Just getting started

[wil83]

Great forum here - lots of helpful info - thanks a lot!

My wife and I are considering a move to Australia, in hopes of finding "bigger and better things". We currently live in Canada and are essentially looking to change things up a bit and expand our international experience.

My wife and I have a love for travel, the beach and sunshine, which is really one of the main reasons we would like to get out of Canada - it certainly lacks beaches and sunshine, and travel is very expensive.

>> We think I may be able to qualify for the 120 points and obtain a skilled independent work permit, but am not sure. We found most of the consulting companies to be utterly unhelpful so far, so I'm looking for a good consultant to help us out with this. Anybody have experience with a good one?

>> We would of course love to be able to land a 457, but have no job offer from an Australian company. From what I understand, it's pretty hard to find an employer who's willing to sponsor employees - is that correct?

>> If we don't qualify for the skilled independent, we may want to try the skilled state sponsored. Our only fear would be that we get dumped in some sort of outback swamp, far far away from the ocean (and civilization?). Does anybody have any experience with the skilled state sponsored? Where did you end up? Was it good? How long do you have to stay in the spot you get "placed"?

>> Sydney is currently catching our interest. Is it really that hard to find a place to rent there? I've read horror stories on the web about no rental properties being available. We would like to live relatively close to the core / beach / etc.

Silly questions, perhaps, but these are the things we're currently trying to figure out. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[dance123]

Nice questions!!!!!

Alright, I'll go step by step to help you out.

My wife and I are considering a move to Australia, in hopes of finding "bigger and better things". We currently live in Canada and are essentially looking to change things up a bit and expand our international experience.

Very very good intenstions indeed. I'm looking for the same thing though I'm from a High Risk Country but it's my dream to move to OZz permanently.

My wife and I have a love for travel, the beach and sunshine, which is really one of the main reasons we would like to get out of Canada - it certainly lacks beaches and sunshine, and travel is very expensive.

No doubt, beaches are superb in OZz and certainly provide an exquisite atmosphere to people coming from abroad either migrant or visitor. Really sight seeing.

We think I may be able to qualify for the 120 points and obtain a skilled independent work permit, but am not sure. We found most of the consulting companies to be utterly unhelpful so far, so I'm looking for a good consultant to help us out with this. Anybody have experience with a good one?

In order to qualify what you'll have to do is to visit this website and check you points from points calculator. Its a superb wesbite for Australia Immigration, very user friendly. I'm sure you'll get very detailed knowledge through this one. Skilled – Independent (Migrant) visa (subclass 175)

We would of course love to be able to land a 457, but have no job offer from an Australian company. From what I understand, it's pretty hard to find an employer who's willing to sponsor employees - is that correct?

Not much idea about it but I also heard that people find it really difficult to find an sponsor and when they do, after moving to Australia on 457, they either don't like the job or want to switch to other job but for that you have to stay with your employer who sponsored you for about a year or two and then you can move. If you switch in the meanwhile, you might end up getting your VISA cancelled. Check this link for Visa subclass 457

Temporary Business (Long Stay) - Standard Business Sponsorship (Subclass 457)

If we don't qualify for the skilled independent, we may want to try the skilled state sponsored. Our only fear would be that we get dumped in some sort of outback swamp, far far away from the ocean (and civilization?). Does anybody have any experience with the skilled state sponsored? Where did you end up? Was it good? How long do you have to stay in the spot you get "placed"?

Now this is related to me as I've applied under this one. There are other states too which offer sponsorship and it depends on you which one you choose. I've been sponsored by South Australian state because I applied there. If I would have applied for Victoria or West Australia, I would have gotten the sponsorship from those states.
The reason I wanted to move to SA is that we have a condition on this visa that for 2 years we have to live in a low regional/population growth area and ADELAIDE whole area is considered as regional area so it's metro and at the same time regional that means more opportunity and more options. We get this visa for 3 years. Mandatory stay is for 2 years out of 3 years after which we can be eligible for Permanent Residency provided that we must be in paid employment for 1 year out of 2. So, this subclass is called 475. My timeline is:

