GeeBee

Happy to share my timelines and the end of a long but relatively quick journey (comparatively) from arrival on a temporary visa to citizenship in 4 years and 10 months.

My advice for citizenship application is to get the papers in early (copy/paste from your PR application, if you have a recent one) and get on with your life - it'll come around before you know it.

Timeline:

• 482 visa:
  • Submitted: 01/07/2018
  • Approved: 06/07/2018
• Arrived in Sydney: 4/11/2018
• 186 Visa - Employee Sponsored DE - Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) - PMSOL - De Facto Partner
  • Skills Assessment submitted: 25/01/2021
  • Skills Assessment Approved: 12/03/21
  • Employer Nomination Submitted: 22/04/21
  • Visa application submitted: 17/05/21
  • Visa Granted: 17/06/21
• Citizenship - Northern Beaches Council, Sydney
  • Applied: 17/11/2022
  • Appointment received: 03/02/2023
  • Interview: 21/03/2023
  • Ceremony Invite: 18/07/23
  • Ceremony: 28/08/23

On 18/03/2023 at 22:45, AJ said:

Bond in WA is 4 weeks rent.

You’re right. Ignore my 3 month comment. I don’t know what I was thinking when i wrote that. My current bond in Sydney was 4 weeks. 

I’ve had a couple of rentals and was always asked for a deposit to secure the unit, rather than the full bond. Deposit would be first month’s rent, if I recall. Bond being 3 months  

Then meet with the letting agent and you have to sign contracts in the office with them and pay the bond shortly after. 

I knew someone who moved from Sydney to Perth, after being on the ceremony wait list for several months. After updating their details, their citizenship ceremony invite in Perth came through within days. Perth had shorter wait times. This was a couple of years ago. 
 

have a look on the DOHA website. I notice the have a snapshot of wait times per council as of jan 23. Look up your current and new councils for a rough idea  
 

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/citizenship-processing-times/ceremony-wait-times

My partner is a nurse. I work in IT (remotely 3-4 days a week). Been here in Sydney 4.5 years and loved every minute. Live in the northern beaches. Living the dream. 
 

only downside is we rent. We’re waiting for citizenship and when that happens if we stay we need to look to buy, but in Sydney the prices are ridiculous. Currently been looking at ‘rentvesting’ in regional areas but not sure yet and fist time buyer perks are forfeited. 
 

one thing to consider as a nurse (you’ll walk into jobs): my partner’s colleagues have moved to regional hospitals through an agency on short term nursing contracts. The nurses are getting paid more than in Sydney AND free rent (they are desperate for staff). Something to consider to get a foothold and an experience. 

I’m not familiar with the 407 but sounds temporary. something to be aware of with WHV:  when you leave australia at the end of your 407, you need to request your superannuation back via a DASP form. When you do this the super gets taxed at 35-45%  

If you hold a WHV and at any point get paid into a super fund (ie have any kind of a job while on the WHV)  when you subsequently leave australia after your 407, your entire super will be taxed at 65% including what your earned while working for your employer in the 407. It’s a bloody scam

alsk note the WHV limits how long you can work for a single company.

DASP for working holiday visa

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/super/in-detail/temporary-residents-and-super/super-information-for-temporary-residents-departing-australia/?anchor=DASPforWHMs

tax rates are here along with 
https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Super/In-detail/Temporary-residents-and-super/Super-information-for-temporary-residents-departing-Australia/?anchor=HowandwhenDASPispaid#HowandwhenDASPispaid

EDIT: of course if it all leads to a permanent residency then you don’t have to worry about is as your super will be locked in until retirement (but you avoid the tax). 

I selected ‘other’ and it lists a load of fields to fill in but they are mainly optional. I uploaded my international travel movements and filled in as many fields as I could which corresponded. 

I was tempted to just reference my passport again but I was already uploading it in for another section. 

For me, my first entrance to Aus was in 2016 so they’ll know the answer anyway. I take it this is more useful for them if you moved here a long time ago. 
 

that said I’ve only recently submitted my application so I may yet get questions 

On a related note, the international travel movements record was handy to refer to for the section where you have to detail all the times you came and went from australia. 

On 26/08/2022 at 20:35, bergerac14 said:

Hey Everyone,

Wondering if anyone can shed any light of some of these issues I've run into whilst researching emigrating as a Registered Nurse to Australia. Some of this is probably wrong, but I am very much at the early stages of figuring things out - so bear with!

