First steps

[rider3]

Hi

We are just starting our adventure to australia and by just starting I mean we have finally made the decision to apply, but not done anything about it! 

Thats where this post comes in, I need advice on what to do first? We have narrowed the area down to qld or nsw.

i am a Community nurse here in the UK, 4 year post qualification.  I am married, hubby is 40 next year and I have 3 girls ahead 13,11,9.  Hubby works in manufacturing of cars so would need work similar. 

We have been looking in a dream to Australia for around 10-15 year but finally decided before it’s too late to take the biggest step of our lives. 

 

Any help or advise ice would be greatly appreciated

 

x nicola

[Guest]

Hi.

I’ve moved this to our Visa chat forum as it isn’t really job related as you’ve not even begun the visa process.

Hopefully here you’ll get some general feedback on the big picture  

[VERYSTORMY]

The first thing is are you degree trained? 

If so, the the first step is a skills assessment. This is done by ANMAC who are like the NMC. As part of that you will need to take an English test, such as ILETS and you will need to take it at the academic level. Most people end up taking it anyway for points. If you find you don't score enough for the points you need, then you can take a general test as well for points. You need to calculate your points as a 189 visa (an independent visa) requires a minimum of 60 points, but it is effectively a competition and at the moment, nobody with less than 70 is getting an invitation to apply. 

Once you have your skills assessment and have enough points, you can lodge an expression of interest (eoi). You then have to wait to be invited to apply. 

If you are still short on points, then look at a 190 visa which is state sponsored  you would need to check which states are sponsoring your occupation. You would need to look at each state's own list of occupations and apply for state sponsorship  

Some points to note:

For your husband, Australia no longer has any car manufacturing. So, he will need to look at a new career / re train  

Do Research your states carefully. NSW, particularly Sydney can be shockingly expensive - think London prices. QLD is one of the states that has made nurses redundant in recent times. Also, the northern part is tropical to sub tropical and not everyone copes with that.