Another moving to Australia !

hello

So i am new to this forum but i did look over some previous posts about this but nothing really "fully" answered my question(s).

I basically want to move to Sydney or Melbourne(leaning toward Melbourne) to live and work and such for a few years. I was originally going to try and get a company to sponsor me with the "Long term visa"(i think its called) but i cant see an employer willing to sponsor someone who they have not met.

So i was thinking on getting the working visa (1year one) and trying to find a serious job and (hopefully) have an employer sponsor me. though as was mentioned on here it would be difficult to find someone to sponsor or even hire you for that reason because with that visa u can only work for them for 6 months...(so i'm told)

What do you guys think? seems i need some advice.

PS: i am 23 years old and have experience and training in Flood/fire/disaster restoration companies(flood happens i deal with it get rid of mold and such), professional high-end painting and building cabinets/counter tops. (residential+commercial). My current restoration Co. has a partner in Australia but because of the differences they are unable to Transfer me only "put a good word in".

Thanks

-- Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:38 pm --

...I was also wondering about the Renting situation. Currently i share a house with 2 other roommates and would be looking for something similar in Australia, you guys know any good sites for that? or how difficult it would be to find someone willing to "hold it" until my date of arrival?

For places to rent try here:
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rs ... &t=shr&cu=

There are lots of backpacker places you can stay initially and they often have flyers up for people looking for rommates so it shouldn't be too bad to find a place I wouldn't think.

Also, you're right that it's very difficult to get sponsored by a company. My husband is a mining engineer and we looked before we left Canada and he could not even find a job let alone get sponsored while overseas. His job was highly in demand and yet no one would look at him until he was in the country and they certainly weren't interested in sponsoring him.

In this economy getting sponsored would be difficult, but it's worth a shot. The problem is that the employer needs to be able to show that they can't find anyone locally (in Australia) that can do the same job. Your job doesn't seen all that specialized so I can see difficulties with that. At least you have the option of coming on the holiday visa and looking for a sponsor that way.

Here is the link for the temporary employer sponsored working visa in case you are interested.
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/sbs/

For housing look at:
Gumtree.com.au
Easyroommate.com.au
Flatmatefinders.com.au

As far as getting sponsored, you're right you won't be able to get sponsored from overseas. You will basically have to take the chance of getting a working holiday visa and getting over it. It's not easy. However, there is something you can try to give you a bit of a time advantage... you can get a 2nd year working holiday visa if you're willing to do farm work. On your 2nd working visa, you can work an ADDITIONAL 6 months for a company that you worked for on your first working holiday visa. So, my advice, get over here, do your 3 months of farm work and then travel for 3 months. Or vice versa. Then, when you have 6 months left on your first working holiday visa, look for a "real" job in your field. You will be able to tell prospective employers that you will be available to work for them for up to 1 year, given that you will have 6 months with them on your first visa and 6 months on your 2nd. Many employers would be willing to take a chance on hiring someone for one year given that many employees only stay that long regardless of visa implications. If you get in with the right employer, and work your ass off proving you're of value to them, they will be much more willing to sponsor you. This is how I went about it and now I'm on a 2 year work visa sponsored by my company. It is pretty stressful though because you don't have any definitive answers about staying in the country for basically a year and a half into your trip.

Good luck! It's not impossible, I know many many other people who have come over here, gotten good jobs and been sponsored that way, so it does happen.

The only other thing I could recommend is to change jobs NOW, in Canada, persue companies that have offices in Australia. This could be tricky though, as most companies probably won't want to hire someone they think is simply using them to get overseas. You'd have to look for a very large global company.

Although the recession hasn't hit OZ as badly as other countries, it still is in effect.

Good jobs are scarce and many employers are making jobs redundant so those on a 457 visa have 30 days to find another sponsor or leave the country. Go the the imm (dot)gov (dot)au site and see if you qualify for any occupations that are in demand. Then you must submit a visa application with all qualifying documentation and there is not guarantee of approval at all.

I would suggest applying for a working/holiday visa. If you arrive on a ETA (tourist visa) and work illegally, you will be booted out. If you arrive on a tourist visa and it appears to immigration and customs that you are here to look for work, they will detain you and put you on the next flight back to your point of origin. Certain age groups fit a profile/demographic and young adults are most suspect to overstaying or illegally working. Bear in mind if you are ever deported, the chances of acquiring a proper work visa will be nil.

Hope this helps.

Oh, I should have mentioned in my previous post... at no point should you EVER say to any Australian immigration official, or on any immigration/visa forms/applications write, that you are getting a working holiday visa in order to come here and look for a company to sponsor you to stay. The working holiday visa is in place for people to supplement their travels and still have an income. You can indicate to prospective employers, once you are here, that you are very motivated to stay in the country however you (legally) can, but don't even say that to an immigration official. When you apply for a longer term working visa (should you be able to find a job to sponsor you), it should come across like you PLANNED to just be here to travel but you found this great job that really wants you to stay. The working holiday visa is not supposed to be used as a platform to immigrate to the country, although it often is.

Just wanted to warn you on that, so you have the best chance of having things approved

Some of the flood stuff might actually work for a 6 month contract since they have rainy and dry seasons in the tropical areas (more north). I would think that the type of companies you're thinking about may not have the same demand all year round, it's worth asking the question to the patner company.

You can get your case assessed by an Australian immigration agent which you can find through MARA, Migration Agents Registration Authority. They will tell you what you options are.