Saturday, January 21, 2012

Australian Immigration - An Engineer on a 574 Visa

Australian immigration is the second immigration I've had to go through, after Canada.  Both times I was led by my wife, who has been studying abroad now for a long time.

Canada was stupid. and by that I mean that we were stupid for showing up expecting them to let me in, even though we weren't married yet.  So we got married in Canada! Yay Canada.  Yay work permit (engineering opens doors). I left shortly due to lack of engineering work on the semi-remote (and beautiful) Island we were living on.

But I've never been through a full-blown immigration application before.  And now I'm going through that.  I just wanted to share what it's like to go through Australian immigration as of 2012, coming from a specific visa.  I have advice for you, Engineering Spouse of PhD Candidate.

You will come in on a 574 post-grad research visa.  You won't know it, but this is a class TU visa.  That doesn't mean anything.  It allows you (as a spouse of post-grad student) to work full time and any profession.  As a secondary applicant, your chances of getting any other on-shore visa are non-existent.  Let me just re-iterate: you may think they want you, but you will have NO ON-SHORE VISA OPTIONS.  This means that you will be equally judged as someone who hasn't ever been to Australia.  You won't be eligible for a bridging visa.  You may have to leave the country.  You might as well just be sitting at home in Seattle, except for one thing:  you have to get an employer here to sponsor you.  That's where already being here and having a job gives you an advantage.

There are a two pathways to permanent residency from this visa:
1. Get a Subclass 121 offshore skilled migration visa (permanent visa). 6 months turn-around time.
2. Get a Subclass 457 offshore skilled visa, which is temporary.  2 months turn-around time. Then, you can apply for the on-shore 856 visa (just the 121 but on-shore).  6 months.

All of these visas require sponsorship, which requires that your current or future employer submits some paperwork that proves that they are treating their Australian workers fairly and offer some sort of career development, in the form of training.  This is meant to be more than 1~2% of their annual budget.  This is designed to prevent foreign labor from undercutting the Australian work force.  Fair enough.  But I don't see how grabbing engineers from the US could possibly be a bad thing for Australia.  Now's the time to poach!  Wake up immi!

Update:  As of ~ July 2012, there will no longer be a distinction between onshore/offshore visa applications.  Also, after 2 years working on a 457 you will be able to transfer to a PR visa much more easily.

There are some hidden costs on top of the immigration application:

  1. Get certified by Engineers Australia - $467  (!! for a resume check!! Unabashed exploitation of a vulnerable group.)
  2. Health checks - $300 per person (do this in the US if possible! ironically cheaper at home...)  Not required for US citizens on the 457.
  3. Police checks - $75pp.   I'm looking forward to getting my fingerprints done.
  4. Health insurance quotes (3 best in early 2012, $/mo):
    Company ----- Basic Cover -------- +Outpatient
    HIF                 $158                      $173
    IMAN             $163 *                    $210 *
    MediBank       $211 ~                    $352 ~

    *Doesn't include meds
    ~$300 annual hospital excess pp.
So the total hidden cost is about $1200 for us, not including health insurance.

Update:  Engineers Australia failed to review my work experience.  They didn't even contact me to let me know.  I emailed them, and this is what I got back:
"""

As per page 25, Section D of the Migration Skills Assessment booklet, sufficient documentary evidence must be supplied in support of work experience for assessment.  Unfortunately, your application did not contain any documentary evidence in support of the work experience claims made on your CV so I was not able to include any work experience in your assessment.
As per page 25 again: "Only those documents meeting the above requirements will be considered in the provision of formal written advice by Engineers Australia.  No Further correspondence will be entered into in addressing shortcomings in the submitted documentation".
"""

I included everything on their application checklist.

Which implies that I will have to pay again.  AGAIN.  I really can't believe how much ill-will this organization is willing to foster with these arcane policies.  It's not even proper English.

UPDATE: A calm head prevailed, I was nice in my reply and they are accepting my additional proof of work without charging me again.

A nice loooong thread by / about engineers in Australia.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1521527

I hope this helps you, random stranger.  Leave a comment to get in touch.

UPDATE:  We now have our 457 visa, now working on the 856 PR visa.

18 comments:

  1. Pretty much makes me want to stay home!

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  2. I actually enjoyed reading through this posting.Many thanks.


    Australian Immigration

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    1. Thanks Viji. It has been frustrating. I will update this post as the application progresses.

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  3. I dont understand, are you divorced from your wife? Did she become a permanent resident?

