintenance licensing section and ask what you need to do to convert your licence. they will hopefully give you the lowdown, since they are in the transition period going from CAR31 to CAO 100.66. it is possible to get your license converted before you go, if you have a UK, EASA licence, but you may need to do the Aviation Administration Exam before you get it. Hi S92LAME I haven't got any aicraft licences, I have recently completed a HNC and HND in aerospace engineering along with 21 years of experience in the RAF. I went for my technical interview and I met the technical requirements of the qualification MEA40707 Certificate IV in Aeroskills (Mechanical). Licensing is required for this occupation on arrival in Australia. This Offshore Technical Skills Record (OTSR) entitles me to apply for a provisional licence to work under supervision of an employer and complete any Australian experience gap training. Once this is complete I will be awarded a Framework Qualification and can then apply for a full licence. I get the impression that these full licences are different for each state and will depend on which state we apply to for sponsorship. What I don't understand is how can I apply for a job before I go to Oz if I have to apply for this provisional licence when I get there? Another thing that bothers me is that during the tecnical interview my assessor did not have my qualifications given to him by Vic Uni so I could not be assessed on them at all. We are still trying to get to the bottom of the reasons for this with our agent, if we dont get no joy from them we will be in touch with Vic Uni ourselves. It might just be me thinking the worst but it seems that it's another way of squeezing more money out of us, as I know the HNC and HND can be transferred to the Australian equivelent of a Diploma and Advanced Diploma respectively. This can be done through a TAFE establishment and obviously this will more cost money when we get there when they should have beeen recognised and assessed during my technical interview. Kind regards Ian and Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S92LAME Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Hi S92LAME I haven't got any aircraft licenses, I have recently completed a HNC and HND in aerospace engineering along with 21 years of experience in the RAF. I went for my technical interview and I met the technical requirements of the qualification MEA40707 Certificate IV in Aeroskills (Mechanical). Licensing is required for this occupation on arrival in Australia. This Offshore Technical Skills Record (OTSR) entitles me to apply for a provisional licence to work under supervision of an employer and complete any Australian experience gap training. Once this is complete I will be awarded a Framework Qualification and can then apply for a full licence. I get the impression that these full licences are different for each state and will depend on which state we apply to for sponsorship. What I don't understand is how can I apply for a job before I go to Oz if I have to apply for this provisional licence when I get there? Another thing that bothers me is that during the tecnical interview my assessor did not have my qualifications given to him by Vic Uni so I could not be assessed on them at all. We are still trying to get to the bottom of the reasons for this with our agent, if we dont get no joy from them we will be in touch with Vic Uni ourselves. It might just be me thinking the worst but it seems that it's another way of squeezing more money out of us, as I know the HNC and HND can be transferred to the Australian equivelent of a Diploma and Advanced Diploma respectively. This can be done through a TAFE establishment and obviously this will more cost money when we get there when they should have beeen recognised and assessed during my technical interview. Kind regards Ian and Deb Im going to go out on a limb here. if im wrong i apologize and will be happily corrected. however, as a licensed engineer in the UK i can tell you how it is here, and that in Australia it will be similar as all licenses must conform to ICAO Regulations, by countries who are signatory of the Chicago convention. also, CASA is harmonizing its regulations in line with EASA. In the UK, the CAA will not accept an HND HNC or any other qualification in lieu of the Modules for issue of a license. your 21 years in the RAF will only count towards the experience requirement. if you have an avionics degree you can be exempt modules 1-5. that said, i don't know how the Australian training is set up for the new B1 B2 etc. to apply for a license in Australia, if you are already in possession of a UKCAA issued license, you must now send it, and some other documents, to a TAFE nominated by CASA to be evaluated against their system. they will issue you with a certificate of RPL which states what you have achieved as a result of prior qualifications, and what you must do to satisfy their licensing system, to be issued a license. Often reqiring the Aviation Administration (air leg) exam. as part of the experience requirement, you must have at least 6 months of certifying in the 2 years previous to application, which means you must also have a type rating in order to certify. you may know all this already, but i just thought i would make sure so you dont get there and find out they misinformed you. it has been known. If you are able to get a license in Australia without doing that, and using instead what you detailed in your