Ok, can't actually believe I am writing this! Over 10 years since we started this whole moving around the world thing and opened a box of frogs that we seemingly can't shut!! Anyway we have done NZ and have been back in UK about 7 years and have now and then seriously considered OZ but not done it - yet! We have stayed renting, so we are always ready to move, and at the mo it is crunch time and a decision has to be made. Either we invest somewhere in the UK or try Australia!!
Thing is I am 44 and nearly a half! and would be main the applicant so time is fast running out. Really feel like we need to do this now if not already too late?
Also, I am a nurse and on watching latest series of wanted down under have felt like nurses are not just so 'wanted' as they used to be?
I am sure all of these questions are covered elsewhere, and i will have a poke around now, but would really value any opinion (especially from the ground as it were) re how hard or easy it might be to find work.
My background is surgical nursing and last 5 years in A&E and would like to continue in a&E ideally but not exclusively.
Thank you v much in advance (hoping this site is as kind and helpful as it was ten years ago)
Sam

Hi Sam,

I can't tell you anything about nursing, but at 44+ you may have left it too late. I think you need to do IELTS which takes time to arrange, skills assessment, and then lodge an EOI and get an invite to apply before you turn 45. It is possible to apply up to the age of 50, but getting enough points for a visa is difficult as there are no age points after 45.

Have a look in the nursing forum (http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=72) and the job offers (http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=159) as some roles have been offered recently and you may be able to get sponsorship (don't know if this is the case but may be worth the look)

Thank you very much Old Sparkles!
I know time is not on our side but hubby has the itchiest feet and needs a new adventure so feel I should prob at least look seriously at it at this point in case its our very last chance. This website still seems to be a great source of info so will hopefully get it sussed one way or another.
Thanks again

Really, if you want to do this you need to get on with it now. And it is skilled migration you need to get on with and not sponsorship.

You are wasting time worrying about jobs, nobody can guarantee that they can get off the plane and walk into a job, but most of us have to have enough faith in ourselves to believe that we can move and make a living.

The nurses assessment takes a few months and you also need to do IELTS, so you are very short on time. I would suggest you start those processes now and worry about jobs later.

Nurses are still in demand here but its not as easy to walk into jobs as it used to be. Plenty of agency roles unti you can get a permanent one though.
Have a look at the link old sparkles gave to the nursing forum and get your head round the requirements of AHPRA - the national registration body. That can take a few months in itself.
The other place you need to look is http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/ for the different visa requirements.

If you acquired NZ citizenship then it will be a lot easier for you. NZ citizens can live in Australia indefinitely but are not classed as permanent residents and therefore do not qualify for a lot of things available to PRs and Australian citizens

You can't work on a tourist visa, no.

I think??? that nurses can apply for p.r until age 48.

I would say (in Melbourne), it is getting more and more diffiucult to get a job in the public sector, i am working in the public and holding tight to my job. It has been announced this week 3 anums (charge nurses), in our dept are going to lose there jobs very soon. Not too sure what this means, if its down graded or out the door

It is still very easy to get a job in private sector and this is because the conditions are awful to work in (believe me I've tried it twice here and also worked agency in a fair amount of private hosp around Melbourne).

If it came to a choice of working in the private sector or staying in the good ole NHS. THEN STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!

There is no 48yr age cut off, not in visa regulations anyway.

It is possible to apply for an employer sponsored PR visa up until the age of 50 and after 50 employer sponsored PR visa is still possible under certain conditions ... but a nurse will not meet those conditions.

However OP has a small window of opportunity to get a skilled migrant visa now, that is why I old encourage her to get on with it if she wants to do this, otherwise she is at the mercy of an employer and whether they wish to sponsor for PR or not.

There is no 48yr age cut off, not in visa regulations anyway.

It is possible to apply for an employer sponsored PR visa up until the age of 50 and after 50 employer sponsored PR visa is still possible under certain conditions ... but a nurse will not meet those conditions.

However OP has a small window of opportunity to get a skilled migrant visa now, that is why I old encourage her to get on with it if she wants to do this, otherwise she is at the mercy of an employer and whether they wish to sponsor for PR or not.