I have a wife and 2 young kids. We want to try and live in Australia. My wife is a nurse. We have been told by NSW nursing board that they will sponsor her for a temporary visa (valid for 4 years). Apparently I will then be able to enter as a dependent and be able to work. Is this true?

Assuming the above to be true, we intend to also persue a residency application. It seems straightforward that my wife will get in as a nurse - its on MODL and her points roughly add to 125. In my case though I work in IT, but more in the support world (less points). Does it make more sense to apply as a family member with our kids (is this what folk normally do).

As a further fly in the ointment - I had a work/holiday visa 12 years ago - I certainly worked for about 6 months for 1 company (dont recall this 3 month thing at all)- Is this going to scupper all our efforts?

Finally do most people seek the advice of a migration consultant, and are they pricey?

Sorry about all that, but I dont want to waste money on application for nothing.

Richard,

1. the 4 year visa is probably a subclass 457 visa

2. yes you can come on that and get permission to work

3. only ONE of you needs to pass the points test and there is nothing stopping your
wife from making an application for skilled migration after you all arrive. Once
one of you has passed the others "come along for the ride" on the visa

4. your previous visa blooper is not likely to cause a problem. To fail the character
test you need to have had the equivalent of 1 year's jail

5. I am a lawyer and migration agent - have a look at my web site
www.paulcutler.com.au . This question gets asked a lot on the newsgroup. To me
it's the same question as can I do my own conveyance? Or can I do my own will?
The answer is of course you can! (Hopefully) what you get when you employ a
professional to do it is exactly that - a professional job. Also means you
have less hassle. But if you want to do it yourself it is certainly not
"rocket science".

Let me know if you would like me to assist further.

Regards

Paul Cutler

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Richard, It is always worth talking to an agent, most will give you a free
consultation / evaluation over the phone, indicating of how successful an application
will be treated, but can't offer any guarantee.

My experience of agents is very positive, they are certainly worth the investment as
some applications can be a bit complex, which is why they earn their money.

My agent is Ian Harrop & Associates (01993 824111) assuming your in the UK.

Good Luck

Gerry

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Hello Richard

We appear to be in a similar position. My wife is a UK registered nurse (general surgical/medical) and we have 2 children (7 and 2), and we are waiting for a reply to our permanent residency visa application (lodged 5mnths ago).

We hadnt even considered the option of going out on a temporary visa and then applying for permanent residency as we were under the impression that you had to be outside of the country to apply.

What are the requirements that your wife would have to meet in order for NSW to sponsor your family?

We are using an agency at present but would advise to choose an agent carefully- should you decide to use an agent- as in our experience some do not provide good value for money or peace of mind. This forum appears to highlight the agents who are prepared to invest in their clients.

reply - to dominic
 

Hi Dominic,

Yes, I think I can help you out on this one. We were on holiday in NSW and read an article highlighting the chronic shortge of nurses in Australia general, but NSW in particular. The article spoke of how the local health boards were looking at resolving the issue. They basically have a 2 pronged approach: they have a large number of qualified nurses in Aus who no longer nurse, and they'd like to attempt to encourage these nurses back. As a second strand they are in some cases recruiting from abroad to fill the gaps. I believe each Health Auth has to reach agreement with DIMA to go down the latter route. All I can say is that we rang the contact number and were told to register with NSW board (transfer registration from UKCC) then apply for jobs specifying that you would require sponsorship. Should your (phone?) interview be successful then the Health Auth would forward your application for a temp work visa (valid 4 yrs). Spouses and children then would apply at the same time as dependents.
What we are hoping to do is get the work visa, relocate then proceed with a perm res application from then on. To us it seemed to be a better solution as we'd not get quite so stressed about the time wait. Apparently the temp visa process from start to end should take about 10-12 weeks.
I can give more specific details, contacts, hospitals, etc if you need them. Please e-mail me direct (I think you can get from this site).
I have a 2 year old as well ... be good to meet up over there maybe one day!