Mechanic Skills Assessment Question - Bit Strange

[BarryM]

Howdy all,

I am an Expat from Scotland, now living in New Zealand. My work history is somewhat strange. I worked as a mechanic fro 1.5 years after leaving school with a small fmaily business which shut down way back in 1999. At this stage I changed careers and worked in the IT industry for 6 years, during this time I also ran a small part time business/hobby for race and rally car preparation due to my involvement in the sport and acquaintances.

I left UK in 2005 to travel and after seeing Aussie I got a job offer in Methven NZ as a mechanic after a free trial, long story short I done that for 6 months and the following 3 years I have been working for a VW/Audi dealership. During this time I have been working towards a Auto Electrical Qualification. I am hoping to have this completed by Christmas but here is the difficult bit.

I am doing the Auto Elec training due to the greater prevalence of electrical systems in vehicles, I do however see myself as a Mechanic first and foremost. So what do I apply for in my Assessment, will they take Auto Elec Qual as Motor Mechanic?

If not can I simply use my 3.5 years work experience here as a mechanic or will that not be enough?

And lastly how do I get it assessed as I believe VETASSESS requires a practical exam of some sort and as I am in New Zealand I see no option to do it here in the application?

Sorry for all the questions but I am desperate to live my dream on the Sunshine Coast.

[amaslam]

Hi Barry:

As you have already been living in NZ for at least 3.5 yrs how about sticking around long enough to apply for and attain NZ Citizenship (I think you can do that at the 5 yr mark). Once you have done that you can live and work freely in AU due to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. You would not have to apply for any migration visa to AU as a NZ Citizen, instead you would be given a SCV (Special Category Visa) upon arrival into AU (on the spot, no forms).

Here is a link to read about that:
Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Essentially it breaks down into:
NZ Citizens without criminal convictions can live and work in AU for as long as they want.
AU Citizens without criminal convictions and PR without criminal convictions can live and work in NZ for as long as they want.

Good luck

Originally Posted by BarryM

Howdy all,

I am an Expat from Scotland, now living in New Zealand. My work history is somewhat strange. I worked as a mechanic fro 1.5 years after leaving school with a small fmaily business which shut down way back in 1999. At this stage I changed careers and worked in the IT industry for 6 years, during this time I also ran a small part time business/hobby for race and rally car preparation due to my involvement in the sport and acquaintances.

I left UK in 2005 to travel and after seeing Aussie I got a job offer in Methven NZ as a mechanic after a free trial, long story short I done that for 6 months and the following 3 years I have been working for a VW/Audi dealership. During this time I have been working towards a Auto Electrical Qualification. I am hoping to have this completed by Christmas but here is the difficult bit.

I am doing the Auto Elec training due to the greater prevalence of electrical systems in vehicles, I do however see myself as a Mechanic first and foremost. So what do I apply for in my Assessment, will they take Auto Elec Qual as Motor Mechanic?

If not can I simply use my 3.5 years work experience here as a mechanic or will that not be enough?

And lastly how do I get it assessed as I believe VETASSESS requires a practical exam of some sort and as I am in New Zealand I see no option to do it here in the application?

Sorry for all the questions but I am desperate to live my dream on the Sunshine Coast.

[BarryM]

Originally Posted by amaslam

Hi Barry:

As you have already been living in NZ for at least 3.5 yrs how about sticking around long enough to apply for and attain NZ Citizenship (I think you can do that at the 5 yr mark). Once you have done that you can live and work freely in AU due to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. You would not have to apply for any migration visa to AU as a NZ Citizen, instead you would be given a SCV (Special Category Visa) upon arrival into AU (on the spot, no forms).

Here is a link to read about that:
Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Essentially it breaks down into:
NZ Citizens without criminal convictions can live and work in AU for as long as they want.
AU Citizens without criminal convictions and PR without criminal convictions can live and work in NZ for as long as they want.

Good luck

That would work perfectly however I have been living here on temporary work permits. You can only become a Citizen after 5 years of Permanent Residence. Part of the reason for leaving NZ is the complete lack of help from the Comical Immigration Department.

We have bought a house here, been working for the same companies for 3 & 5 years respectively(my partner is a Bank Manager and must get Permits also), they are quite willing to constantly take our money every 2 years but keep throwing up obstacles to getting Residence, so they have lost us now.

I have a MASSIVE list of things I want to write here about our experience but need to go to work.....