Where to start? Advice please.

[JimmyDeemo]

Ok i will give you a bit of background before i start with my questions. Myself and my partner are getting married at the end of march and want to look at our options afterwards. One idea it to look into the possibility of moving to Australia and so i'm gathering information about how long it might take etc. We are both 23, my partner is a registered nurse and i'm a software engineer with a view to work in the gaming industry.

From what i've read so far, and please feel free to correct me on this or give me a reality check, is seems that you can be sponsored by an employer or apply via a points system depending on your skills. If you are sponsored and your job is particularly valuable then your application may get fast tracked through.

Like i said this is the first we have looked into this so i would appreciate some advice on where to get started and what to think about? How long can the process take? I heard nurses are in demand in Aus, is that true? I have also found many gaming recruitment agencies that are actively looking for overseas game professionals to work down under. What’s the best way to go about it (e.g. Can we both get jobs and be sponsored? Does one one of us do it and the other go with them? )

Any help much appreciated!

[Jules]

Hi and welcome!

Probably the best place to start would be to look at the visa options on immi.gov.au you should find that helps you get a better idea on which route to take.
Usually there is a main applicant for the visa and the other is put on as spouse, however if you are going with the points system not sponsored then your partners skills will add extra points. The advantage of the points one is that you can go anywhere you choose, there are restrictions with the others.
It all depends on how quickly you want to get out there really.

Do the online skills assessment first to see whether you have enough points to apply.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Julie

[JimmyDeemo]

Cheers for the pointer Jules. I've done some digging and i'd like some clarification on what i've found out, if anyone can help;

There are two ways we can go about this, being sponsored by an employer or via a skilled worker application.

Starting with the skilled worker application, provided i've filled it in right (and i pass the aussie values thing) i got 135 points. Which is great as it points me 15 points over the pass mark. It also seems the both my profession (Computing Professional - specialising in C++/C#/C) and my soon to be spouse' (Registered Nurse) are on the 'in demand' list.

So that’s looking quite good, but how long does that process take? I have heard it can take a while. The second options has the following pros and cons compared to the above;

• Being sponsored probably means a quicker application process
• There is a job for you when you come over.
• Would fees be paid by potential employer?.
• But you may be restricted to what region we can go to.

I would imagine that if me or my partner were sponsored then the other one would be able to organise some interviews, maybe even a job, in the same area without having to declare that’s what we are doing. Or would that help the application if we both had job offers?

Some other points i'd like some opinions on;

Does it matter how long we've been married? As we will only be married in March this year.
We've not actually been to Australia before!? This might seem silly that we are thinking of moving to somewhere we've never been, but right now we feel that we are young and have nothing keeping us in the UK so we might as well go for it in a country that is quite similar (at least in terms of possible work, driving on the same side of the road, etc.). Does anyone think that’s a silly attitude to take with such a big decision?

Phew that’s a lot of stuff there, please feel free to give your opinion as it would help lots. Thanks!

[Jules]

Hi again

No, it won't matter how long you have been married, you will just need your marriage certificate.

We have never been to Australia before either and there are many others on here in the same situation, go for it!!!

The sponsored visa (I believe) is usually alot quicker and there are job sites where you can post the CV of the second applicant if they are not being sponsored, which should result in some interviews when you get out there.
Try seek.com.au linkme.com.au hays.com.au jobs.ozfreeonline.com.au
these might give you some more idea on the jobs front.

Hope this helps

Julie

[kaz101]

Hi Jimmy,

The link for the visas can be found in the "Please read...." post as well as other useful links.

If you check www.austimeline.com.au that will give you some idea of the visa processing times for a centre and visa type.

Our skilled independent migrant visa took 2 years but we weren't on the demand list.

Julie is correct that the sponsored visas are quicker but employers tend to only do this for people that they can't find locally. A lot of the jobs advertised assume that the applicant already has a valid visa, and the employers may not be willing to sponsor you. If you find a sponsor you need to negotiate what the package will consist of, but as I say that's only likely to happen if they can't get someone locally.

Yes you may be restricted where you go since you need to go where ever you are sponsored. With a skilled independent visa you can live and work anywhere, and you don't even have to stay in the skill on the visa.

I think only one job application is required but you'll need to check that since I'm not an agent.

Personally I wouldn't have moved half way round the world to a place I'd never been to, but as you've read others have. Australia is BIG and very varied and personally I don't think you get a flavour of the place until you've been here. We visited Australia several times before we found a place where we wanted to settle.

The other thing to check with a sponsored visa is how long do you have to work there under the visa before you move on? I was just thinking that is you didn't like the company or the area what would happen then? But I suppose you might have to come over for an interview anyway?

Regards,
Karen

[JimmyDeemo]

Thanks for both your input.

Originally Posted by kaz101

employers tend to only do this for people that they can't find locally.

Yeah i did think that. However i have found a couple of agencies, relating to computer game development, that specifically recruit people from overseas for Australia. So i think i'm going to submit my CV and see what happens. I can only assume that as C++ developers are in demand in Australia, that they aren't getting enough local employees.

Originally Posted by kaz101

you need to negotiate what the package will consist of

By this do you mean who is going to pay for what? and what help i might get? For example i would assume some companies only pay for your application cost and everything else is up to you. Where as another may pay for everything plus flights and give you help finding a place.

Originally Posted by kaz101

Personally I wouldn't have moved half way round the world to a place I'd never been to

This is a slight concern for us. Right now we are taking the view that its going to be an adventure, and to see how we can adapt to it. We might go over and hate it, we might love it. But if worst comes to worst we can always go back, and we are young enough to say 'yeah we tried it, but it didn't happen. What’s next?'. I just wanted to see if other people were like minded, but i guess everyone has their own reasons right?

Originally Posted by kaz101

The other thing to check with a sponsored visa is how long do you have to work there under the visa before you move on?

Good point, i will make sure to check that with the recruitment agency. Another advantage of the Skilled Migration.

Other than that, cheers for the job website link Jules, it will be useful for either of us if we are a second applicant.

[kaz101]

I have no idea what the relocation package can consist of but if you read some of the other countries on this forum people can get accommodation as well.

Regards,
Karen