Geebs1963 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Probably been asked previously but we're new here so apologies. My wife has been offered a sponsored employment visa (the 457) for 4 years and we're now going through the process of getting the visa itself. We have 3 kids and are 50/47 years old resp so don't want to have to come back to the UK after 4 years if we can avoid it! How and when do you go about obtaining permenant residency when you've entered on a 457? Any help greatly appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jmahood Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 You can apply for permanent residency after two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joob joobs Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I'm sure you can apply for PR anytime but if you don't want to have to complete a skills assessment then you have to wait 2 years. And your occupation must be on the ENSOL list... I think.. but I'm sure someone else can clarify if this is correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebloggs Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I'm sure you can apply for PR anytime but if you don't want to have to complete a skills assessment then you have to wait 2 years. And your occupation must be on the ENSOL list... I think.. but I'm sure someone else can clarify if this is correct. a) You can apply at anytime for either a GSM 175 or 176 (offshore) or ENS 856 and as usual you would need a skills assessment. b) After 2 years (and at least 1 with your most current sponsor) on 457 you can apply for ENS 856 without skills assessment, of course your employer must be willing to sponsor you again. option b cant be used for the GSM visa, you still need a skills assessment no matter what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozmaniac Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 A 457 doesn't ever lead automatically to Permanent Residence. The usual route to PR is that your employer sponsors you for a 121/856 ENS visa but they can only do that if your occupation is on the ENSOL - not all occupations that are eligible for 457s are on the ENSOL. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2010L03158 The ENSOL http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/ens/ 121/856 ENS visa The employer can sponsor you at any time for an 856, but if that is within the first 2 years, you must obtain skills assessment. After 2 years on a 457 including at least 1 with the sponsoring employer, no skills assessment is required. http://www.immi.gov.au/asri/ Skills assessment If the work is in a regional area, sponsorship is also possible for a permanent 119/857 RSMS visa. There is no list of occupations for an RSMS and no skills assessment is required. If you get an RSMS, you are required to remain employed in the nominated position in the regional area for at least two years. http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/rsms/ RSMS visa. Note that the Minister has just announced that all of WA including Perth will now be eligible for RSMS visas. The option of getting PR via a 175 or 176 will probably not be viable given your wife's age as it's a points tested visa and will be very difficult to get enough points at 45+. Her occupation would also need to be on the SOL or on an SMP which are much shorter lists than the ENSOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geebs1963 Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks to everyone who has replied - it's all useful stuff. Reading between the lines it looks like our best bet to stay is to either ask my wifes employer to sponsor us for a 856 to avoid the skills assessment where her age will count against us or wait 2 years and try ourselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozmaniac Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks to everyone who has replied - it's all useful stuff. Reading between the lines it looks like our best bet to stay is to either ask my wifes employer to sponsor us for a 856 to avoid the skills assessment where her age will count against us or wait 2 years and try ourselves? Not sure what you mean when you say what I've highlighted. She will only be eligible for an employer sponsored visa unless she can somehow scape together 65 points without getting any age points (they drop to zero at age 45) and while not impossible, it will be very difficult. Skills assessment has nothing to do with age. Skills assessment is always required for any points tested visa and will be required if she goes for an employer sponsored 856 before being here on a 457 for 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geebs1963 Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 Yes, my mistake - what I read in an earlier thread was 856 wasn't skill assessed after 2 years but I'd missed that you still needed a sponsor to avoid the skill assement altogether! So, in short, we try to stick with the employer (which we're happy to do by the way!) for 2 years then ask them to sponsor my wife on a 856 so as to avoid the skills assessment whereby her age would almost certainly result in failure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozmaniac Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Yes, my mistake - what I read in an earlier thread was 856 wasn't skill assessed after 2 years but I'd missed that you still needed a sponsor to avoid the skill assement altogether! So, in short, we try to stick with the employer (which we're happy to do by the way!) for 2 years then ask them to sponsor my wife on a 856 so as to avoid the skills assessment whereby her age would almost certainly result in failure? Sorry to labour the point but there still seems to be a slight misunderstanding. Skills assessment has NOTHING to do with age. If she could have passed skills assessment at 30 (or any other age), she'll also be able to pass it at 48 or 55 or any other age. If she has what's required to pass skills assessment now and if her employer is willing to sponsor her in under 2 years for an 856, IMO, she should go for it ASAP on the basis of 'better a bird in the hand than one in the bush'. A lot can happen in 2 years. What if one of you has a health scare during that time which would possibly prevent a permanent visa application? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geebs1963 Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 I appreciate your labouring the point as it helps me fully understand what I need to be doing! When we've tried to work out the points on-line the reason we've always seemed to come up short is the "no points for age" - my wife will work as a hospital representative for a pharmaceutical firm who can't get suitably qualified people in Australia so they've sponsored her. What your suggesting is is as soon as we "get our feet under the table" we ask her new company about sponsoring her/us for an 856. Earlier in the thread I read she had to have worked for them for 12 months before this was possible? Your quite right about the health issue thing as she's just had a breast cancer scare! Thanks for all the input, it's really appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebloggs Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I appreciate your labouring the point as it helps me fully understand what I need to be doing! When we've tried to work out the points on-line the reason we've always seemed to come up short is the "no points for age" - my wife will work as a hospital representative for a pharmaceutical firm who can't get suitably qualified people in Australia so they've sponsored her. What your suggesting is is as soon as we "get our feet under the table" we ask her new company about sponsoring her/us for an 856. Earlier in the thread I read she had to have worked for them for 12 months before this was possible? Your quite right about the health issue thing as she's just had a breast cancer scare! Thanks for all the input, it's really appreciated You read wrong. She can apply for ENS 856 at anytime with a skills assessment. or If she works for at least 2 years on a 457 in a similar occupation she can use that in lieu of a skills assessment, the rule is that the last 12 months of those 2 years must be with the employer offering sponsorship for the ENS 856. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geebs1963 Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Hi, We've now been here in Sydney for 6 months and loving everything about it (apart from the prices!) If I can I'd like to come back to my previous questions regarding when/how to apply for a permananet visa "following" entry to the country on a 457 visa. As I understand it the usual route to PR is for my wife's employer to sponsor us for a 121/856 ENS visa but they can only do that if her occupation is on the ENSOL - we contacted DIAC and they indicated her occupation was there; http://www.immi.gov.au/asri/occupations/s/sales-representative.htm She's been a pharma rep for over 12 years so we're pretty sure she can pass the skills assessment if we go for the 121/856 "now". She's also just been "signed off" by her employer after a 6 month probabtionary period so they're happy with her work etc. Now, the big fly in the ointment, is that she is 51 years young (and gorgeous of course - I have to put that in as she might read this!) We have heard and read some snippets about an "age waiver" but can't see how you "apply" for an age waiver - is it something that happens during the skills assessment, is it a completely different set of paperwork etc? We've had a few different people say different things so we're a touch confused as to how to proceed. My wife's employers have also confirmed that they will "complete any paperwork" necessary but we're not sure if that is confirmation that they will "sponsor" her or whether they simply fill in a few forms and we do the rest? We're happy to stump up whatever cash is necessary to get the permanent visa but like always these things don't appear cheap so any advise we can get to avoid getting knocked back because we didn't fill the correct form in etc would be appreciated! We really want to stay and are really settled but without PR things like life insurance, credit cards, buying a house etc are very tricky and renting a house doesn't feel like "home" Any help or advice greatly appreciated. Cheers Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Hi, We've now been here in Sydney for 6 months and loving everything about it (apart from the prices!) If I can I'd like to come back to my previous questions regarding when/how to apply for a permananet visa "following" entry to the country on a 457 visa. As I understand it the usual route to PR is for my wife's employer to sponsor us for a 121/856 ENS visa but they can only do that if her occupation is on the ENSOL - we contacted DIAC and they indicated her occupation was there; http://www.immi.gov.au/asri/occupations/s/sales-representative.htm She's been a pharma rep for over 12 years so we're pretty sure she can pass the skills assessment if we go for the 121/856 "now". She's also just been "signed off" by her employer after a 6 month probabtionary period so they're happy with her work etc. Now, the big fly in the ointment, is that she is 51 years young (and gorgeous of course - I have to put that in as she might read this!) We have heard and read some snippets about an "age waiver" but can't see how you "apply" for an age waiver - is it something that happens during the skills assessment, is it a completely different set of paperwork etc? We've had a few different people say different things so we're a touch confused as to how to proceed. My wife's employers have also confirmed that they will "complete any paperwork" necessary but we're not sure if that is confirmation that they will "sponsor" her or whether they simply fill in a few forms and we do the rest? We're happy to stump up whatever cash is necessary to get the permanent visa but like always these things don't appear cheap so any advise we can get to avoid getting knocked back because we didn't fill the correct form in etc would be appreciated! We really want to stay and are really settled but without PR things like life insurance, credit cards, buying a house etc are very tricky and renting a house doesn't feel like "home" Any help or advice greatly appreciated. Cheers Gary The age waiver is nothing to do with the skills assessment, I would recommend that first step is to get that done and out of the way. It is when you come to lodging the visa application that you would need to seek a waiver for age, to be honest I am not sure what that specifically entails but you need to prove the following in some format. http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/ens/exemptions.htm#b The organisation will need to do a bit more than fill in some forms, they have criteria to meet as well, hopefully as they are already a 457 sponsor they will be able to meet the criteria. Nevertheless in view of the exceptions circumstance you need to prove, I would definitely recommend you get professional assistance with lodging your application. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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