Moving to Oz was something that I considered a few years ago and I must say that if you embark on this journey you need to be clear about the procedures.
Below is from my own experiences and could have changed.
To begin the process I began contacting Migration agents who were all quoting around the £5k figure to get you into to Oz and all stated that as a spark you would have no problem. Big shortage of sparks, they would say.
£5k on top of flights, Visa's, moving costs etc,etc seemed a bit step to me and so I decided to look deeper into the process myself.
The process starts with Vetassess
http://www.vetassess.com.au/ who assess your UK skills with the Austrailian standards.
You have to first of all submit a paper assessment about yourself your skills, qualifications, experience etc and from memory cost about $600 au.
This takes longer than you think and has to be verified by someone in a professional capacity (
funny enough not a professional spark) like a doctor, solicitor, police officer.
If you pass through this, (
score 3 - forget it, score 2 - you may need some additional training, score 1 and you pass) you then get invited to a college in the UK to complete a practical assessment, a written exam and an interview. Costs about $1600 au.
Pass through that you then get an off shore technical Licence and can apply for your Visa, police checks, medicals etc.
This is all well and good but doesn't give you a Licence to work in Oz when you get there and you will be then required to re-train when you get there to the Oz standards.
If you do get there, and if you are lucky to get a job you would be classed as a trainee and would have to be supervised, complete a log book for 12 months and of course be on a trainee rate.
I completed and passed the paperwork assessment and was booked on the practical assessment. It was at this point that I discovered that you would need to re-train in Oz from Vetassess.
Its something they don't usually tell you till after you have completed everything (and paid out) but my son was just a baby at the time and I quizzed the girl at Vetassess who sent me a pdf of the qualifications you would be required to complete in Oz.
I of course lost the $600 au and I think about another $300 au for cancelling the practical assessment which was at Blackburn college by the way.
I hope this is of help to some and that it doesn't come across as negative.
If anyone wants any further information from my experience just pm me.
Transferring UK skills down under
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