stephaniemdury

I'm definitely keen to stay here and would be prepared to do the farm work if I knew 100% that I would be eligible for my 2nd WHV, but the odds are stacked against me at the moment and with my timeline being what it is, I'm not sure it's a risk I want to take. Unfortunately, the company I work for is a NFP and they seldom sponsor people, but my manager has agreed to do what he can to help me with my visa application. I'll more than likely stay in the job I've got for now and continue with my skilled migrant visa application. If I need to leave the country before that visa has been approved/rejected then so be it. Thanks again for your help Bungo and Quokka2005, I think I just needed to voicing board for this. Those I speak to in person, I don't think really understand my situation and/or have no drive themselves to stay here and so don't see it as a big deal.

Absolutely. I even thought that while typing out my original post, that it is just a consideration at this moment in time, hence my comment "I fear that this information will only become available after 1st Jan 2017". Whatever happens, I think I've got to weigh up my options and see which route is more viable with my timeframes; rural work and 2nd year WHV likeliness vs skilled migrant visa with the possibility of finishing off the application for this after leaving the country next March. Thanks Bungo.

I'm currently here in Aus on my 1st year WHV, having entered the country 30th March 2016. With the new changes coming into effect from 1st Jan 2017, it would suggest that I'm eligible to apply for my 2nd year WHV. I am having great problems finding any information as to whether the upper age limit change is applicable only to new WHMakers and not existing ones I'm aware, and more than happy, that I have to complete the 88 days rural work, however, my time is rapidly running out and it would be a massive squeeze to fit 88 working days from 1st Jan to 29th March 2016, unless I was to work like an absolute Trojan during the hottest months of the year. I fear that this information will only become available after 1st Jan 2017, in which case I should get on and bank some rural days this side of the New Year. Currently, I'm in a good job that not only pays well but also is providing me with skilled experience, which I'm hoping will help me when I apply for my skilled migrant visa. I've got my work cut out for me applying for a skilled migrant visa and having an additional year to collect all the information/evidence I need to for the application would be absolutely amazing! And all the while working in this skilled job that should count towards previous experience. I've had a trawl through websites for the information I'm looking for and can only find that the age limit is changing and not who it actually applies to. Surely I'm not the only person in this situation. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Diane - thank you for your information and the link you provided, this has been a massive help to me! Unfortunately (for me, maybe), I've already signed the contract and have started working for them. However, I have brought up my concerns with them and they seem to have taken them well. I'm going to look into this 80/20 rule, as you raise a valid point. My manager seems to think it only applies if I want to start claiming tax relief on "non-essential" stuff. Such as, a luxury car to get me to and from work, a super duper laptop (even though the workplace have provided me with standard laptop) and so on. I have no intention of buying a car purposely to claim tax relief, or have intentions of buying anything else. The only thing I would consider relieving tax from would be my indemnity insurance and my police check, as that's compulsory for the job role. Gbye grey sky - whilst the contract is initially for 2 months, they have mentioned that it could be extended. In my contract agreement it says "for a period no greater than 6 months" so there are no problems there. I also only have 5.5 months left of my visa.

It's office work, I'll be an ICT Project Officer. Turns out that their insurance covers me if I have an accident at the workplace, but they have advised me to get my own indemnity insurance. I'm assuming that with these extra bits of expense as being a contractor, I can claim some of it back? Am I best off getting an accountant to help me with this; what I can and cannot claim back, who I need to pay my tax to etc. With the new backpacker tax coming into effect on 1st Jan 2017, am I better off claiming my tax back before the end of the year or just leave it all until I leave Australia altogether?

Thank you Blossom and Marisawright:smile: That makes it easier for me to make a decision. If I wasn't able to get an ABN, he said that there was another way to employ me as a contractor. I don't think becoming an employee to the company was ever going to happen. As I'm only here on my WHV, I'm not fussed about super, sick or holiday pay. He's allowing me to be flexible by saying I could squeeze my 37.5 hours into 4 days to take 1 day off or to work a little bit of over time each day to build up a day off. Thanks again for your help

Hi all. I'm here on my working holiday visa and have a TFN. I have recently applied and been interviewed for a contract job of 2 months where the hiring manager has asked for applicants to have their own ABN number. The hiring manager has said that it wouldn't be a deal breaker if I couldn't get one, I guess they would just have to do something different their end. I've applied for one and it's been granted:smile: however, I'm wondering what the benefits are of using it? And is it benefitting me or the employer? Would I be taxed at a higher/lower tax rate if I use the ABN or only able to claim a certain amount of tax back when my WHV expires? Is there extra paperwork involved when providing an ABN to an employer versus them doing it without my ABN? It would be great to hear from those who have/are in a similar situ to me or have a good understanding of ABN use. Thanks.

