Graduates of select culinary courses in Australia have a pathway for Permanent Residency(PR) through Trade Recognition Australia’s(TRA) Job Ready Program (JRP). This article intends to provide an overview of the five key steps that one must take from course completion to applying for a Permanent Residency visa.
Step 1. Apply for Provisional Skills Assessment (PSA).
The first step is to apply for PSA (first step of the JRP, currently costs $300) with TRA. To be eligible for PSA, you should have completed at least a Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery/Patisserie/Asian Cookery from a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) registered with the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS); held or currently hold a student visa; and you can provide proofs of 360 hours of work experience and/or vocational placement related to your nominated occupation as a Chef in an Australian workplace.
At this step, you only have to show that you had exposure to a variety of tasks and responsibilities as a Chef along with your qualification. This means that with the required 360 hours paid work experience, your role does not have to be a Chef (role as a Cook is acceptable).
A successful PSA outcome is required for 485 (Graduate Stream) visa application and JRE.
Step 2. Apply for a 485 (Graduate Stream) visa.
The second step is to apply for 485 (Graduate Stream) visa (currently costs $1,500) with the Department of Home Affairs. To be eligible for this visa, you should have completed at least two years of study in a field that is highly related to your nominated role as a Chef; satisfy the required English language capability; and successful PSA outcome as a Chef. For other eligibility requirements for this visa apply, please see the link below for more details:
https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/485-
Most students take up Certificate III and IV in Commercial Cookery plus a Diploma of Hospitality to satisfy the 485 visa’s two year study requirement.
Step 3. Apply and participate in Job Ready Employment(JRE).
JRE is the second step of the TRA’s JRP (currently costs $500). To be eligible for JRP, you should have a successful PSA outcome as a Chef; have secured a paid employment as a Cook/Chef where you perform most of the tasks as a Chef as enlisted on the Australian Business Statistics; and hold or have lodged a 485 visa application or on a Bridging Visa A; or have less than four months remaining on your student visa. TRA may consider other visas with full work rights.
To be successful in JRE, you should have completed at least 1,725 hours of paid work experience as a Cook/Chef in a period of at least twelve months; have submitted monthly and quarterly journals that show the tasks you have performed in your role; and have provided evidences of your paid employment (payslips and bank statements).
You should perform most of the tasks of a Chef as per ABS (see the link below).
Step 4. Undertake Job Ready Workplace Assessment(JRWA).
When you complete at least 863 of paid work experience as a Cook/Chef in a period of at least six months, you will be invited to apply for JRWA. This is the third step of JRP (currently costs $2,000).
Once your application is reviewed by TRA and you are deemed eligible, your Liaison Officer will schedule a visit to your workplace to assess and observe the tasks that you perform based on the tasks you have recorded in your monthly journals.
TRA will issue the outcome of your JRWA about two to four weeks from your assessment date. If you are successful, your outcome letter will show that you are Job Ready, if not, it will show as Not Yet Job Ready; and you will have the chance to undertake another JRWA where you will be required to pay another JRWA fee of $2,000. For a successful JRWA outcome, make sure that you demonstrate the knowledge and skills required for all the tasks in your journal and you should perform most of the tasks of a Chef as per ABS mentioned at Step 3.
Step 5. Apply for Job Ready Final Assessment(JRFA)
This is the final step of JRP (currently costs $150). To be eligible for JRFA, you should have a successful PSA and JRWA outcome and you have provided your Liaison Officer with journals and paid employment evidences covering at least 12 months (at least 1,725 work hours).
When you have successfully completed all the steps of JRP, you can use your JRFA for your Permanent Residency visa application. Note that this is just one of the requirements that you should satisfy in applying for a PR visa and all the application criteria should be satisfied to get a visa grant.
In summary, graduates of CRICOS registered Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery/Patisserie/Asian Cookery who have successfully completed all the steps of TRA’s JRP in Australia can be eligible to apply for a PR visa if all the PR visa eligibility criteria are satisfied.