Guest Momome Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Hello Everyone We would like to emigrate to OZ when my Husband retires from the Police force in 4 years time. He will be 49 and I will be 46. Looking at the visa information, it looks like it is almost impossible for us on the points system, but I have to admit that I have only read a small amount of information and don't really know where to start! I don't know if our work experience will count for anything. I work for a travel company as an office manager. I know it's a long way off before we can emigrate, but any advice will be welcome. The only thing we have going for us is a good Police Pension and our mortgage will be paid off so we will have the money from the sale of our home. Best wishes Momome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andy Chapman Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Hi and welcome to Poms In Oz. As you say it will be very difficult for you to emigrate to Australia due to your ages unless you have adequate savings of $750,000 + but as your still young enough to work it may be different for you. I tried but failed misserably and was told the best thing i could do was to rent in Oz for 6 months and return to the UK for 6 months, which i plan on doing on retirement in 8yrs. Hopefully other members may know different, i hope so. Good luck in your search. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Hello Momome Welcome to Poms in Oz. Right now, you are a 42 year old Office Manager, potentially. Office Manager 3291-11 - Australian Skills Recognition Information However:- How big is the Travel Agency that you manage? How many staff etc? How long have you been the Manager for? What sort of travel does it deal with? Holidays or business? Do you hold any formal qualifications? If so, which ones, please? Potentially there might be a way to get Permanent Residency for you, independently of an employer, via the subclass 176 visa with State Sponsorship from the Australian Capital Territory. Right now they are offering to sponsor suitable applicants who are Office Managers for the 176 visa but no other State or Territory is making the same offer. If everything comes together on the day and you succeed in securing a 176 visa for yourself, Hubby and any children who are still wholly or substantially dependent on you financially (automatic if the child is under 18 when the visa is granted but otherwise not automatic) then you will have Permanent Residency in Australia. You would not have to move there immediately, though. With the 176 visa you have to go to Oz fairly soon after the Grant of the visa, using the 176 visa and the whole family must make the journey. This act of Initial Entry to Oz clinches the visa and a short rekky visit will do for the purpose. Everybody included in the visa then has 5 years from the date of the Grant in which to “move to Oz” properly. Therefore if – IF - this possibility works out for you, you would get exactly what you are looking for once Hubby retires from the Police. The deal with State Sponsorship is that in return for the support of the relevant State Government, you agree to live in the Sponsoring state for 2 years once you make your permanent move to Oz. During the 2 years you have to keep the State Migration people informed of your address because they will send you a questionnaire once every 6 months (4 in total.) The purpose of the questionnaire is solely to provide feedback to the State’s migration people so that they can assess how well their sponsorship program is working out for the migrants involved. I’m not a migration agent so I can’t offer anything except my own thoughts and suggestions. I strongly recommend that if you want to pursue the possibility, you should seek advice from a top notch Registered Migration Agent. The one I would particularly suggest for you is George Lombard in Sydney: Visa Info | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd. Profile | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd. The reason why I would go to George in your shoes is because he was born & brought up in Canberra, worked for the Australian Federal Government there for some years and he only moved to Sydney about 9 or 10 years ago, I believe. An Agent who knows Canberra as well as George does is helpful just for that, for a start. Also I reckon George would have a very sure “feel” for whether the whole idea would really be likely to work in your particular case because of his knowledge of Canberra and he is also likely to have a very good nose for the mindset of the ACT Government, I reckon. I imagine Canberra is a good place for a travel agent because it is the Government’s HQ. Any Govt Department with an international element to its work involves middle-rank and senior Civil Servants doing a huge amount of overseas business travel between them. A lot of them (and in the domestic Departments) do a heck of a lot of domestic travel as well, which in Oz would be mostly by air. I don’t know about tourism to Canberra but I should think there is a lot of tourism from Canberra because the ACT is so small that the locals would go elsewhere for their holidays. However there are also lots of queries with you, I think. I think George should be asked to take a look at your CV and then see what he thinks of the idea of an ACT-sponsored 176 visa for you. He might tell you, “Gill is the Patron Saint of Lost Causes! For the following reasons, the idea stands no chance… [xyz.]” However he might equally feel that the notion is do-able, so I would suggest that you ask him. Best wishes Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Momome Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Hello Gill Thanks for the information you sent me. It sounds promising at least and I'll look into it when I get a chance. I had no idea that you could apply up to 5 years before moving! I'm not sure if my experience will be good enough, as I work for a small company and there are only 6 of us. We specialise in tailor made holidays to two destinations. If my work experience doesn't help, I was wondering if we could come in on a Business application if we bought a B&B? These thoughts are all in the early stages yet, with hardly any research done (I'm sure you can tell haha). Thanks once again Momome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Momome Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Hi Andy Sorry to hear that your application failed. I don't think we could afford to keep a property in the UK, otherwise that would be a perfect plan. We have also thought of long term house swapping as often people are re located with jobs. This would give us time to decide whether we liked it enough to stay. We have swapped before and it worked out great but only a month at time. Regards Momome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Hello Gill Thanks for the information you sent me. It sounds promising at least and I'll look into it when I get a chance. I had no idea that you could apply up to 5 years before moving! I'm not sure if my experience will be good enough, as I work for a small company and there are only 6 of us. We specialise in tailor made holidays to two destinations. If my work experience doesn't help, I was wondering if we could come in on a Business application if we bought a B&B? These thoughts are all in the early stages yet, with hardly any research done (I'm sure you can tell haha). Thanks once again Momome Hi Momone Do you own the travel agency? Best wishes Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Momome Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi Gill No, unfortunately I don't own it! When I'm at home tonight, I am going to sit down with other half and look at our options. I know it's going to take time and it's a bit daunting. Are you living in OZ? Kind regards Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sassy123 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 you know we `oldies ` have a lot to offer really and no one will take us on!! pah! we are in the same boat...oh is 45 (46 feb) im 43 and would love to be able to go to oz but alas we have no actual quals... so dont think we have a cat in hells..but if anyone knows a way round that could help us itd be great. 