Adventure2020 Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 Hi all! I qualify for a skilled visa and want to get permanent residency when I move. Does anyone know if I would have to move FIRST and then sponsor my husband and children, or if we can all move together and then my husband just gets a job there?  thanks so much for any help anyone can give me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 When you apply for the skilled visa, you include your husband and children in the application and they all get a visa when you get yours. Have you spoken to a migration agent about your plans? Which visa will you apply for and do you understand what your chances are of success?  Just qualifying for a visa is not enough, it's a competitive process and only the top scorers are invited.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 7 hours ago, Adventure2020 said: Hi all! I qualify for a skilled visa and want to get permanent residency when I move. Does anyone know if I would have to move FIRST and then sponsor my husband and children, or if we can all move together and then my husband just gets a job there?  thanks so much for any help anyone can give me!! Hi if you are the primary applicant then you would need to enter Aus first when your activating the visa. All this means is you go through passport control first with your family behind you, dont get confused in thinking you would need to travel ahead of your family this isnt the case. Lots of luck with your plans  Cal x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 CalNgary- thanks so much for that reassurance! I don’t think I would be able to handle being away from my kids if I had to be in the country first. So that’s very promising :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Marisawright- thank you for your reply! So it sounds like the fee (appx 4000) is one we pay for all of us to apply right? (Not 4,000 per family member)? We are planning to talk to a migration agent soon. I completed the skills test online and qualify for 3 different visas (189,190 and 489). I am a social worker and been in the profession for 11 years, so hoping that will work in our favour. Someone responded to my post saying that I wouldn’t have to live in Australia alone and then sponsor my family, which is a relief. However, I will still confirm that with the agent along with what my chances are for success. Are there any other questions you (or anyone) would recommend me asking ?  thanks so much! char Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 5 minutes ago, Adventure2020 said: CalNgary- thanks so much for that reassurance! I don’t think I would be able to handle being away from my kids if I had to be in the country first. So that’s very promising Some people do decide to arrive in Australia first to find a place to live and get a job, then send for their family. But that is entirely your choice, you're in control. By the way, when you get the visa, you'll be given a deadline. You and your family all have to visit Australia by that deadline, but it can be a holiday, it doesn't have to be a forever move. Then you have a window of 5 years to make the permanent move.  So if you're thinking you need to get ready first, then apply, that's not really the case. Do your research, by all means, but if you're sure you want to go, then you can apply first and then take your time to get ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 5 minutes ago, Adventure2020 said: CalNgary- thanks so much for that reassurance! I don’t think I would be able to handle being away from my kids if I had to be in the country first. So that’s very promising Some people do decide to arrive in Australia first to find a place to live and get a job, then send for their family. But that is entirely your choice, you're in control. By the way, when you get the visa, you'll be given a deadline. You and your family all have to visit Australia by that deadline, but it can be a holiday, it doesn't have to be a forever move. Then you have a window of 5 years to make the permanent move.  So if you're thinking you need to get ready first, then apply, that's not really the case. Do your research, by all means, but if you're sure you want to go, then you can apply first and then take your time to get ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Marisawright- wow....5 years is plenty of time to make a big decision like that. That’s awesome! Although, I wouldn’t want to wait too long because my kids are only getting older! I like that the whole family HAS TO visit before we move, that way this big decision isn’t solely mine to make. This sounds pretty good. Do you know if the fee for the skilled visa (or any visa ) is based on an entire family or is it per person ( of course I will be asking the migration agent as well, but I’m really curious lol). thanks again so much for this valuable information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Adventure2020 said: Marisawright- thank you for your reply! So it sounds like the fee (appx 4000) is one we pay for all of us to apply right? (Not 4,000 per family member)? We are planning to talk to a migration agent soon. I completed the skills test online and qualify for 3 different visas (189,190 and 489). I am a social worker and been in the profession for 11 years, so hoping that will work in our favour. The 489 visa no longer exists. There is a new visa to replace it, the 491. The 189 is the best but the hardest to get, second best is the 190, with the 491 the easiest but also has the most restrictions. Did the migration agent tell you how many points you could score? That is THE single most important thing for the 189 visa. As I said, it's a competitive process and the people with the highest points win. Although you only need 65 points to be eligible to apply, right now you would need over 90 points to even be considered. Anything less and your application will simply expire and you've lost your money. You probably know that Australia is made up of states. The 189 visa is a national visa, whereas the 190 and the 491 are offered by individual states. Points still matter, but not as much as for the 189 visa.  With the 190 visa, you can work anywhere in your chosen state. With the 491, you usually can't work in the capital city (it varies by state) because it's designed to get migrants to live and work in regional areas. You need to look at which state wants social workers, then look at what the regional areas of that state are like. In NSW, for instance, there are a few smaller cities which have good work prospects, for yourself and your oh, but that may not be the case in all states. Edited January 26, 2020 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Marisawright- ok, so it looks like my first task is to see which state is hiring social workers and then go from there. Thanks for that starting point ! we will be talking to an agent this week some time and asking him about my scores. They’re on my laptop but I’m pretty sure I scored 95 on the 189 visa . All my scores were over 80 sthg. I had no idea it’s that competitive!! the good news is....you’ve given me a starting point when it comes to looking for a job. I’m soo grateful for that and will get on that ASAP!  