This could be very good news for me. I'm currently 31 and will be 32 by the time my 1st year WHV expires (March 2017). My worry is that this condition will apply to all NEW applicants only I'm struggling to find any information about this online and assume that this hasn't yet come into effect as the gov sites are still saying "up to 31". Would anyone know where I can find out more information on this? I'm prepared to do the 88 days rural work but I want to be sure that I qualify for my 2nd year WHV before I commit to the 88 days. To take 3 months out of my travel plans to complete the 88 days and then find out that I don't qualify, would be a massive kick in the teeth.

This is what I'd need to find out or ask the migration agent. On the ACS website, under RPL FAQ's it just states "ICT" and doesn't specify BA. I guess it wouldn't with it being to do with General Skills application. I have, however, been in ICT for 11 years, just a BA role the last 4. Sorry, I missed that bit in my previous post. Thanks for the recommendation for ptlabs, I'll have a look into them too.

Yes, BA is on the SOL list and appears to be the most popular one. The list was recently updated on 1st July this year and it has remained again for this next year at least. I don't mind doing a BA role, I'm just not sure I'd want to study for it if I was to take the student visa pathway. A BA role is a means to an end for me, I just kind of fell into it and apparently I'm quite good at it. From your comment above (and the very quick search online at 0430) an General Skilled application, I think, would be more applicable to me. The previous 4 years of my career has been in a BA role. The thing I would worry about is the project reports as I no longer work for the company and they're hot on not distributing any of their data, if they don't have to. And secondly, I'm not sure I would have appeared on any of the project reports; projects that I helped out on that were run by the PM team, I wouldn't for sure and the other projects I worked on weren't technically classified as projects in the eyes of the company as only the PM team can only manage projects. My projects were more service based, I would provide a service to that particular team and manage it like a project. This is something else I'd need to ask the migrant agency and a previous colleague to help me find out about. I'm adding it to my list. Thank you, this is all good stuff and is helping me map out in my mind what else I need to do and how I'm to approach it. When I first started looking into this I couldn't get anything straight, but now it's starting to become a bit clearer:)

Thank you both for your quick responses. It is what I expected the answer to be. With regards to other pathways, I have briefly looked into a student visa but that would be a whole different avenue for me to explore. A few factors I'd need to take into consideration; going back to studying, now knowing what to study, pre-requisites for being accepted on to the course, the possible debt I'd incur if going to uni etc. Although I can do a business analysts job, I'm not sure I'd want to study business analysis just to stay here, I'd want to study something else, probably construction management as I have a project management qualification but no PM experience of any great length of time. I have BA experience but no quals and PM qual but no experience haha. I want a visa that will allow me to work, that's for sure, mid-long term ideally. I'll need to have another good look at all my options and perhaps take them to an immi agency. I'm not worried that they'll supply me with the wrong info, just that they would withhold info from me to almost force me to apply for the visa through them so they get my custom. I'll make sure I go to a MARA registered one.

My question is: can my great auntie/uncle or second cousin sponsor me? Here is a bit of background info for you: I'm currently out here on my 1st WHV. Because of the time in which I applied for my 1st WHV, I'm not able to apply for my 2nd WHV as I'm now 31 yo. I emailed the visa bureau explaining that I'd be willing to do the 88 days rural work etc but to no avail. So I'm now exploring my other options. While I'm "skilled" and would fall under the ICT Business Analyst occupation on the SOL list, I'm worried that my case wouldn't be strong enough for a company to sponsor me, given that being a BA isn't hard and I'm sure there are plenty of Aussies who would qualify for the job over me. I have little quals in the BA line of work (although I do have experience), I didn't go to uni and I'm not sure I'll meet the regional study pre-requisites. Perhaps I'm being a bit hard on myself but I very rarely hear success stories of your "everyday Jo" getting sponsorship so easily, by any means. I can't help but feel that if I have an obligation-free consultation with an immigration agency, that they'll either give me false hope or withhold info from me so I can't go at it on my own. I don't mind paying the initial $200 for the consultation, or whatever the fee is, but something deep down tells me that they won't actually give me all the info I need to enable me to make a decision and move forward with this. Any help on this would be much, much, much appreciated. Thanks.