How good is Australia?.....really

I don't want to piss on your parade, but be very careful with companies that want money for work a visa. It doesn&#8217;t work that way here.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Many tradies here got burnt with dodgy companies promising work in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. You had to pay to get listed. It was all bullshit. As mentioned, 'seek.com.au' and lots of other sites will get you work; they get paid by the company chasing workers.<o></o>
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As for the visa. It will drive you nuts, but going through the embassy will ensure you don't get ripped off, the wrong visa (even though who ever sells you the dream will tell you otherwise), or get put on a plane back home.
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There are traps everywhere. Once you get here, it's all good; apart from the sharks, spiders, crocs, drop bears, snakes, jelly fish, psychotic women, speed cameras...<o></o>
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The company I talked to isnt an employment agengy. They just help with the visa process. I refuse to pay ANYONE $2500 to fill out a form and send it off! Thanks for the advise tho. I hope I do not get caught in a scam. I am mainly working ONLY with Government websites to help from getting scammed.

HAHAH!!! Married, with children is not my dream of a new life I dont have a wife or kids here and I am not sure I want them in Oz. Altho, that cute blonde with the Aussie accent is.......well........the devil that will get you every time!!!

Is there an Aust Embassy close by? It might be worth a visit and sitting and talking to someone.

Sorry for threadjacking but does anyone know where I can find jobs as an educational psychologist in Australia? I'd prefer to work in schools, not necessarily private schools.

Geelong or Frankston.

Err sorry.

To the OP: just go for it.

Australia is a great place from what I learned during my travels. I wouldn't mind living there at all. Travelling outside of the continent may be costly since you pretty much have to fly. But Australia is huge so there will be a lot of places to explore.

I have heard that if you ship your bike over in parts, with a total value of under AU$1000 (inc. shipping and insurance) per package then you don't have to pay tax. A lot of work though, and a lot of shipping charges! I might try this... the only concern is whether you can register an imported frame OK in Oz, and whether the any other charges apply when you've bolted it all together again!

The best place to start with the visa is the Austrailian immigration website www.immi.gov.au - it's all there, they just don't make it too easy to follow IMHO. This not necessarily a bad thing...

It took us about 10 months from having not started to getting the Visa - much faster than expected.

You need to spend some time going through every page of the Visa application process. I printed every page and read through to get an exact understanding of everything you need to do, the points system etc.

The first stage is to find out which authority approves your qualifications (Skills Assessment). This will be on the website. Then you need to go through the requirements they have for approving you as a welder, if that is what you are applying as. It'll usually involve sitting an English test - IELTS is the one we did.

Also make sure you go through both sets of requirements, as there will probably be some overlap so one document will cover both the visa and the skills assessment.

You must be VERY particular in getting EVERY part of the requirement covered. We had to re-submit an employment reference, as we stated Full Time but didn't include the number of hours worker per week.

So basically the stages were:

1. Review both the Visa and Skills Assessment documentation requirements.
2. Start to gather all required paperwork, and take copies.
3. Take the IELTS test - achieve the required grade for each element.
4. Take all of the document and copies to be certified - make sure the certification meets both sets of requirements.
5. Apply for the Skills Assessment
6. Once successfully obtained, get this certified as well.
7. Submit the Visa application
8. Wait until the Department of Immigration requests your Criminal Record check and Medical - BE PREPARED, THEY ONLY GIVE YOU 28 DAYS TO RESPOND. (The Immi website gives you all the info needed to get the check and the medical).
9. Wait for the Visa.

There are a lot of charges other than the Visa application fees - Skills assessment, any fees for certification of documents, Medical, Criminal Record Check - we have spent a small fortune on the visa.

Also, on typing this lot out it seems really complicated. It isn't as hard as it looks once you break it down. At first it is really confusing, but once you understand what is required it's not too bad. Just make sure you pay attention to detail and cover all requirements.

I have pretty much writen off shipping a bike over since by the time I ship my bike to the LA port and then ship it to Brisbane, I could have just bought a fully rego'd bike in Oz that is better then the bike I have now! Thanks for the suggestions tho. I did think about shipping it as parts only but I ran into the same problem as you mentioned. You have to pay the full import duties on it once you assemble it OR the frame can never be registered in Oz.


Thanks for the suggestion on the visa apps and work books. I am just starting the apps today and I am already SOOOOO confused about everything. The lady I talked to the other day at the visa company said I should be applying to EVERY place that has a job offered that I am quailified for. That will greatly inprove me chances of getting a job offer and thus helping my visa app along. She said that if you already have a job lined up, the Oz goverment gives your app alittle bit more considerations.