I am based in the UK, looking at a 482 / TSS Medium Stream for Registered Nursing Jobs in QLD.  I have 4 years experience as a Theatre Nurse.

So to apply for a job they first require you to be registered with AHPRA.

Thats cool, will apply for AHPRA. Once the provisional registration is approved, I can then get a job interview. Bearing in mind, you can never be totally sure when the registration will approved.

But now, the clock is ticking on the 3-Month window AHPRA gives you to present in person to an office in Australia.

So does anyone know how this works in practice? It seems crazy that the gun goes off when AHPRA grants you your provisional registration.

That means within 3 months, you have to:

1. Apply for job, interview and secure said job (fingers crossed!
2. Apply for 482 Visa with hospital (could this honestly be completed in time, or would you have to arrange a working holiday visa beforehand to get around this?)
3. Hand notice in at work / rented house / life admin etc etc
4. Book flights and secure accomodation in Australia
5. Arrive in Australia to complete the last part of the AHPRA ID check (present in person)
6. Hopefully start work?

Another question that came up - assuming on the 482, you dont have to have a full skills assessment beforehand by ANMAC?

Any info/experience/advice on any of this very much appreciated!

E

My GF went through similar thought process back in 2018, also a nurse, also job secured via a uk recruitment agency (recruiter will always push you down 482 because it’s quicker and easier they get their commission faster) 

At the time the 482 was about to replace the 457 (which had pretty lengthy waiting times). I discussed the APHRA present in person vs visa timescales with a migration agent and was told not to try and make sense of it because it doesn’t make sense; They just aren’t joined up. In the end she did a aphra run and booked a short holiday to present in person. you can approach this with a VISITOR visa not working holiday. 

You are extremely lucky as a nurse in that you’re on the priority list which really has a different set of timescales. With that in mind you probably are better skipping the temptation of a 482 and going for direct for PR options.  

as a nurse I would even suggest trying your luck at contacting hospitals speculatively and requesting sponsorship on a 186 DE. Either via recruitment email addresses on a hospital website or set up a linked in profile and look for ‘talent acquisition’ job descriptions at your target hospital and message them. 
 

another potential option (I would confirm with a migration agent)presuming you are relatively young and single: do your ANMAC skills assessment (not that laborious for a nurse) and IELTS (ugh!) from UK and then move to aus on your working holiday visa and apply for a 189 from there. Do your ahpra there, get on local agency books and start banking at local hospitals and live your aus life while you wait out the PR. 

On 26/10/2022 at 05:28, kinse2020 said:

Thats great thanks for sharing I wasn't aware the 186 direct entry route would still be available while on the 482 I will explore that with the visa agent and employer after the LMT! Employer needs me there ASAP for a project so won't wait for the 186 DE visa processing based on advice from the agent who confirmed it is a much longer wait than the 482. We will go out on the 482 (with kids in tow!) but as per advice on here will definitely try for PR ASAP before the 3 years either sponsored DE or independent. Thanks

I believe school fees are factor on 482 if your kids are that age, so know what you’re getting into with that. 

Marissa’s points are valid. It’s a risk and yes the 482 isn’t cheap and everything is due again for the 186 (+ more)
 

on the flip side you get to actually live in australia while going through the PR process rather than waiting it out in your home country - and I’m sure a for great many, the wait for that PR opportunity never actually comes around. 

On 13/10/2022 at 19:49, kinse2020 said:

Hello clever people

I will be moving to Australia soon (hopefully!) on an employer sponsored 482 TSS visa (medium term) which says you can’t apply for the permanent residency visa 186 until after 3 years working there.

What are the chances of not being granted a 186 visa after the 3 years working in Australia? Has this happened to anyone here?

Second question…is it possible to be in Australia on a 482 visa and apply for a PR visa like a 190 or 189?

I am just thinking worst case if I wait for the 3 years and my employer decides not to go ahead with sponsoring me for a PR 186 visa and I need to go an alternative route that required the points test I will have lost 10 points as I turn 40 just before the 3 years is up.

Thanks in advance!

We came on a 482 and after 2.5 years got PR from an employer sponsored visa - 186 Direct Entry.  It was the same employer. Same job. 

You can go for PR through the 482 transition stream after 3 years (one of my friends is doing this) but the only benefit I could see is you skip the skills assessment.

