Advice for my daughter please

Advice for my daughter please

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Davel

Original Poster:

8,982 posts

257 months

Tuesday 25th November 2014
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I’d really appreciate some advice on behalf of my daughter.

She is currently a clinical photographer – although she is really keen on social work.

Anyway, she has decided that she would really like to move to Sydney and she does have a few friends there.
She’s late-twenties and has no ties, not much money and has bought her flight ready to move mid-January. She has had a 12 month working visa accepted.

Her intention is to fly there, possibly stay in a hostel for a short while whilst she finds work and then find somewhere to live.

She has been told that she should not have to struggle to find a job there so has literally sold her car and furniture etc to go.

My questions are really, is what she has been told true? Should she be able to find a job and somewhere to live without too much trouble?

If she finds a job, is she likely to be able to stay there after twelve months, when her current visa will expire?

And yes, I do have photos and no I’m not posting them on here…

ezakimak

1,871 posts

235 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
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Davel said:
She is currently a clinical photographer – although she is really keen on social work.
I don't know anyone that works in that field or even similar. I suspect she will need to do a large amount of networking and be mobile in order to get out and meet people within the industry in order to get started once she arrives.

i presume she would be bringing some photography gear across. Maybe she could stalk some of the major photography shops in Sydney to try and make contacts through there. might take a few months but even pros need to get equipment serviced or rent equipment for different shoots.

if she if motivated, enthusiastic and turns up on time that will be a good start. If she can top that with timely advice that prevents problems from occurring in the first place or helps maximize a shot, she will go even further.

regards Ryan

robm3

4,927 posts

226 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Things are slowing down a little here but nothing major so plenty of work around for those who want it. If she has friends here then I'm sure she'll be okay.

One piece of advice, we know of Brits who've moved over but chosen to live in the Western Suburbs, they've not enjoyed it.

There seems to be a corresponding level of happiness with how close you live to the coast. I'd suggest in her 20's then the Eastern or Lower Northern Shore suburbs are the place to be.


West9

88 posts

192 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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For the rental side of things - We moved here last year and rented a holiday home for a 3 weeks however we live just up the coast. Within 2 and a half weeks we had a rental lined up. There was a bit of demand for them which was more than we thought. There is a lot of websites which handle rentals and they normally have the application forms that you can download. Its worth doing as it allowed us to get our information / ID ready before hand. We also had a good look on realestate.com.au at rentals to get a good idea of prices. There is a points system so you need to get to 100 points which might include a copy of your passport, medicare card, employment slip etc for the application. The first thing I would arrange is a bank account. Some banks allow you to set one from while you are in the UK so when you move over its all good to go

Davel

Original Poster:

8,982 posts

257 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the advice.

The first thing is for her to find a job and somewhere to live. I guess that she won't have to be too fussy over her first job.

What she is able to earn will pretty much dictate where she can afford to live.

Useful stuff though...

TheValk

50 posts

124 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
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This might be a bit late, but make sure that she is fully aware of the temp residency/work and visa requirements which fit her plans. The info is all on the Aus Gov website. Worth checking just to be sure- the government computers are much more efficient than they used to be. I'm sure she will be fine with friends already here- that tip on previous post about "go west= not" is a good one.


TheValk

50 posts

124 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
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This might be a bit late, but make sure that she is fully aware of the temp residency/work and visa requirements which fit her plans. The info is all on the Aus Gov website. Worth checking just to be sure- the government computers are much more efficient than they used to be. I'm sure she will be fine with friends already here- that tip on previous post about "go west= not" is a good one.


HenryJM

6,315 posts

128 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
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Davel said:
She has had a 12 month working visa accepted.…
What is that? A 417?

If so she can go for a year but she can't get a job for a year, six months is the max from any employer, so in practice it's temporary or seasonal work, no idea whether the photographer skils are any use to get that.

Davel

Original Poster:

8,982 posts

257 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
quotequote all
Not sure but suspect that's the form - she's in Scotland at the moment.

