Immigration to Australia

Where is home? Home is where the heart can laugh without shyness. Home is where the heart's tears can dry at their own pace. ~ Vernon Baker There is no better place than home. Where one could see the cobwebs and spiders swinging back and forth; where the candles burning and slowly the flames melts it all away; where the laughters echo and fills the heart with gladness; where love blooms like flowers in May..... Is there any place better than home?

Immigration has been the core step to reach a foreign land and establish a domicile . It has been man's nature of survival to look for a greener land and live a better life. Since time immemorial, people kept on traveling, transferring from place to place, looking for a place called home. While many perceive that immigration looses the attachment of the old self to its home and embraces a new chapter, it is not absolute. Living in a place like Australia for instance makes immigration worthwhile.

The rolling plains, the dry yet damp desert, the fresh flowing water, sprawled cities and inviting beaches makes the country livable and so natural to establish a home away from home. Living in Australia does not make one miss entirely what is left behind. From jobs to schools, and comfy way of living, it is undeniable that migrating would be fulfilling and worthwhile. If looking for friendly people, Australians are noted for their amiableness. Well known for living in a laid back style, it does makes it interesting. 

For one, one need not cope up to the fast and busy life while leaving things around unappreciated. Aside from the people factor and the climate, the work opportunity is beaming with abundance. There is no doubt why people cross the seas to share a portion of its bounty.A home without love is not a home. Similarly, with the beauty that Australia has to offer, loving Australia is not difficult. While nostalgic waves come and go.... living in Australia away from the home is like... having a home away from home.

In all your endeavours, money will feature. So, prepare yourself adequately. Consider the amount of money you accumulate. How much money will you have if you sell your house, your car or any other valuables?

What will Australian Immigration cost? What’s Worth Knowing?

Get it wrong, and you could be left with only huge bills and a headache to show for your efforts. Perhaps the most difficult obstacle is finding out what you will actually have to pay for. You might have calculated your application fees and plane tickets, but what about medical examinations? Police checks? Shipping costs? The potential expenses can be daunting.

Cost of living: Estimate what day to day living will cost in Australia. What will transport cost? What will renting cost you? Or perhaps you intend on buying a house? Also, consider if you want to sell your home in your current country. Keep in mind that you may need finance once you’ve immigrated. Yes, you’ll be starting from scratch but you needn’t leave from hand to mouth. You could sell your house before your savings runs out. Well. Weigh up your options but as much as you need the money to immigrate, you’ll need to live comfortably in your adoptive country.

Research: Your best defence against disappointment and bankruptcy is to research! Use your sources such as relevant websites, talk to expats from Australia or visit the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA). You should find a section on the DIMA website that refers to the potential costs in Australia once you’ve immigrated.

List the Stages: A good idea is to list the stages that you will go through. Jot down each stage form start to finish. This will probably include having to applying for your visa, searching and securing a job offer, your housing and living costs for approximately six months or more. You’ll have to consider the following too; what will it cost to ship your valuables? Would you need to buy new furniture or other valuables? All these factors need to be taken into consideration – they all cost and they are all imperative! By considering these factors, you’ll have an idea of what it’ll Australia Immigration costs. So, budget accordingly and plan to immigrate successfully. Of course, its makes complete sense to factor in a bit more into your budget. Set money aide for rainy days.

You could establish the cost of your visa before entering into any contract. Consider that some agents will charge an extra fee which could be due to the amount of effort and time spent to ensure that your application is successful. Watch out for any hidden fees. Ensure that your Immigration Consultant informs you about all costs – don’t leave any loose ends as it could bite you in the back at a later stage, when you don’t need it at all. Also ensure that you receive a written contract that clearly indicates the fees your are expected to pay for  the services provided. You’ll thank your lucky stars.

Australia is fast becoming a preferred destination for immigrants in terms of its great lifestyle and excellent career opportunities. Due to its booming economy, getting jobs in Australia whether skilled or professional has made easier and the chances of being employed becomes higher and better. Currently, there are over thousands of employment opportunities are awaiting for qualified workers. But before one could land down under to start their new life and career, he must secure first an Australian Visa, either Australian Skilled Visa or Australian Working Visa, as a legal document for his immigration to Australia.

Australia offers an excellent quality of life to be enjoyed. With its high standard of living, pleasant climate, outstanding cities with awesome attractions, safe and multicultural environment with friendly and easy-going residents, stable economy and great culture. What else can you ask for? All of the best things that you consider for a country to live and work, Australia has it. And to give you some detailed information why most immigrants prefer to receive the benefits of Australian living, here are some of the top reasons.

