Want to move to Aus

Hi there,

I am 26 years old and currently work as a Business Analyst for an Insurance company in Toronto. I visited Australia last year and fell in love with the country. I want to move there, but not sure how to proceed.

1. I initially thought I would apply for the holiday working visa and move there and work. And if a company likes me, then I can tell them to sponsor me - but Im not sure if this is a good idea.

2. My second option I thought was to apply for a job in Aus from Toronto and maybe some company can sponsor me. But I read in the forum how for the 457 visa, I have to apply directly to the company and not through a head hunter. But now I dont know where I can find a list of companies that have posted their hiring and are willing to hire a 26 year old professional from Toronto.

3. My last option is just wait till I complete my 4 years work experience (1 more year to go) and then apply for Aus immigration.

Can someone please advice? I prefer the 2nd option. Would like to be hired by a company so when I move there I know I have a job there.

Any sort of feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

You can spend the next year trying to find a sponsor and continue to work at your job. If you dont' find a sponsor then you'll have clocked up enough time to get your own visa. Why do you need for years experience? Usually if you qualify you only need 12 out of the last 18 months as a minimum. And then 3 out of the last 4 years to get bonus points if your job is in demand.

The best way to go is on a permanent visa. You have more rights and aren't tied to your employer like a sponsored temp visa would be.

It would be difficult for youto find an employer on a working holiday visa since you can only stay for a maximum of 6 months and don't have any future beyond that. So I'd say it's either sponsored temp or permanent visa on your own.

In my opinion I would just apply for a permanent visa for yourself if you qualify. You have more rights and your time there counts towards citizenship. You're also likely to find a better job because you don't need to search for the few who might be sponsoring.

We applied for the skilled independent permanent visa last year. So if you need any help with that feel free to ask. The visa has changed slightly in the last year, but it's still pretty much the same.

Thank you very much comet555 for your reply. Truly appreciate it. What you said made a lot of sense. I spoke to my brother in law as well last night regarding this and he gave me the same advice as you. I will complete my 4 years by next year, so I will be applying for immigration by myself. Until then I can save enough money as well.

I was a programmer before I became a BA and when I applied for immigration to Australia last year, I had to get my programming experience attested by ACS (Australian Computing Society). They mentioned that I need minimum of 4 years before I qualify.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly next year and I will be able to make it there.

I see, the 4 years is for the skills assessment. That makes sense.

I think it's a really good decision to wait for the permanent visa. I belond to another forum and have seen a some people come out on a 457 just because they are in a hurry to get to OZ. Sometimes it works out fine, but other times there are complaints about employers, money, promises that don't happen,etc, etc. If you can avoid all that it's best just to go for permanent right away.

Here's a link for the best forum I've seen yet on Australia and Immigration:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54

There's lots of activity and you can get lots of good advice there. It's mostly people from the UK but there are lots of people from other countries as well. I've been posting on there for about the last year and a half. It's a great site.

Here's a link from that site, specifically about the 457 visa.
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/457_Visa_Restrictions

Good luck with your plans. I wish you all the best.