pominengland

As far as I can remember, 6 months Australian work experience in your occupation is worth quite a lot of points, 5 or 10, when you are applying for PR, so if you are on any sort of temporary visa, it all counts.

If you are under 31, what about going on the Working Holiday Visa? It's as cheap as chips, and I think you can extend it to 2 years if you spend 3 months in your first year picking fruit. (At least you could the last time I looked). That would give a good idea if you liked working there or not without blowing loads of money on 457's, etc.

That was a reply to whichway on page 1, but it has appeared out of sequence.

That was pretty much my experience.

Johneboy78, Having worked in Australia on a 457 visa, I would say that you should regard it for what it is-a temporary work visa. I was sponsored by a similar agency as part of my visa conditions. However, a lot of money was deducted from my wage packet each month, a lot more than if I was a permanent resident. I worked for one person, who employed me through this agency. The main downside of this was that if I was laid off by my employer, I had 30 days to find another job, or my visa would be cancelled. This is no mean feat, as nobody wants to employ a jobless person with visa problems. Also, your employer can hold you to ransom for this reason. They can treat you pretty much how they like, as long as they pay you the minimum wage stipulated in the visa conditions (about $45000 when I was there, I think). So if you become unhappy in your job, it will become extremely difficult to get another. Ultimately, the 457 visa leads nowhere except back to the UK. You don't qualify for permanent residence by completing 4 years on a 457. So it doesn't make sense treat it as a permanent move, because, unless your employer then agrees to sponsor you for permanent residence while you are working for them, you will be returning home at the end of your visa. (Maybe you could extend your 457 by another 4 years, 8 years on a temporary visa is a bit pointless because you will return to the UK a lot older and everything will have moved on.) The best option is to go for General Skilled Migration, because you can work for anyone and stay in the country as long as you like then, even if you have no job (funds permitting). However, if you don't qualify for this, then anything you go for is more of a gamble. The idea behind the State Sponsored Visa is to prevent migrants from going straight to Sydney or Melbourne, etc., and if you manage to find a job there then the reasoning goes that you are unlikely then to move. Especially if you meet an Aussie girlfriend during that time, and so become an integral part of the SA economy. But State Sponsorship does not guarantee you a job, that is down to you to find. I would imagine that jobs are scarcer in SA than Sydney. However, I am not sure if you would have to restrict yourself to working in IT if on a State Sponsorship visa. You would have to check, but I think you could probably work in any industry you liked, for as low a salary as you can bear, as long as it was in SA, so you could get by until a decent job came up. You could fly to Sydney once every few months to see your friends if you want from SA. If you were determined to work in Sydney, you should bear in mind that you can be sacked or laid off at any moment, the employer is under no obligation to continually employ you, so in that way, you are taking a gamble. Also, even if you are doing fantastically well, your employer may not want to commit to sponsoring you, again leaving you with no option but to come home at the end of your visa. So it's up to you. If you are young (30 or under) it may be a risk you may want to take, because if it doesn't work out, you will be young enough to carry on as if nothing had happened. But the older you are, the riskier it gets in terms of giving up a secure job, splashing out on visas, cars, accommodation, etc., and being unable to put down roots in Australia. Much more difficult to pick up the pieces if you are 40+, I know, it knocked me back a few years financially when I had to return to the UK. I should add I eventually obtained PR and full Citizenship before returning to the UK, due to my trade being in demand at the time. PR wasn't easy to get then, but it was a lot easier than it is now. I hope this helps, good luck with whatever you decide. Pominengland