She would like to make the move to Australia a permanent one so is hopeful that there is a way that this can be possible.

Mattt

16,661 posts

217 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
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You can switch from a 417 to 457, if she finds an employer to sponsor her and the job/qualifications meet the requirements.

As said above, unless she sorts herself out some decent contacts before she goes, she'll likely be one of the hundreds who arrive daily and fight to get bar work.

HenryJM

6,315 posts

128 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
quotequote all
Davel said:
Not sure but suspect that's the form - she's in Scotland at the moment.

She would like to make the move to Australia a permanent one so is hopeful that there is a way that this can be possible.
Well really she needs to get a skill, if she hasn't already, and do it in a logical way. It's easy to just get something like a one year visa but the chances are that she'll be on her way home again at the end. A skill they want with a vacancy that's in demand makes it quite doable, but it does need to be done properly if it's going to work.

So the starting point is to understand it and the different visa types, that way she may get what she wants and not temporary bar work and obligation to leave later in the year..

Davel

Original Poster:

8,982 posts

257 months

Sunday 30th November 2014
quotequote all
Well she has a degree in photography and has until recently been a clinical photographer at a large Scottish Hospital, so she does have a skill but I think that she really wants to do something different there.

She has pretty much sold everything that she has to do this so I really hope that it turns out to be everything that she wants it to be.

jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Tuesday 2nd December 2014
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Davel said:
Well she has a degree in photography and has until recently been a clinical photographer at a large Scottish Hospital, so she does have a skill but I think that she really wants to do something different there.

She has pretty much sold everything that she has to do this so I really hope that it turns out to be everything that she wants it to be.
My daughter moved to Australia 15 months ago, she's a doctor so she got a 4 year work permit. She started off near Gold Coast with a 12 month position and (complicated story) ended up handing her notice in after 8 months with no job to go to. She then got another job in Sydney which she's currently doing and has landed a full 3 year training post in February. The problem she had was and I think your daughter will have is that Aussies get priority over foreigners for jobs even if they are less qualified and less suitable, she was even offered one job by the boss of the dept she wanted to work in but the health authority blocked it due to Aussie applicants.

There's plenty of hospitals in and around Sydney so she could apply for a post before she goes which will make things a lot easier when she arrives. I would imagine with her skills she'd find a job OK, just keep plugging away. That said, if she is set on going then she should go and if it all goes pear shaped I'm sure you'd fund a flight home. Is she set on Sydney as smaller towns or cites may be easier to get a job.

The other problem with Australia is that everything is expensive, apart from petrol, and accommodation in Sydney is probably as dear or dearer than London so she'll more than likely have to find a house share as did my daughter. The up side is that salaries are better so as long as she doesn't try and convert the currency she'll probably not notice.

Once she's settled she'll probably love it there, my daughter doesn't want to come back as life is so much better for youngsters in Australia.
Good luck to her.


Edited by jagracer on Tuesday 2nd December 15:32

Davel

Original Poster:

8,982 posts

257 months

Tuesday 2nd December 2014
quotequote all
Thank you for that.

I'll pass all these comments on to her.

jagracer

8,248 posts

235 months

Tuesday 2nd December 2014
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On the visa thing, after the 12 months if she has a sponsored job she'll be able to extend the visa and or possibly get permanent residency which means she wont need the work permit, costs about Aus$3K and she'll have to take an English exam but has to be worth it.
From what you've said she sounds pretty resourceful so I expect she'll do well.

robm3

4,927 posts

226 months

Wednesday 3rd December 2014
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OH, one last bit of advice. If she gets a job while working on the travel visa she'll be taxed at a higher rate than an Australian resident.

To offset this, if she submits a tax return but states she's applied for residency, then the lower tax rate applies, thus she'll get a tax return.

Not many backpackers realise this however there are plenty of tax agents who can assist.


Colonial

13,553 posts

204 months

Sunday 7th December 2014
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She could extend the visa by doing work in regional areas.