GingerInTheSun

186 granted today! I haven't posted here for 3.5 years (when I was waiting for my 457 visa) but I've been lurking in this thread for a while! Details below: Occupation: Information and organisation professional nec Stream: 186 TRT Applicants: 2 (my citizenship Ireland, her citizenship UK) Nomination lodged: 20 Aug 2019 Nomination approved: 23 Aug 2019 Visa application lodged: 29 Nov 2019 Medicals requested: 13 Dec 2019 Medicals completed: 30 Jan 2020 Visa approved: 24 Feb 2020

I don't think it's about having an "amazingly rare set of skills", it's about getting in front of the right people. I have just transferred to Sydney from London via my job. It cost me nothing - my company sponsored me and paid for visa, legal fees, flights, shipping and accommodation. In fact I've saved money whilst not paying rent. I'm not here in an occupation on the shortage list - my job is categorized as "Information and Organisation Professionals not elsewhere classified" and I am not a senior staff member. My boss here transferred out from the UK office a few years ago and the company did the same for his whole family. I think there are ways to get a relocation package if you can convince the hiring manager you're the right person for the job.

and to you!!

My visa came through, yay! Application and nomination lodged 24th June (employer already approved as a sponsor) Nomination and application approved, within minutes of each other, 8th August Occupation: Information and Other Organisation Professionals nec Lodged by MARA agent in Sydney I am Irish and in UK

Hmm, interesting! Good that you've tried being back though and know where you belong - no 'what ifs' whirling around your head anymore I presume!

Yeah, but UNE didn't make me pay international fees as I was a non-award student... that's what I'm aiming for....!!

Yep I know London isn't the friendliest is it!

Hi Russ! I went to Melbourne on a working holiday visa at the age of 20, did the three months regional work, got another working holiday visa and in the interim met a guy and applied for a de facto spouse visa (I'm currently in the UK but returning to Aus in the next couple of months). I can't advise on your occupation, but here are a few general tips!: I second Harris on the AirBnB. I've travelled all round Australia staying in AirBnBs (rooms within people's houses). All of my hosts were lovely, welcoming, had local knowledge and some of them have stayed in touch! It could be a good way to make friends. You could book the initial 3 days and then move on if you don't like it or want to try a new suburb - it's an affordable way of trying out different areas before settling on one spot. House shares are also a great way to make friends! Try to make friends with Australians and not just fellow expats (although it can be super fun hanging out with backpackers, don't just live in a bubble, meet some real Aussies as well!). Who knows what might happen when you get here. You might find sponsorship. You might discover a new career. You might meet the love of your life. You might hate the place! You might decide to check out New Zealand. You've got savings behind you so enjoy the adventure. Best of luck!

Yeah, I've always thought Australians were far more welcoming and pleasant than the people I met in London - despite having been in London 8 years it took much longer to make friends than it did in Melbourne. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule...

So ten years ago whilst on a working holiday visa, I applied to the University of New England to do a masters degree via distance learning. They told me that I could enrol, but only as a non-award student (so study the course on a unit by unit bases), but that when I achieved permanent residency I could then apply to have all my completed units converted into the Masters degree award. I did just that and was placed on an online course with the masters students, submitting coursework and taking exams at the same pace. Anyway, things changed, I left Australia due to circumstances not under my control (see my Intro post) and I never completed my studies, taking up a different course of study elsewhere. I'm now returning to Australia on a 457 visa. UNE have discontinued that particular masters degree but I'm quite keen to use the units of study to gain exemptions and do a part time masters somewhere else - could be a good way to make friends and gain an Aussie qualification for future career moves. I can only study part time on my visa so not eligible to enrol as an international (full time) student. But I won't be seen as a permanent resident and therefore a domestic student for part time study. So I'm going to try my hand at applying to different uni's in Sydney and see if any of them will take me on as a non-award student as UNE did (although that was for distance rather than part time!). Will let you know how I get on, if anyone has their two cents to add, let me know!

Thank you Lauren!