Skill Assessment Lodged (VETASSESS)....................... Feb 28, 2008
Positive Result (3291-11, Non-MODL) ....................... Mar 17, 2008

Sponsorship Documents reached SA .......................... May 01, 2008
Positive Result .................................................. ...... May 14, 2008

Application Lodged =SIR-475= ................................. Jul 05, 2008
Acknowledgment .................................................. ... ?
PCC Sent.............................................. ................... ?
Med Sent .................................................. .............. ?
CO Assigned .................................................. ......... ?
Grant letter .................................................. ........... hmm, I can sense it

The link for this VISA subclass is Skilled – Regional Sponsored (Provisional) visa (subclass 475)

Sydney is currently catching our interest. Is it really that hard to find a place to rent there? I've read horror stories on the web about no rental properties being available. We would like to live relatively close to the core / beach / etc.

Sydney is becoming more and more saturated because everyone wants to move there and my friend are also there and suggests me to move to South Australia which is less costly, less expenses and more opportunity.

Hope that I've explained as much as I can but I stand to be corrected

IF you may have further questions please feel free to ask.

[northern mover]

Hi there,

Crikey, i think Dance123 answered more than enough
I know there are companies that do sponsorship for the 457 visa; it's what's taking me to Adelaide, too. I am in healthcare, specifically theatres, so getting a post was relatively hassel free; the registration is more trouble!!
The state police also have offered sposorship in SA; at least 20 cops have emigrated there in the past 2 years.......from our area anyway.
The occupations in demand; eg, nurses, social workers, construction, mining all have advertised recently for the region, and sponsorship is contractually agreed. The problem may lie in gaining PR in future, especially if you need to have employment!
Good luck
Jane

[kaz101]

Hi Wil83,

Welcome to the forum...

Originally Posted by wil83

>> We think I may be able to qualify for the 120 points and obtain a skilled independent work permit, but am not sure. We found most of the consulting companies to be utterly unhelpful so far, so I'm looking for a good consultant to help us out with this. Anybody have experience with a good one?

Have you checked out the "PLEASE READ...." sticky post towards the top of the forum? That has a link to the visa types and the points test on the Aussie government website. That is the only one I would personally go by. We've heard that some agents don't seem to replies to emails but do respond to phone calls. There are several agents that have been used by members on the forum - I used the Emigration Group who are based in the UK, Dolly (the other moderator) used George Lombard based in Oz, and we have agents on the forum too - Alan Collett and Veronika (SOMV). I can't remember all the agents that have helped our members get into Oz

Originally Posted by wil83

>> We would of course love to be able to land a 457, but have no job offer from an Australian company. From what I understand, it's pretty hard to find an employer who's willing to sponsor employees - is that correct?

It depends on your skill set since if employers can't get your skill set they may be willing to sponsor you. Personally we took the longer permanent resident route in since once we were here they can't get rid of us That way we could also live where we wanted and do what we wanted too. This is a personal choice since some people want the 'security' of a job here.

Originally Posted by wil83

>> If we don't qualify for the skilled independent, we may want to try the skilled state sponsored. Our only fear would be that we get dumped in some sort of outback swamp, far far away from the ocean (and civilization?). Does anybody have any experience with the skilled state sponsored? Where did you end up? Was it good? How long do you have to stay in the spot you get "placed"?

I can't answer that one but Dance123 answered this since they are going through it. We are in South Australia too - Mount Gambier which is about 400kms from Adelaide (we're driving it later today) so if you have any questions on SA I shouldbe able to answer those ones on the forum

Originally Posted by wil83

>> Sydney is currently catching our interest. Is it really that hard to find a place to rent there? I've read horror stories on the web about no rental properties being available. We would like to live relatively close to the core / beach / etc.

Sydney is one of the most expensive cities here. There are property links in the "PLEASE READ...." post where you can check out rental prices. If you really want a big city there are others available too (Adelaide isn't one of them!). In Melbourne I've heard it's harder to get rentals there at the moment.

Originally Posted by wil83

Silly questions, perhaps, but these are the things we're currently trying to figure out. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The only silly question is the one you don't ask

Regards,
Karen