Skilled Migrant Visa

Hey all;
I am highly interested in permanently migrating to Australia along with my boyfriend. I believe our best option is the skilled migrant visa, however I have a few questions and would appreciate some answers, or rather suggestions, from those of you more experienced.
As my boyfriend will soon be graduating form a culinary management college program I am sure he is bound to get ok points with regards to the SOL. I however, have a college diploma in social services (note: not a licensed Social Worker ) and have about three years of experienced in the non-profit sector however mostly as an administrative assistant. So my question to y'all is if you know what my chances of getting the visa are? If you have any other suggestions? Or if you have any useful websites other than the immi.gov.au, that could help with my wish to move to OZ.
Thanks a bunch

Here's the best website I've found for advice:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54
There's a link on the left for the immigration section, and there's lot several sections for general chit chat about Australia.

The website is aimed at people from the UK but there are people from all over using that site. We did our visa application ourselves and I learned everything I needed from that site.

Now. about your visa chances.

First off you'll need to decide who the main applicant will be. It looks like you're boyfriend is probably the only option. The next step is that he needs a job on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) which I suspect he will have. Then he will need to have some recent work experience in his occupation, which I believe is at least 1 year in the last 18 months before you apply. So it looks like you'll be waiting at least a year to apply for the visa. Once he's got the work experience then he'll have to apply for a skills assessment. The skills assessment may require more work experience than the visa so it's best to look into that now. Once you have a positive skills assessment then you can apply for the visa, you MUST have this for the visa application.

Next problem is getting the points. If your boyfriend has the full 120 points on his own then it doesn't matter what you do. However, if you're short 5 points then you'd need to be the secondary applicant. Which means you'd also have to have a jobs on the SOL, skills assessment and recent work experience. But, like I said, if your boyfriend has enough points on his own then it doesn't matter.

The last thing I should mention is that to go as his "defacto" girlfriend then you need to have been together for at least a year. You would have to provide documentation of your relationship like shared housing bills, bank statements and proof your relationship is genuine (photos, statements, events attended together, etc). So if you haven't got any of that then I'd start making sure you can provide it when the time comes.

If everything else fails you could always try the working holiday visa (WHV). You'd only be allowed to work in Australia for up to a year. Also, you only qualify if you're under 30 and not married. But, it could give you the chance to come over and find sponsorship for your boyfriend. It would be a difficult route though with no guarantees.

Good luck with your plans.

Thanks a bunch on your input, and we'll make sure to research thought that website.

Also, I forgot to post the link for the immigration website. I suspect you've been there already though.

http://www.immi.gov.au/

Yeah i've been there. i guess all of its pretty self explanatory, with regards to visa.i mean all we are lacking is my b/f getting some experience and getting me over there .but since your located in our dream spot. how is Brisbane and life in Australia. what are your likes and dislikes.? what do ppl tend to do there and maybe if you could tell me some of the most common careers there? is it alike to Canada career-wise?
Thanks

We really like Brisbane, there's lots to do within an hours drive. We've got two little kids though so we really don't go out to clubs or things like that. But there's lots of parks and attractions and that sort of thing to do.

I think they tend to spend more time outdoors here. The parks are set up so they have electric BBQ's so you can pack your cooler and go hang out at the park if you like.

I like most everything although I find the internet to be a bit slower and more restrictive. There are some food items that I miss, like Canadian bacon and other misc. things that I'm used to. The biggest thing that I don't like is that they don't have daylight savings in Queensland so it does tend to get dark really early, which is good if you're a morning person because the sun come up really early!

I don't really like that the houses don't have heating, but you really only need a little space heater for a couple of weeks during the winter when it gets pretty cool. The houses aren't really insulated the same (or much at all) so if it gets cold out you'll feel it in the house.

I love the weather and the fact that there's no snow. I love the fact that we have a pool and can use it a good portion of the year. I love that we can take the kids to the park whenever we feel like it and not have to walk through a lot of snow.

I find the people really friendly although it can be tough to make new friends when you don't know anyone. The countries are quite similar so the careers are as well. Brisbane is a bigger city so there's lots of construction going on and growth all around.

I'm giving the link to my blog because I did talk about the differences and similarities a bit when we first arrived. On the left hand side of the page are the dated entries, we arrived in Australia in May 2007 so that's a good place to start.
http://haleyculver.spaces.live.com/?lc=4105

There's an entry on May 11th and a bunch in June that might interest you.

thank you soo much.we really wanna do anything it takes.and hearing what you said it sounds exactly like a place we're looking for as we are more outdoorsy and not so much interested in clubbing, etc. as for the cold in the house, it can not be half as bad as spending 7 months of a yr. in winter.hehehe.thanks for the link to ur blog and by the way very cute babies .