LO_in_aus

22 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I don't know why you think I have a problem with you or anyone on a temp visa.  I'm just stating the facts in response to the topic Parley brought up.  Threads do go off topic occasionally, there's no law against it.

You had your visa renewed once, which is perfectly legal.  During Covid, people have been getting their visa renewed a second time, which is usually not allowed, but again perfectly legal at the moment. 

I'm sure immigration lawyers would not do anything that actually breaks the law, but of course they will exploit loopholes.  

Yes apologies, I probably get a bit too touchy on this subject as I've been through so much in the past few years trying to stay. I understand and appreciate where you were coming from!

21 hours ago, tom1993 said:

If there’s no route to PR, you’re just delaying the inevitable arent you? You’ll have to go home eventually and 5 years is a long time to have lived here. I personally couldn’t just live on back to back temporary visas it would drive me mad!

If I was you I’d go home and live in London for a year or two, it’ll kickstart your career. I lived there for 3 years and had a great time. 

Thank you!

41 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

You are absolutely doing the right thing.  You have made some great memories, doing something most people never do, and you will always have those!  Move on with life!

Thanks so much

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I just checked and the law says a TSS visa can only be renewed once, if it's on the short-term list.   During Covid, that rule has been waived.    

I've heard of people managing to get around visa limitations by using another company to do the subsequent applications.  Not strictly legal though.

I have had mine renewed by the same company (as have my friends) and with a very respectable team of immigration lawyers. I'm not doing anything illegal thank you. Unsure why you're researching this when I'm leaving anyway and it has nothing to do with the topic posted?

Maybe rather than having a problem with me/ people who are on temporary visas, try and see things from our perspective. I've worked here for 5 years, paid taxes and contributed to the economy. In return I have very few rights here, including being able to visit family overseas right now (only citizens and PR's are allowed to leave and come back) and we haven't seen our families in 2 years.

Thanks for your input

27 minutes ago, Parley said:

Is there really a shortage of tech recruiters? Hard to believe.

I can't believe how many agencies there are and every day I'm getting LinkedIn requests from tech recruiters. They seem to be absolutely everywhere.

Yes, massively. We have been trying to hire in our TA team for months. So many recruiters moved back overseas during Covid. I also get multiple LinkedIn messages every day about roles, and they're often offering double the salary I would've got for before Covid. There's a massive shortage of people in tech too, which is why you get so many messages.

Anyway, this is very far away from the topic I posted about. Thanks for the 'support'

3 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I think a more salient point is that an employer can't just keep renewing temporary sponsorship for the same job/same person every two years.  Immigration would smell a rat. In fact I may be wrong, but I thought there was a limit on how many times a 482 could be renewed.  

I've had it renewed once, I have friends who have had it renewed 3 times. Immigration want to keep us here, as they are very short on talent (especially in the field of tech recruitment which I work in) but they don't want to give us permanent residency because they want to appear to have a hard stance on immigration and keep their 'Australians first' persona.

42 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Of course you're doing the right thing.  You know that you can't make a future in Australia, so every year you stay in Oz, is another year you can't be building your future in the UK.  

Pay no attention to people who tell you that you're mad to leave, especially if they're also from overseas. They say that because they feel threatened, that's all.     In the back of their mind, they may hanker for home too, but most of the time, they're able to squash that feeling down and have another Chardy.   You're reminding them that they have a choice, that they could go home, and they don't want to even think about it because you might be right, and perhaps a beach lifestyle isn't more important than your family. 

Thank you so much. Yes actually that makes total sense that they may feel threatened, and are probably trying to convince themselves that staying in Australia is the right decision. I hadn't really thought of that

4 minutes ago, DIG85 said:

Makes you wonder why he hasn’t already offered to sponsor your PR.

Unfortunately our careers aren't on the skilled shortage list meaning we wouldn't be able to get PR even if our employers wanted to sponsor us for it. We can only renew our temporary visas every 2 years.