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    1. No, we are here together, and having a baby, so we need to get PR (via the 856 visa) to have a good life here.

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  4. Hello .... I need ur suggestion .....
    I am a PhD student .... Holding 574 subclass visa ...... I have completed 5 months here...... And I want to apply for PR here ...... So do u have any idea how do I go about it ....? M I eligible to apply for PR ????

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    1. Hello Rituraj,
      I'm not sure, it is a tangled web that is changing.
      http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/
      is a good start.

      I was a _dependent_ on a 574 visa, which made our situation more difficult. I have a feeling that if you are a post-grad in an engineering field you can apply after you finish your degree, within a certain time frame. I believe you have to finish first. Check the immi site above.

      All the best.

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  5. Hello.... I just sent an enquiry to immi. I am a full time Ph D student; came to Sydney on 2013 with husband (vet) and 2 kids. All of us under the famous TU 574 visa (until 2017). My husband has been working as technical staff at Uni since march 2013. (we were pretty lucky with his position). It's been hired as casual contract, full time worker for a year almost, but as you mention he is also a dependant on my postgrad student visa. We are looking forward to try to apply also for the PR. Somebody mentioned it would be better for "technical level workers" to apply (I can't do anything until getting degree I guess). Any suggestions/advice on steps to take? He could be sponsored by his employer at Uni (they are very satisfied with his work). All the best, hope to get any advice.

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    1. I would look into the sponsored PR option for your husband. That is basically exactly what our situation was like. It took a very long time to get (maybe about 9 months after submission). Apparently it can take less time if you have an agent submit a certified "decision-ready" application. Don't get pregnant, because that will delay your application (due to x-ray medical check requirement). Also, don't get your medical check until they ask for it - by the time they picked up our application ours had expired and we had to shell out double-dollars for that.

      Best of luck.

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  6. This Visa allows the applicant and any dependents to temporarily study, work and reside in any of Australia's designated regional area. Travelling in and out of Australia while is valid on this Visa and after certain conditions have been met, it also paves the way to an Australian PR (Permanent Residency) through the Skilled Regional Visa (subclass 887).

    Australian work visa

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    1. To anyone reading this, if you can find work in the countryside (difficult) I strongly recommend coming to Australia. Sydney is very expensive and over-crowded, and I cannot recommend living in this city. The countryside around here is really beautiful though.

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  7. Thank you for the post. I have read your bog by incident, but it turned out very useful information. I am also a dependent 574 visa holder. I have been looking for a job here for a long time but have not had any feedback yet. Just want to make sure one thing that on my VEVO there is no condition of working but health and legal maintaining. do I allow to work unlimited hour? does it affect employer to employ me? please advice. Thanks.

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    1. It has been a long time since I've been on that visa, so I'm not sure if things have changed, but I bet that you are entitled to unlimited work. The thing is, Australian employers are generally very reluctant to hire foreigners. This is a broader reflection of the exclusivity and isolationist mentality that we have experienced here. The difficulty involved in the visa process reinforces this situation, and I suspect this is intentional.

      Australian immigration policy is somewhat schitzophrenic. On the one hand, they are clearly trying hard to increase the size of the Australian population to make the economy more sustainable in the long term (i.e. Post mining boom), and on the other hand struggling with a lack of scalability in their cities (transport, housing, etc.) as well as a reluctant, isolated "native" population who see immigrants as competition rather than cooperative participants.

      I have been meaning to write a more complete synthesis of the difficulties we have encountered here, but it will take some time to word it correctly without coming across as xenophobic.

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  8. Hi,

    I having similar issues and somehow stumble upon your blogs. Thank you for clearing things up!
    Now, I need your advice. I have already worked for 2 years on a dependent_574 VISA. What should I do in order to proceed for PR? Should I inform my employer for a sponsorship? Please help.

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    1. Hi Poj,
      You should apply for sponsored PR. Note that there is an annual quota for these visas which is exhausted every year. There is a list of these quotas online somewhere. Thus, the time of year you apply matters apparently. They are issuing fewer of these every year as the political climate changes in AU.

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  9. Is it true that in the meantime during the applying of PR, my dependent_VISA 574 is not valid anymore thus making me on a bridging VISA?

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    1. I think so. That's how it was when we were waiting for it. I think there are travel restrictions while on the bridging visa.

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  10. my friend was searching for a form last year and came across an online service with lots of sample forms . If you have been needing it also , here's a http://pdf.ac/98H1Ov

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