186 and changing jobs - what's the deal?

[BadgerLady]

I've now been with my employer for 2 years (huge global conglomerate) and have asked them to nominate me for my PR, which policy says they'll oblige with as long as I cover all the costs up front.

 

I've already attended and passed the medical assessment, have all my paperwork together in one place with JP signatures... I've got new police checks from the UK and Australia... it's all ready to go from my side.

 

In the meantime, I've been contacted by my *dream* employer for an interview on Tuesday. It's the job of a lifetime and they're not in a rush, so there's a good chance they'd wait for me to be able to start.

 

My question is: how long would they have to wait?

 

Do they have to wait until the PR has been approved, sent back to my current employer and issued to me, and how long would that be?

 

Is there any possibility of switching employers during the application process?

[Mark Northam]

Hi BadgerLady -

 

Assuming you're applying for the subclass 186 or 187 employer sponsored PR visa, the position would need to remain open to you up until the point of grant for the PR visa, so switching employers prior to the grant of the 186 nomination AND visa would disrupt the 186 visa process and result in a refusal based on the position no longer being available.

 

There is an obligation for the sponsoring employer to provide a contract of at least 2 years (or open ended with no fixed end date) which also must be available to you as of the grant of the visa. Your employer would be notified of the grant of the 186 nomination, and you (or your nominated migration agent) would be notified of the grant of the 186 visa. We're seeing these taking anywhere from 4 to 8 months to process currently.

 

Hope this helps -

 

Best,

 

Mark Northam