Residency: How did u get it, and how long did it take?

unreggd

As per title!

Sponsorship or WHV / Student visa route? or other.....?


Residency question: If you go the WHV > Student Visa route, do you have to be in Oz for the WHOLE time, or can u go home, say for a visit during ur 2nd Year WHV?


Thanks in advance!!!

myhorse

I did my whv in 94-95 (bloody hell I'm old or you lot are just young).
I returned to Ireland and worked. Applied for residency in 99 and was granted in 2001. Was a long process back then. Later the Aussies discovered them there computers. After an investigation into this black magic they decided to try computers and the visa process speeded up considerably. They still dont know if thats just coincidence.

Went back then and did my time got passport - returned to ireland (at this stage I was on first name speaking terms with the airline staff and customs) and then returned here this year.

Not sure that helps but I will say that 2004-2007 were the golden years for applying for residency in recent times. Sadly its got tougher now with csl's and ever other skill being put on hold.
Was reading in another parish that all skilled independent pr's apart from csl occupations are on hold till 2012.

DaireMac

Does finance make much of a difference when looking for residency? I'm planning to head down under in 2011, am a tradie 37yo cabinetmaker and will have a few quid more than the usual WHV?

universe777

You guys really need to look at the Australian Immigration website, Residency is not as casual as it used to be.
Going on a SKilled Worker Visa (Trades etc) is put on the shelf until 2012 as far as I know and even then there will be 18month+ waiting lists.

http://www.immi.gov.au

myhorse

DaireMac wrote: »

Does finance make much of a difference when looking for residency? I'm planning to head down under in 2011, am a tradie 37yo cabinetmaker and will have a few quid more than the usual WHV?

there used to be a option whereby if you fell short of the points required for residency you could "buy" 5 points and only 5 points by depositing ~$100,000 in to a government bond type thingy for 2 yrs (and you earned interest). As far as I know this was discontinued a yr or so ago.

Hells Belle

universe777 wrote: »

You guys really need to look at the Australian Immigration website, Residency is not as casual as it used to be.
Going on a SKilled Worker Visa (Trades etc) is put on the shelf until 2012 as far as I know and even then there will be 18month+ waiting lists.

http://www.immi.gov.au

Tell me about it, we applied for 175 PR in Aug 08, oh is a carpenter, we probably won't have it until the end of 2012 - the Aussie govt basically stole our money to pay for their "Guantanamo on Christmas Island", fcukers, go to Canada instead - at least they tell you its gonna be 4 years!!

Mahatma coat

yeah, I am glad I got all that out of the way a few years ago, but then most of us could see it coming with the new Labour Government.

05-07 truly was the golden era of residency, the simple act of submitting a form and waitin up to a fortnight for yer visa, happy days.

hussey

Mahatma coat wrote: »

05-07 truly was the golden era of residency, the simple act of submitting a form and waitin up to a fortnight for yer visa, happy days.

B.S.! A fortnight for a residency visa? (or you mean working 457?)

There was still at least 6-12month wait for (skilled migrant residency) visa's back in 06.

as my dad used to say: As I told you a million times, don't exaggerate

Mahatma coat

457 man, 457.

took 2 weeks for the 457 to be processed in 2007

took around 3 months in 03

Coileach dearg

Yeah, my 457 took 24 hours to be processed back in '06 but took 8 weeks to go through in April this year!

mandrake04

hussey wrote: »

B.S.! A fortnight for a residency visa? (or you mean working 457?)

There was still at least 6-12month wait for (skilled migrant residency) visa's back in 06.

as my dad used to say: As I told you a million times, don't exaggerate

For ENS PR (Employer sponsored Permanent Resident Subclass 856) was taking 3 weeks back in April although it is now taking between 6-10 weeks.

DaireMac

myhorse wrote: »

there used to be a option whereby if you fell short of the points required for residency you could "buy" 5 points and only 5 points by depositing ~$100,000 in to a government bond type thingy for 2 yrs (and you earned interest). As far as I know this was discontinued a yr or so ago.

Thanks for that Horse, but I didn't mean buy my way in, I ment if I had X amount kinda like it could support me for a couple of years, now that means if things didn't go well like get employment etc. Can't see it happening really as i'm a worker! Just got a few quid, now don't get excited maybe a bit more than a WHV?

