Oz - Skilled Migration Visa - Where to start?
Oct 11th 2010 | 1:13 am
#1
Thread Starter
Just Joined
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1
Oz - Skilled Migration Visa - Where to start?
Hi all,
Ive just registered so hope I am doing this correctly ! My partner is a skilled tradesman (bricklayer) - 29 years old - 7 years trade experience. I am 32 years old and am a HR Generalist/Hr Project Manager with 7 years experience in the HR field. We have no children. We are looking to move to Oz as soon as we can. We are both Irish. Neither of us have ever been to Australia before.
I was hoping someone might be able to help me as to what the best course of action might be to secure a visa to allow both of us to work in Australia. I have a million questions.. (sorry !!)
- Would the skilled migration visa be our best option ?
- Can I go on this as a 'de-facto' spouse ?
- How long does one of these take to process and how much would it cost ?
- Is it worthwhile to hire a migration agent and if so who are the more 'reputable' ones and what would they cost ?
- Would we be better off having him go out there first on a working holiday visa and trying to secure employer sponsorship ?
- Can you apply for a working holiday visa while your skilled migration visa is processing ?
Im not sure if I am posting these questions in the right forum area so apologies if thats the case !
Id appreciate any help anyone can give me with the above !
Thanks,
Fiona
Ive just registered so hope I am doing this correctly ! My partner is a skilled tradesman (bricklayer) - 29 years old - 7 years trade experience. I am 32 years old and am a HR Generalist/Hr Project Manager with 7 years experience in the HR field. We have no children. We are looking to move to Oz as soon as we can. We are both Irish. Neither of us have ever been to Australia before.
I was hoping someone might be able to help me as to what the best course of action might be to secure a visa to allow both of us to work in Australia. I have a million questions.. (sorry !!)
- Would the skilled migration visa be our best option ?
- Can I go on this as a 'de-facto' spouse ?
- How long does one of these take to process and how much would it cost ?
- Is it worthwhile to hire a migration agent and if so who are the more 'reputable' ones and what would they cost ?
- Would we be better off having him go out there first on a working holiday visa and trying to secure employer sponsorship ?
- Can you apply for a working holiday visa while your skilled migration visa is processing ?
Im not sure if I am posting these questions in the right forum area so apologies if thats the case !
Id appreciate any help anyone can give me with the above !
Thanks,
Fiona
Oct 11th 2010 | 6:30 am
#2
Shiny Arse Know All
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 14,180
From: Adelaide, somewhere
Re: Oz - Skilled Migration Visa - Where to start?
Hi all,
Ive just registered so hope I am doing this correctly ! My partner is a skilled tradesman (bricklayer) - 29 years old - 7 years trade experience. I am 32 years old and am a HR Generalist/Hr Project Manager with 7 years experience in the HR field. We have no children. We are looking to move to Oz as soon as we can. We are both Irish. Neither of us have ever been to Australia before.
I was hoping someone might be able to help me as to what the best course of action might be to secure a visa to allow both of us to work in Australia. I have a million questions.. (sorry !!)
- Would the skilled migration visa be our best option ?
- Can I go on this as a 'de-facto' spouse ?
- How long does one of these take to process and how much would it cost ?
- Is it worthwhile to hire a migration agent and if so who are the more 'reputable' ones and what would they cost ?
- Would we be better off having him go out there first on a working holiday visa and trying to secure employer sponsorship ?
- Can you apply for a working holiday visa while your skilled migration visa is processing ?
Im not sure if I am posting these questions in the right forum area so apologies if thats the case !
Id appreciate any help anyone can give me with the above !
Thanks,
Fiona
Ive just registered so hope I am doing this correctly ! My partner is a skilled tradesman (bricklayer) - 29 years old - 7 years trade experience. I am 32 years old and am a HR Generalist/Hr Project Manager with 7 years experience in the HR field. We have no children. We are looking to move to Oz as soon as we can. We are both Irish. Neither of us have ever been to Australia before.
I was hoping someone might be able to help me as to what the best course of action might be to secure a visa to allow both of us to work in Australia. I have a million questions.. (sorry !!)
- Would the skilled migration visa be our best option ?
- Can I go on this as a 'de-facto' spouse ?
