pomtastic Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Hi, Is anyone able to advice on applying for residency? We have a 457 visa, we arrived in January and wondered if there was any benefit to applying for residency as my wives employer sponsored our move, we were advised to go for 457 due to timescale for my wives new position starting. We are considering buying a property shortly and would like to hear from others about there experiences. How long does the residency process take on average? cost of residency application? potential saving to be made between 457 and residency? many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 (edited) There is no such thing as "applying for residency", in Australia you have to apply for a visa. Permanent visas give permanent residency and temporary visas, like the one you currently have, provides temporary residency. So first question is which visa are you thinking of applying for? There are different processes and different estimated processing times depending upon visa. I didn't have a temporary visa first, but I know that for us, household of two working adults on decent salaries, no there was no financial benefit in having PR. In fact we were a bit worse off as we had to pay Australian tax on foreign income. Other people might well be better off for having a permanent visa though, so the answer is it depends on your situation. There is the non-financial benefit of PR you have to think about though and maybe that is worth more. Edited May 10, 2015 by Bungo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Hi,Is anyone able to advice on applying for residency? We have a 457 visa, we arrived in January and wondered if there was any benefit to applying for residency as my wives employer sponsored our move, we were advised to go for 457 due to timescale for my wives new position starting. We are considering buying a property shortly and would like to hear from others about there experiences. How long does the residency process take on average? cost of residency application? potential saving to be made between 457 and residency? many thanks Who advised you? The employer? 457's are a temporary visa with no guarantee of permanent residency despite what the employer may have promised. In view of that, the fact that you are considering buying a property shows that you really have a lot of homework to do as you would be taking a huge risk committing to debt before stability. Your questions, although valid, are ones that I would expect potential migrants to pose, not ones already here. I can't offer you any advice as the rules are constantly changing and are dependent on your occupations and other factors that you haven't supplied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew from Vista Financial Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 So potentially two of the main differences from a financial point of view: One has been mentioned, generally temporary residents only pay tax on Australian sourced income, not worldwide income therefore it may or may not make a financial difference depending on whether you have assets/investments overseas. The other has been touched upon, housing, so in addition to having to give consideration to buying as a temporary resident from the point of view if permanent residence isn't obtained the house would likely have to be sold, the other factor is raising finance as generally temporary residents can only borrow 80% of the property value whereas permanent residents can borrow up to 95%. Regards Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfromdublin Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 There are others too. Health insurance is generally cheaper for permanent residents, and if you have school-age children then some states require you to pay fees for state education if you are on a 457. Income protection insurance usually won't go to age 65 for 457 holders, too. These are just some of the differences I know about anyway. If you are considering buying a house, though, I'd definitely be on a firmer footing than a 457 if I were you, quite apart from the financial side of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouDYorkie Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 .....if you are looking to buy a new property, there can be some financial incentives to being permanent. In Brisbane there is a possible $15K grant on a new property purchase under $750K I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkyG Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 So potentially two of the main differences from a financial point of view: One has been mentioned, generally temporary residents only pay tax on Australian sourced income, not worldwide income therefore it may or may not make a financial difference depending on whether you have assets/investments overseas. The other has been touched upon, housing, so in addition to having to give consideration to buying as a temporary resident from the point of view if permanent residence isn't obtained the house would likely have to be sold, the other factor is raising finance as generally temporary residents can only borrow 80% of the property value whereas permanent residents can borrow up to 95%. Regards Andy As a 457 visa holder you also have the opportunity to withdraw your Super contributions (but be taxed on them) when you leave Australia. Once you went PR they would be locked in until retirement. Also you would have to pay for schooling in NSW (and other states) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 The 457 ties you to an employer and may hinder promotional positions outside that organisation e.g. some jobs are advertised as preference being given to PR/Citizens. Domestic fees for courses (rather than being classed as an international student)., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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