Otherwise, so long as you've got the 3 years experience, as soon as the employer is willing to sponsor you for PR you can apply for it as a 186 visa, unrelated to your 482. 

Obviously going straight to 186 is preferred in the first place, but realistically the processing times are too long for most employers. When you're here on a 482 you're in the job while you're waiting for the 186 but there's 2 sets of fees for both parties.

Just to follow-up on my post above, I didn't call the office but did try filling in the online application before 20 Sep but it wouldn't let me past step 4, so had to wait.

Following advice from online and probably this forum, I requested my international travel movements as proof of first arrival in Australia, and I've received it.

However on Step 23 the question doesn't give the option to provide travel movement. First arrival was in 2002 so my passport then has long gone. Any guidance appreciated?

I would add to the 482 insurance warning: double check the insurance qualifies for the medicare levy tax exemption: 
 

If you earn over a threshold you’ll be liable for an annual Medicare levy surcharge if you don’t not have private health insurance which qualifies as a substitute and exempts you from it. Depending on how much you earn It can be cheaper to pay for insurance rather than pay the surcharge at tax time. 
 

I arrived on an Overseas visitor health cover which satisfied the visa requirements but turned out it didn’t qualify for the Medicare levy exemption and I got an unexpected tax bill. 
 

If you’re in this situation just change the insurance to one that does qualify, even if it’s after you arrive, but every day you’re not is counted and can cost. 
 

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-and-private-health-insurance/Medicare-levy-surcharge/

Thanks Nicky. 

so if I forget about prior holidays the only one I’m still unsure about is the visa/aphra run in May 2018

- 22-31 May 2018 - in australia on eVisitor visa

- 1 june - 19 sept 2022 - in uk

- 20 sep 2018 - landed in australia on 482 visa and haven’t left

- june 2021 PR granted

- june 2022 PR held one year

i had been planning to apply after 20 sept 2022  but now wondering if I can in June 2022. I put these dates into the residency calculator and it said yes but there’s no way to add visas to that.

In June this year my GF and I meet the one year PR requirement requirement for citizenship. She moved to australia in sept 2018 and has been in the country since. 

the four year lawful residence would be sept 2022. All good. 

but what about holidays beyond 4 years? There was a 10 day visa run earlier in May 2018 (eVisitor - to present in person for AHPRA nursing registration) and over the 10 years before that, my GF has clocked up about 3 months living in australia on tourist visas. I’m wondering if these trips beyond 4 years ago would form part of the lawful residence but can’t confirm either way from the wording.

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Be very, very careful of migration agencies that offer to find you a job. Nearly all of them are scammers, although they look very professional on the surface.

I know of recruitment agencies that place nurses on a 482 but a recruitment agency is not a migration agency and shouldn't represent itself as such.  

Yes good clarification. I refer to recruitment agencies for the job search. In our experience the recruitment agency knew nothing about the visas. They didn’t even know the 457 was being replaced by the 482 and our application was on the borderline of switch over. They did however find us an employer willing to sponsor us from the uk. It was nursing though.

Whether getting sponsored via a recruitment agency is viable or not in the OP’s field I’m not sure, but worth a look. 

4 hours ago, Jaym said:

Apologies for that. Seems to be my phone playing up. It makes sense that they wouldn't give all info, and possible options unless you've paid. I've emailed both of those companies so I'll hopefully arrange something with them soon. 

See what the Migration agents say, as you are doing. I applied for mine and my partner’s visas - 482 then 186 ( we did make the transition from temp to PR in my early 40s but she’s a nurse and the job is in demand). it takes many months of research and added risk to look it all up yourself. Save yourself the effort. 

The MA should tell you if you’re wasting your time, but if not there’s no harm in kicking things off with a English test followed by a skills assessment. You could try and seek out agencies who may place you on a 482 at the same time, but the school fees are a valid consideration if your kids are that age. A small benefit of a 482 step - accepting the risks - is you’re already living your life in Australia while you’re waiting out the PR. PR is always far preferable though. 

On 23/01/2022 at 11:41, rammygirl said:

At least buying from a dealer gives you some warranty cover. Some good deals going on Kia cars with the old decals, everyone wants the newer updates (not nec new models) with the trendy new logo.

