StraighttothePoint

Think this thread has put a lot of information out there about the 457 and tend to agree with colinmac that if anyone is going to use it to emigrate then that it does hold a big risk. Possibly this is one reason why the conversion rate of 30% to other visa types and onto PR is so high? Also pretty sure that a lot of folk in that 30% are using this visa type to get here initially and then move onto something else of just to then get lost in the system. No proof to any of that of course but has to possibly be why the government is now all over this visa and is promising to tighten up the rules.

Also you need to be quick in applying because age 45 is another factor in relation to visa applications and the points accrued towards the total needed. Once you hit that age you don't get the bonus ball I am afraid. Over the hill!!

They stopped sending convicts over here years ago!! Let's hope that this is not the start of a new wave

Have a good read over the topics in the various forums on this site which will lead you to other posts / threads about a range of issues. There are a lot of great posts on Cost of Living, budgets etc. once you start to get into it. Once you have some background information you can then work out what your budgets could be, i.e. what cash you could be bringing to tie you over until you start work, what your weekly take home pay will be versus all your out goings. Take home pay on $100,00pa should be in the region of $70,000pa circa $1400 per week. Someone else may help here and give you a more accurate figure but that should not be that far off. Hopefully a bit more. To help with looking at rental prices check this site. http://reiwa.com.au/home/default.aspx For education this is a good link to something on this website. http://www.perthpoms.com/forum/educa...does-work.html For which suburbs type "which perth suburb to live in" into a Google search and there is heaps of stuff avaialble. The property site also has loads of good information on suburbs as well. Happy researching.

A couple of interesting points on the news today. 30% of the people who come in on a 457 go on and get permanet residency one of the highest coversion rates from all temporary visas issued and also aim of 457 was to attract people to fill skills shortage jobs yet a large percentage coming in earn over $175k per year. The latter point raises the issuse of wether of not the visa is actually filling average wage earning posts and at $175k per annum it does not sound like it given the average Aussie wage is around half that figure. The 457 is a hot political topic at the moment and perhaps what will happen is that there will be either significant changes to the application and appproval process or the issue will just melt away and the pollies will move on and shout at each other over some other issue. Interesting stuff though and as you say being tied to one employer is a big risk. I suspect people in the 30% bracket have possibly, in some cases, just used it to gain entry to Oz and have all along had a hidden agenda of getting another job that attracts permanent residency asap.

Elfie extract from the website link. It looks like all 457's need to provide health insurance as part of the application process and maintain it when here. Who would know if you cancelled it though on arrival? Of course people may not want to but does anyone check? Appreciate Private health insurance is all about risk, and if you afford it, unless mandatory as part of a visa requirement. Do subclass 457 visa holders need to have insurance? "If your subclass 457 visa was granted on or after 14 September 2009, you are responsible for health costs which are incurred in Australia by you and your accompanying family members. From 14 September 2009 it is a requirement for visa grant that applicants have made adequate arrangements for health insurance for themselves and accompanying family members.You are required to maintain an adequate level of insurance cover for the duration of your stay in Australia."

These two links will get you to the answers. http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/457-health-insurance-faq-visa-holder.htm http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/reciprocal-health-care-agreements

That is best way for you I think. If you cannot work it out for yourself get some advice from the expo. Also according to other posts on this site it is anything between 2000 and 4000 gbp's per dog to bring them over here.

This is perhaps what you need to work through. http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/

Hi My wife is a Perth girl and we came out from Scotland on the same visa type, subclass 155, at the time. Not sure if that one is still availbale or not. Anyway here is the visa website link to waiting times. Loads on that site and should give you all the information you need. http://www.immi.gov.au/about/charters/client-services-charter/visas/5.0.htm Assuming you are low risk then looks like 6 months maximum. When I applied for mine in 2002 it was about three weeks!! Changed days indeed. It was a rubber stamp job for us because we met all the criteria and were able to tick all the Yes boxes. I suppose if you have any non standard issue(s) that would delay the application but until you start filling in the forms you will not know what the possible issues are Also saw from another thread that you were wondering about age limits. I do not think it matters in our cases because you / my wife was an Australian by birth. The age issue was not relevant when I applied. This is perhaps what you need to work through. http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/ If you are worried here is the link to the visa types available. Good luck

I tend to agree with you in terms of mining and the key will be when a slide starts how far will Perth fall? We all seem to depend on the holes in the ground and if those holes do not get bigger, deeper and wider then boy will we feel it. What about gas? Is that not the States next big saving grace?

