Hi Dawn & Family
Welcome to Poms in Oz.
Errm. I'm not persuaded by the advice you have been offered.
Basically, if Hubby's skills have not been assessed before you go to Oz then you will not be able to upgrade to a
PR visa unless either Hubby gets a skills assessment whilst he is in Oz or he has spent 2 complete years working in Oz onthe 457 visa.
Because of the need to prove his chain of employment and so on (and to get refereces from satisfied customers etc if he has been self-employed) it tends to be far easier to get all the evidence together before one leaves for Oz. By remaining inthe UK until the skills assessment is complete, one is also in a better position to obtain additional evidence etc should it be required by TRA.
Billy braveheart on here is a brickie and he was in an identical delimma a little under a year ago. One of the volunteer Migration Agents who helps out with this forum advised him strongly that he should secure a TRA assesment before applying for the visa.
That was done and Billy passed it at the first attempt. The 457 was granted and the family then went to Perth. They had only been there for 3 months on probabation, as agreed with Bily's sponsor/employer, before they were able to get the ball rolling towards their ENS
PR visa, which will probably be granted sometime around July 2008.
Apart from the advantage of obtaining
PR at an earlier stage, this has other implications as well. It is a lot easier and cheaper to buy a house if one has
PR because PRs get financial breaks with the house-buying process which are not available to those with Temporary Residence only.
As far as I know (but you would need to check) WA does not charge school fees forthe children of Temporary Residents but NSW, for instance, does and apparently the cost is around $5,000 AUD per annum per child.
Britons with Temporary Residencein Oz do get restricted rights to Medicare under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement betwen the UK and Oz, but this only extends to the provision of "necessary" medical services. Anything which is not medically essntial would have to be paid for privately and so forth. PRs get immediate access to full Medicare.
Of course it suits the employer and their Migration Agents to gloss over these details because they want Hubby out in Oz asap, using his skills to the employer's advantage. It is of no consquence to the employer or his Agent if you end up with aless favourable overall "package" than you might otherwise have been able to secure.
For instance, with a successful TRA assessment under his belt Hubby would be in a better positin to insist that the employer helps him to upgrade to
PR quickly - if that is agreed then it should be an express term of the Contract, set out in writing and signed for by both parties.
Some people are in a situaton where a successful TRA assessment would not be possible - for instance where the person has no formal qualifications in his/her field. OK - those people have a choice about whether or not they are willing to risk two years minimumin Oz without Permanent Residence or necessarily even any pronmise of it.
Others, such as Billy, are in a stronger position before they ever commit themselves to going to Oz.
I think you should take a step back and investigate ALL the potential implications of your options before you allow anyone to rush you into anything,
Best wishes
Gill
Thank's for that , Thats what we had originally thought. Hope to be in touch Soon. x
