Over 45yr old wanting to Migrate to Australia

[Martin R]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum, so apologies if this topic covered before.

My Wife and I are keen to move to Australia to work. My 3 Kids are off my hands now, and my Wife's daughter lives near Surfer's, QLD.

I have two problems with Visas:
-I'm 47yrs old.
-My background is Medical Diagnostics Sales & Marketing (i.e. not on the SOL).

Can anyone offer advice on what I can do to improve my chances of getting Down under?
I'm not overly fussed about doing exactly the same type of job, or even where I do it in Oz.

Would I stand a better chance by taking a gamble and going down there under tourist Visa or applying for Holiday working Visa etc ?
Thanks
Martin

[pom64]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum, so apologies if this topic covered before.

My Wife and I are keen to move to Australia to work. My 3 Kids are off my hands now, and my Wife's daughter lives near Surfer's, QLD.

I have two problems with Visas:
-I'm 47yrs old.
-My background is Medical Diagnostics Sales & Marketing (i.e. not on the SOL).

Can anyone offer advice on what I can do to improve my chances of getting Down under?
I'm not overly fussed about doing exactly the same type of job, or even where I do it in Oz.

Would I stand a better chance by taking a gamble and going down there under tourist Visa or applying for Holiday working Visa etc ?
Thanks
Martin

Hi Martin
And welcome

I think the cut of age for a skilled visa is 45 and a working holiday visa is 30 so these options are really a option for you buddy i think that the best route for you is employer sponsor ship but i might be totally wrong if i am gill god bless her will put things right for me
regards
pom64

[Gollywobbler]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum, so apologies if this topic covered before.

My Wife and I are keen to move to Australia to work. My 3 Kids are off my hands now, and my Wife's daughter lives near Surfer's, QLD.

I have two problems with Visas:
-I'm 47yrs old.
-My background is Medical Diagnostics Sales & Marketing (i.e. not on the SOL).

Can anyone offer advice on what I can do to improve my chances of getting Down under?
I'm not overly fussed about doing exactly the same type of job, or even where I do it in Oz.

Would I stand a better chance by taking a gamble and going down there under tourist Visa or applying for Holiday working Visa etc ?
Thanks
Martin

Hi Martin

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

The only long term option for you would be employer-sponsorship, I suspect, since you are over 45.

Please consider the detailed jobs listed in the ASCO Code, below:

1220.0 - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, 1997=

ASCO is divided into 9 Major Groups. The first figure in the 6-digit Code denotes the Major Groups. If your occupation is within Groups 1-4, you should be OK for employer sponsorship. Group 4 is the skilled tradespersons so effectively you will be confined to Groups 1-3. Have a look at the detailed tasks for some of the occupations in those Groups, I suggest.

Times Is Hard in Australia at the moment. Unemployment is high, which has given many an Aussie an unexpected fright. A lot of Aussies have accepted a cut in hours and a corresponding cut in pay rather than risk losing their jobs altogether.

The problems are worst on the Eastern coast of Oz. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all have disproportionately high populations compared to the rest of habitable Australia.

The Aussie Minister for Immi has several objectives in mind. The upshot has been a major crackdown from him on Immigration since the beginning of 2009 and I suspect that he plans to crack down even harder in the coming months.

2010 is a General Election Year in Oz. Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Immi, is part of Kevin Rudd's Labor Government. They only gained power in November 2007 and they are determined to hang on to it for as long as possible.

I sense that the Aussie Voter does now have a pretty strong feeling about protecting and preserving Australia for the people who are already there, and who already have Aussie Citizenship or Permanent Residency. My sister has been based in Perth, WA, for just over 30 years now. Her two sons were both born in Perth. They are now just 13 and nearly 16. Elaine's instinct is to protect her two children. If Immigration would take job etc prospects away from her boys then Elaine would say, "No more skilled migrants," for sure.

There are LOADS of other factors in the overall equation - as everyone knows - but I think that choosing your preferred location and then expecting a reasonably local employer to sponsor you for a job and a visa has become a thing of the past and is likely to remain a thing of the past, quite honestly. If you search the whole continent then you might be lucky and might find the magic employer, but sod's law says that he will be in a State which is distant - possibly far distant - from QLD, let alone the crowded location of Surfers Paradise. I think you will need to be realistic about your prospects, my friend.

You are too old for Working Holiday visas. 31 is the cut off age for those.

Visa Options - Working Holiday - Visas & Immigration

That only leaves you with Tourist visas if you want the security of a job to come home to in the UK:

Tourists - Visitors - Visas & Immigration

Just occasionally a tourist visa leads to an offer of a job and an employer-sponsored visa but more often than not it merely provides a chance for an expensive look-see in Australia. As with British Citizens in the UK, the average Aussie employer is aware of Immigration, of course, but doesn't have a clue how any of it works and shies away from finding out. Immigration is not the core business that keeps his company profitable so he won't waste time on it on the whole. Similarly, I live in the UK and I'm a British Citizen. I've only got the most hazy idea of employer-sponsored visas for the UK. That is, I believe and assume that they are possible. Beyond that, I don't know a darned thing about the subject - AND - I don't want to know anything about it, either.