The problem with the 457 visa is that employers in Australia have been bacsically manipulating the system (rorting as it is called here) and either creating jobs that do not exist or dressing up jobs to make them better than they are both to get people into the country or to get them in and sub contract their labour onto another employer. The Unions are onto it and this has forced the government to start looking at the issue. Now that the government has begun looking at it the oppoistion is beginning to start murmours about immigration in general because in their view incomers are taking Australians jobs. You can be sure that if the politicians are now involved that they will make changes to some of the visa types just to make sure they are seen be doing something. When that happens they will no doubt make mistakes in some people's eyes and also it will effect some overseas people as it will hit their applications and/or plan for application. This is always the way with government policy. If you add this issue and any potential outcomes into the very possible mining cutbacks then Perth will take a hit and probably a bigger hit than other cities. There are of course other views that say why hurt the city that lays the golden egg for the rest of the country? That is true but never trust a politician to get it right especially in an election year. Have a read of these and even Google 457 Visa for more. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3703969.htm http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3705579.htm As for coming over on a 457 visa or any visa for that matter is it not just a case of working out the best option based on current information from the Visa website and making a decision and just going with that? Yes there are pending problems for 457's in the future but everyone just needs to make up their own minds what to do and having as much information as possible, and making your own assessment, is all you can do. In your case I am not so sure that you are that different from the thousands of others who are thinking of coming to Perth albeit you have two dogs. They will cost you money, and a lot of it by all accounts, but if you want to bring them that is up to you. If you can get here on a skilled visa, and your husband has a trade, then all he is up against is all the other plasterers looking for work just like anywhere else I suppose. If you get here via a sponsored type visa then I suppose that is better for obvious reasons. What is against him here if he comes in on a non sponsored visa, I guess, is that if he has no experience in Oz then he may not be first choice for a job vacancy, the new home construction sector may dip due to other economic factors and also work may only be in certain parts of the city and/or state and that affects your day to day running costs. Immigration for many people is a gamble and some people are happy to give it a go, others worry about it and others just worry too much. Only you guys can decide what to do because it is only you that knows how much cash you have to use to get here, to get set up when you arrive and to get you through to the point you get jobs. This is Australia and the mentality here has always been "give it a go". UK on the otherhand has never been that type of place, and more downbeat, and so people's confidence in many cases tends to suffer from living in that environmnet. Nope only way is to read as much as you can, gather as much relevant information as you can, create your own budget based on current costs and then decide one way or another to do it or not. And remember what Del Boy always used to say in Fools and Horses, "He who dares Rodney, he who dares.....".

VS if I am reading your latest post correctly then WA could be shot or near shot in the not too distant future? Perth / WA is built on, and dependant on, the resources sector. Indeed it is the resources sector mainly in WA, and to some extent Queensland that is currently propping up the Australian economy. If it suffers badly in WA, as you suggest, it could hit every other job sector proportionally because it would create a major down turn. No mines, no FIFO's, no FIFO's then no need for new housing, less luxury good sold and so on and so on right down to the guy in the corner shop tring to sell his bottle of juice. If your analysis is close to be being right, and the problems hit within the next to 12 to 18 months, then it will hit us all. Are you convinced it is looking this bad or is it just market jitters? If the ore problem is this bad,and others look like following, then if I was sitting in the UK now just about to come out, or thinking about either getting a visa and coming out, then I would be a tad worried on reading your post. Mind you your comments sort of tie in with what the government is up to at the moment in terms of trying to end certain types of visas and them looking at the immigration issue as a whole. If the Australian economy dips across the board and not just in some Eastern States, as it is at the moment, then the government would need to be careful, start to plan for the future and include in that a view that says, "we need to look after our own". It would be interesting if there were any economists out there who hold similar views to Very Stormy or ones that can argue a different scenario. One thing that Perth is known for is peaks and troughs in terms of economic stability and so maybe we are heading for the big dip? Interesting though that Captain Colin (Barnet) and Major Mark (MacGowan) still say we are in for the long haul in terms of growth, mind you what do the two most senior politicians in WA know!!

You go for it then because the opportunity is there for you. It is just down to the planning and that it may take a bit longer than expected given all the circumstances. Jobs appear to be the key and Very Stormy has given us all an up to date insight into mining work. It is not as great as it sounds in terms of vacancies. Other vacanices, in other sectors, will arise but you probably need to be here, and have all the Aussie certificates, and with a suitbale visa in hand to secure any of those. It is going that way more and more with fewer positions being secured unless you are here. In addition the political feeling, from at least one of the major parties, is that the visa system is not working and should jobs be for Australians first? Bear in mind it is an election year this year and things could change very quickly in terms of visa availabilty and type depending on who wins. May be you just bite the bullet and begin a suitable visa application asap?

