Another 457 Question

[CharmedP3]

Sorry if this has been asked before...or if my question is totally dumb.....having recently made the decision to "go for it" the whole visa process is still relatively unknown. However a chat this week with a migration agent (whom we are meeting with next week) seems to suggest a 457 is the best visa type for us....so my question(s) are:

 

Does DH have to have a job offer in order to GET the visa or does this visa allow for you to job hunt once there?

I've just read the other thread about medicals and police checks...seems like different agents recommend different things huh

Once there living and working at what point can you apply for residency and are there more costs involved/further medicals etc?

The agent we are meeting with says as part of his service he would prepare the 457 application and then the 176 application....is this neccessary at this point? Can it wait until we have been there a (short) while, once we have a bit more money (hopefully) behind us......(recent developments with DH's employment this week mean money suddenly become tight, so trying to figure out all options)

And finally...I think...how much does this type of visa cost?

 

Thanks for reading.....sorry if I'm covering old ground.....:unsure:

[Guest Mrs Braveheart]

Hi Charmed (Love your avatar)

 

Your hubby needs a job offer to go on the 457 sponsorship visa. The cost is approx 1300 pounds for 457 visa.

 

You only need xrays as adults & medicals & xrays for kids on a 457(unless one of you is going to work with children)or hospitals, then its full medicals for you..... police checks are optional altho we done them in the UK.

 

Does your hubby have a TRA or Vet with his skills if so they you can apply for PR almost immediatley & yes the costs vary from going from a 457 to PR we are paying $9000. Then you have to have full medicals here the cost im not sure of yet. If you dont have a successful TRA then you have to wait the 2 years or get your tra done here but much harder getting the info from the Uk when in Oz.

 

Why is your agent applying for a 457 & a 176 why not the 176 perm visa first ? What does hubby do for a living ?

 

I would suggest to anyone that can come on a PR if possible. We had to come on a 457 visa due to OH age but saves a lot of money all round if PR is granted first & less work restrictions.

 

Hope this helps

 

Janette

[CharmedP3]

Hi..thanks for that info

 

Hubby is a welder/fabricator. He's been in this trade since leaving school 20 years ago. However he only took his City & Guilds parts I and II and only sat the written exam for his final part..never took the practical for some reason. So technically not classed as fully qualified (although if you could see the machines he is building you'd never doubt his skill and ability).

 

He had booked himself onto a 2 day course next week at a cost of £350 ; 1 day training;1 day exams which would give him that all important qualification. However the agent said to hold off as it might not be neccessary. He said that they look more at the actual apprenticship served and classroom time spent, rather than the actual certificate (sounds odd to me) and that he may therefore be able to "get there sooner" on a 457 and do on the job assessment for PR over there.....

 

So we've postponed doing the course for now (they are done weekly anyway), which is just as well because his employer may or may not be in liquidation by the end of today and he may not even be getting paid for the last months work....(great huh :arghh: )... we need every penny we can get atm

[Guest dazla]

Hi there

 

The 457 visa are being granted very quickly right now. I had mine through in less than 4 weeks

 

Daz

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hello Charmed

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

I'm not a migration agent, so I'm not sure that I understand your Agent's advice fully, but roughly I think the gist is as follows:

 

TRA used to assess tradies' skills under 5 different "Pathways." One of these, Pathway D, enabled people to get a positive skills assessment if they had enough "on the job" work experience but no paper qualifications, apprenticeship etc. TRA suddenly closed Pathway D in September 2007 after allegations that a series of people had allegedly obtained Pathway D assessments based on bogus claims about their skills.

 

Officially TRA are still saying that they intend to bring in a "new, improved version" of Pathway D. Back in February they claimed that the new scheme would be up & running on 1st July 2008. Which is only about 5 weeks away, with no sign of this proposed new scheme. Everybody is becomng doubtful about whether this new scheme will actually materialise and I don't think that even TRA would now claim that it will still happen on 1st July.

 

Which has led to Agents and their clients examining the alternative skilled Pathways. It sounds as if your Agent originally suggested that Hubby should gear up for an assessment under Skilled Pathway B. Please see this article by Alan Collett of Go Matilda, and please cclick on the link to the Uniform Assessment Criteria at the foot of the article. The UAC document contains a table which shows the four remaining TRA Skilled Pathways and the requirements for each of them.

 

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - News

 

However since that article was written - and it is quite old now because all this visa stuff moves with the speed of light - I have heard that Agents have been encountering a different problem with Pathway B lately. I have seen a few posts about it by Alan Collett on here or on British Expats. I am NOT clear about the details, but I think it is something to do with TRA perhaps jibbing at certificates produced on the basis of workplace assessments rather than completion of a course of study. I am NOT sure of the exact problem, though. so you should ask your Agent to clarify it. It sounds, though, as if your Agent is aware of the same thing that Alan has mentioned and that he feels it would be better to keep the money safe for the moment and wait to see what TRA are actually going to require. NObody wants to encourage you to spend money on obtaining a document that TRA might not accept, obviously.

 

I have seen a pretty recent post by Alan Collett in which he said that his hunch - only a hunch - is that there wil not be a return to a system where a skills assessment can be obtained with no formal qualifications at all. His comment was that he thinks that TRA probably will require formal qualifications in future but that they will perhaps be less finicky about how it is all done.

