Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Visa Options for: Australia
G'day, mate!
If you are keen on applying for an Australian work visa then I hope you have the patience of a saint and enough cash in your bank account. The first thing you should do is to go to the following web site to make sure that you have met all the points requirements:
Visa Points Calculator
Should you meet or exceed the requirements for this visa then the next step is to meet with an APPROVED migration agent. A genuine agent should only take you on as a client if there is a 99% chance of you getting the visa. I made use of Knights Migration (Knights Migration) and they were fantastic. I can strongly recommend them. If you decide to make use of them then ask for Chloe. You can of course do all the paperwork yourself if you enjoy that kind of thing and have the time to read about it on the governments web site. I personally didn't want to risk screwing up the visa application process so I made use of an agent.
When starting the visa application process, you have to have your skills approved by the relevant people in Australia. For instance, if you are in IT then you need to submit the relevant forms and copies of your qualifications to the Australian Computer Society (Australian Computer Society). The cost of this assessment is currently AUS$350. They don't return documents so you will have to mail them a certified copy of any document you send them. This involves going to your local South African Police Station and asking them to certify the document. You will need your ID/passport and the original when they certify your documents.
Once your skills are approved for the necessary points you will then need to fill out some visa application forms (your agent will assist you with all of this). I suggest having a browse around:
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. You can downlaod all the necessary visa application forms for your visa application in PDF format.
After signing all the relevant forms and mailing them to your agent the next step is to apply for a police clearance from Pretoria. This can take up to 3 months and I think it cost around R100. You will have to have fingerprints taken at your local police station. If you have lived overseas in the last 10 years then you will also need a police clearance from the relevant country.
You will also have to have a full medical examination by an APPROVED doctor that the Australian government has chosen. I think this cost about R2000. You will also have to have chest x-rays taken. At the end of the examination the results are sent to the Australian government (I didn't even see my results!). The main thing they are looking for is to make sure you don't have TB.
The last thing that you will have to do is take an English test. I couldn't believe it when I was asked to sit this test. I was brought up English but no amount of arguing with the agent could get me out of this one! This test is provided by the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the cost is R1250. I recommend purchasing the specimens manual just to get comfortable with the format of the exam. This costs about R150. You can view their web site at: International English Language Testing System
When you've jumped through all these hoops they will approve the visa. It took me about 18 months from the time I started the application until I had the visa in my passport. When the visas in your passport you will HAVE to fly to Australia to activate the visa. Depending on the date of your police clearances, this could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months that you will have to arrive in Australia. It is important to note here that you do not have to stay in Australia once the visa is activated. Should you activate the visa and return to SA you will have 5 years to arrive in Australia and settle there. Should you not arrive within this 5 year period you will lose the visa and have to apply for another one.
I would recommend having plenty of passport photos and certified copies of ID books/passport/qualifications while going through the visa application process. Also, courier EVERYTHING!!!
From a cost point of view, the cost of the skills assessment, agent fees, police clearance, IELTS English test, medical examination and courier fees came to about R30000.
The real bonus to getting this visa is that you can apply for citizenship in Australia after two years! So if getting a second passport is a prioroty to you then this is an awesome option.
Australia isn't easy to get into but if you have the cash, time and perserverance then go for it!
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I assume you:
a) can't leave
b) have never experienced living in the 1st world
Enjoy the "New Improved" SA!
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a) can't leave
b) have never experienced living in the 1st world
Enjoy the "New Improved" SA!
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