knockoff nige

Get sponsorship, get PR through employer. Not brain surgery and many people do it like that.

man_called_Horse

Ya can still apply for onshore 457 and then PR, That's the route I came.

If you got the minerals your laughing.

Weebie

You need a degree and sponsorship its easy though. My last company had a bunch of the engineers all came out on WHVs converted over it's very easy. Also if you have the degree and the professional and not a trade the process can take potentially as quick as a week.

jimbo_d

I'd say for anyone under 30 without a great degree or qualification it's probably the easiest way to gain residency eventually with very little risk. You come out, work around Oz and make contacts and if you've a good trade or are respected employers will sponsor leading onto possible residency employment. Worst thing that can happen is you have to go home, and it's unlikely people of that age are selling houses or moving families.

ExSmoggie

I came on a WHV, met my Aussie husband and I'm still here 9 years later! Not a conventional visa route but it happens!

Weebie

This is what Australia wants and this is how its marketing overseas atm. With young working holiday makers if someone is willing to sponsor them potentially they have 35-40 years of tax paying of course they are goign to go out of their way compared to other visa situatiosn to get them to stay. It happens in many professional positions. Soem companies will even offer immediate sponsorship with the company for coming on board.

NickyC

I came on a WHV and I'm still here 31 years later.

I didn't marry an Aussie but qualified for PR under the 1980 amnesty. You don't get them any more....

man_called_Horse

To be honest I don't think Australia are deliberately targeting WHV as a way of fulfilling skilled labour, but on the other hand they certainly have made the process pretty easy for those who have the correct skills and experience.

I came on a WHV back in '04 with the intention of getting sponsored, It worked out really well considering that I could only work max 3 months for each employer. I had a job and an offer of 4 year sponsorship within 5 weeks.

But since WHV 3 month work rule has now increased to 6 months and with the 88 days rural work gets you 2nd year... WHV have now an increased chance of establishing themselves.

I had a friend who used his 1st WHV back in '05 and got another bite of the cherry and came on his 2nd WHV last year, this time he came better prepared for getting sponsored which he did after 6 months. This is the best bit .........his original plan was to apply for GSM PR which probably would take between between 9 months and 2 years to process. He then found out that because he worked in rural area back in '05 he was eligible to get the 2nd WHV so he applied for that instead. He got in contact with a few of us who helped him get setup and he arrived out 10 weeks later. He is now on a 4 year visa and has put in an his application for PR, he reckons if he had just waited around for his PR application to be processed he would have wasted years.

Of course not everyone gets sponsored, if you a Muppet the likely hood is that you are going to be really disappointed.

Pollyana

Do you know, you're only the second person I've come across that qualified under that. The other is a guy I work with. Wonder if any other BE-ers got PR that way?

NickyC

I was dead lucky. Anyone who was here on 31st December 1979 and wanted PR could apply for it. I arrived mid-October 1979 so just made it.

It was really designed to legitimise all the illegal overstayers but anyone could apply - even if they were here entirely legally (as I was).

There was another similar 'amnesty' in 1983 but never been another one since.