post, then, BONUS! you don't have to go through the rigmarole i did to get my license. that's 2-4 years of study you can skip. As i said before. it is the same in this country. no one has a clue about how the aviation industry works if they are not in it. it is best to seek clarification from the horses mouth. its the only way to be reasonably confident of a correct response. Also, there is only One license for all Australia. and like the UK are now A, B1, B2, C licenses i hope you understand that im just trying to make sure you dont go over there expecting to get a licence straight away without checking with CASA first. i have feeling you may be dissapointed, but if its correct then im happy for you, and i'll know more as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S92LAME Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 It might just be me thinking the worst but it seems that it's another way of squeezing more money out of us, as I know the HNC and HND can be transferred to the Australian equivelent of a Diploma and Advanced Diploma respectively. This can be done through a TAFE establishment and obviously this will more cost money when we get there when they should have beeen recognised and assessed during my technical interview. With regards to this, i would imagine they have not bothered with your HNC/HND as they are only assessing if you are eligible for the points for your skill, which is assessed against the Aeroskills certificate. there is no need to go further if you satisfy that requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linzie24 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Hi Ian 877, I know that each situation is probably different but this is an email that we had from CASA about applying for licenses in Oz. I think it backs up what S92LAME is saying - although I am by no means knowledgeable in this area at all! Please find the details of how you can convert your UK CAA Licence to an Australian licence You have two options in obtaining an Australian Licence. Option 1 Application for CAR31 AME Licence Given that you are the holder of an UK CAA License, you may be eligible for a LTA Assessment. Please refer to the LTA/CTC guide for further information which can be accessed on CASA website at: http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/ame/download/ctc_215b.pdf Option 2 Application for CAO 100.66 - B1 and B2 Authorities The first step in gaining a category B1 or B2 authority is to apply to a Recognised Organisation (RO) with any evidence of qualifications, authorisations, practical experiences, company training, knowledge examinations, trade papers etc for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Once the assessment has been completed and you are found competent for the full authority applied for and have supplied the RO assessment to CASA along with the required application forms, CASA will then issue the Authority, provided you subject to satisfying the eligibility criteria. Assessment by RO can include RPL to give advance standing against the full training requirements for that category or sub category of Authority. Any additional training identified as part of the RPL process can then be obtained from an RO. At this time the CAO 100.66 licence is a totally voluntary process. I have attached the link below to provide information and contact details for current Recognised Organisations (RO) regarding Category, Subcategory and Type training: http://casa.gov.au/ame/download/AAC9-66.pdf Aviation Australia http://www.aviationaustralia.aero/ Padstow TAFE https://www.tafensw.edu.au/howex/servlet/Course?Command=GetTvetCourse&TvetCourseId=V1695 Kangan Batman TAFE http://www.kangan.com.au/ For further information regarding 100.66 licensing I have attached the link below leading you to CAO 100.66 website: http://www.casa.gov.au/newrules/maint/CAO10066/index.htm If you have any further queries after reading this guidance material, please feel free to contact us at ame.licensing@casa.gov.au It gives you some contact details so that you can ask the right person the right questions though if that is of any use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linzie24 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Woodster - who did you do your skills assessment through? I am getting conflicting information between agents - some are saying that you have to do it through Vic Uni at a cost of $3500 and some are saying you can do it through TRA for $450. Also just found out that it is only Queensland Regional that are allowing SS for Aircraft Engineers and so that kind of rules it out for us so it may be Vic too for us!! Did anyone else find that different agents said different things - or is that part of the course?????:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linzie24 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Oh and S92LAME - had a response from Queensland Aerospace to say that they don't do AA courses in the UK, just for private clients, and so you have to go to Oz to do it. They said a couple of exams taking a couple of hours each. Long way to go for 4 hours but I think hubby might just be able to manage it! Trying to work out if we can all go and do a bit of a reccy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ian877 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Woodster - who did you do your skills assessment through? I am getting conflicting information between agents - some are saying that you have to do it through