Affordable Cost of Living

Compared to other developed countries, Australia is a better place for immigrants to live in because of its affordable cost of living most especially if you have a child who wants to study in any of its reputable universities and colleges.

Shortage of Skilled Workers

If you are seeking for a wide-range of employment opportunities, Australia offers it. With its continuously growing economy, they are needing for more skilled and professional workers who can help bring valuable benefits to its economy.

English-Speaking Country

Adopting yourself in the culture and environment of Australia is not difficult. Australia is an English-Speaking country in which most Australians virtually speak English language. For this reason, communicating and relating to them would not be hard for you.

Excellent Career Opportunities

Having an Australian qualification, excellent career opportunities are countless. With over thousands of available jobs in Australia, starting your new career down under is within your reach.

High Pay Rates

Employees in Australia whether they are skilled or professional are given excellent pay rates. This is one the best reasons why a remarkable number of overseas workers most especially for those who need to support their family consider migrating and working in Australia. And what's more? Employers also give merit to those who work extra effort in their jobs. Aside from these competitive salaries, workers also receive valuable benefits such as health care, sick and vacation leaves and other company's incentives.

It is probably one of the biggest issues that affects the country nowadays. With the Australian economy getting much of its labor force from immigrants, one can see how important this one is to the country. Thus, the government closely monitors the situation in order to ensure that everything goes on well. Here, one of the major concerns that the Australian government is closely monitoring is that of border security. Indeed, while Australia is actually welcoming of immigrants, it is also closely watching against those that attempt to enter the counter without using legal means. As it is, because the country is considered as a land of opportunity for a lot of people, many attempt to get here without going through proper documentations.

Boat people and asylum seekers are probably some of the most common concerns for Australia's border security group. It should be noted that, although Australia has regularly entertained asylum seekers, it has still to deal with the matter of those people coming in from undocumented boats. Because many of these people have no proper papers, they are often regarded as illegal immigrants by the border security group. In order to deal with this, the government has introduced tighter measures to improve its border security capabilities. 

Since early last year, the border patrol has been investing on new equipment that will further enhance their work. This include several new aircraft for conducting a wide area survey of the border. And just recently, new Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that they will be also fielding in eight new boats to add to the current border security fleet of 18. she added that these new boats will greatly help in having faster reaction and interception capabilities for the fleet against illegal boats.

In line with the move, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship is also carefully planning the establishment of more overseas processing centers in the countries around them. This, according to immigration officials, will greatly help in speeding up refugee processing. It should be noted that the immigration department has been criticized before for the slow turnout of asylum applications. One of the countries being studied for a possible location of a processing center is East Timor.

The immigration department is also closely working together with other countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia, in combating human smuggling operations. Human smuggling has been a major problem that the department is dealing with. Officials said that the efforts will also greatly help in protecting refugees who are often the ones being victimized by these.

The levels of Immigration in Australia have, over the past 15 years, increased dramatically. Did you know that, for example, the number of migrants who successfully immigrated to Australia in the years of 92 and 93 was around thirty thousand, whereas more recently in the years of 2006 and 2007, this number has increased to almost two hundred thousand? That is an increase of seven hundred percent! It is not anticipated that the rate of increase will slow down either – it is anticipated that another three hundred thousand immigrants will have joined us here by the end of 2009.

With sunny weather, friendly people, and abounding opportunities, it is no surprise that Australia is and always has been a popular destination for migrants and the proliferation of Immigration in Australia stands as a testament to this. A large part of Australian history is based on Immigration in Australia, and it is no huge stretch to make the assumption that it will still be in the future.

Most of the time, the first visa anyone will see Australia on is a temporary visa. This could be a tourist visa, simply for the purpose of checking out the country for a couple of months, or a working holiday visa, which allows the holder to live and work in Australia on a restricted basis for a period of 12 months. It is also possible to gain temporary entry into the country on an Australian student visa, which can allow you to stay for a longer period of time in order to study. So how do people move on to more permanent categories of visa?

Moving From Temporary To Permanent
For the purpose of this section, let us look at the situation of a non-Australian who has been studying in Australia on an Australian student visa. They are restricted in the amount of work they can do in order to earn money, and they are not entitled to social benefits. They have just finished a course and have graduated. But will they want to come home? University is a formative experience in anybodys life, and it is not a massive leap if one were to suggest that maybe the student may not want to leave what has become their home, their friends, and their life in Australia.

