457 Visa - My ongoing experience

**TCASAlert** · 20-10-2011, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by n8111445

I got the job and came out on a WHV on the basis they would shortly apply for a 457, which they and I are in the process of doing.

It appears the majority on here have not done it this way? I am working for local goverment.

So your saying it is perfectly acceptable to have accepted a job while in the Uk, move to Oz and start the job on a WHV then apply for a 457 while in the same job?

I believe you can go on a WHV then go to a 457 but I have heard you have to go out of the country and then re-enter with your 457, may be wrong though. I was offered a job who offered to do that for ease of getting me out there sooner, they said I would have to come home and then go back with the 457, but I think a lot just head over to NZ. Not an expert in this field though mind you as I am just going straight out on 457 (when it eventually turns up).

**n8111445** · 20-10-2011, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by TCASAlert

I believe you can go on a WHV then go to a 457 but I have heard you have to go out of the country and then re-enter with your 457, may be wrong though. I was offered a job who offered to do that for ease of getting me out there sooner, they said I would have to come home and then go back with the 457, but I think a lot just head over to NZ. Not an expert in this field though mind you as I am just going straight out on 457 (when it eventually turns up).

Ok, thanks, I will do some digging! What documents have you had to attach to your application?

**middo2905** · 26-10-2011, 11:06 AM

Wow, i have had my visa approved!! I received an email from my immigration agent in the early hours of Tuesday morning to say both me and my partner have been granted our visas!

Still in a state of shock as it only took a week!

I think they want me out there in 2/3 weeks so I'd better pull my finger out.

Hopefully, this gives some of you hope that good things are just around the corner.

Steve

**fish.01** · 26-10-2011, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by middo2905

Wow, i have had my visa approved!! I received an email from my immigration agent in the early hours of Tuesday morning to say both me and my partner have been granted our visas!

Still in a state of shock as it only took a week!

I think they want me out there in 2/3 weeks so I'd better pull my finger out.

Hopefully, this gives some of you hope that good things are just around the corner.

Steve

That's bloody awesome if not a bit shocking...busy few weeks for you

Congratulations

**guest59652** · 26-10-2011, 11:24 AM

Good info middo. The 457 is indeed a stressful process - its even more stressful as you have to work for 1 company and the employer holding the job for you is the reason that you have the visa. Lots of positives and negatives of the 457. I have been criticised previously about my forthright views on the 457.
The main points from threads i have led on the 457 is simply this: good points - quick, gets you into australia, counts towards future citizenship. It is a live for the moment visa but it is not a life changing visa - it can give experiences and its a visa where seizing the moment is imperative but you could be back in the uk in 28 days after ANY TIME if the company cuts jobs, goes bust etc with little protection for employees.
Be aware of all the facts - it is a work permit for temporary residence - it is not much more than that - therefore rent properties for 6 months not 1 year - all these little details DO COUNT. There are lots of 457ers here who have come out knowing these limitations but there are those with large families who come out on 457s 'migrating'. Be aware of these things and take careful heed.

**pintpot** · 26-10-2011, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by Marchman

it is a work permit for temporary residence

That's the key thing*. You're not emigrating on that visa - you are going to work for company x, and company x has organised a work permit for you

Which is fine so long as you know that, and whatever your family situation. You need to be prepared to go back if it doesn't suit you. Alternatively if it does suit you and you want to stay more permanently as a migrant, when you're in Oz on the 457 look into the means of achieving that

Hope it all works out for you, and good luck
:)

*It (the 457) doesn't purport to be anything other than that either, of course. It's when people think it's something it's not that problems can arise

**middo2905** · 26-10-2011, 11:38 AM

Cheers - and thanks for the advice.

We're going into this with our eyes wide open and as we haven't got kids, it's an opportunity that we'd regret forever if we didn't take. i shall be doing everything in my power to make things work but understand that on a 457, this may not always be in my control.

What happens in the future - who knows? I'm just happy to have been given this opportunity in the first place.

Steve

**pintpot** · 26-10-2011, 11:44 AM

Good luck to you

We're going out on a 457 even though we *do* have kids

In my line of business you tend to work overseas quite a lot - Australia will be my fourth country outside the UK I'll have worked. In 2 of them I couldn't have taken my family at all (even if I'd wanted to), and in the other 2 there's no such thing as "permanent residence" - it's work permits only; people still take their families with them to places like that, because it's preferable to working away. No biggy. A 457 is only insecure if you're seeing it from the PoV of someone whose aim is primarily to migrate. If your aim is primarily to take advantage of a work or business opportunity then it's different

**n8111445** · 26-10-2011, 01:44 PM

Congrats to you!

Can I ask...what evidence did you prove as your de facto info? Also, who did you get to certify you documents? Thanks

**middo2905** · 26-10-2011, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by pintpot

Good luck to you

Thanks pintpot, good luck to you to!

n8111445 - to prove our relationship, we provided; Car Insurance - we are on each others policy for the last 3 years, proof we've been living together - wage slips/bank statements for 12 months, flight tickets with both names on, holiday photos - say cheese!! Plus a written statement from each of us detailing our relationship - how we met, how the relationship progressed, how things are now, etc. We didn't have to get the statements certified due to the fact we had evidence we'd lived together for 12 months.

Hope this helps.