[DeMontfort]

Currently looking into a number of things associated with the potential move to Australia, one of which is having my skills assessed by Engineers Australia.

I have a BEng (Hons) in Building Services Engineering but do not currently have professional status; although, it should be sorted by April/May 2010. EA have already advised that because my role is mechanical desgin engineer of HVAC / PH systems I will likely be given the ASCO code of Mechanical Engineer, which is great because it's on the MODL.

I guess that with me not having professional status yet I have an option of having skills assessed through the Sydney Accord or completing a CDR. In essence I want to get the visa application in asap but am not sure whether to hang out for professional status in the UK before doing so.

Have any other engineers out there, preferably in the same or similar discipline, gone through the process with EA and did you go through the Washington Accord, Sydney Accord or complete a CDR for assessment?

Would be great to hear your thoughts on the process.

 

[tilla_07]

hi, im an electrical engineer and I assessed my degree through the Washington Accord. Unfortunately, my experience is limited as far as professional engineering goes since I had only just worked for 1.3 years before applying to EA to get my degree assessed, so I cannot help you there. But I can tell you that it barely took even a week for them to assess my degree and send back the assessment letter. The process is very quick for them to verify and give you your ASCO code. So if you are in a hurry, the assessment takes only a couple of days and 2 weeks maximum to get the letter to you under Washington/Sydney Accord. But I think with CDR, it takes people 12 weeks or more sometimes to get the assessment letter.

I guess my only question for you would be how much difference would professional status make to your application if you waited until April/May 2010? Also since the MODL might be changing in October, your profession may not be there which affects your points (if you need the MODL 15/20 points towards your application) or it could affect your application queue time where you may end up waiting for a long time before you get your visa. Check out htat thread for more information and detail given by SOMV to understand.

So, Im not sure how much of a difference the professional status makes, but if you need to apply right away or you might be affected by MODL points, then perhaps you should apply now instead of waiting for later.