D.....

nzae86

Mahatma coat wrote: »

457 man, 457.

took 2 weeks for the 457 to be processed in 2007

took around 3 months in 03

your right about the processing time but a 457 does not give you residnecy its a temporary long stay business visa.

there is an awful lot of misinformation posted on this forum about australian visas,

i came to australia like 10,000's of young irish on a 1yr 1whv, at the end of that a company sponsored me on a 457, during that time i wanted the freedom of residency and applied for a 175 my skill was on the csl list at the time and i had a job offer the process took 6 months in late 07 early 08, what has been said about taking to 2012 now if unfortunaltey correct the process is now much longer.

luckliy for me about 2 yrs ago they changed the requiremnet for citizenship to 4 years from 2years however 3 of the 4 years can be as a temp residnet so in effect it made it quicker for me and i applied and got my citizienship 12 months after i became a pr, previously it would have taken 2 yrs fromt the date of pr. the change was good for me but obviously made it longer for most people.

i've had a 417 whv, a eta tourist visa, 2 x 457 visa, 175 visa, and australian citizenship, i've also added a defacto to the 457 after it was granted and the 175 after the application was lodged. all of this was done without a solicitor,, all the information is available on the www.immi.gov.au

as i said there is a lot of incorrect infor posted on this site re visa for example the quote post above do your own research on the immigration site and site such as britishexpats etc

mandrake04

good post nzae86

Like yourself i been through the WHV>457>PR and I agree that there is a big misunderstanding about visas. Someone thought on another thread they are entitled to citizenship because they have been on 2x457 and because they lived in Australia for over 4 years they thought they were permanent resident.

For 457 fill in a form and an X-ray and a few hundred $$ and your laughing..... PR is totally different kettle of fish....its a more serious process

DaireMac

mandrake04 wrote: »

good post nzae86

PR is totally different kettle of fish....its a more serious process

How serious tis all new to me?

D.

The Sweeper

I got mine as a spouse. Started off by getting a temporary spouse visa. They'd only grant it temporary because I wasn't living with my OH five years yet, and we have no kids. I believe if you have kids, or can prove cohabitation for more than five years, you may be granted a permanent spouse visa on first application.

If granted outside Australia, the temporary spouse visa comes with a date by which you need to be IN Australia. Mine was granted in February 2007, and I had to be in Australia by I think May 2007. Travelled down and arrived in April 2007.

Immigration know my address and I was sure to inform them of my change of address - which is important to do if you're on that sort of a temporary visa. In December 2008, immigration contacted me with a bunch of paperwork that I needed to complete in order to get my permanent spouse visa. The application process was similar to that for the temporary visa, but not as detailed - I didn't need to provide huge amounts of supporting material, or get third parties to give statements, but we both still needed to write something of an essay about ourselves.

The permanent spouse visa was granted around February 2009, so now I believe I can go for citizenship after another two years, so I'll be starting that application process in early 2011.

mandrake04

DaireMac wrote: »

How serious tis all new to me?

D.

First do you have enough points? http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/175/eligibility-applicant.htm

Second you have to have a skills a positive assessment, you will either require a degree level qualification, a level IV Diploma or an 4 year apprenticeship and have the relevant experience. (gonna cost $300)

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/TRA/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/TRA/Documents/Uniform%20Assessment%20Criteria%20September%202007.pdf

The above is the usual sticking point for most people because without you can not apply for a General skills migration, the exception is going down the Employer Nominated ENS 856) PR route after working for your employer on a 457 for 2 years you do not require a skills assessment. Sticking point here is wether you employer will be willing to sponsor you for the ENS in first place.

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/ens/eligibility-employee-subclass-856.htm


You then have to complete the visa application form which requires information on yourself, your parents and Brothers/sisters.

General Skills Migration http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1276.pdf

ENS http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/47es.pdf

X-Ray and Full medical/blood tests.

A police certificate (PCC) from every country you have lived for over 12 months

eg.
Ireland... a Garda certificate
UK..... Association of police inspectors Police Cerificate
Australia..... AFP Police Check certifcates.