In the Good Years of the Global Boom, I'd have asked whether you would be prepared to risk all of your capital on a Student Visa for Oz? They are VERY expensive because International Students have to pay International Student rates. However they do provide limited work-rights: 20 hours a week for the Student during term time and unlimited hours during the College/Uni vacations mostly, plus the Student's Partner can do 20 hours a week but no more. International Students usually find that they can't get worthwhile jobs in Oz because the 20 hours' a week limit is intended to keep International Students out of the mainstream workforce. That idea works.

A Student Visa - or a packaged series of them - could put you in Oz for quite a while, though, and the prospects of an employer-sponsored visa are definitely better if one lives in Oz than if one does not. If this idea is of interest, I'd say that you should speak with Stefan Watts at Study Options in London:

Study Options: Free student advice for Australia or New Zealand

I'm not a migration agent so I don't know all of the details. I merely look after PiO quite a lot. I have phoned Stefan once. A chap on PiO was asking about Painting & Decorating as an International Student. As far as I could tell from the CRICOS website, it is only possible to do P&D as an International Student in Brisbane.

Thinking that I had better double check this, I rang up Stefan. Immediately he said, "Brisbane is the chap's only option and you are not as useless with the CRICOS website as you imagine!" Then we got chatting generally and I really liked Stefan. He is completely honest and he does not bull****. He knows much more about the Student Option than I do, so if this is of interest, please give him a ring.

There are elaborate schemes if you have the capital and the appetite for a risk. Charlatans (of which there are many in the UK) claim that one can obtain a Student Visa for Oz at any age - which is true. That gets you into Oz. Then you invest in a business in Oz (controlled by the charlatan unless you are bluddy sensible and bluddy wary - which most people aren't.) Via the business, an Established Business Visa becomes possible in theory:

Established Business in Australia (Subclass 845)

In practice, the schmuck of a Briton puts the money into a failing business which is controlled by the charlatan's puppets. They nick the money and vanish. DIAC kick the Student/Investor out of Australia, minus a whole load of money. I've seen it happen and it is a classic sting in my opinion.

If you are wealthy enough to start with AND your advisors are honest, the idea is potentially feasible - which is why it also sounds feasible to the shmuck who fails to make sufficiently careful enquiries, as well.

Another way, I believe (but I am not sure) is that you pay for your step-daughter to establish a business in Oz. The business then employs you on an employer-sponsored subclass 457 visa to start with, to be followed by employer-sponsored Permanent Residency. I don't know the details but I know a man who does know them.

If you have the money and are willing to risk it, in your shoes I would speak with Alan Collett of Go Matilda. Alan is in their Geelong office. His credentials are above reproach and since he is an accountant as well as a RMA, he knows all the nuances of the Brainy Ideas.

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - Contact and Feedback

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - Contact and Feedback

With some thoughts, Alan might say, "Gollywobbler is talking rubbish. She is wrong about how the XYZ idea works." Which is fine with me. The forum provides the gist and the ideas, not the answers. Or he might say, "She is roughly on the right track but there is more to it than she realises." That is fine with me as well. He might well also know of ideas that I don't know about.

Cheers

Gill

[Karenaz1]

Hi Martin,

As far as I am aware the only option for you would be to either go and study over there, a skill that is in the current occupation in demand list,or re-train in the UK. When you have a skill that's in demand then you can still go over 45yrs old providing you're willing to work and live in a regional area and get an employer to sponsor you.

I hope this helps, itf you want any further information, pm me

Cheers
Karen

[wrussell]

Check your email.

[Martin R]

Ladies and Gents,
I am truly awestruck by the advice and encouraging comments.
Thank you.

Martin

PS Nothing in my life has been easy or handed to em on a plate. So a long hard slog getting Down Under is no obstacle for me.

[adonna]

Ladies and Gents,
I am truly awestruck by the advice and encouraging comments.
Thank you.

Martin

PS Nothing in my life has been easy or handed to em on a plate. So a long hard slog getting Down Under is no obstacle for me.

Cant really help with anything constructive when it comes to Migration as Im pretty much in the same boat but am re-training in the UK, for now. .. ..

Just want to wish you best of luck and you certainly sound determined enough to make it happen so good luck with it all

[tiemekanga]

Hi Martin, just wanted to make a suggestion to you regarding getting you into oz to be with your family. I too am over 45 but have the right skills for OZ. It was suggested to me by a migration agent that I consider moving to NZ first as they except skilled migrants up to 55. When you have been there for 2 years you can move to OZ. Check it out with a migration agent - thats what they are for. I can recommend Concept Australia.

All the best with your plans and I wish you luck.

[Martin R]

Thanks Tiemekanga,

I spoke with MigrationExpert today.
The NZ route had been suggested, but ME didn't think it should be my first line of attack. Having said that, I have friends in Tauranga who are making enquiries for me.

The Employer Sponsored Visa (Temp or Perm) will be my best approach. The two main problems with this (as mentioned by others in this chain) are Finding a wiliing Employer to start with, and also overcoming the (understandable) ignorance of Immigration matters from Employers. I found out a lot today, and I know the ESV will be tricky, but it's not as complex, long winded or expensive as I first imagined.

Thanks again
Martin