[elainehmje]

I am new to this forum but have done a lot of reading and I am very impressed with the wealth of knowledge in this group!!

My husband and I are initiating the emigration process to move our family to Australia. We spent about 4 months there a few years back and absolutely LOVE the country!! I have two major questions....

1) - where should we move to? My husband is a software tester/business analyst. Where is the IT industry mostly located? Sydney? Melbourne? We are also moving our 2 young kids and want to live in a nice neighborhood that is fmaily friendly.

2) - in terms of scoring points on the Independent Skills Visa my husband doesnt seem to be able to score as highly as myself. Does my education count towards the Visa at all??? I am planning on working once my kids go to school but not immediately. should I be the main applicant? Or can my husband be the main applicant with help of my score? (hope this makes sense)

We are doing a pile of research and calling the consulate frequently with questions. Is it worth hiring a migrating agent??? (sorry snook in a 3rd question)

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Elaine

 

[Guest]

If you are going independent either of you can be the main applicant if you can meet the requirements and pass a skills assessment. If you have young kids and dont plan on working in Australia for a bit do you have the required recent work experience to qualify for a visa?

 

[coolsnake]

I am new to this forum but have done a lot of reading and I am very impressed with the wealth of knowledge in this group!!

My husband and I are initiating the emigration process to move our family to Australia. We spent about 4 months there a few years back and absolutely LOVE the country!! I have two major questions....

1) - where should we move to? My husband is a software tester/business analyst. Where is the IT industry mostly located? Sydney? Melbourne? We are also moving our 2 young kids and want to live in a nice neighborhood that is fmaily friendly.

2) - in terms of scoring points on the Independent Skills Visa my husband doesnt seem to be able to score as highly as myself. Does my education count towards the Visa at all??? I am planning on working once my kids go to school but not immediately. should I be the main applicant? Or can my husband be the main applicant with help of my score? (hope this makes sense)

We are doing a pile of research and calling the consulate frequently with questions. Is it worth hiring a migrating agent??? (sorry snook in a 3rd question)

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Elaine

Hi Elaine,
Welcome to the forum. My 2 cents below:

1) I have heard people say that maximum IT jobs are in Melbourne and Sydney.

2) Yes, you can be the primary applicant if you can score the required 65 points and you have been working for at least 12 months in the last 2 years. Your husband can be the secondary applicant on the visa. Yes, you do get points for education. You don't necessarily need to work in the occupation you are applying your visa for and you can start working at your convenience.

A lot of people on this forum feel that a migration agent is not really required as the process is very straight forward. However if you plan to go for one, then make sure the agent is a MARA one. You can go for consultation with a few migration agents and see which one you are more comfortable with.

Good luck!!

 

[mbc71]

Hi Elaine! Welcome aboard!

I had replied to another similar post and included links to the individual state Skilled Occupation Lists (SOLs), so thought you might want to read it: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/au...ed-migration-visa-same-state-sponsorship.html

re: where to move - would probably help you to check out where the jobs are via the Seek site (really good job search tool): SEEK - Australia's no. 1 jobs, employment, career and recruitment site


I'm using a migration service, but I know a lot of people here on the boards are braving the process themselves, so its definitely do-able!

re: who should be the primary applicant... I can tell you how my husband and I have gone through the process (we have 2 young kids, too, btw!):

• First, we checked out the main Australia SOL to look for both of our occupations (me - ICT Business Analyst, him - Occupational Health & Safety officer)
• Discovered that ICT Business Analyst was on the main SOL (schedule 1 ) list. Initially planned to apply for subclass 175. This was about 5 months before I turned 40 (will get to that in a sec)
• Submitted my skills assessment documentation to ACS.
• Lots of back-and-forth between me/agent/ACS - finally got ALL the documentation they needed in December 2011.
• Unfortunately by this time, I had turned 40. This means that I went from getting 25 points for my age to only getting 15 points. So at this point, subclass 175 isn't possible for me because I can't earn enough points. So started looking at subclass 176 (state sponsorship).
• Reviewed the Queensland SOL list (for state sponsorship). Found my occupation - YIPPEE!
• Got my ACS approval in early January. Immediately signed up for IELTS test (wish I had known I could have signed up for it earlier while I was waiting for ACS).
• Took IELTS on 21 January.
• Got IELTS results on Feb 3 - in order to earn enough points (because I'm such an OLD person at 40! haha), I needed "superior" in all 4 tests - so I needed 8 or above across the board. Got that in everything EXCEPT Writing, in which I got 7.5. ARGH! On the same day, discovered that Queensland had removed my occupation from their SS SOL. DOUBLE ARGH!
• Signed up for another IELTS test. Shifted focus to Victoria for SS.
• Submitted SS request to Victoria on 9 Feb.
• Took 2nd IELTS test on 18 Feb. Expecting results on 2 March. Just in case, have signed up for a 3rd test on 10 March (if I get all 8s back on 2 March, will cancel the 10 March one).

