Ryandans

Hello all, just got a few questions and wondering if anyone can help me, I am a mechanic by trade and have a partner and son, my self and partner are 22 and looking at the possibility of moving out with the hope of sponsorship, just wondering what the rough wages are so I can work up a plan of costs, also costs of utilities.
Also, what is the lifestyle like out there, we are looking at Geelong in Victoria.
If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated, just trying to get all the figures I can with all the research before we make the leap.

Dorothy

What visa are you planning to move on while hoping for sponsorship? Without a visa everything else is moot.

Ryandans

I would stay in the uk until I got a sponsor, but if that falls through then would probably try a working holiday visa. What would you recommend?

Bermudashorts

There is high unemployment in Australia and no real need for employers to look overseas to fill roles, so sponsorship chances are not particularly high. You cannot move to Australia on a WHV, this is a *holiday*visa, sometimes people forget what the H stands for. Additionally unless you are planning to leave the boy behind, you would not be able to use this visa anyway.

Ryandans

Ahhh, I see, I didn't know that about the WHV, would still like to move out, am in no rush as there are still things like this I need to find out, sorry if I'm asking silly questions, it's these silly questions I need honest answers for. I guess the employment situation is the same there as it is here?

Bermudashorts

I believe UK and Australian unemployment rates are virtually identical.

It is sometimes possible to get a visa without having an employer lined up to sponsor. But it is quite expensive and then you have to take the leap of faith and hope you find work.

Buzzy--Bee

The lifestyle is as amazing as you are prepared to make it - but I would be concerned about looking for work as a mechanic in Geelong, major car manufacturers are about to close their plants there in the coming year or two and I suspect there will be a lot of people in the car industry chasing the same jobs.

BB

Ryandans

So Geelong could possibly be out the window, was only thinking that area as my partner has previously been there and has a bit of experience with the area so I'm not a lost lamb. Any areas in particular that are worth looking at?

spouse of scouse

You're not asking silly questions at all, everyone was new to this at some stage To get a better understanding of the different types of visas, both sponsored and unsponsored ones, have a look at the BE Australian Immigration, Visas etc section, there's a Wiki rough guide at the top of that page, and links to further info.

Once you've got your head around what visa/s you may be eligible for, you'll be able to ask further questions and get more useful responses.

I don't really think that there's a particular State that is better for mechanics than others. In any case, if it's an employer sponsored visa you're after, you're not going to have any choice as to where you live.

For a (very!) general idea of the COL in Australia, just put 'Australia cost of living' or something similar in the BE search engine, you'll find tons of threads on this subject. Be aware that people's opinions can and do differ, and you'll also probably find that a few threads end up in a bun fight Easy to skip over that stuff and just look at posts you're interested in.

By all means, keep asking questions. It's how we learn