mrsjotaylor

Hello

My hubbie and I are hoping to move to oz in the next few months - one way or another!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is our situation at the moment:
We both lost our jobs in the same week before christmas. We live in dublin - where economically things are really terrible - are married and were lucky enough to move in with my Dad. This is definately not a longterm solution and having spent five weeks in Oz last January - and having always wanted to go back and work there - we've decided to use this crappy situation we are in as an opportunity to head off.

My OH is a geologist by training so his skills are rather in demand in WA so we're considering Perth. We're both still under 31 so we can head over anytime now on a WHV but we've applied (or started the application process for with VETASSESS) a permanent skilled visa with sponsorship from WA but i believe this could take up to 2 years.

We're a bit torn. We could head out now, only to have to come home in 12 months and wait for the other visa to come through - OR go over in the hopes that OH might get some sort of sponsorship through an employer....The other alternative is for us not to go until we have permanent residency. But I am not sure we can hang around in Dublin, miserable and broke.

Basically the mental place we are in right right now is "we've got nothing to loose" but we are 30 and would like to start making a life for ourselves. Do you think this is feasible with this plan...

Sorry if it's all gibberish!

Jo

dave7370

You can extend your WHV for another year whilst in Australia which'd give you more time to find sponsored employment.

If have skills in demand then I can't see why it won't work out for you if your hearts in it already to move.

mrsjotaylor

thanks Dave, but I'll be 31 in mid may 2011, so this is the last year I can take the WHV. So this is my question: is it a gamble to try and achieve this in 12 months alone.

dave7370

Have you contacted any company's in regard to employment opportunities for your other half?
Also check out www.seek.com.au to see what kind of works available for where you want to go. Bare in mind that mining is countrywide so I wouldn't narrow where you want to go to one area.

As I previously posted, you can extend your WHV by another year when you're in Australia, so that'll give you 2 years.

Bermudashorts

So if you get one now and another before mid May 2011 you have two years. You should be aware that a skilled visa might take longer than two years, very hard to tell these days and thus if you don't secure sponsorshi you might need to come back and wait it out anyway.

BE is great for fact finding, but your question is more difficult to answer because it is about a personal choice. You could say anything with some uncertainty is a gamble and as you have not got positions lined up there is uncertainty so yes this is a gamble by definition.

I would be inclined to think, that were I in your position, I would lodge the skilled visa, apply for the WHV and set off to try your luck.

mrsjotaylor

thanks guys - i cant help thinking setting off on the whv is the best option...my OH has been speaking to Hayes in Perth and yer woman was very excited (which we are taking with a pinch of salt). I'm confident he can get a job. my background is in parliamentary assistance/communications so I can mould my cv to suit a lot of roles. there does seem to be work avail on seek etc for the two of us but the 6 month restrictions worries me. we'd need OH to meet a lovely, kind employer willing to sponsor him, pretty quickly...

some of you have suggested taking a second year of the WHV - but i thought this was not possible because i will be taking my first WHV at the age of 30 (or a few weeks before).

i was born in May 1980, so if i take the working holiday visa in may or june 2010, it'll expire on my 31st birthday even if i took it out after my 30th.

sorry for not being clearer about my age but presumably this means i am not able to take a second one. Am I right?

louie

According to this page from the immigration website, you can apply for the second WHV until the day before your 31st birthday (as long as you have done the regional work), and according to this page, the visa will then last two years.

If I were you, I'd head off to Australia with a WHV as soon as I could.

rinkerdink

I second that, if I were in your shoes that's what i'd do, get over there get some kind of employment using the geology quals then try and convince the employer through hard work and competency that you are worth sponsoring, this seems to be theonly way of taking your destiny into your own hands.

Everything else is changing too much to have any certainty, make the most of your circumstances and make them work for you