suzanne7575

Hi

we are thinking of moving to OZ in the next couple of years, we can't go until at least July2008 as my husband has a clause in his contract which says if he leaves before then he has to repay the £5000 they gave us to relocate up to Scotland 2years ago. Bearing this in mind do you think if we start this process at the end of this year we will be okay.

Can you get ajob offer with sponsorship before you have applied for your registration. Reason being I am open to working practically anywhere in Oz and don't really want to restrict my job search to just one area, or do i need to set my sights on a particular state and apply for my registration then look for sponsorship.

I qualified with a degree in nursing in 1997 and have 2 years general medical experience, 2 years ICU experience and 6 years haemodialysis experience. I have worked over 24 hours per week continually in all these jobs, however for the past 12 months I have only been working as a bank nurse and i haven't been doing at least 20 hours per week, thanks to a complete lack of childcare, completely unflexible trust and a lack of jobs. What kind of visa options will be open to me with this experience. I would prefer to be sponsored. Bearing in mind I am not planning on applying for about a year i could increase my hours to 20+ if i have to, but if there is a visa option that will let me continue as i am then i would prefer it as my daughter is still little. I do plan on working full time once over in Oz though so no issues there.

If i cannot get a sponsor and go down the skilled independent visa route, how long do i have before entering Oz before the visa lapses. I am guessing i would need to get the visa then look for a job. i don't want to go over without having work lined up.

Will my years of expereince be counted when moving over or will i have to start out on the bottom pay scale.

What are the different levels of nursing to do with. I'm presuming as 1st level registerd adult nurse in this country, with a BSc (hons) degree i will be on level 1.

What kind of shifts do nurses out there work, do they have 12 hours shifts as i would like to do these if at all possible.

Is it possible to support a family on a nurses income. My husband will work but initially he may not be doing.

many thanks for taking the time to read all my questions

Mrs JFW

Hi Suzanne,

Welcome to BE.

As you are right at the start of the process I would recommend reading about the different visa options on the Australian Immigration website, it has loads of useful information there.

www.immi.gov.au


Why out of interest are you wanting to be sponsored as apposed to going out independantly? Remember that some visas are not permanent, and you may want to consider that carefully if you are taking a young family out with you.

I am assuming you will be the main applicant? Its not to early to start now if you are looking at going out in 2008, when you realise all the stuff you have to get together the sooner you start the better. You need things like all your nursing registration documents, certificates, transcripts from uni, marriage cert, full birth cert, passport up to date etc...when you apply these all need to be photocopied and certified by a legal person.

For all the other information about nursing in Oz, have a search through the nursing forum. There is a search facility at the top of this page to help you.

For australian nursing skills assessment the website is www.anmc.com.au and
I think (but I'm not absolutely sure) that for a positive skills assessment you will need to have worked at least 20 hours a week for 12 out of the previous 18 months.


My recommendation would be to have a good read about all your visa options first and then we can help with the specific information you need. it is a bit of a can of worms but we are all hear to help each other.

Good luck Suzanne,

Jackie

suzanne7575

Thanks for your reply.

I guess I'm looking at sponsorship due to the fact i don't meet the 20 hours thing, from what I've read on the DIMA website not all visas need this just that i have to have experience or the right qualifications, but they are the sponsored ones. I would also not move over without a job to go to, I just wouldn't risk that with a family. If i had a job offer but no sponsorship then i would go down the independent skills visa route but i need to increase my hours first and i need to be doing it for 12 months to apply. I can apply for PR once i am over in Oz can't I if i went over on a temporary visa, either sponsored or independednt?

Mrs JFW

Hi Suzanne,

Now I may be completely wrong here as I am only really familiar with the independant skilled visa (136) which is the one I applied for, but if you are applying for any kind of visa as a nurse you do you not still have to do a skills assessment to send off with your visa application? In which case you still need to meet the hours of work criteria in order to get the ok from the ANMC?

Perhaps someone else could enlighten us?

Also search the threads regarding nurses on temporary visas, some are not all they are cracked up to be. For example if you were sponsored by a particular employer and you ended up hating working for them, you are stuck in that job for a defined period of time unless you breach the contract and come back to the UK. I personally feel the move to Oz is stressful enough without ending up in a job you completely hate.

Jackie

wannabauzzienurse

As I understand it, it is only the points tested visas that require the ANMC skill assessment. I know I don't need a skill assessment, neither do I have to have worked at least 20 hours/week for a year. I'm going with a temporary visa

suzanne7575

Thanks for that, I know a lot of people say that the temporary visa is a bad idea but persoanlly i don't think it's a bad route. I guess once i get over to Oz and start working within 6 - 12 months i will have satisfied the recent experience criteria and can apply for a permanant residence visa, either sponsored or independent. I know you don't get much health care etc. with ths visa but i would be prepared to take out insurance anyway, and am I right in thinking it is only NSW where you have to pay for schooling under this visa?

I know the down side is being tied to one employer, but the way i look at it is that these things are never easy and if life has to be rough for a couple of years then so be it as long as we eventually realise our aim in life.

JAJ

The Skill Matching visa only requires 6 months work experience at 20+ hours. Permanent visa and your only obligation is to commit to living in sponsoring state for 2 years. Queensland doesn't sponsor for this but most of the other states/territories do.

You'd have to "validate" your visa with a holiday in Australia within 6-10 months of visa grant, but other than that you won't have problems if you move within 3 years of visa grant.


Alternatively the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa is permanent from Day 1 and has no work experience requirement. All you need is to commit to working for employer for 2 years (your visa can be cancelled if you don't make a "genuine effort" to do so).

RSMS is available in Adelaide and all smaller centres in Australia.

If you got an RSMS visa you would be expected to move quickly. My own view is that Skill Matching gives you much more flexibility but you do need to put in the 6 months work experience before you can apply.

There is a risk that migration rules may change in July, so keep up to date.

And avoid temporary visas - those of us with expertise in this area see the problems much too often to feel comfortable advising anyone to take this road, other than expatriates working for multinationals.

hedgehog-girl

I often hear a lot of stuff about temporary visas but to be honest I came here on a temp visa with my hubby and it was the perfect choice for us. His company paid for it and it gave us the opportunity to see if we liked Oz but without having to fork out lots of cash for it. We had a good employer and, also, if I am honest the 10 or so people I know on a temp visa, have also had good employers so I guess its up to you to read the information on all visas before you choose the one for you.

Mrs JFW

thanks for clearing that up, i wasn't too sure about it.

Jackie