Good question! My answer is yes.... and no! I spent almost three years in Melbourne in my early twenties. I didn't leave by choice and I 'grieved' for my old life for a little bit. I've now been in London for almost 8 years, but am shortly moving to Sydney. Never say never, but having been over for business trips, I expect it to be a long term move. In reality, I don't regret my time spent in London at all. The way I see it, many of my peers in Australia will have spent time in the UK on working holiday/ancestry visas - it's sort of a rite of passage. Had I stayed in Australia throughout by twenties, being an adventurous sort of gal, I'm sure I'd have started to wonder had I missed out on the London lifestyle, travelling to lots of European countries etc. The way I see it I've been in the right places at the right times for me. Since leaving Aus I've travelled all over Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, studied in New York and lived most of the time in a vibrant city that feels like it's in the centre of everything. I've bought a flat and I've saved money, and now I'm returning to Oz with great work and life experience under my belt. At the same time, I now feel ready to be in Aus again. Sydney has the advantages of city life without being quite as built up and jam packed as London. I miss the proximity to great beaches and to wine regions. I love the drama of the landscape, from the red centre to the coastlines. I love the sporty lifestyle and national interest in sports. I'm also excited about cheap flights to Asia (Flight Centre regularly has sales has return flights to Malaysis for £127 or Fiji for £200). Admittedly they aren't the 1 - 2 hour flights I'm used to in Europe! Of course there will always be pros and cons to both. At the end of the day, there's a right time and place for everything and who says we have to settle in one place for life? I'd like to get my citizenship and have all the options... and be a ping-pong-pom Side note: I always think it's impossible to broadly compare the continent of Australia to the British isles. Even within the UK, the climate ranges from the Shetlands to Cornwall. City life differs from country life. Perth and Sydney are about 4000 km apart, and both offer different advantages and disadvantages. What's more, depending on your life circumstances (where your family is based, how close you are to them, if you have small children or are retired), your job satisfaction and salary.... your circumstances can have a dramatic effect on your experience. Really interesting to read everyone's differing experiences!

Hello, Thought I should post an intro as no doubt I will be an active member for a while (have already been lurking for a bit!), having recently accepted a job in Sydney with my current employer. My story: single(-ish, see below) gal in early thirties, came to Melbourne in early twenties on a working holiday visa, immediately met an Aussie guy, did the dreaded seasonal work to get a second WHV, after two years together applied for de facto spouse visa, 6 months later got spectacularly dumped and had to leave the country :cry:. I was devastated for several reasons, not least because I absolutely loved my life there and planned to stay forever. Went back to Ireland (where I grew up, though parents are British), couldn't deal with the small town vibe, came to London, took a year out of London to study a masters in New York, came back and have been here almost 8 years in total. Have loved it here but have always wondered about Australia, and whether I saw it through rose tinted glasses or if it really was that wonderful. Then 3 years ago I got a job with a company that has offices in Sydney, and last year I had the opportunity to take a business trip there, as well as a holiday (a month in total). By the end of it I knew that I wanted to give it another go. Luckily for me, a few months ago I saw an internal role in Sydney, applied for it and, to my surprise and delight, got it! 457 (sponsorship) visa application currently underway and plan to arrive in August. I'm an accountant BTW. Of course, life likes to throw you curve balls and, after 4 years of (happy) singledom, I met a guy, only about a month before I got the Sydney job. There was something special about this one though and, luckily for me, he's decided to follow me out there and try his luck. It's not all for me - he already has sisters and extended family out there and had considered moving before, and being from South Africa originally he loves the sun and sea - so I am more of a catalyst. So he'll be over on a 12 month tourist visa in September, staying with family and looking for sponsorship (he works in IT). We won't live together until a) he decides Aus is for him and b) we've spent a bit longer together! Meanwhile, my 29 year old brother has applied for his WHV and thinks he would also like to migrate permanently (he's a fisherman). So the next couple of years could involve me stressing over them being able to stay in the country, but all in all, exciting times! Well this turned into my bloody life story didn't it?! Anyway thanks everyone for your posts in other threads, as I've said I've been lurking for a while and it has been very useful/encouraging!

Nomination and visa lodged 23/06/16 in NSW - after I found out paperwork had been sitting on lawyers desk going nowhere for two weeks :nah: ... Was told by lawyers to expect approval between 29th July and 5th August. Fingers crossed!

Hey Grizzly, Enjoyed your summary! Lots of great things about the UK. I was interested in your point about a 'sense of belonging'. I left Ireland at 19 and headed to Melbourne for 3 years. Managed to pick up a hint of an Aussie accent, and upon my return, any new friends I made referred to me as the Australian Girl! I spent 6 months in Ireland and then moved on. Having been in London for almost 8 years I now apparently sound British, and taxi drivers at home refuse to believe I'm a local when I tell them to take "the back road". But the Brits see me as the Irish girl (and love to joke about me being from the Provinces...). I'm soon heading back Down Under as a sponsored worker with my current employer, and no doubt will be the butt of many an Irish joke, which the Aussies seem to never get tired of! Anyway my point is... once you go away, do you ever belong to one place again? Where we live shapes and changes us, and I think there will always be an element of 'outsider-ness' - even if people are welcoming, you're never quite one of them again once you've left. It's an odd feeling, but I take it to mean I must have changed and grown, which is better than staying the same. Of all my friends, the ones I am closest to are either fellow expats or people who have travelled extensively. We're a global community of travellers - of which I'm proud to be a part of!