DeeTowers

@scubacamWhen are you moving to Sydney? I moved here 6 years ago and rented for 5 years with 2 cats, we came first got the rental sorted and then shipped them over -we had 3 rentals in that time and had no problem with the cats - the agent added a "Pet" clause to the agreements basically steam cleaning all the carpets before we moved out, cats had to be kept in a night which is a given here anyway, and pay for any damage - Pretty understandable and something we would have done anyway. As previously mentioned, agents won't touch you until you are here - 99% of all Sydney rentals have inspection days so you will be looking at them in 15minute slots usually on a Wednesday and Saturday with all the other wannabe tenants - its pretty brutal and you have to plan your day around the inspection slots - most agents won't do private viewings as the current tenants are usually in situ, saying that I got 1 private inspection as the house was empty and I was already renting via that agent. My main advice is BE PREPARED, if you think by the online pictures that it is the house for you download and complete the application for before going and take copies of you passports, visas, banks summaries etc... so that you can hand to the agent on the day if you like it. Also be prepared for large numbers attending the open days. Best places to look is Realestate.com.au and Domain.com.au - Do not filter "pets accepted" when searching - you will usually see in the description if pets are a no no - so if there is nothing to say that they are not accepted just put them on the application form and the agent/owners then look at what applications they have received and who they want to give it to. happy to answer any Q's - just PM me. What part of Sydney are you looking at? Good Luck!

Hi, I would speak to a registered migrant agent for advice. However the 457 visa was abolished last month and replaced with a more stricter temporary visa so you you may want to take a look at this https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/457-abolition-replacement.

You do know that the 457 VISA has been abolished??? It was announced on the 18th of April and has now been replaced by 2 new visas and different skill lists - you may want to read more here https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/457-

Depends on what your budget is and what requirements you want in a property - everyone wants close to the beach and the city so rental prices are very high. You have other suburbs like the Innerwest which is a great commute to the CBD but not by a beach, however the beach is not a long drive away. Have you looked at realestate.com.au?

http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-has-banned-457-visas/news-story/7064434e051073a0882a3e11dd8bc87f

If you get the FIRB Auction pass this covers you for multiple auctions so if you do not win one you can use it for the next, and the next etc... for up to 12months - you cannot however make an offer before auction as this would be the other approval for a named dwelling. Agree with the house prices and we found a cracker that we wanted to go for so paid the $10k for the auction FIRB pass which we are glad we did as we got the house which has increased by a significant amount over the past 10 months which has more than covered the outlay of the FIRB piece of paper! Good Luck!!

Permanent means permanent and you can come and go as you please - We transitioned last year from a 457 to 186 PR and love the security of having PR - We have been in and out of the country a few times on holidays and visits back to the UK - the only difference is when you fill out the departure and landing cards you will not be a temporary entrant any more and the feeling is amazing ticking that PR box! Enjoy it :-) You are right about leaving for a longer term (5 years i think) and then you have to get a resident return visa - but we have no intention of being away that long and are going for citizenship this year.

I agree - Everything has changed so much in the past 2 years for non PR purchasers - We brought last year and only 2 banks would lend to a 457 holder (Wespac and St George) So we had pre-approval for St George but as we got PR During the settlement period we got a better deal with another lender and went with them.

Hi There, that is correct as you are not a resident. You also need to apply for FIRB approval too (Foreign Investment Approval) which is $5-10k (depending on house value) and you need to be careful on which one you choose because you can get a certificate that allows you to go to auction on any property OR approval to purchase a dwelling with a known address but becareful if it falls through you have to buy another approval for any other dwellings you wish to purchase. We went the Auction certificate route as Sydney is all auctions and were ok but have since become residents. You will find a lot of obstacles because you are not a resident - I would wait until you get residency because a 457 is only a temporary visa - what if you get made redundant? You MUST sell your house in accordance with FIRB rules as you cannot rent it out and go back to the UK. Think long and hard - we did and only decided to buy because our PR was nearly processed and we wanted the house we bid on. https://firb.gov.au/real-estate/ Also you do ot get a refund on FIRB approval if you get PR before you settle - We were 457 at auction but got PR 3 weeks later before settlement on the house and the FIRB said tough luck! We factored the cost into our Sydney house though and have more than made it back :-) Good luck :-)

Not sure if you are still looking for processing times but as of yesterday the Department released "Global Visa and Citizen Processing Times" which will be updated monthly - The current processing time for citizenship is 10-12months. Website link below: https://www.border.gov.au/about/access-accountability/service-standards/global-visa-citizenship-processing-times

We started the house search while on a 457 waiting for our PR - We had pre- approval from the bank with a 10% deposit and had our FIRB (Foreign Investment Approval) certificate as we were not PR at that time. We went to Auction as 457 temporary visa holders, won and then our PR came through 2 weeks later so we had a better choice of lender, shopped around and settled on the house less than 6 weeks after auction. We are now the proud owners of a piece of Sydney!!!!

We used AP last year and I cannot fault them at all. Having lived in Sydney for 4 years we decided to sell our UK home in order to buy here so had to go back and clear out the attic and shed which were locked full of our possessions away from the tenants. We had 6 days to go back and decide what we wanted and what needed to be disposed off or taken to charity shops, once we had what we wanted it was time to fly home to Sydney so before we left we put the items in a storage locker near my mum, gave here the keys and flew back. While I was in the UK I created an inventory of all the items so this made it easy to get quotes, I cant remember all of the companies I went to but we chose AP because of the customer service and the fact that I was not there and mum would have to let them into the locker. AP were not the cheapest but they were not the most expensive - We had a lot of stuff but not enough for a full container so it was shared. On collection day the communication with mum mum was excellent, they turned up when they said they would, she let them in and then sat on a pop up chair for 1/2 a day with a flask of tea and her sandwiches while they wrapped, packed and boxed everything - even the boxes I had packed myself they re-packed to make sure they were secure. My glasses, glass Xmas decorations and anything other that was extremely fragile were put in wooden boxes for extra protection - The collection guys were super friendly with my mum and it could not have gone any smoother! They shipped our belongings in Aug last year and we received it beginning of December which was a month after they estimated but we were not in a hurry for it and they kept us informed. My experience was 10/10 especially being as I was not there in charge to manage the collection, my mum also praised their professionalism and the friendliness of the staff. Also zero damage or breakage but then I put that down to their packing/materials as there were heaps of it when I unpacked the other end!!!