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 4 minutes ago, Adventure2020 said: ! I like that the whole family HAS TO visit before we move, that way this big decision isn’t solely mine to make. TBH, I'd be making sure they are keen to move before you pay the application fee, police checks, medicals etc.  It's a lot of money to waste if they decide they don't like it during the activation visit. I think that's especially true if you have older children.  They need to be on board and looking forward to the move. Take primary school children to Australia and even if they throw tantrums or get upset about leaving their friends, they'll get over it and enjoy their new life. Drag teenagers against their will and they are much less likely to settle (especially as nowadays, they'll be able to spend all their time brooding about it on Insta or Snapchat with their British friends) - then as soon as they're adult, they'll be off back to the UK and you'll find yourself with a split family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Adventure2020 said: Marisawright- ok, so it looks like my first task is to see which state is hiring social workers and then go from there. Thanks for that starting point ! we will be talking to an agent this week some time and asking him about my scores. They’re on my laptop but I’m pretty sure I scored 95 on the 189 visa . All my scores were over 80 sthg. I had no idea it’s that competitive!! the good news is....you’ve given me a starting point when it comes to looking for a job. I’m soo grateful for that and will get on that ASAP!  Yes, it's very competitive. Australia is not a young country desperate for immigrants any more, it's a developed country with unemployment issues like anywhere else. Our current government is quite anti-immigration and closing the doors steadily. If you have enough points to go for the 189, then go for the 189 because it gives you the most freedom.  As for jobs - no point in looking yet. The application process will take at least a year, and no employer will wait that long.  There are employer-sponsored visas, but they are only temporary for 2 to 4 years, so don't get confused by them.  If you want to move permanently, then the process is that you get your visa, you all travel to Australia, then you look for a job. It's rare to find a job before you move.  Also look into whether you need to do any additional courses to get registration in Australia, or if there is registration (I have no idea for social workers, sorry). Edited January 26, 2020 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Marisawright-  You are totally correct! Thank goodness our children are in grade one and going to enter junior kindergarten this year. We I’ve been contemplating a move for quite some time now and have looked into Florida as well. We’ve started the immigration process to Florida as my husband is a US citizen and are currently working on submitting paperwork for that process. However, my husband has been learning quite a bit about the healthcare system in the education system while he’s been living there, so  Australia is looking a lot better. It actually sounds a lot like Canada but with better weather LOL. I guess we will have to ask the migration agent if we can work on an Australian Visa while we’re working on American visa. Yes, it sounds so complicated however if there’s any time to make a move its right now while the kids are this young. I moved a lot as a teenager and despised it!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 6 minutes ago, Marisawright said: Yes, it's very competitive. Australia is not a young country desperate for immigrants any more, it's a developed country with unemployment issues like anywhere else. Our current government is quite anti-immigration and closing the doors steadily. If you have enough points to go for the 189, then go for the 189 because it gives you the most freedom.  As for jobs - no point in looking yet. The application process will take at least a year, and no employer will wait that long.  There are employer-sponsored visas, but they are only temporary for 2 to 4 years, so don't get confused by them.  If you want to move permanently, then the process is that you get your visa, you all travel to Australia, then you look for a job. It's rare to find a job before you move.  Also look into whether you need to do any additional courses to get registration in Australia, or if there is registration (I have no idea for social workers, sorry). Yes good point about the additional courses! I will look into that. Ok well I’m so glad i’m talking to you because I had no idea it’s gonna take at least a year. Also no idea that I would be rare to find a job before I go but I guess I can always call the social worker association in Australia and see how that works. I will talk to the migration agent about the 189 visa and see how feasible it is. As you mentioned it would be a big waste of money ifI am told that my chances aren’t very Good. Just curious… Have you been through this yourself or know someone who has? I’m asking because you’re very knowledgable about this stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 14 minutes ago, Adventure2020 said: Yes good point about the additional courses! I will look into that. Ok well I’m so glad i’m talking to you because I had no idea it’s gonna take at least a year. Also no idea that I would be rare to find a job before I go but I guess I can always call the social worker association in Australia and see how that works. I will talk to the migration agent about the 189 visa and see how feasible it is. As you mentioned it would be a big waste of money ifI am told that my chances aren’t very Good. Just curious… Have you been through this yourself or know someone who has? I’m asking because you’re very knowledgable about this stuff I've been in Australia for over 30 years and the process was a heck of a lot easier then.  I found PomsinOz when my oh and I were planning to retire back in the UK (it didn't work out, that's another story).  