nomadiccarpenter

Thanks Marisa. I forgot to come back to this thread, but you and I were on the same wave-length. I'm going to stay a night in Sydney to rest, then take a bus the next day to Newcastle for a two week Airbnb to get my bearings. Plus, the wages for carpenters seems comparable. Also wanting to learn other skills so it looks like a somewhat affordable place to do it. Could end up being home, who knows!

Hey everybody, thanks for all your tips. It's still kind of up in the air on where I'll end up, but I was thinking I may just start off a month in Sydney to get settled. However, the rental market doesn't seem geared toward new arrivals. Very luxury-oriented it seems. There's hostels of course, but I have too much stuff to look after. Worse, flatmatefinders has been a sketchy experience so far, but I know there's still potential for some finds there. I know Sydney is a tough market and for that reason, maybe I'll just hop a bus to Newcastle the day after arriving in Sydney to get my bearings. Any thoughts on the best way to just catch my breath the first month arriving so I can get my act together? Thank you! Edit: I arrive the 14th of February.

Thanks! I'm heading to Sydney in February. I may settle in Newcastle, but also see a lot of opportunity in Syndey.

Thought I'd revive this thread with some good news. 32 months after applying, my 190 NSW was granted! Carpenter, offshore. Got my first CO contact 24 of October. After submitting medicals the 5th of November, grant came just five days later. Made so many friends here and if you all have any questions, I'll be there for ya!

Sounds about right! Thank you, Rallyman.

I suppose my Vetassess Certificate III would count, at least I'm led to believe. Unless that was just to prove my skill to get the visa. I'm making a list of questions for my agent. I've waited so long for the visa that all these questions are popping up left and right after becoming numb to the possibility of moving there actually happening!

Thanks for the tips. Good to know. I'm from the US, but I imagine it's pretty different in Australia. I like the idea of running my own business but perfectly fine putting in grunt work the first year or two so I can learn how things are done the Australian way. Then move into my own jobs. I'll get things set up posthaste regardless. When you say companies "putting people on wages now," do you mean counting them as employees rather than contractors?

Understand, thanks Paul.

Good point. Forgot I still have an ABN from my working holiday last time. I do have a migration agent so will go over the final details soon. I won't turn down any thoughts from @paulhand and @wrussell on the fine print of the 190 visa in regards to where my work comes from.

I love the vibe of Tweed Heads from what I've learned so far. It's closer to Brisbane where I want to be eventually. I suppose the only issue is the jobs listed on Seek seem to be all in Queensland which might be a problem from my visa conditions (190). Unless like you've mentioned, the employer is NSW based, or I have my own business.

Thank you, Marisa. I do plan to end up in Queensland eventually so I'm with you on the Gold Coast or Brisbane area again. In regards to Sydney, I am starting to see it in the same realm of New York and Los Angeles. It's a city that is better to be "invited" to with a job offer, rather than going there with no job. Yet here in the US, NYers will encourage you to be there, it's never been a wise strategy in my experience. Leaning toward being in Newcastle or Central Coast and if an opportunity in Sydney presents itself, preferably a hefty wage, then I could live in Sydney. I do like Sydney and the energy of big cities but trying to be measured after past mistakes. Any recommendations on towns close to the Queensland border? I like the idea of owning land around a smaller town like Nimbin or Lismore eventually. Just now learning about Tweed Heads.

After a long two and half years having applied for a NSW 190 visa from offshore, I was asked to do medicals for the first time. Now, the idea of moving to Australia doesn't seem so mythological and have to seriously plan now in case my grant is coming soon. I'm a carpenter - I have two years experience building residential homes. Six years building sets for film and television productions. Everyone seems to want to move to Sydney which leaves me to wonder if I could be overlooking other locations. Are there any other cities I should look into? Newcastle? Wollongong? How about further up the state toward Queensland? I'm not picky with what kind of work I will undertake. If it falls under carpentry, I'm romantic about about helping build Australia's infrastructure such as rail projects, bridges or even stick to building homes. I imagine the film industry would take quite some time to network my way in, which seems to be Sydney based. I want to stick to my two year commitment of living in NSW. Planning on duel citizenship eventually, so wouldn't want to cast any negative light by living elsewhere when it comes time to apply. I also admit I'm a bit of an idealist and want to do the "patriotic" thing by staying within the state, but I understand how some struggle to find work in certain states. I lived in Brisbane a year back in 2016 and have visited Sydney twice and worked in Moree, NSW a few weeks. Thanks for all your support and advice.

I was very worried this would happen had Morrison's cabinet been re-elected. That shouldn't even be an option for a government.

Make a plan for years to come - learn new skills, a language, do projects you won't be able to if the visa grant changes life circumstance. Read buddhism books to curb insanity! Save, save and save. Though it seems like they process new cases over old ones so you may not have to wait long at all. We just never know!

Very relatable. Yet many don't understand.

It is! Although, there are a lot of challenges as described very well in this article: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/absolute-gridlock-five-challenges-in-australias-migration-program-facing-the-albanese-government/6z1gj92nc

Going on a third year of little net migration, I don't think there's danger of that. Especially since the new allocations aren't even the highest they've been.

There are many job vacancies which Australians alone can't fill. In the name of growing the economy and population again, there are brighter days ahead for migrants. I believe we can all look forward to serving and rebuilding Australia. The backlog is really the only issue now.

A handful. I don't quite understand the continued use of PMSOL list at this point. Shortages across the board and wouldn't this list cause more shortages in other occupations excluded from this list? I guess someone just needs to give the order not to follow it anymore, or at least greatly expand it. Just my uneducated opinion.

Let's brace ourselves for a slow month of May and June as we approach the elections and the remaining quota is filled. If we don't see 'back-to-normal' movement between July '22 and July '23, something's wrong, right? I've been reading Buddhism books to cope and staying as busy as possible.

The processing times reflect the age of the applications they process that month. The elephant in the room is that there is a backlog of 70K+ migrants and many of them across different visas have waited over 30 months. 189s have seem some movement recently, some non-critical occupations. Despite things getting back to normal Covid-wise, just mentally prepare yourself for a long wait. I'm almost to my two year anniversary of applying for my 190. Been a lot happier lately living in the moment but it's been very stressful.

Assume you mean 2020, which is still a long time to wait. To answer more politely than others, yes there isn't much you can do to complain as we've all been getting the same generic responses by contacting Home Affairs or political leaders. The good news is, this problem is coming to light more in the news, especially as borders re-open. Seems every week there's good news so I truly believe we're on the other side of this, even if that means we all still may have long wait with the backlog.

Seen a lot of movement for offshore, non-PMSOL 190s recently as well. This looks to be the year things get back to normal.

Touche. Seems to be a trend in every developed country. I wonder how many of the applicants who have been waiting years will still work in their profession when the grant finally arrives.

We get the same paranoid thinking from leaders in America too but the consequences are far greater for Australia. Truth is, if the job could be filled it would. Australia has already tried not having immigration and it isn't working. It's frustrating to see them take money from people only to have them wait close to three years.