Yes Low Risk

No, all docs, medicals and police checks were submitted all at once with the nom and visa on the same day - they only asked for one extra thing on the 11th of June when the nom was granted and we got the visa on the 1st of July. To be honest we were expecting a 6-8month wait and didn't know they were picking up March files so we are thankful for the short turnaround.

Management Consultant

It does happen, my nom and visa were lodged 29 March 16, nom granted 11 June 16 and was asked for some additional info, visa granted 1st Jul 16 - 3months 2 days. Have hope people!

Thank you! Management Consultant NSW (Sydney)

We did indeed, and in 3 months too! Still pinching myself. Good luck everyone!

We have been on several 457 visas due to redundancies over the past 5 years so we had to provide what visa grant numbers were one and when while living in Australia but you will have all that when your 457 is granted. As for fees the ENS 186 VISA is $3600AUD for the main applicant and subsequent applicants over 18 is $1800AUD per applicant, the MA fees vary but $5000AUD would be in the right ballpark - So for 2 adults applying via an MA would be circa $10,000AUD. You can do it without an MA so would only need to pay the Visa fess.

Hi There, we have just submitted for PR from a 457 and you will pretty much need to supply everything again. We have done it via an MA but still needed to submit passports etc.. again. The medicals have to be done here at a BUPA migration medical centre as you need to pee in a cup, give blood, have an X-ray amongst other things! As for police checks these are done online for the UK and AU and take a few weeks to be sent back to you. Everything else you will have with you like 457 info, grant numbers, passports etc.. Hope that helps :-)

Go for it, if you have any questions or queries feel free to reach out - I am not a qualified expert but certainly have had 5 years experience of 457 visas!!!

Totally agree, we would have regretted not doing it and even if we had to go home I still would not regret doing it!

Hi there, I hope my experience will help you! Hubby and I came out on his 457 in July 2011, we knew it was a temporary visa and therefore did not sell our UK house, and put all our possessions and car in storage - we treated it as an adventure knowing we may never get permanent residency but we had no kids and felt it would be awesome to work in another country and live in Sydney. All was going well but my hubby was told he would be made redundant 9months after coming over - we were gutted but always new the risks, also back then you only had 28days from the time you finish to find a new sponsor or leave. Thankfully they gave him about 4months notice of the redundancy and asked him to stay until the end offering a good package to do so. During that 4 months my company decided to sponsor me so we then went onto my 457 visa which was awesome and we continued as normal, hubby stayed until the end and then found a new job with no worries. I had been at my company and on my visa for nearly 2 years (which is when a company can decide whether to sponsor you for PR) and guess what...... I got made redundant - again we knew the visa was only temporary but being so close to PR was heartbreaking - Anyway the good thing was that the rules had changed and instead of 28days we now had 3 months to find a new sponsor or leave the country - All the time we knew we had everything to go back to in the UK except jobs - We had had an awesome time in OZ and it was a great life experience so if we went home we knew we had had a blast! Hubby's new company (massive Telco) didn't want to lose him so guess what - we got sponsored again! YAY! We did make a pact though that if redundancy happened again we would not try for another 457 and go home with awesome memories. Well that was 1 year and 11 months ago and the company want to sponsor him/us for PR via the 457 pathway - We are over the moon and have already done the police checks and medicals ready to submit in March - they have already enlisted a agent for us and have given written guarantee of his job etc... Obviously its not final until we get the PR, anything can happen and we are not getting comfy until we see that PR grant but its an exciting time for us. I am 38 and my husband is 48 so it was now or never for him due to the age limit of 50. The moral of my story is that the 457 visa IS only temporary, there are no guarantees and redundancy does strike (twice in our case!!!). You need to come with the attitude that anything can and will happen and you have to be prepared to go home to the UK - many do not make it to PR via this visa. We have been on a roller coaster ride for nearly 5 years but have loved every minute of living and working here and are looking forward to hopefully calling Oz our permanent home but like I said until I see that PR grant I am still prepared for anything. There are good and bad stories about the 457 visa but is was the only option for us as we are not on the skilled SOL list only the CSOL which needed sponsorship- it is not for everyone - we have also been very lucky that we have been re-sponsored when redundancy hit. I hope this gives you an insight into the ups and downs of the 457 - I am glad I did it, its been a great life experience but you must come with the mindset that is it temporary and nothing else or it will eat you up worrying about getting PR or going home. Good luck!

Why do you need to return to sell your houses? We have just sold ours form Oz and it was relatively easy. The house had tenants in which were the main obstacle but we were able to liaise with our agent every evening after viewings and during offer negotiation. It was pretty stressful due to the tenants not allowing access all the time but it was a lot easier than all the upheaval of moving back and we exchanged and completed within 8 weeks. I appreciate everyone's situ is different but it is not a daunting as you think selling from the other side of the world! Good luck :-)

I used FlyPets.co.uk for my 2 kitties who I cannot recommend enough, I was already in Oz and they were staying with my friend until we had found a place to live and then we sent for them about a month later. All the paperwork was simple, Price was not bad and they gave us a double create so they were next to each other during the trip which was on BA via Singapore.