New Life Down Under

My advice is to apply for permanent residency as soon as you are eligible, chance s are if you are on a 457 you would be able to apply for 187???? One of my clients received a huge incentive for child care upon achieving PR plus first time home owners etc plus school fees. All of these rebates/allowances more then covered his application fees. Dont make the mistakes of many people and that is become complacent on a 457, to then find out you are made redundant, cant get a new sponsor or the legislation for the permanent visa you were applying for has changed! Recent lady didnt realise that the law changed a few years back and she had turned 50 and is now no longer eligible for PR.

I would recommend HSBC in Subiaco, small personal service. There are only a couple of branches within WA but you can use Westpac ATMs free so easy done. If you have an account with them in UK you used to be able to have your money transferred over to them by the time you arrived

Recently had a client who was about to lodge following info obtained on a forum and would have lost nearly $10k lodgement fees, plus got a refusal and s48 bar from reapplying, Yes not everyone needs an agent but there are many people now in Australia who would not have got here without one!

verystormy, you should be called very wise!

May be worth looking at a 187 visa if your employer can sponsor you for 2 years

Speak to Orlando at DelBasso on Frobisher Street, they make their own salame, may be called something different but you can do a tasting!

What occupation are you and how many points do you have?

Had a few HR Managers and banking staff/project management laid off within the last week. PM's who were earning in excess of $1200 per day are now working stacking shelves in Woolies. Companies are pulling out of 187 sponsorships too now due to retrenching staff. I deal with lots of medical staff, GP's, Sonographers etc and they can still pick up employment fairly easily luckily. Not a good time to be coming to Perth unless you have plenty of money to be able to ride the storm and support yourself with potentially no employment. I agree with you, sadly there is more of it to come.

I am with you verystormy, think this clearly shows how our economy is at present. Lots of retrenching going on and 457's being cancelled. It is basically saying if you havent got a job it's not going to be easy to get one!

Some major changes. Nearly all occupations are now Schedule 2 which means very few people will be able to get State Sponsorship now. Most of the trades and medical profession, surprisingly even GP's are now Schedule 2. Unless you are onshore it will be hard to meet the criteria of getting a 12 month employment contract. I think this is basic highlighting the state of the economy and saying without a job offer it is not easy to relocate and find work! For all of the people who have lodged for a 190, check to see if you are Schedule 1 or 2

Have a look at fitter general and see if that meets your experience as well

I agree verystormy, we have so many Graduate Accountants qualifying from WA universities and they can not find jobs, many working driving taxis or as security guards! Still amazed it is on list!

If someone wishes to sponsor you they might employ you initially on a 457, then whilst working you can pursue other avenues 190/186/187 May also be worth looking at the criteria in other States as they all vary, some do not require a job offer?

Hi Ibbie The last 489 I applied for which was for an Accountant took 11 months for an invitation and we were sitting on 65 points. You will loose 15 points in February when you turn 45........... I would suggest you sit all of the available English Language Tests URGENTLY in order to get IELTS of 8 which will give you 20 points which you will need as of Feb by the sounds of it. As other people have said the 489 is a temporary visa, you can apply for permanency once you have met the working criteria. You would be much better to do all the options of tests and get 10 points (7's) which may give you 60 points for a 189 in which you are likely to get an invite within a couple of months max

Hi Tom If you get back to Perth on WHV, email me your CV and quals as I might have a company who could look at sponsoring you. If you meet the skills for Fitter General you are likely to get an Invitation for 189 if you have enough points, seems to be in demand

if you are on state list schedule 1 the invitation could be fairly quick with 60 points subject to occupation. 60 points schedule 2 could be a long wait

[TABLE=class: bordertable, width: 716] [TR] [TH]Priority Group Number[/TH] [TH]Visa Subclass[/TH] [TH]Processing Time[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]RSMS (subclass 119, 857) Skilled Regional[/TD] [TD]Low risk – 5 months High risk – 8 months [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]SkillSelect (subclass 187)[/TD] [TD]6 months [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]ENS (subclass 121, 856)[/TD] [TD]Low risk – 5 months High risk – 8 months[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]SkillSelect (subclass 186)[/TD] [TD]6 months[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]SMP (subclass 176, 475, 487, 886)[/TD] [TD]12 months[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]SkillSelect SMP (subclass 190 and 489)[/TD] [TD]3 months[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]Nominated Occupation on the SOL – Schedule 1 (subclass 175, 495, 496, 861, 862, 863, 880, 881, 882, 883, 885 and 176, 475, 487 if not SMP)[/TD] [TD]18 months[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]SkillSelect Independent and Family Sponsored (subclass 189 and 489)[/TD] [TD]3 months[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]All visas listed in priority 3 and 4 that are not SMP or Nominated Occupation on the SOL – Schedule 1[/TD] [TD]Assessment will commence when all cases in priority groups 1-4 are finalised [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

If you havent attended meds yet, wait till case officer requests, then you will get another 28 days grace to do so which might buy you some time!

verystormy ha ha yee of little faith with DIBP !!!!!

HI Jannette One of my clients bought in a Retirement Village when BVA kicked in whilst waiting 15 years for Aged Parent. You need FIRB approval though. Will be on BVA for 15-20 years but all is good, we have full reciprocal Medicare. great private health insurance which has nearly fully paid for a month in top private hospital. Nearly $50K is a lot to pay when you are 79 years old!

Also verystormy, many people think they are entitled to BVA for lodging an EOI. NO bridging's given for an EOI. Must actually lodge a substantive visa application to be able to apply for bridging.

You need to prove 12 months defacto not 6.

Be careful as it sounds as if your 457 may be cancelled if you are not working any longer. Then you will have 90 days to find a new sponsor or leave. Skilled workers on a subclass 457 visa are considered to have ceased employment when either you or your employer notifies us. If you stop working for your sponsor, you must do one of the following within 90 days: find another employer to sponsor you (they need to lodge a nomination) apply for a different visa make arrangements to leave Australia. You must apply for another subclass 457 visa if your visa is about to expire and you want to keep working in Australia.

At least the GBP to AUD will be in your favour. For every 10000 GBP you will be getting around $2.04 which is best rate in 6 yeasr!