Professional to Australia...how hard is it?

Kellydb
New Member



Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Posts: 3
Location: Barrie, Ontario

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:23 am

 

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OK.so life altering decision made, now I want to get to Sydney for early 2008. I need to get a VISA, and a job. By the on-line assessments, I seem to be falling 5 points shy for the independent skilled VISA. I am at the HR Director level in Canada -and while it's on the list, it's not one of the high demand ones.

How hard is it to get into Australia to work as a professional? Do I need to be working with a migration agent -will that make things smoother and faster? Better to have an agent in Australia or Canada? Should I be seeking an employer to sponsor me? Rough idea on pre-move costs? Good grief.it can't be this impossible.

I really want to make this happen, so any advice from people out there who have investigated, tried or achieved -greatly greatly appreciated. Knowing how and where to turn at the beginning is tough!

Thanks,
Kelly

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RVC
CanuckAbroad Regular


Moving to Adelaide from Vancouver

Joined: 14 May 2007
Posts: 34
Location: Vancouver

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:47 am

 

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Your best bet would be to try and get a company to sponsor you. They need to offer you a job and do the sponsorship process. This is unfortunately not the easiest method because companies usually do not want to sponsor someone due to the expense/time. You mention you are an HR director, why don't you try applying directly to companies there and see if you luck out?

The moving cost usually depends on what you are bringing with you.

Why do you fall short on your skills assessment? They look at things like age, work experience, education, family in Australia etc. Can you improve any of those things?

best of luck

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Kellydb
New Member



Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Posts: 3
Location: Barrie, Ontario

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:24 pm

 

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Thanks RVC. Much appreciated.

I'm too new to the process to know how I can acquire literally 5 more points to put me in the "pass" category for the skilled VISA and I don't know what the other options are. I've contacted a few folks to start conversations that will help me understand. And, yes.to your point, I will also do some direct applications and hope that an employer wishes to invest in my slightly more complicated situation. I'm prepared to cover my own costs, so that may be a draw. ?!? It's just hard to know if I should focus on VISA first, or job first. I need both.

Anyhow.appreciate your reply, so thanks. Any other thoughts are more than welcome!

Best.
Kelly

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comet555
Super Member



Joined: 28 Jun 2007
Posts: 179
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:58 am

 

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Arghhh. I had a super long detailed answer to your post but it got rejected because I had a link in it and I'm new.

So I'll make this quick. We just went through the skilled 136 visa process ourselves. It took 7 months in total (for a job on demand) and it cost us about $3000. We did not use an agent, and I did all the paperwork myself. Keep in mind this cost was for 2 adults and two small children. You could take off about $500-600 if it was just you.

There are two ways to get an extra 5 points. The first way involves investing $100,000 for a period of a year. The second way involves going to a regional area that is looking for your skills.

Your other option is the sponsored visa. I hate to be grim but it's hard getting sponsored from overseas. Particularly if your skill is not high in demand. My husband is a mining engineer and no one was interested him (even with a visa) until he stepped foot in the country. It's not impossible, but I wouldn't count on it. It's worth a try though, you might get lucky.

There are two website you should be checking out. I can't post the links because the site won't let me. The first one is the Austration immigration website. Just look up those words in Google. That website has all the information you need to help you choose a visa and to apply for one.

The second website is called British Expats. Search for it on Google and it's the first link. Then go to the discussion forum. Click on the Australia link and there is an immigration section there. This website is fantastic and after two years of researching it's the only one I bother looking at. There are lots of knowledgable people on there. There's even a few Canadians too. I would try to search for things on that board as well because there's a lot of information in the past posts.

Anyway.good luck. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

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comet555
Super Member



Joined: 28 Jun 2007
Posts: 179
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:01 am

 

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Oh yah. if you are going for a skilled visa you'd better start the process if you want to be there by early 2008. Migration agents don't speed up the process at all. Once the application is made it is out of there hands. So the only way it can save you time is in the researching and getting your paperwork together. But you can do the visa paper work while you're waiting for your skills assessment to come back (that's the first step).

Our process took 7 months which is actually quite fast. If you're not on the demand list it could be closer to a year or so.

Sponsored visas are quicker but it could take you a long time to get a sponsor.

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RVC
CanuckAbroad Regular


Moving to Adelaide from Vancouver

Joined: 14 May 2007
Posts: 34
Location: Vancouver

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:18 am

 

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I am not surprised by the comment comet555 left about it being difficult to get sponsored. I'll tell you our situation.

My husband and I searched intensively from Canada for jobs in Australia by going to websites like seek.com. Most places we applied to (99%) told us they liked our qualifications but they would not be willing to sponsor. Finally we found one company that was willing to sponsor my husband (he's an engineer in the mining industry also-10 years of experience), and therefore I was also able to get a job offer since I didn't have visa issues anymore.

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Kellydb
New Member



Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Posts: 3
Location: Barrie, Ontario

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:42 am

 

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Hi to Ccomet555 and RVC!

Thanks so much for your advice -it's very valuable and appreciated!

I found an on-line service that seems reasonably priced (I think $299 USD) that helps guide people through the visa application process and gives access to 'guidance counsellors'. I'm a bit fearful that because I don't have a lot of experience or knowledge, that making a "blind" investment in a VISA application that's non-refundable may be a wrong move. That said, I agree.no time like the present to get the ball rolling. I have my target in my sights!