Double episodes of Corrie now on Foxtel, UK Channel, ya beauty.

Can I ask what is wrong with Cheshire? On reading this thread it all just sounds too hard and I would just think about staying put.

Sorry to burst any bubbles but men and women wear them here!!! Uni sex footwear items in Oz. Last pair I took back for a girl in Uk, original Ugg's,was last year and they were calf length at $140 so circa 100 quid. Took a few pairs back over the years because they do seem to be cheaper here.

Is WA really any differnet to anywhere else. If you have a skill that is on a list of job types that are hard to fill then you will have a better chance of getting one both remotely and when here. If you have a run of the mill skill and/or lack of experience and are here looking for a position that is not the main income earner then as GmaB says above you will be up against a large number of other immigrants and also those that live here permanently, and others from other parts of Australia, who have come here because it is the place to be. This is not just about a few thousand folk coming from Blighty. It is a daunting thought but why why should this place be any different? I realise that there is an issue whereby there is an arguement that says they let me in because I am on a skill shortages list and now I cannot get a job or there are no vacancies in that area. However it is the governemnt who let you in not the employers and when do you ever trust a politician? The reality of coming here is that there are a number of well paid jobs in a number of sectors and then there are literally thousands of people searching for a low number of other vacancies. (It does not matter if the govenment also says unemployment is at its lowest figure ever because again that is just a numbers game. No vacanices or limted vacancies is the real fact of the matter.) And just because on paper you have all the right qualifications and experience should you get the jobs before the Aussies? If the ball was on the other foot....... Perhaps the issue is that if you are coming here you probably need to have a gung ho atitude to life and just give it a go. If you need to set things up before you arrive to either give yourself confidence or a safety net then is this the right place for you? Perth is one of the most remote cities in the world and so things here are different. That is just the way of things here.

Kevlis is the written word you have problems with or just the interpretation of them? (Smiley = lighten up mate). You completely mis-read Very Stormy's post and now you rubbish something that I commented on. The 2.5 multiplier is historic information used on this forum. What I wrote was not necessarlity my own view so please do not shoot the messanger. It is, as Levi also says, something that is commonly talked about and used as a calculation on this website in previous posts on other threads. I did not pull it from anywhere so If you do not agree and think it is, "absolute bull" then to add some value to the thread just put forward some facts and figures to highlight your arguement. Finance I am sure is all about each individuals own personal situation and nobody will be the same. The 2.5 multiplier is simply being used by many PerthPoms as a yard stick.

I would not bank on that!! My wife works there and they are cutting back on staffing at her branch. Not so easy as you may think to grab a few hours in Coles as it used to be. It is all about budgets and Coles not selling as much as they should be in some areas due to the high costs. As for applying for jobs from the UK did you not ask that in another post? Somebody recently did and the advice from most folk on here was not a chance really and face to face was a must. Plenty of jobs adverts for accounts payable in the local Western Australian so get out here and just apply would be the go.

All they wanted when my son started school here was my bank account details to make sure they got their cash!! Private school and did not even ask for his birth certificate, or anything else other, than a look at his Aussie Citzenship cerificate. It just makes you laugh but hey it's sunny here, and the surf is nearly always up, so just hang dude and don't worry. It will all work out in the end.

I do not think you interpreted Very Stormy's post correctly Storms did not say $80k converts to 32k gbp's what they said was "it is similar to earning about £32k in the UK". The rule of thumb that seems to be used on these posts is that whatever you earn in the UK you should multiply that by 2.5 to see what the equivalent is you need here in terms of matching your current standard of living.

Impossible to answer as no idea what your style of living is over there or would be over here. It maybe better if you were to read over all the "cost of living" posts that are on this site. Just search under the various topics, you will find them. Then work out what weekly or monthly outgoings you will have based on what you think you "want" and then see how much disposable income you have left at the end of each pay period. Once you see what is left, if anything, you will at least get an idea on budgets. The problem is that not everyone coming out here cares about what is left because it is more about the lifestyle. Potentially little, or no, spare cash but happy and in a tremendous climate versus what you have currently in the UK. Only you can answer that. $80k you will survive.

What visa there are buckets of them? If you are not sure then go to this site, see what fits and then it will take you to the relevant pages of associated information. http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/

I am from Lundin Links just about a thirty minute drive south from you in Dundee. We have what they call in Fife, "juiners". In Edinburgh they are known as joiners. Is that the same a carpenter