juliepatterson

Thanks Lisa G, that's interesting. And congratulations too! I'm sure you're very excited to be starting your new chapter. Yes, I think my starting point is an initial consultation with the Emigration Group.

We applied for a state sponsorship to New South Wales, 2.5 years ago as my Husband's job was on the state skills shortage list and we used a registered agent for the 1st part of the process, verifying qualifications etc, which was a success. However, we decided to do the 2nd part ourselves (as we assumed it was straight forward) and were unsuccessful, as it seems the criteria changed since we applied and they asked for an IT Degree (for an IT job), yet Rick's degree is non-IT, but it was verified by the Computer Board, so it all left us very pained and confused. We have only just now managed to pay off the costs incurred to our credit card for doing this - a few grand! Now, my husband's job is only on one state skills shortage list - Northern Territory and it states that you need to have a job before you can get the visa. Back then, his job was listed across all the states. (His job is IT Systems Manager/Support Analyst.) There currently appears to be very little IT work available in Oz that's not software based. Therefore I'm worried we have 'missed the boat' and have no real chance of this. We are really very confused as to how to proceed. We are adamant that we wish to pursue our dream of living in Oz but the last thing we need is to cripple ourselves with more debt by using a migration agent if we are not successful again. We have 2 children aged 8 and 6 and as they are growing up fast, we want to do this asap. The last agent we used was based in Oz, contactable by email only, and due to the time difference and delays in responses, we found it very difficult communications-wise. If we could be pointed towards an agent who can give us honest, transparent advice and who is not one of the expensive ones, that may help! Or, is there someone out there who knows about the current job availability of IT Support roles across NSW/Perth/Adelaide (which are our preferred areas - we lived & worked across Oz on a working visa many moons ago, so know a bit about them!) that would be really helpful.

Thank you - that's very helpful. :wink:

Thanks guys! Ozmaniac - we thought that ICT Systems Engineer on the SOL is support-related no? (Rick's current job title is Systems Engineer.) Does anyone know where can we find job descriptions for these roles? I do see lots more ICT Support roles such as Systems Administrator/Manager on the CSOL too, but again I'd like to know what exactly these roles are and also how they are assessed by ACS. Thanks again for the links etc.

Hi, I'm new to this site and this forum, so apologies in advance for my obvious ignorance and excitement! Just beginning the long and arduous process of emigration to Oz. (Me, my Husband, and our 2 kids, age 7 and 5.) Rick and I worked and travelled in Oz (on a working Visa) 11 years ago (feels like yesterday ah!!!) and LOVED every minute of it! Although we know that our future in Oz will not be anything like our bumming/visitor experience, we are still very much of the opinion that Oz can offer a better future for us and our children, than the one we would have in Northern Ireland. So, we have decided to bite the bullet and having done some preliminary research online; I am already baffled.... Rick, (my hub) is an IT Support Specialist and his profession is listed on the SOL. I know that he will need to be assessed by ACS. My questions are :- Does he need to complete an Expression of Interest? What is the starting point - do we really need a Migration Agent or if his job is listed on the SOL is it a fairly straight forward VISA application? Which Visa do we need to apply for under the SOL? Do we also need state sponsorship? Finally, does he need to get a job prior to actually getting the Visa. I have already contacted a few migration agents, including The Emigration Group and Signet Consulting, and am thinking of paying the initial Appraisal fee of around £90 to kick start the process, but don't want to throw money down the drain if I can do this myself. I am fairly admin savvy but at the same time, want to ensure that our application is as fast and as good quality as it can possibly be - ti is a costly process afterall and we want to get it right from the start off. Anyway any advice is very much appreciated and thanks for taking time to read this.