Also you will require the money (approx)

Skills assessment $300
Visa application $2105
Meds/X-Rays $250
PCC $70 each

A migration lawyer will charge about $3000 on top of the above, you dont have to use one but if you mess up your application you will have to start from scratch and its only going to cost the same anyway.

Hope this helps.


P.S

I also forgot to mention the timescales

General Migratioan can take between 6 months and 3 years.

ENS gets 1st Priority processing and it took about 3 weeks to process mine from start to finish back in April/May, I believe that it is now about 10 weeks.

Also to gather all the information required (getting it posted from Ireland and obtaining PCC etc) and to fill in the forms took about 4 months.

NORZ

mandrake04 wrote: »

First do you have enough points? http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/175/eligibility-applicant.htm

Second you have to have a skills a positive assessment, you will either require a degree level qualification, a level IV Diploma or an 4 year apprenticeship and have the relevant experience. (gonna cost $300)

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/TRA/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/TRA/Documents/Uniform%20Assessment%20Criteria%20September%202007.pdf

The above is the usual sticking point for most people because without you can not apply for a General skills migration, the exception is going down the Employer Nominated ENS 856) PR route after working for your employer on a 457 for 2 years you do not require a skills assessment. Sticking point here is wether you employer will be willing to sponsor you for the ENS in first place.

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/ens/eligibility-employee-subclass-856.htm


You then have to complete the visa application form which requires information on yourself, your parents and Brothers/sisters.

General Skills Migration http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1276.pdf

ENS http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/47es.pdf

X-Ray and Full medical/blood tests.

A police certificate (PCC) from every country you have lived for over 12 months

eg.
Ireland... a Garda certificate
UK..... Association of police inspectors Police Cerificate
Australia..... AFP Police Check certifcates.

Also you will require the money (approx)

Skills assessment $300
Visa application $2105
Meds/X-Rays $250
PCC $70 each

A migration lawyer will charge about $3000 on top of the above, you dont have to use one but if you mess up your application you will have to start from scratch and its only going to cost the same anyway.

Hope this helps.


P.S

I also forgot to mention the timescales

General Migratioan can take between 6 months and 3 years.

ENS gets 1st Priority processing and it took about 3 weeks to process mine from start to finish back in April/May, I believe that it is now about 10 weeks.

Also to gather all the information required (getting it posted from Ireland and obtaining PCC etc) and to fill in the forms took about 4 months.

Good post Mandrake.

It's worth bearing in mind, if you can't quite scrape 120, you can obtain extra points for having 24 months experience in your nominated occupation. All of this is on the DIAC website, which is a strange beast, but remember that in addition to an Irish/Canadian/UK/US passport getting you 15 points under the presumption of adequate English skills; you can do an IELTS (www.ielts.org) test to bump this up to 25 points if your spoken, reading and written English is up to level 7.0 (on a scale 0-9.0). This will be an additional $350 or so.


If you're using prior experience to gain points, you will need to start accumulating some of 'b-d' (in addition to 'a'):

a) Detailed work references showing duties, duration of employment and signed by your
manager,
b) Pay slips covering the period of claimed work experience,
c) Bank statements showing payment of salaries into personal bank accounts
d) Taxation Documents

Other items required:

Accredited translation of any qualification used to support application (for example most Irish Universities issue their Degree certs in Latin or Irish). I was initially stunned when my case officer requested this but it makes perfect sense.
Transcripts of exams completed.

p.s. Application fee rose to $2,525 in July.

p.p.s. I haven't got my residency yet, nearly there; just waiting for my CO to re-review it once I got some additional docs to her, which I have done. Applied independently and without a migration agent, on the CSL, in July 09.

mandrake04

ZinedineKilbane wrote: »

Good post Mandrake.

It's worth bearing in mind, if you can't quite scrape 120, you can obtain extra points for having 24 months experience in your nominated occupation. All of this is on the DIAC website, which is a strange beast, but remember that in addition to an Irish/Canadian/UK/US passport getting you 15 points under the presumption of adequate English skills; you can do an IELTS (www.ielts.org) test to bump this up to 25 points if your spoken, reading and written English is up to level 7.0 (on a scale 0-9.0). This will be an additional $350 or so.


