taking the plunge?

[peterbetula]

i am a 46yr old gas engineer/plumber who is sick of england.my wife and i think that it would be better to go and live in australia , queensland area. We have seen lots of jobs being advertised. We think that it might be a good idea to go and stay for 6 mths in oz to find a job and then apply for a visa. Are there any reasons why this is a bad idea or do we just go for it,have a nice 6mth break in oz and if i don.t get work go back to england. We both feel that the jobs that are on the internet are difficult to get as they only see your c.v and can,t see you in person, which is basically how people decide whether they give you a job or not,on you personality and if they get on with you or not. I believe you can get a 6mth tourist visa after which if nothing turns up, then thats it ,we have tried and thats that., possibly thinking trying NZ if all fails.
ANY THOUGHTS FELLOW POMMES?

peterbetula

[els17cls8]

Originally Posted by peterbetula

i am a 46yr old gas engineer/plumber who is sick of england.my wife and i think that it would be better to go and live in australia , queensland area. We have seen lots of jobs being advertised. We think that it might be a good idea to go and stay for 6 mths in oz to find a job and then apply for a visa. Are there any reasons why this is a bad idea or do we just go for it,have a nice 6mth break in oz and if i don.t get work go back to england. We both feel that the jobs that are on the internet are difficult to get as they only see your c.v and can,t see you in person, which is basically how people decide whether they give you a job or not,on you personality and if they get on with you or not. I believe you can get a 6mth tourist visa after which if nothing turns up, then thats it ,we have tried and thats that., possibly thinking trying NZ if all fails.
ANY THOUGHTS FELLOW POMMES?

peterbetula

Read your thread and i am thinking on the same lines, i am a 35year old bricklayer/builder self employed married with two kids eight and three, ive plenty of work for the near future but im thinking of getting this year out the way and selling my house and flat ang going over there with a few quid and seeing wot its all about on a 12 month tourist visa, this might sound crazy to some but if i went down the other routes of getting in to oz it would still cost me a few quid and i can,t see how you can make a decision to live there if you only do a 4 to 6 week stint cos all that it is , is a long holiday...... if its no good or icannot get the appropriate visas or job offers il just come back and start again, least i can say ive been there , tried it and done it and had quality time with my wife and kids

[amaslam]

The main thing is that you cannot legally work on a tourist visa. Sure you can search for jobs but you can't then stay onshore and wait for a PR visa that allows you to work. Most employers don't even entertain the idea of hiring unless a valid visa that allows work is in place.

Originally Posted by els17cls8

Read your thread and i am thinking on the same lines, i am a 35year old bricklayer/builder self employed married with two kids eight and three, ive plenty of work for the near future but im thinking of getting this year out the way and selling my house and flat ang going over there with a few quid and seeing wot its all about on a 12 month tourist visa, this might sound crazy to some but if i went down the other routes of getting in to oz it would still cost me a few quid and i can,t see how you can make a decision to live there if you only do a 4 to 6 week stint cos all that it is , is a long holiday...... if its no good or icannot get the appropriate visas or job offers il just come back and start again, least i can say ive been there , tried it and done it and had quality time with my wife and kids

[peterbetula]

Originally Posted by amaslam

The main thing is that you cannot legally work on a tourist visa. Sure you can search for jobs but you can't then stay onshore and wait for a PR visa that allows you to work. Most employers don't even entertain the idea of hiring unless a valid visa that allows work is in place.

thanks amaslam for your advice. Is'nt it the case though that visas can be fast tracked once you have a sponsor , 3 mths i seem to remember seeing somewhere.
If an employer wants to employer you then 12 weeks is'nt the of the world to wait, especially when you are already their and are obviously serious about your move to oz, or am i being a bit naive about the situation.
thanks again amaslam for your advice,
peter

[amaslam]

Sponsored Visas are given priority but I don't think you can wait onshore while they are being processed. One thing about visas is that you have to be in the right place when they are granted (usually outside of AU). 3 months is not unheard of (i.e. for a 457 sponsored visas) but sponsored visas do tend to have age limits (45 is the upper limit for some of these).

It really is worth it to seek the advice of agents on this matter as they know of all the options. Especially trades as most of these have a assessment that needs to be done and that can take awhile as well.

I believe most people on these forums have processing times of 9 months or more. Even the sponsored ones.

Originally Posted by peterbetula

thanks amaslam for your advice. Is'nt it the case though that visas can be fast tracked once you have a sponser , 3 mths i seem to remember seeing somewhere.
If an employer wants to employer you then 12 weeks is'nt the of the world to wait, especially when you are already their and are obviously serious about your move to oz, or am i being a bit naive about the situation.
thanks again amaslam for your advice,
peter

[kaz101]

Also you need to check that your skill set is on the wanted list - if it's not it's unlikely that you will get sponsorship.

Just a point that hadn't been mentioned....

Regards,
Karen

[peterbetula]

Originally Posted by kaz101

Also you need to check that your skill set is on the wanted list - if it's not it's unlikely that you will get sponsorship.

Just a point that hadn't been mentioned....

Regards,
Karen

Hi karen, thanks for your response. I have checked the skills list and my job is on both the critical and normal skills list.

[peterbetula]

Originally Posted by amaslam

Sponsored Visas are given priority but I don't think you can wait onshore while they are being processed. One thing about visas is that you have to be in the right place when they are granted (usually outside of AU). 3 months is not unheard of (i.e. for a 457 sponsored visas) but sponsored visas do tend to have age limits (45 is the upper limit for some of these).

It really is worth it to seek the advice of agents on this matter as they know of all the options. Especially trades as most of these have a assessment that needs to be done and that can take awhile as well.

I believe most people on these forums have processing times of 9 months or more. Even the sponsored ones.

thanks amaslam, so what your telling me is that if your over 45 you probably won't get into Oz unless you are a doctor or something like that. the thing is , i sent an e-mail with my c.v to a company in Brisbane and the guy wrote back saying that he didn't have any vacancies at the moment but that my age wasn't a major factor, what they wanted was experience, hopefully there are more like him , its just finding them.
is there anyone over 45 on this forum that has made it to Oz? thanks in advance peterbetula