It depends on the age. If you’re buying a car that is older than 10 years or done more than 160000km, here in NSW you don’t get a state warranty. You pretty much need to be paying $10k+ to get a (small) car that qualifies from a dealer  

I got burned. I bought a $7k car from a dealer that lasted 6 weeks before it broke down and after another 6 weeks of towing it between garages it was confirmed the transmission needed re building. There was zero warranty. You have more consumer rights buying a cup of coffee, I’m sure. Quotes were between $3.5k to $7k. I got rid of it at a $5k loss  

 While some dealers may offer a warranty of their own when I asked for the wording from (a different) one and they simply wouldn’t give it to me. To make matters worse the dealers make it difficult to get an independent inspection, either offering their mate to do it for you or refusing to hold the car while it’s scheduled.

9 months later I bought another, through Car Sales. Had a look at the car. Arranged a pre purchase inspection (who goes to the seller to do the inspection and test drive). Then arranged another test drive myself. It’s been fine and despite knowing nothing about cars the process was much easier than going through a dealer.

my takeaway was unless you’re spending enough to actually get a state warranty, go private. Otherwise you pay over the odds and it’s riskier and the inspections have more awkward to arrange. the only benefit of a dealer was having all the cars under one roof  

On 25/01/2022 at 21:13, Qball said:

Question - I guess, like me, everyone on this thread is waiting for citizenship, so you may not know the answer. Worth asking though!

I'm currently in Melbourne and would be potentially moving soon to a different state with (probably!) less of a backlog on their testing centres. My application shows as "received" - I don't have any date for a test/interview yet.

I chatted with IMMI service line today. I asked about change of address.

The representative directed me to change my address in the online portal (under "update details" inside the application). 

I did note that changing the address doesn't change the assigned test centre or council, and asked him how the process follows from there.

The representative told me that I will contacted according to the closest test centre to my new address.

However, he didn't say whether the application would be processed sooner than it would be in Melbourne. I guess that's a complicated question to answer.

So I'm asking you - does anyone here have experience  of changing the address to another state's (or know of someone who did)?

Has that shortened your wait for an appointment?

 

Cheers  

I do know someone who applied and did their test and interview in Sydney. They were then waiting months (last year) for the ceremony. Circumstances changed and they moved to Adelaide, called to change their address and got invited to a ceremony in Adelaide within a day or so of the address change. 

Anyone out there who has worked on a 417 working holiday visa since 2017 and is from one of the following countries, take note:

- UK, Germany, Israel, Japan, Norway, Finland, Turkey or Chile

You could be due some tax back, if you ask for it. 
Can anyone confirm if the 462 is included? Not sure what what the difference is as didn’t have one myself.  

hopefully someone can sort out the 65% DASP tax ‘robbery’ from former backpackers next  

—

Australia 'backpacker tax': British woman wins discrimination case https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-59144059

Thanks every one for their responses.

I spent some time on an online chat with the provider (Three.co.uk) to try and get the existing number to work again (it did still go to my recorded answerphone).

We tried turning on roaming (it certainly used to be on) but after waiting 4 hours, still didn't work.

Then manually set the network to Vodafone and it picked up the signal again (instead of reading SOS Only)

Steps on an iPhone for anyone interested:

 - Home > Settings > Mobile Data > Network Selection > Disable Automatic network selection > Select Vodafone

They said I need to use the phone every 6 months or it gets disabled (likely the issue). To do this I needed to top up with PAYG credit (just 5 pounds) once every six months to keep it active, so I've put reminders in my diary.

----

Regarding the virtual numbers - thanks Ken - these did look useful if you're using the phone regulalry and I didn't know about them. However the monthly cost was a bit steep (8 pounds a month) for what I was using it for.

Thanks again all

Hi,

I've been in Sydney for a couple of years now and have used a new Australian phone and number since arrival.

I brought my UK phone and kept it in a drawer for use mainly for online authentication texts for UK banks and services. 

I switched to PAYG over a year ago and I've found it's now expired and is no longer active.

Any tips on how to get and maintain another UK number? It's literally just for online authentication and perhaps for use on trips back to the UK. The obvious is to get another sim posted over but I suspect there may be better ways. 

Thanks

I’ll add a couple of findings around my last question, with regards to certifying documents, having now gone through the process.

Although the DOHA says you only need to certify docs if applying on paper, when you actually upload documents in Immi for specified categories of document (such as identity docs, police certs and skills assessment) it does ask online for certified copies. 
 