I've stayed because I work online and Poms is what I do when I need a few minutes break. I've learned a lot from being on the forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Just going to chip in on the visa costs. The cost for YOU as main applicant is $4045. It is then a further $2020 for your husband. Then a further $1015 for each child. So just under $9000 for you all. This doesn't include skills assessment, medicals, police checks and agent fees. Also note, this is only a small cost in the total involved in migrating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 6 hours ago, Adventure2020 said: Marisawright-  You are totally correct! Thank goodness our children are in grade one and going to enter junior kindergarten this year. We I’ve been contemplating a move for quite some time now and have looked into Florida as well. We’ve started the immigration process to Florida as my husband is a US citizen and are currently working on submitting paperwork for that process. However, my husband has been learning quite a bit about the healthcare system in the education system while he’s been living there, so  Australia is looking a lot better. It actually sounds a lot like Canada but with better weather LOL. I guess we will have to ask the migration agent if we can work on an Australian Visa while we’re working on American visa. Yes, it sounds so complicated however if there’s any time to make a move its right now while the kids are this young. I moved a lot as a teenager and despised it!!! Nothing to stop you applying to the US at the same time. Totally different countries and they will not care - they won't even know unless you volunteer the information, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausvisitor Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 4 hours ago, VERYSTORMY said: Just going to chip in on the visa costs. The cost for YOU as main applicant is $4045. It is then a further $2020 for your husband. Then a further $1015 for each child. So just under $9000 for you all. This doesn't include skills assessment, medicals, police checks and agent fees. Also note, this is only a small cost in the total involved in migrating. As the poster sounds like they have a good understanding of both the USA and Canada it's worth pointing out that the numbers above are in Australian dollars (which would seem obvious but it's amazing how many assume it is in USD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausvisitor Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 9 hours ago, calNgary said: Hi if you are the primary applicant then you would need to enter Aus first when your activating the visa. All this means is you go through passport control first with your family behind you, dont get confused in thinking you would need to travel ahead of your family this isnt the case. Lots of luck with your plans  Cal x I thought this was only the case for the temporary employer sponsored visas. In the case of the 189/190/491 whilst they are technically awarded as primary and secondary the visas themselves are unique to each person and not tied to each other in any way I might be wrong though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 9 hours ago, Marisawright said: I've been in Australia for over 30 years and the process was a heck of a lot easier then.  I found PomsinOz when my oh and I were planning to retire back in the UK (it didn't work out, that's another story).  I've stayed because I work online and Poms is what I do when I need a few minutes break. I've learned a lot from being on the forums. I bet! It’s a wealth of information on these forums. I’m so glad this is what you do as a break.... it’s definitely helping me out a lot lol im sorry retiring in the UK didn’t work out for you guys.....hopefully staying in Australia ended up being for the best in the end ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 7 hours ago, VERYSTORMY said: Just going to chip in on the visa costs. The cost for YOU as main applicant is $4045. It is then a further $2020 for your husband. Then a further $1015 for each child. So just under $9000 for you all. This doesn't include skills assessment, medicals, police checks and agent fees. Also note, this is only a small cost in the total involved in migrating. Ohhhh I see ok thanks so much for clarifying the costs! And yes, just the flight costs alone will be insane for a family of 4. That definitely gives us more to think about....also, as you said the costs in total in migrating will add up. I get mixed information on websites. Some say you don’t need a migration agent to do the paperwork and some say you do. Any opinions on this? I really appreciate all of this information...thank you sooo much  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Ausvisitor said: I thought this was only the case for the temporary employer sponsored visas. In the case of the 189/190/491 whilst they are technically awarded as primary and secondary the visas themselves are unique to each person and not tied to each other in any way I might be wrong though... Ok I will definitely double check with a migration agent. Thanks so much for your response Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventure2020 Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Ausvisitor said: As the poster sounds like they have a good understanding of both the USA and Canada it's worth pointing out that the numbers above are in Australian dollars (which would seem obvious but it's amazing how many assume it is in USD) Thanks for clarifying the Australian dollars!! For some reason I assumed it was American... good to know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeNinja Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 43 minutes ago, Adventure2020 said: Ohhhh I see ok thanks so much for clarifying the costs! And yes, just the flight costs alone will be insane for a family of 4. That definitely gives us more to think about....also, as you said the costs in total in migrating will add up. I get mixed information on websites. Some say you don’t need a migration agent to do the paperwork and some say you do. Any opinions on this? I really appreciate all of this information...thank you sooo much  If you have a straightforward application, IE, no criminal convictions, no significant health issues etc, then there's no harm in applying yourself, provided you are meticulous about the process. If you're needing a high language test score to give you the required total points, I would look into preparing and doing that first. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Adventure2020 said:  I get mixed information on websites. Some say you don’t need a migration agent to do the paperwork and some say you do. Any opinions on this? I really appreciate all of this information...thank you sooo much  Some people use them and some don’t. For us we didn’t want to risk making any errors or mistakes.  It was very very stressful and that was with using an agent I would have hated to do the process alone. If refused you miss the wonderful chance to live here and lose the money you paid for the application Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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