Mark & Amanda.

[ajvincent]

Hi all. My husband & myself along with our 2 children 9 & 5 are looking to come to oz. my husband is an office manager but only for a small company & I work for a bank (Halifax). We really don't know where to start. Been thinking about it for about a year now, time ticking by and now we are 35. Do you think we have a chance?

[ali]

Hi Mark and Amanda, welcome to PIO. Everyone has a chance. If neither of you has skills/jobs on the occumpation in demand list - then it's probably best to speak to an agent. Most will offer a free 15 min consulte to point you in the direction of which visa. Go Matilda and Visa Bureau are two that get recommended alot on here. If you do a search of old threads I know Gill (gollywobbler) has posted their links (or just google them to save time)

~Ali~

[ajvincent]

Thanks for that Ali. I will ring a couple tomorrow. As i said I work for the Halifax which is part of westpac. They will transfer me if I get my own visa. My hubby is a bit unsure of this as he thinks they will send us back once my term has come to an end. I really want us to give it a go!! :)

[calNgary]

Hiya welcome to poms ,,as Ali says id speak with an agent about the options you have and unless westpac sponser you and your family ,you wont be tied to them anyway,good luck with everything
Cal x

[Gollywobbler]

Hiya

As I understand it, if the Halifax/Wetpac are willing to sponsor you, they would usually offer you a subclass 457 visa to start with, which is temporary but is an employer sponsored visa.

The contract generally contains a provision that they will offer to sponsor you for PR under an ENS subclass 856 visa after a year if they are happy with your performance and you want to stay in Australia.

Most of the Migration Agents seem to reckon that this is a stupid approach from the employer's point of view because there are more fetters on the employer under a 457 visa than there are with an 856 visa.

I would suggest that you should speak with Go Matilda and maybe instruct them to correspond with your HR Department for you. Their contact details are here:

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - Contact and Feedback

However, would you qualify for a skilled independent visa in your own right? If so, then all you want from the bank is an offer of employment from Westpac - with no obligation to work for them if you don't want to.

"I work for the Halifax" is too vague, chooks! Precesely what is your role in the Halifax? Please see the following links:

Is your occupation in demand? - Workers - Visas & Immigration

Are you an accountant or an IT wizard by any chance?

Here is the full list of recognised skills. Scour it because often some lateral thinking is required to find the right skill-description and code.

A-Z Occupations List - Australian Skills Recognition Information

Workers - Visas & Immigration

Information Booklets - Applications & Forms - Visas & Immigration

Best wishes

Gill

[ajvincent]

Hi Gill. Thanks for that. I have contacted go matilda & they don't really think we have a chance of getting there.
like i said i work for the halifax - in a branch as a sales consultant/customer services. i have worked for them for 19yrs but not as a skilled occupation. sorry i'd said west pac i meant bank west. they will not sponsor my level out there, they have said that i would need to obtain my own visa then they would look at transferring me.
my hubby has worked for the same company for 13yrs although he is classed as an office manager he does other work ie. fork lift driving, deliveries. we did look on the shell site in australia and the job he does here is available there but he doesn't have a degree.
who else could i speak to? how do other people get there who do not have a skilled job? we would have approx £140k to go with.
sorry for being so vague. just need help to do this. x