Identifying Occupational merits
South Africa
Australia
Overview
The case involved RT and his wife AT whom potentially had multiple eligibility pathways for Australia based on possessing a varied mix of qualifications and work experience, each with their pros and cons in terms of immigration policy, so the challenge was identifying and following the path of least resistance.
1
Identify qualification opportunity
RT had initially qualified as a secondary school teacher, but was working full-time as a manager and technical sales representative, while also self-employed and very busy doing welding and metal fabrication jobs outside of work hours.
2
qualification used to increase Visa application score
His wife, AT, was a qualified primary school teacher but was working as a secondary school teacher. At that particular time primary school teachers were not readily sponsored by Australian states for nomination. Whereas the occupation of secondary school teacher was a good occupation for state nomination purposes, and AT was working as one, but because her qualifications were as a primary school teacher that strategy was not possible. We did however get her skills assessed as a primary school teacher to contribute 5 points to RT’s visa application score.
3
Nominated RT under Metal Fabricator occupation
Weighing up the relative strengths and weaknesses of each potential nominated occupation, we decided to nominate the occupation of Metal Fabricator for RT. We provided the skills assessing authority and the immigration department with a wealth of evidence supporting this occupation choice. We furnished evidence such as invoices, reference letters from clients, bank statements, an accountant letter, and photos and videos of RT performing welding and other metal fabrication work to the minimum required standard of 20 hours per week, notwithstanding that this work was performed outside of RT’s 9-5 job.
The Outcome
RT and his family were granted Australian permanent residence in late 2018 and are now well settled in Melbourne, where they are active participants in the local community.