If you're using prior experience to gain points, you will need to start accumulating some of 'b-d' (in addition to 'a'):

a) Detailed work references showing duties, duration of employment and signed by your
manager,
b) Pay slips covering the period of claimed work experience,
c) Bank statements showing payment of salaries into personal bank accounts
d) Taxation Documents

Other items required:

Accredited translation of any qualification used to support application (for example most Irish Universities issue their Degree certs in Latin or Irish). I was initially stunned when my case officer requested this but it makes perfect sense.
Transcripts of exams completed.

p.s. Application fee rose to $2,525 in July.

p.p.s. I haven't got my residency yet, nearly there; just waiting for my CO to re-review it once I got some additional docs to her, which I have done. Applied independently and without a migration agent, on the CSL, in July 09.

Hey ZinedineKilbane Congrats on being on the CSL

Yeah the ILETS is a handy one if your are short of the points... although it may seem to be a bit of a joke I actually know a girl who was a High school English teacher from Northern Ireland and because she was over 35 she had to do the ILETS to get her the points... Yet if you came by banana boat from Bangladesh and couldn't string 3 words together they would be tripping over themselves to give you a visa.... what a joke.

To be honest it is a straight forward procedure if you meet all the criteria, If you are one of the people on the borderline then it can be more difficult and because Ireland & UK are going through financial hardship DIAC wont make it any easier that's for sure .... the supply outnumbers the demand.

Zambia

mandrake04 wrote: »

... Yet if you came by banana boat from Bangladesh and couldn't string 3 words together they would be tripping over themselves to give you a visa.... what a joke.

That's not quite the case. I doubt anyone in DIAC Authority trips over themselves to grant Visa's to illegals

mandrake04

Zambia232 wrote: »

That's not quite the case. I doubt anyone in DIAC Authority trips over themselves to grant Visa's to illegals

You are correct....In a way I am sure the people who work in DIAC are not too pleased about it they are just following orders, but its the media and the decent man in the street call them illegal's ......Kevin Rudd's government claim they are asylum seekers.

Its still a joke.

Zambia

True I see no difference ...a fact that gets me in deep water in the Politics threads.

passive

Noobish question here... But is it just a matter of: Meet the points requirements & criteria, fill in the forms correctly, wait x amount of time and be accepted? Or is there some other factor I'm missing completely.

I went through the eligibility thing, and in a hypothetical world where I study to be a Librarian (50 points), which I was half intending to do anyway, work at that for 3 years and get their recognised qualification in French, which I speak fluently, I make the 120, as would my partner... So... Is that it? I can count this as my way in, if me and the O/H decide to come here 4 years down the line? Unless they change the points, or pull my chosen career off the list in the meantime, obviously..

Or is there some element of chance to it, or a deciding point not mentioned on the immigration website? Ignoring for the fact that I probably won't get 3 years of librarian work in Ireland with the job situation as it is...

mandrake04

Zambia232 wrote: »

True I see no difference ...a fact that gets me in deep water in the Politics threads.

Yeah I bet it does...... Too many PC do-gooders in those threads.

mandrake04

passive wrote: »

Noobish question here... But is it just a matter of: Meet the points requirements & criteria, fill in the forms correctly, wait x amount of time and be accepted? Or is there some other factor I'm missing completely.

I went through the eligibility thing, and in a hypothetical world where I study to be a Librarian (50 points), which I was half intending to do anyway, work at that for 3 years and get their recognised qualification in French, which I speak fluently, I make the 120, as would my partner... So... Is that it? I can count this as my way in, if me and the O/H decide to come here 4 years down the line? Unless they change the points, or pull my chosen career off the list in the meantime, obviously..

Or is there some element of chance to it, or a deciding point not mentioned on the immigration website? Ignoring for the fact that I probably won't get 3 years of librarian work in Ireland with the job situation as it is...

You would get extra points for community language (French), but to be honest 4 years is a long way down the line.... even if you had already the experience and applied now it would probably take 4 years to process because Librarian is not on the Critical Skills List.

Things to be wary of is your age... once you start getting a few years on you lose points and the other thing is your occupation being reduced in points it is currently 50 but what happens if it gets reduced to 40?