I certified passports, drivers licence, police checks and statutory declarations. Skills assessment was requested certified in immi but for nursing it’s issued digitally and APHRA send it straight to DOHA (you can’t certify a true copy of a digital document). You can also check status of registration online so I provided a link and details for the case officer to easily check. 
 

I didn’t certify academic certificates or transcripts, employer references or any de facto evidence (bills, statements, tenancy agreements etc), with the exception of statutory declarations. There were old some which were certified in 2018 so I included the certified version because I had it. *
 

* I also called DOHA regarding documents certified in 2018 from my previous visa. DOHA confirmed that if the document itself doesn’t expire, the certification doesn’t expire. 
 

All scans were in colour if the original was colour.  
 

hope this helps. 
 

also I used software called Smart PDF to combine and reduce sizes of docs to fit the upload requirements. 
 

note ANMAC skills assessment was different to the visa. They refused my certified documents and asked for non-certified. 
 

We had our 186 visa granted last week. It was a PMSOL occupation. Hopefully, some of you waiting are in the new 22 occupations recently added to the PMSOL list:

Visa: 186 - Employee Sponsored - Direct Entry (onshore throughout, with a 482 TSS visa in place from the same sponsor)

• Occupation - Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) - PMSOL
• Applicants: 2 - including de facto partner, both UK citizens
• State: NSW

Timeline:

• Skills Assessment submitted: 25/01/2021
• Skills Assessment: Non-certified docs requested: 5/3/21 (re-sent 8/3/21)
• Skills Assessment Approved: 12/3/21
• Employee Labour Market Testing complete: 30/3/2021
• Employer Nomination Submitted: 22/4/21
• Visa application submitted: 17/5/21
• Medicals requested 17/5/21 (5 hours after visa submission)
• Medical attended: 5/6/21 
• Medicals finialised: 9/6/21 (I also manually updated Immi to say info requested had been provided)
• Visa Granted: 17/6/21

After the employer nomination was submitted I had chosen to wait a few weeks before submitting the visa, in case there were any issues with the nomination. I submitted the visa 3.5 weeks later after finalising some de facto evidence, anyway; we'd heard nothing but they were a large employer who had sponsored many nurses. I never did hear anything about the nomination being approved, so I presume it was approved at the same time the visa was granted. I did not use a migration agent, who I'm sure would have advised further on whether or not we needed to wait.

Our de-facto evidence was very comprehensive but we have been in a relationship for 7+ years.

------

A few lessons learned/tips (note: I am not a migration agent):

 - Do your skills assessment as soon as possible. It's wasn't too difficult to get the ball rolling on this and we could have approached it earlier. Don't send certified documents, just colour scans. Also, we didn't need to do IELTs. This would have made it much more time-consuming and all the more reason to start early.

 - Don't underestimate how long your sponsor needs to secure internal funding and go through their processes before submitting the nomination (plus factor in labour market testing timescales)

 - Register your relationship with the state if you're onshore and need de facto evidence. This took almost 6 weeks to process but I'd forgot about it as an option until a week before I submitted the visa. It's not essential but would have saved effort on the de-facto evidence, which was the most laborious part of the application.

 - Start drafting your visa application on immi as soon as your sponsor gives you a TRN (when they submit their nomination). It takes time and you can save your progress.

 - You can upload your visa evidence/files before you submit and pay (I'm pretty sure this wasn't the case for my 482). If you're uploading de facto evidence, check out the file categories available in Immi and take some time to map out how you are going to categorise your file uploads.

 - Bupa Medical appointments in Sydney are in very short supply due to COVID restrictions. If you see one, grab it immediately (I saw a whole day of appointments go in a few minutes). We were lucky to find an appointment within 4 weeks of the s56 and even then we had to travel out to Parramatta. 

Good luck everyone

On 19/05/2021 at 08:53, Alan Collett said:

Hi GeeBee.

In short: disclosable on your Aus tax return as target foreign income until your PR visa is granted.   Included as taxable income from the day your PR visa is granted.

Hope this helps!

Thanks everyone for your comments. 

This makes sense. It would’ve felt particularly harsh if I had to pay a whole years worth of tax on it. That would’ve cost more than the visa.

I’ll likely get some assistance for my 2022 tax return to make sure I am making use of any available deductions. I’ll keep you in mind.