- How long does one of these take to process and how much would it cost ?
- Is it worthwhile to hire a migration agent and if so who are the more 'reputable' ones and what would they cost ?
- Would we be better off having him go out there first on a working holiday visa and trying to secure employer sponsorship ?
- Can you apply for a working holiday visa while your skilled migration visa is processing ?
Im not sure if I am posting these questions in the right forum area so apologies if thats the case !
Id appreciate any help anyone can give me with the above !
Thanks,
Fiona
First place to start is HERE the Oz immigration website.
Have a good read and especially check to see if eitheror both of yourjobs is on the SOL Schedule 3 (preferably) or 4 (state migration plan only)
Purely in terms of age it would be better if your OH was main applicant as he'd get more points. You could also claim extra points if you were able to nominate an occupation.
The site will also detail who would do the relevant Skills Assessment you need before you can even lodge a Visa app for skilled independant migration. It will also explain defacto spouse rules.
opinion on the need for agents varies as does their costs, have a search on the site and make your own mind up
hope that helps as a starter for 10
Oct 11th 2010 | 9:08 am
#3
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 14,284
From: UK
Re: Oz - Skilled Migration Visa - Where to start?
Hi Fiona and welcome to BE, below my comments in red. I have checked the SOL and your OH's occupation of bricklayer is on schedule 3 of the SOL. This is good as it means he is eligible for skilled migration without the need of state sponsorship. I recommend you start by following up on this option first with him as main applicant and you as defacto.
- Would the skilled migration visa be our best option ? Probably, it is where I would recommend you start as it offers PR straight away.
- Can I go on this as a 'de-facto' spouse ? You would go on the visa as a dependent if you can prove you have been living together for at least 12 months.
- How long does one of these take to process and how much would it cost ? Hard to say on both counts, I believe the estimate for Cat 3 processing is 18 to 24 months. The visa cost is about $2.5k, but then there is the skills assessment, medicals and a migration agent if you decide to use one.
- Is it worthwhile to hire a migration agent and if so who are the more 'reputable' ones and what would they cost ? Possibly, depends on your situation. Sometimes tradies skills assessments are difficult and depends whether you have any other complexities like medical or character issues or if you just don't have the time or inclination to do the research yourself.
- Would we be better off having him go out there first on a working holiday visa and trying to secure employer sponsorship ? It is an option, I wouldn't start out on that path in your shoes, it is hard for tradies to find sponsorship, if you did it would undoubtedly be on a temporary visa and all the time he is looking for this sponsorship, it means he is not working and could be damaging his chances of qualifying for a skilled migrant visa afterwards. I'd think about this as a last resort not a first resort.
- Can you apply for a working holiday visa while your skilled migration visa is processing ? Yes.
Im not sure if I am posting these questions in the right forum area so apologies if thats the case !
Id appreciate any help anyone can give me with the above !
Thanks,
Fiona
- Can I go on this as a 'de-facto' spouse ? You would go on the visa as a dependent if you can prove you have been living together for at least 12 months.
- How long does one of these take to process and how much would it cost ? Hard to say on both counts, I believe the estimate for Cat 3 processing is 18 to 24 months. The visa cost is about $2.5k, but then there is the skills assessment, medicals and a migration agent if you decide to use one.
- Is it worthwhile to hire a migration agent and if so who are the more 'reputable' ones and what would they cost ? Possibly, depends on your situation. Sometimes tradies skills assessments are difficult and depends whether you have any other complexities like medical or character issues or if you just don't have the time or inclination to do the research yourself.
- Would we be better off having him go out there first on a working holiday visa and trying to secure employer sponsorship ? It is an option, I wouldn't start out on that path in your shoes, it is hard for tradies to find sponsorship, if you did it would undoubtedly be on a temporary visa and all the time he is looking for this sponsorship, it means he is not working and could be damaging his chances of qualifying for a skilled migrant visa afterwards. I'd think about this as a last resort not a first resort.
- Can you apply for a working holiday visa while your skilled migration visa is processing ? Yes.
Im not sure if I am posting these questions in the right forum area so apologies if thats the case !
Id appreciate any help anyone can give me with the above !
Thanks,
Fiona