I dont know but I entend on trying that! I just sent my resume to a few places that have opening around Brisbane.

Heh, got an great idea to help fund the trip.

Fill your back pack with all kinds of ADV goodies and sell em in the flea market.
I got some suggestions if you're stuck for ideas.

I'm already doing that........


http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=634628

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=630745

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632398

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=634909

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635401

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=631261



It's helping alot actually! Alot of people here have contributed to my moving fund! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

Wow mate.. you really are determined to live here! I've been here 18 months now, I'm dying to go back to the US, (Texas or Colorado). I'm on a 4 year work VISA and we just had a baby here so we'll stick it out another 18 months or so. Australia is an awesome place though, the more I think about the opportunity we have here, the less I want to leave. Just make sure you have your work figured out, it is very expensive to live here, we take a lot of things for granted in the US that you have to factor in here. Australia is very hard on tourists who come here looking for work, so make sure you don't make that known. The best thing you could hope for would be a company to sponsor a subclass-457 VISA for you, after 24 months or so you can apply for residency, which will get you medicare and just about everything short of being a full blown citizen. We are applying for PR in 3 months, but will never go for citizenship, really no need to being a US passport holder.

I also fawked up the fees for the visas. The second instalment is only payable if the main applicant and/or the secondary applicant do not peake proficient english. Did I under stand this right? So instead of the Sponsored visa the cost is only $1735 and the Skilled Independant is only $2575. These are the fees if you apply OUTSIDE of Oz. Add about $800-1000 if applying inside of Oz. Fees can be found here: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/990i.pdf



I am just going to spring the $2575 for the skilled independant visa as it has the least amount of restrictions. I can live and work ANYWHERE in Oz far as long as I like. It expires in 5 years but you do not have to renew it unless you'd like to travel to or from Oz. You also do not have to have a return ticket for airfare out of Oz to get in. On ths visa, they do not expect you to leave like they do on the holiday visa. I was entertaining the ida of getting the Holiday visa for 12 months(you can only stayin Oz for 3 months at a time) or an ETA good for 3 months also. BUT, to apply for a permanant visa, you have to beoutside of Oz for 6 weeks! This sounded good to me at first as I could travel around Oz for 3 months, go to New Zealand for a few weeks/months then return to Oz. Seeing as I will pretty much have to find work within about 3-4 months after ariving in Oz due to me being a poor turd, I think I'll go ahead and get the permanent visa incase I finda job along the way. This will be the much more cost-effective route to go.

Yes, you run the chace of not getting the visa granted BUT after talking to a few peole that have gone this route they say as long as you havent got a bad criminal record and have all your ducks in a line....you are good to go. The likelyhood of you not being granted the visa is slim to none. Also, given that my occupation is ranked as one of the highest needed in Oz(scored at 60 or 60 points) and scoring 131 out of 140 on the points system, it is almost a sure thing that I will gt the visa.

Well, enough rambling on about little to nothing!

Might I ask why you are moving back? I have roamed the US for many years and have yet to fine where I "belong". Does that make any sense? I dont know if I will find myself in Oz or not but I am willing to give it a try. The only reason I am kind of shying away from the 457 visa is that you are committed to working at that company for 2 years if I remember right. You cannot leave that job for another until your 2 years is up. That is fine but what if I hate the job I get? Or if I want to work a few months here or there to fund a few months or traveling? I am kind ofa drifter by nature altho I have lived in the same place for over 15 years. I do travel a fair amount in the US. But I always seem to find my way back "home"

DAN

I was reading thru the requirements for the English test and it says that if you have a valid passport from the UK, Canada, New Zealand, USA, or the Republic of Ireland that you are not required to sit the English test. Are you in the UK? You still had to sit the test?

I'm going back a few years, early 80's while working at Qantas Perth airport checking in the USA Consul he told me that most US people had gone back to the States as the cost of living in OZ was to high
ed

Niece just arrived home here after a 10 year stint State side.
Said, she couldn't believe the cost of stuff here nowadays.

That's the visa we got. You are correct, you only pay the 2nd instalment if you cannot prove you are proficient in English.

Like I said before, spend time going through each and every requirement for both the visa and the skills assessment so you know EXACTLY what to do. After going through it a few times it starts to make sense....

Yep, we are in the UK, UK residents since birth.

The IELTS test was a requirement for the skills assessment - one of the reasons why it is essential to check everything out before starting the actual visa application.

We had to get a copy of the results sent directly to the skills assessment people - the requirement was to score 7 or above across all 4 areas (reading, writing, listening, speaking) on IELTS.

Getting a decent IELTS score also gives you a few extra points if you need them!