Vic Uni at a cost of $3500 and some are saying you can do it through TRA for $450. Also just found out that it is only Queensland Regional that are allowing SS for Aircraft Engineers and so that kind of rules it out for us so it may be Vic too for us!! Did anyone else find that different agents said different things - or is that part of the course?????:confused: Hi linzie24 Thanks for your reply to our previous thread. Ian is at work at the mo so i'll get him to look at it when he gets home. I just thought you would be interested to know that our agent never gave us a choice about who did our skills assessment. We had to have it done through Vic Uni and it did cost us $3500. We were told (by our agent) that TRA no longer do skills assement. We are currently waiting for a mistake by Vic Uni to be sorted. Ian attended his Skype technical interview but the assessor did not have all of his (Ian's) qualifications with him as he was actually conducting the interview from Perth and Vic Uni failed to send them on. We have to keep prodding our agent to keep on to them. However, as it is the mistake of Vic Uni we should be issued with another OTSR without charge. So if you take the same route I would suggest that you confirm that your assessor will have all your qualifications at hand before you attend. Ian's tecnical interview was in Surrey, four and a half hours away from where we live so it would have been a nightmare to rearrange. Kind regards Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linzie24 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Thanks for your reply Deb. Oh well that at least clears that up for me then. I have to say that 2 out of the 3 have said Vic Uni but this one said something different yesterday and so I guess that shows me that they do not have a clue what they are talking about and stay away from them. They also took about a week to get back to me and charged me £95.00 for the assessment (my fault for being so guliable and not doing my research thouroughly first!!) everyone else has given me their assessment for free and within 24 hours!! I think my hubby is going down the option 1 route of the info that I have sent to you from that email. To be quite honest I don't know what the difference is between the two and why there are two options - maybe Ian or someone else can give some advice on that. God it's a minefiled isn't it. We have just sent off the application to CASA for a (ARN) which you apparently need to do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest48800 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Woodster - who did you do your skills assessment through? I am getting conflicting information between agents - some are saying that you have to do it through Vic Uni at a cost of $3500 and some are saying you can do it through TRA for $450. Also just found out that it is only Queensland Regional that are allowing SS for Aircraft Engineers and so that kind of rules it out for us so it may be Vic too for us!! Did anyone else find that different agents said different things - or is that part of the course?????:confused: Hi Linzie, My understanding is that TRA are the body with overall responsibility for various trade skills assessments but they 'farm out' (for want of a better expression!) certain trades to appropriate assessing bodies for that trade. I do know that Vic Uni carry out all the aircraft engineering assessments for the armed forces over there too. The lady that our agent was liaising with at Vic Uni was very helpful. There were some delays but we were told this was down to the fact that the assessing responsibility for visa applicants had only been given over to Vic uni at the start of this year. Have you 'surfed' the diac site or TRA? It took a bit of searching (well, quite a lot if I'm honest, they don't make it easy! The info's there but it's knowing where to look that's the catch) but I found most of our info via their sites: You need to complete a self evaluation "tradeset assessment" first, this is done via the TRA website. Link to the TRA website: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/SkillsAssess/TRA/OffshoreAssessment/Pages/apply.aspx You then submit your skills assessment to the appropriate TRA approved Registered Training Organisation, for Aircraft Engineers this is Vic Uni. The fee is higher than it used to be unfortunately, the $3500 is what we paid. If you check the official website for each state, you can see each states SMP list. Vic still have Aircraft maintenance Engineer Mech / AV/ and structures on their list. https://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/225920/10609_DVC_Eligibility_list_update_DD3.pdf If I were you, I'd stay well clear of the agent who told you that you have 2 options for the skills assessment, sounds to me like they don't know their backsides from elbows! But to be fair to them, if they haven't had any aircraft engineers through since everything changed, then maybe they might not be fully up to speed....but then it's their responsibility to keep themselves up to date I would have thought...if they're any good. :biglaugh: If you want the links for the other state sites let me know and I'll pop them on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest48800 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Hi Linzie, Just realised you'd already seen the Vic list, I mis-read your post....sorry! :biggrin: The Queensland list might change again after July 1st maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linzie24 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Thanks Woodster, it sounds like we have been told the right thing by most of the agencies that we have been in contact with. From the information I had already been given, I believed the same about TRA but this last agency did not seem to give the same information which is why I questioned it. I presume they have not had many aircraft engineers through lately!! Sorry the two different options was with regards to changing over licenses and not to do with the actual skills assessment. Sorry two different things being discussed I think. I think hubby is going to do the IELTS and then see what happens and then we will make a decision from there. Problem is I guess that if not many states are sponsoring aircraft engineers, then a lot of people are going to be going for the same jobs. But we will see............. Thanks for coming back to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S92LAME Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Oh and S92LAME - had a response from Queensland Aerospace to say that they don't do AA courses in the UK, just for private clients, and so you have to go to Oz to do it. They said a couple of exams taking a couple of hours each. Long way to go for 4 hours but I think hubby might just be able to manage it! Trying to work out if we can all go and do a bit of a reccy. Thanks for that, i suspected as much. Thank god i did my skills assessment when i did. i just had to send off some docs/certs and work references to TRA along with a seemingly measly $300!! Et Voila! in case anyone is interested. we had a meeting at work on Monday and the company has apparently said that they have and i quote, "scraped the bottom of the engineering barrel in Australia" and have not been able to find enough suitable engineers to fulfill the contract they just won. and they they cant bid for any more work for the same reason. They are trying to persuade us to go over in our winter months for 4 months to help out with their summer schedule. they wont let me go though, in case i decide to stay as they want me to stay in Aberdeen. i may have a surprise for them anyway! i know you guys may not have the quals required but this has to be good news for helicopter engineering positions in Australia, as i also believe that Bristow are looking for more people and that HNZCougar are trying to expand their operations in Aus, so it might be a good direction to try for. also the salaries are good, like here. our starting salary for a licensed engineer is around £50k+, and in Aus i know of guys who are starting on $120k+ some $140k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Can i just confirm that regardless of what type of visa you are applying for, that you have to fill in a self evaluation "tradeset assessment" first. Then send everything of to Vic Uni? Av got no idea, true squaddie before anybody else says it lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest48800 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hi Seth, yes you do need to fill out the tradeset assessment prior to the vic uni assessment. :smile: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Thanks woodster, just trying to put together all the hurdles i have to jump :wacko: in-order to get a visa. There does seem to be alot to do like but at least the Australian government only take those that are qualified or indeed needed. Despite the imo unnecessary English test for those that have always spoken the language. Deb, Ian and Emma thank you very much for your PM's much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andy1972 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hi, Any news on the SMP list for this year and if our occupation is on it...? Fingers crossed and just about anything else thats crossable.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andy1972 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hi... Just to keep you posted on the latest SMP List that we were looking at..(Wester Aus & South Aus) SMP for South Australia has been delayed - http://www.migration.sa.gov.au/sa/immigrate_from_overseas/state_migration_plan_south_australia.jsp. Western Australia appear to still be operating their previous list at the moment which does not include your occupation. They may be reviewing that shortly also; we will let you know if they have updates also. Right, lets talk about sponsorship...!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S92LAME Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Right, lets talk about sponsorship...!! You have Puma Experience don't you? Drop CHC Maintenance manager an email, see if he cant help you out. i know they need people, they are recruiting on the website, but getting in touch with the Maint Manager would possibly be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linzie24 Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 For anyone who is interested I got a reply from Queensland Aerospace about AA exams. They are running one in October but obviously in Brisbane. Course is 5 days (4 days and exam on the 5th) - price is $500 for tuition, $100 for CASA exam and $20 payable in cash on the day to the exam supervisor(!). They run 5 or 6 courses per year normally. Seems a lot more reasonable than Aviation Australia even if there is the cost of going there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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