Moving from USA to Australia

[vxp]

Hello all!

My wife and I (both US citizens) would really like to move to Australia

We spent some time gathering information, and it looks like I would be the best primary candidate to apply (scored 135 points on the visa assessment test, for whatever it's worth).

I am in IT (have been in the field for 10+ years) but I have no formal qualifications, so it looks like I will need to get my skills assessed by ACS and do the RPL.

We know of absolutely nobody in Australia. In your opinion, do you think it'd be possible to search for a job in Australia, through a recruiter of some sort, while my visa application is going through? Perhaps even get sponsored?

Or should we let the visa process finish before we do anything?

And speaking of the visa process, is there anyone you'd recommend? We stumbled upon nationalvisas dot com dot au and it seems they've got a guarantee that if they can't get you in, they refund your money

[kaz101]

Hi vxp,

If you get sponsored you'll be restricted to the area that you move to, whereas if you come in the skilled independent route then you can chose where you want to live.

For IT it seems that Sydney and Melbourne are the places to consider unless you can get a contract with previous clients. The reason I add the last bit is that I'm a JDE World contractor and I'm hired by a company in the UK and I work from home. However the company is one I used to work with before I left the UK.

Since I didn't have any qualifications either my husband was made first applicant (he's a gardener) and that way although I still had to be approved by the ACS ( I was already a member of the British Computer Society so no big deal) I didn't have to go through the RPL which would have been a pain since I'd been a contractor for 10 years.

There are 2 agents on this forum who are based in Oz - Liana Allan and Alan Collett if you want to contact them. I don't know of any emigration in the agents in the USA but of you check the MARA or MIA sites (see "Please read " post under migration agents) you may find some near you.

Regards,
Karen

[vxp]

Originally Posted by kaz101

There are 2 agents on this forum who are based in Oz - Liana Allan and Alan Collett if you want to contact them. I don't know of any emigration in the agents in the USA but of you check the MARA or MIA sites (see "Please read " post under migration agents) you may find some near you.

Regards,
Karen

What exactly do these migration agents do?

I found one about 20 minutes away walking from us (on MARA), I also found what they charge ($1,500 - $3,800) but I wasn't able to find out what exactly we would get for this money.

[Dolly]

Hi,

Most migration agents will provide the first consultation free, without obligation. Your best bet is to actually phone a couple of agents and see what their fees are and what services they provide.

Usually, they guide you through the whole process from skills assessment to main application. They will advise you on which visa you'd be best suited to apply for, what you have to do and when to do it for the application.

For us, it was peace of mind knowing that we'd filled out the right forms, written the skills assessment correctly (as the assessing bodies are SO nitpickey) etc. As I said in a previous thread, every penny was well spent.

We used George Lombard (based in NSW) - he's an absolute gem, and if it weren't for him, we wouldn't be here in Australia.

Dolly

[vxp]

Originally Posted by Dolly

Hi,

Most migration agents will provide the first consultation free, without obligation. Your best bet is to actually phone a couple of agents and see what their fees are and what services they provide.

Usually, they guide you through the whole process from skills assessment to main application. They will advise you on which visa you'd be best suited to apply for, what you have to do and when to do it for the application.

For us, it was peace of mind knowing that we'd filled out the right forms, written the skills assessment correctly (as the assessing bodies are SO nitpickey) etc. As I said in a previous thread, every penny was well spent.

We used George Lombard (based in NSW) - he's an absolute gem, and if it weren't for him, we wouldn't be here in Australia.

Dolly

What do you mean by the assessing bodies being so nitpickey ?
I mean, I know what the term means... but what are they being anal about?

[Dolly]

Hi,

When you do a skills assessment, you have to write in interminable detail what you've done job wise. What you've learnt, how you learnt it and how you've put it into practice. I think my husbands RPL was around 100 or so pages (including certified copies of certificates etc).

Dolly

[vxp]

Originally Posted by Dolly

Hi,

When you do a skills assessment, you have to write in interminable detail what you've done job wise. What you've learnt, how you learnt it and how you've put it into practice. I think my husbands RPL was around 100 or so pages (including certified copies of certificates etc).

Dolly

Hm.. Well, I don't have any certificates as I'm self taught and always learned on the job.

If I describe my 10+ year experience, however long and detailed, think that'll be enough ?

[Dolly]

Here's the ACS website. Have a look at what an RPL will involve. From recollection my husband had to write 2 project reports, various CBOK (Common Body Of Knowledge) statements and get work references.

Australian Computer Society - Application Process

Dolly