Hi people this is my first post on this forum so I hope I do it rite I'm 39 yrs old I have a wife and two children who are both at school we are looking to emigrate to Melbourne and ive ive been offered a sponsorship by a company to go and work for them on a 457 visa I'm a diesel mechanic and I've been in the motor trade for about 23yrs they have offered me $64000 and my question is would this be enough to live on until my wife finds work I hope this is enough information to get a answer if not I can give more
Many thanks for your time
Scott

Hi Scott & Nikki and Welcome to BE.

What does Nikki do? I would say you will need a fair bit of money to bring over with you to set up etc... until she can work.

I have no idea what diesel mechanics do earn or should be earning in Melbourne.

Hopefully you'll get some guidance soon.

Good luck!

Nikki has been working in a special needs school for nearly 18 months as a learning support assistant also ill be coming over first about three or four month's before to get everything set up and would like to now if the 457 visa is a good idea
Many thanks
Scott

Hi Scott, to have the same buying power here as in the UK you need to earn about 2.5:1, so $64000 will buy you the same lifestyle as 25,600 pounds approximately.

HTH

BB

Im on 27000 on the uk so looks like I need to earn just a bit more does it make a difference
In wages on the visa that ill be on so would I be able to earn more if I was on a pr visa
Many thanks
Scott

Your visa should not make any difference to your wages. It is important you do your homework and make sure you are getting a market rate, just as you would if you had a job offer in the UK.

Thats a little under what I started on in 2009. I had a car thrown in aswell which was worth a lot. I`d try and get closer to $70k if poss. My wife started partime work after a year or so and we are much better off here now. We are in Brisbane and presume Melbourne is just as expensive. We came with a substantial lump for a deposit on a house. If we had not $70k would not have been enough.

Cheers for that reply ill defiantly contact the consultant thats dealing with me and the company and see if there is any way of upping there offer
Many thanks
Scott

The visa does have an impact on some benefits eg child care rebates. Your wife may struggle to get STA work - they are usually short term, low paid positions which are sought after, often, by mums who want school hour work when kids are at school - often allocated on a "who you know" kind of basis. I think you will struggle on that unless you bring a lot of money with you as a buffer - the temporary nature of the 457 has come back to bite some unfortunate folk as well - so don't sell up, take a career break etc rather than burning any bridges.

I came out on a 457 visa, so I'm not knocking it...just do your research.

Make sure the company sponsoring you is sound and not likely to go under. If they do go bust, and you loose your job, technically you have 28 days to either get a new sponsor company to take you on, or leave the country.
I'm sure there are exceptions and you could get an extension, but that is the worst case scenario.

My sponsoring company was huge and had been around for over 100 years, so I felt it was a safe bet.

As a manager in that company, I had many a technicians knock on my door looking for a company to sponsor them as they had lost their job. Luckily for them, the skills shortage in WA meant I snapped nearly all of them up as I knew they were not likely to leave at short notice and go work in the mines, like everyone else kept doing to me!

Once you have qualified in 'time', will your employer help with you Permanent Residency application?
Will they pay for your travel costs, family medical expenses, the cost of shipping your tools to Australia?

Have a look on www.realestate.com to see what a house will cost to rent in and around the area you are thinking of working.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply h2oskineil the company are only going to sort the 457 visa out and im waiting to find out if they will help with my pr but thats about it so I may go back to the recruitment company and see if there is anything else out there that fits my criteria
Many thanks
Scott

Scott, not sure if you have done or would be interested in doing some research yourself for a possible 457, but if you're after an idea of companies that are advertising multiple diesel mechanic positions, this site is a good place to start seek.com.au I don't know anything about your field or the companies that operate within it, so if you do decide to approach a company it might be an idea to ask for opinions here first