Delays in approving Trade Licences

[Guest WhatNow?]

This has been an issue for many of Home2Home's clients over the last 12 months. Getting your assessment in the UK and getting the visa doesn't mean the hassle is over, as many of them are finding out. You can only apply for your licence when you have arrived in Australia and OCBA who are responsible for vetting and processing are way behind. The only crumb of comfort is that they are not discriminating against overseas migrants as this article makes plain.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-17/trade-licence-delays-apprentices/3835370

 

We have one client who arrived in December and has only just been able to start work, and this is by no means unusual. Another who passed the assessment for the visa waited 2 months for an assessment by OCBA and then was turned down for his licence and has to work for a qualifying 3 months under supervision to obtain approval. If you need a trade licence to work here maybe you need to bear this in mind when budgetting for your first few months here...

[minty]

I guess it must depend on the trades. Once I had finished my wiring regs course I went down to OCBA and had my electrical license delivered in 5 days. You are right though a lot of people think there trades recognition to get the visa will automatically get them a license here when the reality usually is they need to sit further course and training. Comes as a shock to quite a few so you should look into your specific trade and research just what is required to get your full license.

[Guest zimbo]

That is very true,i am a refrigeration mechanic,i got TRA certificate(ARTC) onthe 5th of December last year and went to OCBA the next day to apply for the restricted electrical licence. I only got my licence on the 14th of February. I called them three times and they kept telling me to call back after one week and that they have a backlog. It took me more than 4 months to get the TRA certificate,Refrigerant handling licence and the restricted electrical licence. Its just so frustrating that when you think you finally have your visa and you are ready then you have to come here and go though this process again before you start looking for a job.

[minty]

Was lucky on the TRA side. I managed to submit from the uk before the rule change came into effect last year. It did take TRA about 3 months to asses my application though. TRA now has to be done when you get here and still takes about 8 weeks so a long wait. I would be interesting to see if anyone else has submitted to OCBA recently and had a quick turnaround as the guy there said they were now upto date with the backlog.

[ian mc]

People think that they can come and work for themselves as a sub contractor or be self employed but you need to do a few courses and apply for a builders license which can all take time, there are heavy penalties if you get caught working with out a license and if the person you are doing the work for finds out you have no licence they do not need to pay you by rights.