fergielyns

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on emigration process to Australia, my husband is employed as an Air conditioning/refrigeration engineer and we would love to take our wee young family out to Queensland Australia for a new life, the questions I was needing advice on at this stage is:- do we really need an agent to complete visa application on our behalf or could we do this on our own, also where do we find employers willing to offer sponsorship and is it advisable to holiday first prior to emigration to check out towns, schools etc, any advice or help,would be so much appreciated.

Bermudashorts

Welcome to BE. Here are a few comments for starters.

No you do not have to use a migration agent if you do not want to, many of us did the application by ourselves but it does require time and effort and a willingness to spend time reading up. If you feel up to that and are good at paperwork and following sometimes complex instructions, then you might be able to do it yourself. If you want to be stepped through it or indeed if you have any complications, an agent is a good idea. Neither is right or wrong, both are valid choices.

Is there any reason you want a sponsor in particular? Or are you under the impression it is required? Because employer sponsors are not required for a skills migration visa and it can make the whole process a lot easier if you don't have to find one. If you do want or feel you need a sponsor, then with regard to the point about, you and the employer probably will use an agent for the process.

But airconditioning and refrigeration is on the SOL and so just be aware that no sponsorship is required for this occupation if you went for the 189 visa.

If you have the funds to spare, a reccie trip might be nice, but it isn't essential. It won't give you a true picture of living in Australia anyway and the funds might be better spent on the very expensive immigration process.

fergielyns

Thank you so much for replying to me, I think the whole sponsor thing is just me panicking about having a job in place before we make the move, I'm not sure if going over with no job set up is what most people do until they arrive. You are probably right re trip before I think I just wanted to get a feel for the place and check out best places to locate, we are going to emigration info sho in Glasgow next month and I hoping to be a little clearer on things from that......thanks again so much appreciated

Bermudashorts

Having a job lined up and having a sponsor lined up are very different things. It is hard to secure a job before you go, but it is many, many times harder to line up a job and sponsorship. At least if you have the visa already lined up it makes you a more attractive option to employers.

We had jobs lined up for when we moved. We got the visa, went on the validation trip and found jobs whilst we were on holiday. Came back to pack up and moved out permanently four weeks later. Lots of people will go out without a job to go to as well.

Re "best" places to locate, well I put the word "best" in inverted commas as I don't think there is such a thing, any more than there is a "best" place to live in the UK. But many people will have the options narrowed down by availability of work and I guess your OH would be the same. You can look out localities when you get here, we did on that holiday as we already knew we needed to be in Sydney. Not that I want to put you off making the trip, if you have the funds there is no reason why not, but don't think it is essential.

fergielyns

Brilliant there is such a lot to take in and read up upon it seems a minefield right now although I dare say over next coming months we should be a little clearer, I think we just need to take this one step and hurdle at a time, as we are a family of 5 it would be an expensive taster trip so need to think that one out, your advice has been great I'll do doubt be back on this asking more questions in coming weeks