jellibaby

Here's the story so far. We have a 496 Skilled - Designated Area Sponsored (Provisional) and we fly out on November 22nd 2007 .

Hubbies cousin is the sponsor - he lives in the Blue Mountains which means we have to stick to NSW for the first two years and only in designated areas, this means we can't live or work in Sydney or Newcastle or anywhere between the two on the coast .

We would prefer to live on the coast and have so far looked at Byron Bay / Lismore / Ballina area and Port Macquarie. Having read the threads on here Byron Bay looks expensive and has no jobs - Port Macquarie sounds like a ghost town and also has expensive over priced housing :curse:.

I must work for at least 12 months full time as a qualification of the VISA so good work although not necessarily high salary is a must .

Can you suggest the IDEAL east coast location (north of Sydney) ?
Can anyone suggest the IDEAL place to work (on the coast) ?

BadgeIsBack

Look at Arkon's posts on the subject- he is not overly impressed with the likes of Taree which is sort of the southern bit of the Mid NSW coast. I personally feel that alot of the North NSW coast is overrated and you might as well go to SE Qld.

Having said that, I would head to one of Port/Coffs and do what I could for 2 years. They are regional centres after all.

quercus

I don't know the area but suggesting it as I'm looking at it myself. How about going to Tweed Heads in the far north. Just a skip to the Gold Coast, and maybe you could work there, visa permitting?

esperanza

What kind of work are you looking for?

jellibaby

My skills have been assessed against Education Manager category. I'm used to senior management, recently in eLearning - managing a department who create learning materials for degree courses for international delivery. I'm also qualified in IT Project Management. To be honest - I'd get into anything. I've always been at a middle management level, I've got high grade IT skills but not in any one software package or system. I wouldn't be able to teach at school level as I'm qualified to teach at TAFE / University levels.

Maybe something to do with eLearning / Systems Management / IT Project Management / or TAFE - University sector work. I'm also a qualified Divemaster which although low in wages I could consider also.

I can't work in Newcastle or Sydney or in between and I have not looked inland - preferring the life style of the coastal region or just inland. Also I can only live and work in NSW for the first two years so thank you for the thought about Tweed Heads - I did look at that as an option but had it confirmed on my VISA paperwork and DIAC site that a skilled designated area sponsored VISA holder must work and live in a designated area in the same state or territory as the sponsor - which is NSW and no way to get around it.

It seems that work is hard to come by either due to people keeping a job once they've got it or working in one of the high population areas such as Sydney and Newcastle - I guess that's why they are trying to get people to live and work outside the metropolitan areas - but DIAC don't exactly help once the VISA has been granted. Maybe they should introduce some incentives for employing incomers in rural areas ahead of Aussies
(OK - stop belly laughing!). Anyway - thanks for the replies so far.

esperanza

Port Stephens area? It's about half an hour/forty minutes north of newcastle, so two and a half out of Sydney. It's coastal, beautiful (if slightly isolated perhaps for people who like hustle & bustle) very touristy on a nice day, gorgeous scenery - reason I mention it is there is loads of diving there, so if that was an industry you could enjoy working in then there might be opportunities.

Are you allowed to be out of newcastle but in the newcastle area? Maitland, Cessnock etc are easily commutable to newcastle and also offer easy access to the coast. I suppose it depends on how 'on the coast' you want to be. Will your budget stretch to what you consider to be a 'nice' house in a 'nice' coastal area? It might be more practical to find an affordable area just inland with easy access to all the facilities you need.

Sleeping Beauty

i am not so sure, but when my brother sponsored us, he was just outside the designated area postcode wise. we live port stephens, us about 20 mins north of newcastle, brother about 35 mins north. our post code is 2318, brothers is 2316. have a look, but i am sure they are not included. that would mean that newcastle is opened up to you career wise, and it isnt too far away. about a 2 hour drive north of sydney. we love it here now, near to beaches, near to city/shops. maybe is should keep quiet about our little piece of paradise, there are 30 good/fantastic beaches with a 35 min drive from us, yet 20 mins in the other direction from newcastle. pm me if you want any more details.

jellibaby

Thank you for the Port Stephens recommendations I will certainly look at that but I am confused. I am not sure about where I can / can't work? 2318 and 2316 are not in designated areas so can't live there. But I had thought I had read that I could not "work" in a none-designated area either are you saying that I could work in Newcastle?

Does anyone know HOW to check on DIAC or DIMA what exactly the restrictions are for a VISA. I have just re-read ours and it says 8549 Reside in Designated Area AND Working in australia: the visas allow visa holders to work in australia without any restrictions from this (DIAC) department.

???????????????????? :curse:

jellibaby

OK - I've found out that for our VISA which is Skilled designated area sponsored (by family member) that I have to live AND work in a designated area - so that means not Sydney, Newcastle or Wollongong. For anyone out there who is not sure what is or is not designated check this link to DIAC

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...ated-areas.htm

I asked the Australian High Commission in London to clarify the position as there was confusion over where I could or could not work and they confirmed the above with the following links

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...ration/sir.htm
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...ration/sir.htm

I also checked out the Port Stephens area - sadly it falls into a restricted post code so the nearest I could get to it would be Nerong which is just up the Pacific Highway - but thanks to everyone so far who suggested WHERE on the coast would be good to live - it looks like Port Macquarie might be the best first choice till we've seen out the first two years and made the provisional VISA permanent!

arkon

You know, Taree might be changing for the better. Now I'm trying to move away they are building a massive new water front complex in town for new shops and marina etc. Also Coles are building a new big store just 10 minutes away in Harrington. The weather is probably the best in Oz even though it's not my cup of tea, but then nowhere in oz would the weather suit me.

If you had to live north of Sydney then I would pick where I am or Port Mcquarrie. Just a shame the nearest Westfields is 2 and a half hours away.

Up To Late

Hi,

I have family in Taree who relocated there from Sydney. I have stayed with them on many occaisions and would say that it is a beautiful area and fairly close to some good beaches. Property prices are lowish and my cousins never lock their house when they are out - it is that safe. (Or they are that deluded...??)

I don't know about work but I would say it is a nice spot to see out 2 years if you can get a job in the area.

Wherever you end up at least you can use your time to work out where you want to be long term.

Best wishes for the future.

esperanza

Re locking doors: generally I would say you're an idiot to leave your house unlocked, there's just no need. However I have inadvertently left my house unlocked lots of times, and it has always been fine!! Perhaps it is just a matter of time... it's these damn big australian houses, it's far too much bother to go all the way around checking every window and door!
(If only I lived in a nice English shoe-box where a tell-tale draft gives away any gap to the outside...)

jellibaby

forgive me for being thick but what's a Westfields ?

arkon

Shopping center, normally has better shops, like davey jones and Myers. Instead of the chav shops like kmart, target, bilo,warehouse etc.