What is your OH occupation?

Zambia

passive wrote: »

Noobish question here... But is it just a matter of: Meet the points requirements & criteria, fill in the forms correctly, wait x amount of time and be accepted? Or is there some other factor I'm missing completely.

Yeah thats pretty much it. As mandrake says things change but at present thats it.

Meeting the pionts is the key.

Having met you your age is not a issue.

passive

Zambia232 wrote: »

Having met you your age is not a issue.

Heh, thanks . Yeah, I have a few years to sort out skills/qualifications without worrying about the points for age going anywhere... Thanks for the reply too Mandrake, there's definitely a lot to think about & look into.

Regarding the points changing, If someone applies, meeting the 120, and the points get cut in the months/years they're waiting for it to go through, is that just tough ****? Though if we both meet the requirements with different qualifications, we'd have to be pretty unlucky for one of us to not get the foot in the door...

Zambia

passive wrote: »

Heh, thanks . Yeah, I have a few years to sort out skills/qualifications without worrying about the points for age going anywhere... Thanks for the reply too Mandrake, there's definitely a lot to think about & look into.

Regarding the points changing, If someone applies, meeting the 120, and the points get cut in the months/years they're waiting for it to go through, is that just tough ****? Though if we both meet the requirements with different qualifications, we'd have to be pretty unlucky for one of us to not get the foot in the door...

I'm not sure as far as I know it was you must meet the pionts at time of applying. If they then change you are still processed however the time span can change. You could be given less priority.

DaireMac

mandrake04 wrote: »

First do you have enough points? http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/175/eligibility-applicant.htm

Second you have to have a skills a positive assessment, you will either require a degree level qualification, a level IV Diploma or an 4 year apprenticeship and have the relevant experience. (gonna cost $300)

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/TRA/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/TRA/Documents/Uniform%20Assessment%20Criteria%20September%202007.pdf

The above is the usual sticking point for most people because without you can not apply for a General skills migration, the exception is going down the Employer Nominated ENS 856) PR route after working for your employer on a 457 for 2 years you do not require a skills assessment. Sticking point here is wether you employer will be willing to sponsor you for the ENS in first place.

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/ens/eligibility-employee-subclass-856.htm


You then have to complete the visa application form which requires information on yourself, your parents and Brothers/sisters.

General Skills Migration http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1276.pdf

ENS http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/47es.pdf

X-Ray and Full medical/blood tests.

A police certificate (PCC) from every country you have lived for over 12 months

eg.
Ireland... a Garda certificate
UK..... Association of police inspectors Police Cerificate
Australia..... AFP Police Check certifcates.

Also you will require the money (approx)

Skills assessment $300
Visa application $2105
Meds/X-Rays $250
PCC $70 each

A migration lawyer will charge about $3000 on top of the above, you dont have to use one but if you mess up your application you will have to start from scratch and its only going to cost the same anyway.

Hope this helps.


P.S

I also forgot to mention the timescales

General Migratioan can take between 6 months and 3 years.

ENS gets 1st Priority processing and it took about 3 weeks to process mine from start to finish back in April/May, I believe that it is now about 10 weeks.

Also to gather all the information required (getting it posted from Ireland and obtaining PCC etc) and to fill in the forms took about 4 months.

Mandrake04 your a star thank you very very much for the info, i'm a qualified cabinetmaker while not on the crit-list it still starts me off with 60 points. I read some where that you have to do an ozzy knowledge test as well is that true?

Cheers all..................D.

DaireMac

Occupational Demand? is this the CSL list?

Thx D.....

Traq

DaireMac wrote: »

Occupational Demand? is this the CSL list?

Thx D.....

Not necessarily. There are two different lists, the MODL (Migration Occupation in Demand List) and the CSL (Critical Skills List).

In order to have your application dealt with before the end of 2012 (I think) you would need to have an occupation that is on the CSL. The only exception to this that I can see, is where the CSL references the MODL in relation to Computing Professional jobs, where it states that you qualify as a computing professional to be on the CSL, if your specialisation is listed on the MODL.

It's all a bit confusing with the two separate lists, but essentially the CSL is the one that you really need to be on, otherwise you're in for a long wait!