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- Apr 10, 2003
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Ok folks there's been a lot of talk lately about going to Aus to get your PR and then reducing your tuition and living happily ever after at the expense of the Australian government. We've been hearing anecdotes on how easy it is provided you have a degree. I've contacted and immigration lawyer and here's the lowdown.
If you have a degree, you are going to want to use it to qualify for skilled migration visas. You require 110 points on average to qualify for a skilled migration visa. You will most likely qualify for 50 points towards your migration. In order for this to be valid, you have to have worked in any type of job for 24 out of 36 months prior to submission of the visa. This has to be at least 20 hours a week. This application must be submitted offshore (not from australia). Your degree, if it's in a science background, has to be certified by VETASSESS, a company in Australia. This takes 4 months and costs 400 dollars. The actual visa application for a skilled migrant worker (payable to the govnt) averages about 2000 AUD. Immigration lawyers, who tend to know the ins and outs and methods to maximize your chances, cost about 3000 AUD.
If you have already been accepted to Aus, and haven't got any of this assessment stuff out of the way, this will take you into about feb before you can even submit a visa application. Only then can you start applying for your visa. If your degree/job is worth 60 points, as some might no doubt be, then the work requirement is even more rigorous. 50 point jobs require employment, period. 60 point jobs require employment in your field of study (eg, you got a degree in anthropology, you have to have been employed as an anthropologist for the last 12/18 months leading up to your application, and i think 36/48 as well)
Now theoretically you could submit your offshore application while in Australia using your home address, which no doubt a lot of people do. Bear in mind the recent work requirement. Say you submit it in August of 2004 from your home country while you are studying in Aus.. Because of the work requirement, this means that you have to have worked in your home country consistently right up until the point you left.
Translation: If you just graduated with your undergrad (ie may 2003), you needed to have been employed during your studies or you can't apply as a skilled migrant worker. You also MIGHT need to have been employed in your field of study depending on what job you nominate (therefore, working at the local pub doesn't count, working for student services doesn't count, working as a data entry clerk for your local conglomerate doesn't work, and deep frying mcburgers and fries sure as hell doesn't count). Volunteer work doesn't count. If you've been out of school and been working locally for a couple of years prior to applying to Aus, you're probably better off applying for your PR visa, you just can't do it from within Australia legally because you're considered onshore and a student.
If you want to apply for a PR from within Australia (onshore application), the work requirement is waived but you have to have attended school for 2 years, completed a degree in Australia (essentially meaning attending school for at least 4 years in our case) Now the trick with doctors is that they are not on the list of jobs that Aus currently needs, so they award you no points for being a doctor, essentially ruling out getting a PR after you graduate. I haven't heard anything about just subtracting 10 points from your visa application; if doctor is not on the skilled occupations list, you can't claim any points for it. You also can't claim your first degree after getting your australian medical degree. Ausi immigration looks at your latest qualification only.
There's plenty more, I've been looking this up for a while. I haven't got much sleep and there's a permanent imprint of a scrawny future USYD graduate in my computer chair. He smells like burnt toast and poutine, too. There's a laundry list longer than the American death count in Iraq of stuff that needs to be submitted with your visa application.
So the moral? Do your own research. It ain't easy, it ain't pretty, and it certainly isn't a walk in the park. Screw the anecdotes of people who might have done it for themselves in the past. Find out how hard it's going to be for you, in your current situation. I'm still going to USYD as an international. I guarantee you that there are gonna be replies going "yeah i told you I wasn't an expert but it is possible and you need to have faith, i know cause i have friends, do research for yourself, it's not easy, apply for a rural area, you must be doing something wrong, yada yada.." and i say if you can do it, more power to you. Check into it though. REALLY check into it. SDN is NOT an immigration forum. SDNers are NOT immigration lawyers. No one claimed to be, no, but it's so easy to take what is read as fact.
