Marisawright

That's not just a factor of age, actually. I remember Eurailing back in the '90s, too. We had only a rough idea where we wanted to go. Each morning we just rocked up and hopped on whatever train we fancied. I recall taking the overnight train from Barcelona to Geneva, planning to take a trip on the lake, only to find it totally fogged in. So we jumped on the next train out, which took us to Interlaken, then onto another train...we had the most amazing day, criss-crossing Switzerland, gawping at the spectacular mountain scenery. We never had a problem finding accommodation on that holiday, either. We would head for the local tourist office, which was generally able to book a hotel for us, usually at a 'last-minute' rate. We stayed in some gorgeous hotels for very little. I tried to do it again in 2011 and it was a totally different experience. Although the Eurail pass still covers the cost of the ticket, most routes now require you to prebook a seat (sometimes at quite a large extra cost). So it's no longer possible to jump on a train on impulse, you have to go and queue up at the ticket office first. And a couple of times, the seats were fully booked so we couldn't travel. As for accommodation -- you'd think internet booking would make it even easier to find last-minute hotels, but the opposite has happened. Hotels now reserve their special offers for 'early bird' customers, and if you arrive and need a hotel for the night, you pay top dollar. Many of the tourist offices have closed down, and those that are still open, don't do bookings any more. We found the same limitation when we were in England in 2015. In the pre-internet days, I used to visit my family in the UK for 6 weeks every 2 years. I always reserved my last week for a holiday for myself, which I never booked in advance. I would just pick up a cheap 'last minute deal' from one of the local travel agents during my stay. The main motivation for moving to England was to be able to travel frequently to Europe, but we soon discovered that to get cheap fares and hotels required considerable advance planning. The 'last minute' postcards in travel agents windows had disappeared.

But like I said, I would never buy Coles or Woolworths "free range" eggs anyway. 10,000 hens per hectare is a complete joke, and all the animal welfare bodies were up in arms when the government agreed to increase the limit to that level. There are several providers offering proper free range (densities around 1,500 hens per hectare) which are available in supermarkets.

I agree that you can't decide you're not resident, it all comes down to how long you're in the country. However, if the OP gets the right advice, he can make sure he spends the right amount of time in each country -- for instance, he's talking about doing six months in each, but maybe it's as simple as spending 7 months a year in Oz and 5 months in the UK.

You don't need any visas. If you're set up to work as a contractor, then you just invoice the company and it's not their business where you live. Tax could be a headache but if you get good professional advice, you should be able to avoid the potential pitfalls. I think you'd need to decide where you want to be 'usually resident' and then invoice them all year round accordingly, e.g. if you decide you're usually resident in Australia, you'd invoice them from your Australian sole trader entity all year round, even when you're in the UK. But you need to be sure you've organised your year such that the Australian and British taxman agree that's where you are usually resident...which is why you need the advice. It's just the logistics that might kill the idea off. Where will you live? If you can afford to keep a home in both countries, then you'll always have one property that's empty for 6 months, and that can make insurance difficult. The best bet would be to rent out the vacant one while you're away, as an AirBnB, but then you've got extra tax and management hassles to think about. If you can't afford to keep a home in both countries, then you'll have to find a rental every time you move. Obviously it won't be an ordinary long-term rental, because you can't be shipping furniture back and forth, or having to pack it up and store it every time. Plus you usually can't sign a lease while you're overseas, so each time you move, you'd have to spend some time house-hunting before you can get settled. Therefore it will have to be a furnished executive let or AirBnB, either of which would be expensive for 6-month stretches. What will you do about a car? If you're OK with carshare services then no worries.

I found this email address which may be relevant: sa.temporary.graduate@homeaffairs.gov.au The issue with waiving the first entry requirement is that it won't extend the end date of the visa. If you're going to be late arriving, you may not have time to complete your course?

Are you sure you're not confusing free-range with cage-free (cage-free is also called barn-laid)? https://www.australianeggs.org.au/farming/free-range-eggs https://www.australianeggs.org.au/farming/barn-laid-eggs Admittedly, the official regulations for free-range eggs is up to 10,000 hens per hectare, which means each hen gets less space than an A4 sheet of paper. However there are plenty of producers stocking at a much lower density than that (by law they have to show the density on the box), and those are the ones I choose.

Phew, that's good to know.

That's what I thought, and I was worried @mandymark would take your reply as meaning he just has to apply for the BV and it's all sorted.

@gary_844, I would echo this. One of the risks of using the company's agent is that the company wants to encourage you to take the job, so they are likely to 'talk up' your chances of permanency. If you have your own agent, they are more likely to give you an honest, realistic perspective on your chances (which after 45, are very low indeed).

I thought that might be the case, but just wanted to mention it. A surprising number of people think that the company's agent is acting in their interests as well as the company's during the application.

If he makes the BV application now, and it doesn't come through before his WHV expires, will he be in trouble?

Full-time for the first two years only. It's understandable they want to insist on that, considering the amount of time and money they invested in getting her the visa.

If he's tied to your company then he's not 'your' migration agent, he's the company's. I agree with BendigoBoy, I'm not aware of any age restriction on the 482 visa so you could potentially move to a new employer with a new 482. I also agree that you've got almost zero chance of getting a permanent visa so I assume you're just wanting to stretch your temporary adventure as far as possible.

Just noticing that the WHV is due to expire within a week. It's really, really vital that he gets professional advice about this, because he's at risk of being unlawful. Don't rely on advice on these forums, we're only amateurs. Being unlawful will have dire consequences, including being banned from entering Australia for 3 years, and it can ruin his chances of getting any other visa ever again. Don't think he can ring the Department of Immigration for advice, either. They're notorious for giving the wrong advice, and they have a disclaimer saying they're not responsible for any consequences when they do. A paid consultation with a good migration agent will ensure he's on the right track, it can be over the phone. Someone like @paulhand. I know it costs money but this is your son's future you're talking about.

I don't think it has, because the OP posted about this previously and Paul Hand wasn't concerned.