skaboo

I wonder could any one help me with advice on, ( am I too old ) to apply for a permanent residency visa, I have just turned 50, and want to immigrate to Australia with my family.
I applied a number of years ago at the age of 45 to be told (I was too old) having just returned from a holiday in WA I was told by a girl I had met that she had been accepted for a visa ( I don't know the type ) but she was over 50 and had just been accepted.
I work as a Uk Paramedic and would be prepared to work in a rural region.
I must get permanent citizenship etc as you can appreciate that if I move with my family, selling everything in the Uk I don't want to be told on retirement, (no job pack up and go home) can any one offer any advice if my request can be achieved, or if there are any alternatives on how I may achieve this.
Kind regards and thanks for any help offered.

Phoodilicious

My company is intending on sending me this year to Australia on a 457 visa. I have just turned 50 a few weeks ago and I know that had my company applied for my visa prior to my birthday I could have worked there for 2 years then started a employer sponsored permanent resident application but having now turned 50, I am limited to certain criteria which includes working over there for 4 years before applying for the employer sponsored PR, and meeting a certain level of income for each of those 4 years etc. I don't know how you would do a direct to PR application at our age.

skaboo

Im still not sure that you can get PR even if you work there for four years, my understanding was (and I may be wrong) that once once 50 you can only renew the visa you are on, not transfer it to PR, in my case if I was to keep renewing my visa and finally retire after 15 or 20 years in employment, I would have no right to stay in the country, I think if you invest somewhere in the region of 75K in some sort of fund, you can stay, but who has a loose 75k, if any one can advise on achieving PR please advise, surely this is discrimination (age based)

Englishmum

You really, really need to read the posts by 'MissBetty'. She is a paramedic in her mid-40s and worked in a rural area. She ended up hating her job and colleagues in Oz and has returned to the UK. She has a great sense of humour and has made many, many posts about her experiences Down Under. Here are just a few links but if you click on her name the drop down box states 'Find More Posts by MissBetty' and you can read through them....best to go to the oldest first:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=752876

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=753519

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=755669 (MissB made a number of posts on this thread re; sick pay etc.)

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=769456&page=2 (see post #19)

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=781485 (Christmas)

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=785824 (MissB made lots of posts with anecdotes about being a paramedic in Oz)

Hopefully it will give you a taste of what it's like to work in a rural area - this is just a few of the many threads/posts by MissBetty. She still posts from time to time (back in the UK but also works offshore) and you may wish to send her a PM.

skaboo

Thank you very much for the reply, I will look through the posts tomorrow, been on the laptop here for most of the day, Hopefully it couldn't be much worse than here, 12 to 14 hour shifts with on average out for over 8 hours without any sort of break, not unknown to go for over 12 hours without lunch, and I quote " while there are calls on the screen, your obliged to do them" thanks again :-)

Phoodilicious

The law changed last year with regard to age exemptions on the 457 visa through the Employer Sponsored route as a means to the PR through Temporary Residence Transition. See "Age Exemptions" piece in this link: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skill...mptions.htm#ae

So there are various exemptions to the age thing, one of which is the 4 years and minimum wage of $123,100 (2013 level, not sure what it is 2014) for each of those 4 years that I mentioned in my previous post.

Good luck!

TeeTMI

Currently there are some very limited exemptions to the under 50 rule for skilled independent and employer sponsored visa options. One of them includes having worked for your sponsoring employer on a SC457 visa for the previous 4 years and earning over the relevant high income threshold in each of those 4 years.

Pollyana

There isn't actually any way of transferring a 457 to PR. You have to meet the criteria for the specific PR visa you want, and apply for it, at any age, and over 50 tht us very hard to do.

Don't know what visa you mean with $75k, there used to be a PR visa that involved you depositing $100k with the govt but that was stopped several years ago. There are business visas, but you need to do more for those than just invest cash.
There is also apparently a new investors visa if you have the odd $5million floating around, but........

Have a thorough read of http://www.immi.gov.au/Work/Pages/Work.aspx and maybe have a chat with a registered migration agent, but I have to say it doesn't look hopeful.

Re the woman in Perth - there are other PR visas that are not age dependent, but they are generally family/partner based visas, and so almost certainly no good to you.

Bermudashorts

After four years on a 457 visa, the employer could potentially sponsor for a permanent employer sponsored visa, if the salary is over a certain threshold each year, the threshold is about $130k.

I think that you would not be over this threshold and so there are no work related permanent visa available to you. Even if your employer did renew the visa for 15 years, you would have to leave upon retirement.

There is no visa which you can get by stumping up $75k in a fund.

Most find it perfectly sensible that work related visas will be an option to those with significant working years ahead of them. But I guess you can sue the Australian government if you have the appetite for it.

campervanfan

Given that the retirement age is soon going to be pushing 70, most people even at 50 will have a significant amount of working years ahead of them to contribute to their chosen country. It seems a shame to waste so much positive ambition.
Still, it's the Aussie Government's choice to focus on a young workforce. Might not make a lot of sense to those of us still able & expected to do a good job, & pay good taxes, but rules are rules I suppose!

BobNorth1951

I'd give away the idea of migrating to Australia once past the age of 45. . . . . too many hoops to jump through.
Seriously though, if you hadn't thought of coming to Australia some twenty years ago, then you must resign yourself to having "missed the boat".
Working in the bush can be soul destroying if you don't know what's involved and what kind of outlook you need to keep yourself there. It's not easy.

elmtree

I did it on a 457 and I was over 45.

Mind you, I had to start off on a student visa and find the employer to sponsor me, which took considerable effort.

I didn't think a 457 was age-specific.

campervanfan

And if you are still determined in a few years time & enough of the offspring get themselves over there, there's always the Parent route....

skaboo

Thanks for all the replies, I will try to answer a few in one go lol.
Re over 45: being over 45 and in my case (50) isn't a death sentence, my wife and I having just returned from WA (Feb) both like the lifestyle, being able to go out at nights, paddle board, swim, kayak, walk, exercise BBQ and not be concerned about making plans and having to cancel them, due to weather appeals to us both. For a period within the Uk I was working 80hrs plus per week, (I just work normal contracted hours now) so putting in additional hours wouldn't have been a problem, I contemplated (FIFO) working as a Paramedic on a remote mine site, this wouldn't phase me!!! if it achieved my ambition, so working rural would have been ok. (as well as normal paramedic skills, I possess skills in advanced airway management, chest decompression, needle cricothyrotomy etc I have extensive experience in dealing with blast injuries and poly/multi systems trauma, I thought that these would have been reasonable skills to bring to rural Australia. Re: Employment, within the Uk is not great and employment for my children is a big concern, although my children are both grown up ( living at home) and employed, there would have been better prospects in Australia, this was another driving force.
Re the 457 yes you can apply at any age and renew it as many times as you like, but as I would like to eventually retire in OZ, PR is what I require, and it would appear that this is not an option. the only exemption that I can apply for is the four year employment with a salary in excess of 130,000 AUD PA, so not an option, Paramedics don't get paid that much. I will check on how a friend achieved PR (shes over 50, and employed as a nurse) she applied a few years ago and achieved this, I will advise on details. However i'm told as legislation changes, it may have changed in the intrim period, so probably will no longer apply.
PS: age discrimination does not apply to immigration :-(
will be in touch, thanks again.

Pollyana

Its not, but there are requirements like a certain level of income- its changed farily recently, certainly since you did it. Sponsorship is a paramedic wouldn't be easy to come by these days either, whether for a 457 or for PR.