DON'T apply and accept any AUS university hoping/praying you'll get PR, because there are a lot of hurdles. Some guy said earlier that this whole PR thing sounds too good to be true. You be the judge of that.
If you have a degree, you are going to want to use it to qualify for skilled migration visas. You require 110 points on average to qualify for a skilled migration visa. You will most likely qualify for 50 points towards your migration. In order for this to be valid, you have to have worked in any type of job for 24 out of 36 months prior to submission of the visa. This has to be at least 20 hours a week. This application must be submitted offshore (not from australia). Your degree, if it's in a science background, has to be certified by VETASSESS, a company in Australia. This takes 4 months and costs 400 dollars. The actual visa application for a skilled migrant worker (payable to the govnt) averages about 2000 AUD. Immigration lawyers, who tend to know the ins and outs and methods to maximize your chances, cost about 3000 AUD.
If you have already been accepted to Aus, and haven't got any of this assessment stuff out of the way, this will take you into about feb before you can even submit a visa application. Only then can you start applying for your visa. If your degree/job is worth 60 points, as some might no doubt be, then the work requirement is even more rigorous. 50 point jobs require employment, period. 60 point jobs require employment in your field of study (eg, you got a degree in anthropology, you have to have been employed as an anthropologist for the last 12/18 months leading up to your application, and i think 36/48 as well)
Now theoretically you could submit your offshore application while in Australia using your home address, which no doubt a lot of people do. Bear in mind the recent work requirement. Say you submit it in August of 2004 from your home country while you are studying in Aus.. Because of the work requirement, this means that you have to have worked in your home country consistently right up until the point you left.
Translation: If you just graduated with your undergrad (ie may 2003), you needed to have been employed during your studies or you can't apply as a skilled migrant worker. You also MIGHT need to have been employed in your field of study depending on what job you nominate (therefore, working at the local pub doesn't count, working for student services doesn't count, working as a data entry clerk for your local conglomerate doesn't work, and deep frying mcburgers and fries sure as hell doesn't count). Volunteer work doesn't count. If you've been out of school and been working locally for a couple of years prior to applying to Aus, you're probably better off applying for your PR visa, you just can't do it from within Australia legally because you're considered onshore and a student.
If you want to apply for a PR from within Australia (onshore application), the work requirement is waived but you have to have attended school for 2 years, completed a degree in Australia (essentially meaning attending school for at least 4 years in our case) Now the trick with doctors is that they are not on the list of jobs that Aus currently needs, so they award you no points for being a doctor, essentially ruling out getting a PR after you graduate. I haven't heard anything about just subtracting 10 points from your visa application; if doctor is not on the skilled occupations list, you can't claim any points for it. You also can't claim your first degree after getting your australian medical degree. Ausi immigration looks at your latest qualification only.
There's plenty more, I've been looking this up for a while. I haven't got much sleep and there's a permanent imprint of a scrawny future USYD graduate in my computer chair. He smells like burnt toast and poutine, too. There's a laundry list longer than the American death count in Iraq of stuff that needs to be submitted with your visa application.
So the moral? Do your own research. It ain't easy, it ain't pretty, and it certainly isn't a walk in the park. Screw the anecdotes of people who might have done it for themselves in the past. Find out how hard it's going to be for you, in your current situation. I'm still going to USYD as an international. I guarantee you that there are gonna be replies going "yeah i told you I wasn't an expert but it is possible and you need to have faith, i know cause i have friends, do research for yourself, it's not easy, apply for a rural area, you must be doing something wrong, yada yada.." and i say if you can do it, more power to you. Check into it though. REALLY check into it. SDN is NOT an immigration forum. SDNers are NOT immigration lawyers. No one claimed to be, no, but it's so easy to take what is read as fact.
DON'T apply and accept any AUS university hoping/praying you'll get PR, because there are a lot of hurdles. Some guy said earlier that this whole PR thing sounds too good to be true. You be the judge of that.
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