20+ years landscaping (OH) self employed. partners actually.hard and soft landscaping spraying licence, clearance of electricity board sites so health and safety. Me .... bought up 2 kids (21 &19) bit of merchandising, book work, now do voluntary work for challenged kids to get them into work. thanks for any help( even if it means a bit of training which i could get from my vol work free.) sassy x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sandymc Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 hi momome, I went to Perth March 2008 for a visit and as a retired police officer I got in conversation with the local police(as you do) and part of the conversation came to the question from them was are you staying, as western australia police are screaming out for retired uk police officers to help to train recruits, I mentioned I was probably too old at 57 but he said no as they wanted experienced officers. Apparantly if you look at their website there is a link to look at for retired officers. Hope this gives you something else to think about, I still think about it !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Momome Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi Sandymc That sounds really promising! We need to stay in the UK for another 4 years so as my Husband gets his full police pension and also our daughter is off to University this coming September, so need to be around for her. My husband has been in the force for 22 years, so plenty of experience there! He was in the Navy beforehand, so that's why he can retire at 49. Do you not want to go yourself? Regards Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Momome Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi Sassy It's a shame we are written off at such a young age! We have only just started looking into moving over the last few days and haven't had much time to read up much. I'm hoping there is a way we can get round it though. Sounds like we need nerves of steel to plough through various application options though! Good luck x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sandymc Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I would love to go to Australia, but my wife still works in the force ops room, nearly 30 years and counting and we have two teenage sons of 16 and 17 (need I say more ) and to be honest I dont want to go back to work now I am happy living on the pension. Will just have to go for long holidays as I dont think I would qualify for a visa other that tourist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 To the OP (Momome): you will need a positive skills assessment if you are seeking to migrate under the skilled program as an Office Manager. Office Manager is assessed by the body called VETASSESS, and requires qualifications at least equivalent to an Australian Diploma to secure the skills assessment - VETASSESS doesn't look at work experience. Fortunately, it is possible to obtain a Diploma at a distance from a training provider in QLD called Orion Training - see Orion Training and Performance Management | Brisbane Training and Managment My understanding from other clients of ours is that Orion has regard to existing competencies in carrying out the assessment leading to qualification. Please send me a PM or an email if you would like details of our contact person at Orion. Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi Momone To migrate under Business Skills (ie you intend to buy into or start a business in Oz) I believe that you have to demonstrate that you own and run a successful business in the UK. Beyond that I know nothing about it. A B&B might not produce a high enough turnover to support the idea. Also I don't know how long the applicant has to have been a business owner for. Business - Visas & Immigration Australian Business Skills Entry Booklet As Alan Collett has said, if you were minded to try to apply for a visa based on the idea that you are an Office Manager, you would first need a formal qualification. If you do not already holder a Higher Diploma or similar, you might well have to consider getting the Orion Training AQF Diploma which Alan has mentioned before you could progress your plans anyway. You would also need to do the IELTS and score not less than 7.0 or above in each of the four Modules of the General Test: IELTS: International English Language Testing System You would need this in order to get enough Points for a skilled State sponsored visa. I think you need proper advice about what sort of selection criteria the ACT are likely to apply to Office Managers looking to them for State Sponsorship. http://www.business.act.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0003/124986/ACT_Skills_in_Demand_List_11_Oct_2008.doc The occupation is shown in Bold on the ACT List, which means they have set a quota about how many Office Managers they are willing to sponsor. However as far as I know they have not said how many and they have not published whatever selection criteria they are using in order to choose between the applicants. Another complication with you is that if there would be a long lead-in period before you could apply for State Sponsorship (eg you have to get a formal qualification before you can do anything else) the States all keep their respective lists of occupations that they are willing to sponsor under regular review. Each State can change its own lists whenever it likes and without giving any prior notice of an intention to do so. I think you ought to speak with George Lombard, definitely, because of the ACT angle in this and his personal knowledge of the ACT and its ways: Visa Info | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd. If studying the Business Skills stuff suggests that a Business Skills visa might become possible, I always recommend Alan Collett for those because he is a Chartered Accountant in both jurisdictions as well as a Registered Migration Agent. No business owner would make the move without an accountant being closely involved in my view: Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - Contact and Feedback Scroll the page upwards for numbers. Alan is based in GM's Melbourne office. I think you should probably talk with both Alan & George. You need to get advice based on experience with this stuff. The DIAC website cannot provide hands-on experience. Best wishes Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BarbaraQ Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I am a 46 year old teacher and would love to emigrate to Oz - any ideas along the same lines for me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I am a 46 year old teacher and would love to emigrate to Oz - any ideas along the same lines for me? Barbara the age limit is set to increase in july, search for the new points test and see if you pass. It could be hard to pass a there are no age points but worth a look I think. If you don't pass then I think employer sponsorship is the only option, however that also could be hard as it seems most teachers have trouble finding work once over there even if they have a visa. What age and subject do you teach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AustrAnglian Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hi Barbara, migration at age 45 or above is still possible but definitely with fewer options than for those aged 44 or under - mainly using the routes Pumpkin advises above. In your shoes I would consult with one or more registered migration agents. From what I've seen most of the good ones on PIO will give you a realistic initial assessment of your chances, and their initial consultations are usually for a nominal fee only. All the best and hope they find some options for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BarbaraQ Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hi, Thanks for replying. Im a secondary English teacher, with the Special Needs Certificate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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