scrude

Hello all,

I was made redundant last year after working for the company for many years. I've looked at lots of countries and I think Australia would be my no. 1 preferred destination if I had a choice of anywhere to settle. I've never been there so I can't really say I would have a strong preference for a specific location.

My job role is IT support. I have a degree in IT and recently gained a Microsoft qualification as an MCITP: Enterprise Administrator.

I've run out of money so I'm pretty restricted in moving, etc. Any advice how to get to the land of Oz would be much appreciated.

Cheers

newjersey

You can try WHV if you are eligible, or a 457 visa, either one relatively quick to get and requites relatively low investment, I.e. tickets to get there and some minimal reserve for rent and food. But I would not be cutting it so thin tbh, you invariably have better chance of rebuilding your wealth in your home country. What if your job falls through, you may be struggling to find another and pay living expenses, let alone uncertain immigration status might get in a way. Permanent visas that provide some security are hard to obtain, take one to two years and cost thousands of dollars, which may not suit your immediate plans.

Bermudashorts

No funds would rule out skilled migration, visa process as quite expensive and most people move without a job and need to tide themselves over for a little while. We started very well paid jobs almost immediately, but we still spend a lot of money in those early days; temp accommodation, car, deposit on rental used up 20k for a start.

So you need to find a job before you go, unfortunately very difficult to do even when you have a visa and even more so without. Try www.seek.com.au for jobs, there is no trick to finding a sponsor, few if any will advertise this you just have to hope you get lucky. I still think that having no money will be an issue to getting set up though, you might be better looking in UK and saving up first.

scrude

Thanks for the advice guys. WHV is out as I'm over 30. Agree on needing money to get setup with skilled migration - and probably quite a bit. Maybe sponsorship route - might try contacting some companies and see what sort of response I get. First though, I got a short term contract in London. I'm hoping they extend it or at least it will lead to further work elsewhere.... cheers

newjersey

trawl seek.com.au to see what comes up in your area of expertise, call around to see if you get any response at the idea of 457 sponsorship - although support is literally swamped with applicants from the subcontinent, so you will be up against some competition in numbers. Think what sells you vs. 100s of others, and push push push.

HTH.

IvanM

Chances of sponsorship for infrastructure jobs are somewhere between jack and no chance. You would get a job here but but sponsorship is unlikely. Find out if you are eligible for skilled migration and save some money.