AlexJD

Hi Lauren, I'd be interested to hear how you are getting on with this.

I'm currently trying to identify an agent that I could help me understand whether the 494 might work as a route to PR for me and my family.

Raul, have you had much experience of the new regional visas?

You wouldn't necessarily have to wait 3 years for transition to PR under the proposed visa changes. You could agree with your husband's employer to sponsor him for the direct entry stream of the 186 visa once you're on the ground. 

There'd obviously be a cost for this early in your stay, but would get you all on PR sooner I would have thought.

Quick question - once the March 2018 cut off for occupations on the STSOL applying for direct entry kicks in, what will happen to those people who still have applications pending?

Appreciate that timelines are getting longer for a number of reasons at the moment.

Interested to know what the view of employers is on this for those applying offshore, I would have thought that waiting 12 months plus for a new employee to start would be quite an obstacle in the recruitment process.

Are there any instances of particular employers managing to get nominations and visas processed quicker than seems to be the case on this thread?