Planning to move...

Hello everyone, I'm so glad I've stumbled on this forum! I'm a 23 year old Canadian, needing a change and looking at moving to Australia in 2009. I finished college a year ago and I have a diploma in Civil Engineering Technology. I did a work term during school where I worked 8 months as a materials tester for construction projects, and for the past year I have been doing drafting and design (which I think I prefer). I checked out the seek job search and came up with 28 pages for civil drafters posted in the past month! A few are even advertising for overseas drafters to come over asap so I'm sure getting a job won't be too hard.
My questions for now are just needing to know time frames. If I'd like to leave in early 2009, how early should I apply for a visa? If I am sponsered by a company, how long does it take for that all to go through? I just want to be really prepared! Thanks for any info anyone can give me!

Hi there,

I am no expert on a the visas, all I know is that a permanent residency visa when we applied in 2006 took two years. If you have family that can sponsor you in Oz, that takes about 1 year. My cousin was sponsored by a company in 2005 and that took 3 months from the time he accepted the jon to the time he flew.

Best thing is to look at the DIMIA website rhat has most of the info. Perhaps contact the Aus consulate in Ottowa.

Good luck!
Natalie

A permanent resident visa would take about 4-12 months. We got ours in 7 months in 2006 although I've heard things have sped up a bit since. It also depend if your job is in demand or not.

You can try for an employer sponsored visa (the 457). They are pretty quick (about 6 weeks?) although it is really difficult to find a sponsor. My husband is a mining engineer and there are lots of jobs here but he wasn't able to find a sponsor. So we had to do it ourselves.

Check out the immigration website for visa options:
http://www.immi.gov.au/

The best website I've found for advice is here:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54

It's mostly full of people from the UK although there's a few Canadians and lots from other countries as well. There's a link at the top of the page for the immigration section.

I would start working on a visa right now. Since you're under 30 you can also go over on a working holiday makers visa. That would allow you to stay for a year and work for an employer for up to 6 months (but no longer). You would have to leave at the end of the year though. Just an option. It's definitely better to go for the permanent if you can though.

Good luck, and if you have any questions just ask.

Thank you both for the info!
I will look into the websites and hopefully get started on the visa soon!

Hi there,

I am no expert on a the visas, all I know is that a permanent residency visa when we applied in 2006 took two years. If you have family that can sponsor you in Oz, that takes about 1 year. My cousin was sponsored by a company in 2005 and that took 3 months from the time he accepted the jon to the time he flew.

Best thing is to look at the DIMIA website rhat has most of the info. Perhaps contact the Aus consulate in Ottowa.

Good luck!
Natalie

I just noticed you're in Fort McMurray. We lived there for the last 5 years. We got our visas in Dec 2006 and then moved to Australia in May. Are you still in Fort Mac or have you moved over already?

With a permanent resident visa, would I be required to close bank accounts in Canada? I am paying off a large line of credit that got me through college. how hard would it be to continue paying it off from Australia?

You can keep your bank account in Canada. You just have to change your address with the bank so you it shows you are non residents of Canada, I believe it has something to do with interest.

You can do regular transfers back to Canada. I wouldn't do it through the banks though as the exchange rate sucks with them. You should use a company like Ozforex, or their other company Transferz for smaller amounts (I think that's the name of the smaller company).

It should be relatively easy to set up.