So anyway - that's where I am. Net is, you need to figure out how many points you guys currently qualify for. My husband's occupation is not on either the schedule 1 or any of the state SOL lists, so I HAD to be the primary applicant.

Only the primary applicant has to take the IELTS (unless your spouse is not a native English speaker - I think in some, or maybe all, cases where your spouse is not a native English speaker, they have to also take the IELTS).

The primary applicant will need to go through a skills assessment. The SOL tells you which authority to submit your skills assessment request to (for your husband, it will be ACS). If both of your occupations are on the SOL, then the secondary application can also go through a skills assessment IF you need extra points (i.e if you are old and decrepit like me and need extra points, this is an option - for us, it wasn't, as my hubby's occupation is not on the SOL).

Anyway - definitely take some time to peruse the Australia immigration site. Will tell you about all the different visas, eligibility, requirements, etc.

Best of luck!

 

[jb12]

Hi Elaine,
I'm not sure if you and your husband have reviewed the DIAC website to be informed about the change to the skilled migration program that will happen July 2012 called SkillSelect. Here is the link: SkillSelect


Hi mbc71,
You sure have perseverance in your journey in applying for this visa 176! That's great. I think some people would have given up after the unexpected obstacles you had.

I myself didn't use a migration agent for my visa 175. It was mostly that I didn't want to spend that extra money and the directions were straight forward. However, it required many times reviewing it over and over. The process was really not that hard except it was time consuming to get all the documents from school, filling out that application form, police clearance, medicals ,etc. The police clearance was one I had to figure out how to request the information. Thank goodness for google to find information!

I applied before new changes were implemented sometime back in Feb. 2010. The skills assessment was straight forward for me since the US one of the countries in a Washington Accord that didn't take too much time evaluating my educational background and work experience. But now in reading the different posts on this forum, it seems that some professions require additional paperwork to submit.

I was wondering if you and your husband just plan to move to Australia without a job lined up? Or you guys will seek to find a job being in the US? And do you guys have to worry about a house to sell? The housing situation is my big problem. I'm targeting to put it up for sale this year but the housing market is just not that good. I could rent it out but I prefer not to worry about it while I'm abroad for any problems that could arise.

 

[elainehmje]

Thank you so much for the info! It feels amazing knowing that we are not the only going through this! Best of luck to you and your family!!

 

[elainehmje]

Thanks everybody for the info! Much appreciated!

 

[mbc71]

Hi mbc71,
You sure have perseverance in your journey in applying for this visa 176! That's great. I think some people would have given up after the unexpected obstacles you had.

I myself didn't use a migration agent for my visa 175. It was mostly that I didn't want to spend that extra money and the directions were straight forward. However, it required many times reviewing it over and over. The process was really not that hard except it was time consuming to get all the documents from school, filling out that application form, police clearance, medicals ,etc. The police clearance was one I had to figure out how to request the information. Thank goodness for google to find information!

I applied before new changes were implemented sometime back in Feb. 2010. The skills assessment was straight forward for me since the US one of the countries in a Washington Accord that didn't take too much time evaluating my educational background and work experience. But now in reading the different posts on this forum, it seems that some professions require additional paperwork to submit.

I was wondering if you and your husband just plan to move to Australia without a job lined up? Or you guys will seek to find a job being in the US? And do you guys have to worry about a house to sell? The housing situation is my big problem. I'm targeting to put it up for sale this year but the housing market is just not that good. I could rent it out but I prefer not to worry about it while I'm abroad for any problems that could arise.

Hi jb12 - yeah, we have to sell our house here. We are going to put it on the market in May or June, most likely, which is the best time to sell around here.

re: a job - we will most likely move without jobs lined up. There is a small chance that my current employer will hire me over there (they dragged their heels on helping me with an employer sponsored visa, but once I have my own visa, they may very well be willing to hire me).

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