The Bevs

hello all,
This is my first post on here , please bare with me. my husband has had a job offer from oz[Bunbury] and the employer is going to sponsor us for 457 visa. I have recently asked questions on immigration forum and have been advised to be aware of drawbacks of this visa. My questions are,are there any of you who have had a positive experience with 457, how difficult it is to gain PR, and also any bad experiences would help too.[but not too many bad ones please!!!] thanks Sue

Bella Donna

Hi Sue (from another Sue)

We're here on a 457 too. Dh has transferred from his UK company to the Australian division and they are sponsoring us for PR. The process is underway - we have all the forms to complete, and we're waiting for the police checks to come back, but we are not proceeding any further until we have found accommodation - which is our big, big problem right now. When we do find somewhere, we'll get cracking on the rest.

We don't have to find education expenses in WA, and the company have provided private healthcare insurance to supplement the reciprocal cover on Medicare. So far, so good - as long as you don't include the accommodation problems....;o)

Good luck.

Sue

andrew63

Hi Bevs
We are on a 457 too. Handed in all the documents to become PR (ENS - same employer) a few weeks ago. As long as I get that, all plain sailing!
There are drawbacks and an employer could be getting you in on a 457 and then decide not to sponsor you later so beware.
As Jeremy (JAJ) will make you aware, ask the employer why they won't sponsor you on a PR ENS straight away?

Andrew

NickyP

Hi there we are here on a 457 visa with the company sponsoring us for PR (already underway). So far it has been fine I expect that it all depends on how much you can trust your comapny to hold up their end of the bargain as you are reliant on them more than with some other visas. This was the only way that we could get here and we have no problems, no hidden costs etc so far. Good luck. Friends of ours came over this way and got their PR with no problems.

flip

Plenty of negatives, no medicare (can't even get health insurance unless provided by employer but can get extras insurance for dental, etc), can't buy property (although you'd be pretty brave if you did), , no child benefits so pre-school child care much higher, stress about what happens if it doesn't come through/job doesn't work out/you want to change jobs, etc....

However it does get you over here much quicker, gives you the opportunity to discover what's so great about living here (and there's plenty) and you arrive with job in hand rather than the need to apply once here.

We grabbed the chance with both hands, can't regret it because we may not have got here for years otherwise, but wish it had been easier and quicker to get the PR.

The Bevs

thanks to everyone for replies, we will be discussing things like health insurance and PR sponsorship with employer before my husband considers taking the job. Just me and hubby no kids so that's one less thing to worry about.
Can i ask if you all did TRA before leaving for oz?
Thanks again Sue

Bix

Came out on a 2 year 457 but converted it to RSMS PR visa after 6 months.
Company paid all costs for the 457. I paid all costs for the RSMS.
I had that in writing before going to Aus.

Really push for ENS / RSMS visa first. (I don't know which Bunbury would be)If that fails get a firm committment that they will sponsor for one of these as soon as possible.

If you are British nationals you should get the reciprocal Medicare cover. Your employer should also top this up with private health care at his expense.

Ask about LAFHA and also Salary Sacrifice.

Be under no illusions. A 457 gives you virtually no rights other than to pay full tax. You are totally at the whims of the employer.

A 457 can work extremely well and did for me. Equally it is probably the most riskiest visa there is if you are aiming for PR.

No TRA is necessary for these type of visas. It's all about education levels and written qualifications or experience. (I have absolutely no written quals)

Have a look here:-

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/books11.htm#booklet
Read booklet 11

and here:-
http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/emp...ex.htm#summary
Booklet 5 is essential reading.

Good luck.

JAJ

ENS is available *anywhere* in Australia.

RSMS is an alternative option in some areas (anywhere in WA outside metro Perth is ok, so Bunbury is acceptable).

RSMS has a specific obligation to make a 'genuine effort' to work for the sponsoring employer for 2 years.


Correct, as reciprocal medicare is limited. Once you *apply* for a PR visa you should get full medicare.





Jeremy

andrew63

Not quite what we found.
Medicare was available under the reciprocal agreement - but we came from Ireland so it did not apply. It would if you were from the UK.
Took out MBF Overseas Visitors Insurance. You can log onto MBF site and organise. Employer is paying though.
We bought a property within 3 weeks of getting here. Figured that being here for 4 years it would be better than paying 4 years rent (worst case scenario).
Help with pre-school kids fees is marginal. We pay $95/week for our 4 year old. With benefit this would go down to $80. However, it is means tested and we don't qualify/or marginally do anyway so we won't bother claiming but leave that for the end of year tax return.
Biggest fact in the above is that if you don't like your job, you have to grin and bear it until you become PR and look around then.

Andrew

meelie

Hey Bix
We are here on a 4 year 457 subclass visa and want to apply for PR. Do we have to go through all the police checks and medicals etc again even though we only had them done at the end of last year/beginning of this year?

cranni

Dont worry your guardian angel has sent you PM. Denise

flip

Agree that our circumstances are/were different. Yes we can get ordinary GP service via reciprocal agreement but if something were desperately wrong we wouldn't be covered. Our employer didn't offer health benefits, etc. although some relocation costs were covered - depends on your employer I guess.

We hadn't sold our house in the UK - they wanted us to move over here less than 2 months after the offer. As a temporary resident you do need approval to purchase property and I understand can only get 80% maximum mortgage. Even after 5 months here we're still not sure where to live permanently so that extra time hasn't been lost.

With the haste of our move we couldn't get a kindergarten place for my 4 year old. (Kinder is usually only 2-3 mornings or 2 full days in this area, there's usually a long waiting list, and it costs a fortune for temp. residents - I think I noticed it was 3 times the price of permanent residents) so he's in day care for one day a week - at $52 a day it's not cheap. Permanent residents get a minimum of $8 rebate and up to $4000 child care repayment per annum. They discourage you from sending children to school (ours costs just $158 per year) until your child is over 5 but they're allowed to go if they're 4 by 30 April - there is no way I'm holding mine back although I don't mind if he repeats a year later so he doesn't fall behind his class mates.

We know my husband has to grin and bear the job and I think that's the worst thing about it - the insecurity. In the UK you're covered by contracts, sickness, redundancy and employment benefits and though you probably never use them at least they're there. Here if the job comes to an end prematurely, you've 28 days to leave the country on a temporary visa.

Anyway good luck to the threader in his decision.

Flip

We still figure it was worth the risk and have no regrets but if you have a chance to make it permanent and settle things in the UK before you come without risking losing the opportunity then that may be your best bet.

Pootle

If your police checks are still valid they will be ok (within the last 12 months). If you have been here 12 months, you may also need an australian police check - some have been asked for it even when they haven't been here that long!) Medicals will need to be re-done (and x-rays!) as they don't accept medicals done for the 457 for your permanent application.

Ruth

andrew63

I am no Bix but I can say YES. The original ones only last 12 months so unless you apoply for PR within 12 months of getting them done initially, you will have to. Some people within the 12 month period still had to get them done again.
It's much cheaper to get the meds done over here.

Andrew

Bluerobot

Is this true Jeremy? Once your application is in, (not granted), you get full medicare cover?

Wish the same applied for NSW school fees. I'll have to fork out another $9K come the end of January.

Dave.