Can you tell me when you had to make the first payment? Right out of the gate, or sometime through the process? What happens if I apply for the 136 Skilled VISA and they say no -do I have to re-start all over again with a different VISA application or do they give you options?

I figured out the extra 5 points with the regional piece. Does that lock me into a regional job, or does it just mean that I'm willing to accept whatever comes? I was hoping to be a city dweller and avoid needing a car. Alas, details that are well before their time.

HR is on the demand list for sure -that's the good news. There also seems to be a lot of available jobs based on the job sites that I've visited -but I expect the same answer you folks are getting about being overseas. If I'm understanding the spirit of what you're saying, I may need to do the VISA first, apply along the way to jobs, but ultimately be prepared to go there without a job and do the search when I get there. YIKES. Talk about a leap of faith. I'm trying to change my path, but that's way outside my comfort zone. No risk, no reward I suppose! In what order did you guys do your 'leap of faith' in?

The good news is that I have a friend in Newcastle (my future roommate) who is quite willing to help me via her network. I'm hoping there are some fruitful leads through her. When you guys were applying for jobs and looking for a sponsor, how did you communicate with employers? Incessant phone calls, e-mail queries, headhunters? I'm curious to know how that 1 in 100 employer can be found.

OK -lots more questions, but that's plenty for now. Again, it's a great pleasure to have people to lean on for support and answers while I confront this exciting and scary piece of my future. VERY VERY appreciated.and best wishes to you.

Hope to hear back!
Kelly

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comet555
Super Member



Joined: 28 Jun 2007
Posts: 179
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:05 pm

 

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The first money we shelled out was for the skills assessment. My husbands was with Engineers Australia and I think it was about $300, plus the cost of having the needed documents certified and mailed. That's the first step. Go to the immigration page and look up the Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Look up your profession on that list and it will tell you who assesses your skills. I can't comment on how easy or hard that is since each profession is done differently. My husband only required a suitable resume and copies of his degree and transcripts. So his was very easy. Others, like trades people have a much more difficult time.

Once the skills assessment comes back positive you can apply for a visa. I used the wait time for the skills assessment to get our paperwork in order.

When you apply you send all the relevant information plus the fee. So that gets charged immediately. If you get turned down then you lose the money. Once you've applied they will ask you for more information if needed. So it's not like they say, you've forgotten to send in your resume so you fail. As long as you meet all the requirements of the visa, the medicals and the police check you should have your visa. That's how it works. You meet the requirements and you get the visa. If they say no you can usually appeal, but they really don't say no unless you don't meet the requirements of the visa or fail the medical or police check. So it doesn't happen that often. If you did fail you could reapply for the same visa, or another category if you like. But I don't think they give you options.

Generally with a regional job you are locked in with that employer or region. If you lose or quit your job I think you would have 30 days to find another sponsor. So that is an option. Keep in mind if you are on a regional sponsored area you would still need to be in the regional area even if you changed jobs.

Keep in mind that Sydney is just about the most expensive place to live in Australia. You may not need a car but you're going to pay a fortune in housing. So living in a regional area might not be that bad. Generall it's only for 2 years anyway, so a lot of people treat that as their way to permanent residency and then they can move about freely.

We wanted to do it no risk but that didn't really work that way. We got the visa first, we figured we could lose the money and it wouldn't be the end of the world. Once you get the visa you need to visit the country within a year (or less) of getting it. You just need to visit and have it stamped so it doesn't expire. You just need to move there within 5 years of getting the visa. So if you don't want to go over right away you can go over for a month on a holiday and check out areas, look for jobs etc.

Once we got our visa we sold our house and my husband quite his job a few months later. He was going to do that anyway so it wasn't really a risk. Then we went to Australia for a month so he could try to get a job. We booked our tickets with the intention of not returning if he got a job. That's what happened, 3 weeks in he had a job and we changed our return flight for our first trip back.

We left all of our stuff in Canada and bought new things here. It was actually cheaper. We have a 3 year old and a baby and we just came with the clothes in our suitcases so it can be done!

When looking for jobs I would guess you'll only be speaking with the recruiters. That seems to be how most of the hiring happens. I would email them first and then call because they'll likely ignore you initially. Just go onto the job pages like SEEK and you'll see how it's done. Each job has a source that advertised it. If the majority of jobs are shown by recruiters then you can look them up and make contact.

My last comment would be that you can do the visa yourself as long as your situation isn't difficult. For example health problems, kids that aren't coming with you, legal problems or a criminal history. If your case is straight forward then you should be able to do it yourself. An agent or guide would just make you feel better about everything. You still have to supply them with all the relevant information and they pretty much just look it over for errors.

I found everything I needed to know from the immigration website, and from the British Expats website.

On the immigration website make sure you get the requirements for the visa, the SOL list and any regional lists that you need. Also download the application form and checklist. That will give you a better idea of what is expected. The application itself is huge but a lot of it would be left blank so it's not as bad as it looks. The medicals and police checks come later so you don't need to worry about that at this stage.

Anyway, good luck. Ask lots of questions along the way. Definitely check out those two websites. I can't stress enough how helpful they were.

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