 

The 457 visa is a temporary visa only and it needs a willing employer-sponsor. However, it is possible to go to Oz on a 457 visa without doing a formal skills assessment at all. I think what your agent is saying is that one option would be to use a 457 visa in order to get out to Oz, wait to see what everntually happens with The TRA skilled Pathways, and then submit a skills assessment based on whatever TRA's detailed requirements turn out to be. If that depends on a work-place based theory & practical work assessment, it would be cheaper to get it done in Oz than in the UK.

 

Do you have relatives in Oz who would sponsor you for a subclass 176 visa or would you be seeking State Sponsorship for it instead? Also, are you sure that the Agent suggested the 176 visa and not the subclass 175? Please see below:

 

Skilled – Sponsored (Migrant) visa (subclass 176)

 

Skilled – Independent (Migrant) visa (subclass 175)

 

Australian General Skilled Migration Booklet

 

You need 120 points for a 175 visa. If you cannot get 120 points then the next option woud be to consider a 176 visa instead because you only need 100 points for the 176.

 

However you can't apply for either of the 175 or the 176 unless you first have a positive skills assessment, plus the main visa applicant (Hubby) must be under 45 on the date when the visa application reaches DIAC.

 

How old is Hubby now, please? As long as he is comfortably under 45, then considering that it does not seem that he has an employer-sponsor lined up, plus you are worried about cash-flow at present, I'd have said that the most sensible plan for you might be to sit tight and do nothing for the moment. One option would be to wait & see how the cookie actually crumbles with the TRA once they eventually act on the Pathway D problem.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

 

PS: More information about the 457 visa is here:

 

Temporary Business (Long Stay) - Standard Business Sponsorship (Subclass 457)

 

Sponsoring a Temporary Overseas Employee to Australia

 

Potentially,if Hubby finds an employer-sponsor you could be out to Oz on a 457 visa very quicky. If he then did nothing at all about a skills assessment, Hubby woud qualify to upgrade to Permanent Residence after a minimum of 2 years on the $%& visa, using either an ENS or an RSMS visa. Please see here:

 

Skilled Workers Permanent Visa Options- Employer Sponsored Workers - Workers - Visas & Immigration

 

Employer Sponsored Migration Booklet - Australian Immigration

 

For what it is worth though (and it is only my personal opinion) if there is no particular hurry to get out to Oz quickly and Hubby is still well below 45 then I would - myself - wait until I had either a 175 visa or a 176 visa before I would uproot and head off to Oz.

 

Some people, like Mrs Braveheart and her husband, do not have a choice because Billy Braveheart had turned 45 before his employer-sponsor was found. But single very best piece of advice that was given to Billy was given by Welshtone, one of the Migration Agents who helps with Poms in Oz. Tony advised Billy to get a positive skills assessment before leaving the UK because it is easier to get the references etc together whilst one is still in the UK. Billy took that advice. The result is that Billy was able to apply for PR under the ENS scheme after her had only been in Oz for 3 or 4 months, and they should have Permanent Residence bu the time they have been in Oz for a year.

 

However, Billy is also the first to say that if he had started the process two years earlier, he would have gone for the 136 visa (the precursor of the 175 visa) from the beginning even if it mean delaying their move out to Oz. His own scheme is brilliant for Billy because he had no other choice. If you do have a choice then I would be guided by Billy on tis question.

[Alan Collett]

Just a few notes to add to Gill's comments.

 

- Please consider carefully whether you want to move to Australia on a 457 visa which will tie your husband to a sponsoring employer (at least until the permanent residency visa is granted). If the employment relationship comes to an end you can expect to be required to depart Australia within a short period unless you find another employer that is able and willing to sponsor you for another 457 visa.

 

- If you apply for a general offshore skilled visa such as a subclass 175 or 176 you will have to be outside Australia at the time of visa grant => additional flights and accommodation costs if you have moved to Australia as the holders of 457 visas.

 

- Workplace assessments for your husband's occupation leading to the issuing of an AQF Certificate III and subsequently an application to TRA under their Skill Pathway E should be capable of being carried out in the UK. Feel able to contact me via email (alan - at - gomatilda.com) if you would like me to arrange for details of these assessors to be sent to you.

 

- At this stage (only some 6 weeks from the 1st of July, when TRA has said it will be introducing a new Skill Pathway) I would keep a watch on this forum (and perhaps Go Matilda News) for news of any new Skill Pathways from TRA.

 

- Subclass 457 visas have their place, and can offer attractive tax benefits through salary packaging (eg the Living Away From Home Allowance). I am generally of the view though that they stack the cards fairly heavily in favour of the employer, leaving you vulnerable in a new country.

 

In case of need, feel able to contact us:

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - Contact and Feedback

 

In Southampton my colleague John Sylvester is generally best placed to discuss employer sponsored migration. He can also discuss skills visa strategies. Or feel able to contact me via the Melbourne office - a call at any time up to 9am UK time generally catches me.

 

Best regards.

[CharmedP3]

Wow..thanks for those last two replies. You've both given us a lot of food for thought. I'm going to print this out and re read through it with hubby later on. He's only 36 now, so the age isn't an issue. My birth mother lives in NSW and has volunteered to sponsor us (I'm adopted, but assume she can still be considered a blood relative?!)

I do recall the agent mentioning the Pathway situation, so I imagine this is why he is suggesting this route for us....

 

anyway...gone mull it over...thanks very much