On 10/08/2021 at 18:49, Haggis said:

I know this is an extremely hard decision but by the sounds of it you already know your answer.
It is very hard to let something go when you hold such fond memories and enjoy it but it doesn’t mean that it’s the best for you and by the sounds of it you’re not at your happiest and living your best life, well maybe not anymore where you are. 
Remember…every new beginning comes from another beginning end, it’s just part of your beautiful journey . 

Thank you so much! This is so reassuring. We're moving home in 3 weeks , terrifying but I know we're doing the right thing.

On 11/08/2021 at 09:17, Chortlepuss said:

You said it - you need to get on with life. If there’s no route to PR, then enjoy the time you have left here and go ahead with your plans. Life is too short to do a job you hate if (by the sounds of it) you know what you would enjoy. Good luck! 

Thanks so much. This is the decision I came to, I'm moving home in 3 weeks eek. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.

On 10/08/2021 at 17:53, Tulip1 said:

I think you need to ask yourself what makes you say you ‘really love it  there’ you are in a job you hate and know you could be in a job you love elsewhere.  You miss friends and have struggled to make any there.  You have the constant worry about your visa and know your time there is running out.  You long to travel etc but can’t whilst there.  

You are living in a beautiful area but that isn’t enough to make someone happy.  If you’re sure you are really happy then stay and make the most of the time you have left there.  If you’re not super happy and loving life make the move. 

Thanks so much. This is very true and I hadn't thought of it from this perspective. There's more to life than nice weather and good beaches.

I decided to take the plunge and I'm moving home in 3 weeks. Eek!

Hey everyone,

Hoping you can help. I've lived in Australia for 5 years and I'm moving back to the UK in 3 weeks.

In my heart, I know I'm doing the right thing. My partner and I are both on temporary visas with no path to permanent residency despite living here and paying taxes for half a decade. We are both unhappy in our careers but can't change jobs because they are tied to our visas. We both know what we want to do (he wants to be a property developer and I want to go back into Communications) but we can't. Staying here would mean settling in careers we aren't happy in.

Plus there are a lot of things I'm excited for in the UK. Being close to my family, going on country walks, going to the pub, the live music scene, the food. Plus we are able to travel so freely as we're so close to everything - the only place I've travelled to aside from the UK in the past 5 years is Bali and I LOVE travelling and exploring new cultures.

We also want to buy a house and invest in property, get a dog, go travelling (we're going to Central America for 6 months in January). We can't do any of this here because of our visas.

However, it's so so hard giving up our life here. We live in an apartment right on the beach, get paid very well, have made some good friendships here and (besides our careers) are generally happy. Everyone keeps telling us we are crazy for moving back to the UK which makes things harder.

The worst thing is, we know that if we do regret leaving then we might not be able to ever move back because we don't have Permanent Residency or citizenship. Although my current employer is gutted I'm leaving and has said he would sponsor me and re-employ me if I ever wanted to return (although I am moving away to get out of this job).

I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that I'm making the right decision as everybody keeps saying I'm mad for leaving which is so frustrating.

Has anybody ever been in a similar position? Any positive returning stories?

Thank you!

I really need some advice. I've been living in Australia for almost five years now, and while I love my life here (I live right on the beach in Manly), I'm so restricted due to my ongoing visa issues.

My occupation is only eligible for the temporary skilled shortage visa route, meaning my employer renews it every two years and there's no path to permanent residency. As a result, I'm stuck with the same employer and in the same occupation (recruitment) which is making me miserable.

I only got into recruitment in the first place to get a visa. Back in the UK I used to work in Journalism and Public Relations which I loved but I couldn't get sponsored in it out here, so I fell into recruitment which isn't for me at all. I'd love to go back into Communications but I'm trapped.

I'd also love to do more travelling, buy a house, get a dog etc, all of which I can't do because I'm in constant limbo because of my visa.

I am thinking of going back to the UK in December, before doing 6 months of backpacking across Central America (Covid permitting) and building a copywriting portfolio while I'm out there so I can try and get a job in communications when I get back to the UK.

This plan really excites me as I can't go on like this. I also really miss my friends and family, I have really struggled making friends out here and have very little support network. But on the other hand I'm so so scared of regretting it and missing Australia as I do love it here, but can't deal with the lack of freedom anymore, I need to move on with my life. What should I do?