noosa

Hello. This has possibly been beaten to death but maybye not. I am a 40 year old investment fund professional and want to work for a fund in Australia, most likely in Sydney as that is where most funds are.

I have just been referred to two firm's websites, Geoffrey Nathan and Freespirit. Both claim they can help me obtain sponsorship for the 457. BUT, they WON'T find me a position!! Well, what good are they then?? If I am sitting on the other side of the planet desiring to work in Australia, the first thing I need is a professional job offer. Sponsorship comes second. Anyone wanting to work in Australia needs connections, friends in high places-networking. I have been in regular communication with 3 money managers in Sydney, hoping eventually one of them will eventually hire me. I asked them to look at Freespirit's homepage and advise me what they thought. All 3 stated they couldn't see what advantage paying money to Freespirit would gain for me. There is either a job for me or there is not.
Can some of you please comment especially anyone who found such a firm useful? Thank you.

evelynne_r

I think the main advantage of these companies is, if you are employed through them they can claim the living away from home allowance for you, increasing your take home pay.

On the sponsorship side, they can provide you with a sponsorship guarantee letter to reassure potential employers that they wouldn't have sponsorship hassles if they were to employ you.

Evelynne

pread

Noosa,

I came out to Melbourne in September on a 457 visa with my family, sponsored by a management company in Parramatta. They too, could not help with a job position, even though it is firmly in their best interests to do so. It is a risk, as in theory they can pull their sponsorship if you don't work for 4 weeks. And if you don't work, they don't get any money either, so you would think they would try their damndest to find you a job. Strange. But I think it would be very unlikely that anyone will offer you a job from overseas. When I contacted agencies before we came out to Oz, the general response was "contact us again when you arrive". I don't know why this is, maybe there's a high 'cold feet' rate.

One or two of the sponsors wouldn't even provide sponsorship before arrival, they expected you to arrive on a short-term visa, then they'd switch you over to a 457. This I wasn't willing to do.

As for the advantage you gain from going to a company like Freespirit, no company will be able to employ you without a valid working visa. That's the main thing for me. As for the rest, benefits, tax deductions etc, I could get that kind of service anywhere. Do they earn their money ? I personally don't think so. Is there an alternative ? PR, which would have been a very lengthy process for me, and might be difficult, if not impossible for you, due to your age.

You might want to post a similar message in the Immigration forum, some migration professionals respond in there.

Good luck,
Paul.

sophiedb

I work for a recruitment agency (admin, not consultant!) and we deal with GNC if we need a 457 in order to place an overseas candidate. Basically candidates come over on a tourist visa and interview around a few agencies, who try to place them - but generally only if they're outstanding due to the unfortunate prejudices of HR managers who don't want the extra hassle (or at least that's what it looks like to me).

If they succeed, that's when the GNC crew get involved and it shouldn't make any difference to the employer - you on the other hand would probably receive a little less money than you would otherwise, because GNC/Freespirit (your employer as far as Immigration is concerned) shave off their cut before they pay you. It can be done and dusted in only a few days if done right.

Hope that helps!

Soph

brummy1

Sorry for the repeat for those that have read my comment below elsewhere!

I would be particularly wary over GNC and other agencies that charge a higher rate. In my experience people have chosen they think they can get away with these high fees because their paper illustrations of their clients net income are much higher. I do this since they give different advice on the amount of LAFHA they allow, and are willing to take this risk.
Given that the ATO is reviewing the LAFHA rules for workers from overseas, I felt I would be risk adverse and shop around. Choosing an agency that charge the higher rates, since if you are sponsored it could be difficult to move agency, and in the event that ATO reclaimed LAFHA in the future (I don’t know how likely this would be) after a rule change then you would likely to be worse off than ifyou had opted for a cheaper management fee.
With a bit of research, you will find other agencies that charge lower rates (around the 4-5.5% mark), and in my experience I have found these to be more careful of the allowances they allow, and also seem to be more knowledgeable on the current legal and tax situations.
Net difference in pay for myself was not great between GNC, and the agency I chose (CXC), who also had their own sponsorship and tax partners. I have found them very good overall, though of course you should always shop around for your particular circumstances. I obtained a 2 year sponsorship 457 visa with 4 working day processing time! I’m an IT pro like many on this board, and was previously on a 3mth Business ETA.

Darren