There is a solution! If the student has been studying in an area or trade in which Australia has a lack of skilled individuals, the student may be able to apply for a skilled migration visa, which will allow them a much more permanent type of residency then their Australian student visa, with a lot more freedom for employment and a lot more chance of eventually attaining permanent residency. The skilled migrant visa has been a clever development on Australias part – by encouraging workers who are trained in occupations in which Australia does not have enough skilled individuals, they are making sure that migrants will be contributing to the productivity of the nation as a whole – for example, if a hairdresser applied at a time when there were not enough qualified hairdressers in Australia, their application would likely be approved.

As mentioned previously, the skilled migrant visa is a window to a world of even more permanent visas. The three years one is entitled to stay in Australia on a skilled migrant visa can be used to count towards the total number of years it is necessary to have lived in Australia in order to be eligible for permanent residency, and to enjoy all of the social benefits and rights which come along with this.

New Wave Or Constant Tide?
The number of immigrants to Australia has been steadily increasing over the last fifteen years. The quantity of immigrants from New Zealand and the United Kingdom has been steadily increasing, along with the amounts of migrants from formerly eastern block countries – as these countries became more developed, more people found themselves in a position to contemplate such a big move. There is a new wave of migrants to Australia every year, but this is more of a continuation of a larger phenomenon than a phenomenon in itself.

AS Australia celebrates the population meter ticking over to 21 million, a record immigration figure for a financial year is expected to escalate the population boom. A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said the projected target of up to 148,000 new immigrants for 2006-07 would be met once the figures were tallied. It represents one of the greatest immigration influxes in decades. Aided by a rising number of births, Australia is experiencing a rise in population numbers not seen since the two most significant boom periods, after World War II and in the 1980s.

The secretary of the Department of Immigration, Andrew Metcalfe, had already hailed the previous year's growth as a record. In the department's annual report, he commended the outcome for 2005-06 of 143,000 new migrants as "the largest migration program for several decades". This year's intake and projections for coming years suggest the increase will continue. The Government is aiming to accept 152,800 new migrants in 2007-08, a far cry from the low immigration stance it adopted on coming to power in 1996.

After huge immigration numbers during Bob Hawke's years as prime minister in the 1980s, his successor Paul Keating slashed immigration in his first year as prime minister. The rapid increase in immigration has been fuelled by a growing skills shortage. The Government has altered the mix of the immigration program to focus on attracting more skilled migrants. Two-thirds of those expected to settle permanently this year and next will fall under the skilled migration category. Visa for Australia and Australia Visa Application made easy! Australian Working Visa made possible to easily have one!

How do the new student visa integrity measures affect international students? What are the Changes? The main changes are around showing sufficient funds to study in Australia. There are two separate measures in relation to this:

1.      Funds for living costs have increased from $1,000 per month to $1,500 per month. As a result, the amount of funds you need to show for a student visa extension may be much higher than you needed to show for your initial student visa

2.      Students must show that they can actually access the funds shown. For example, if relying on bank accounts held by a relative, the Department of Immigration (DIAC) will often ask that you show that funds have actually been transferred to your account. If relying on a loan, DIAC may require you to show that the funds have been released to a bank account over which you have access.

However, it's not all bad news. People undertaking research qualifications (ie masters by research and PhD) will now be at either Assessment Level 1 or 2 (Assessment Level 1 being the best). This will mean that the amount of funds you need to show might not be as high as for other types of qualifications. Can subject choice improve your chances of immigration?

At the moment, if you have an occupation on the Critical Skills List (CSL), your application will be processed significantly faster than if you are not on the CSL. Examples of occupations on the CSL include secondary school teachers, nurses, engineers and accountants (provided you either have a minimum 7 in IELTS or have completed a professional year).

However, the rules for skilled migration are due to change significantly. The Department of Immigration is concerned that students have been choosing courses which are good for immigration, not in occupations which they intend to work in the future. There has been a significant growth in the vocational sector in particular - in courses such as hairdressing and cookery - which have until now been good for migration. In addition, the Department of Immigration is giving higher and higher priority to employer sponsored applications. As a result, the best advice is to do a course which you are genuinely interested in and in which you have a good chance of obtaining employment in Australia. When is the new Skilled Occupations List coming out? When will it come into effect?

Skills Australia has reported to the Department of Immigration on their recommendations for the new list on 30 April 2010. However, the suggested list was not released at this time. The Department of Immigration has announced that the list will be published in May 2010. The list is due to come into effect in "mid 2010". Many have speculated that this means 1 July 2010, but there has been no confirmation of the exact date. It is possible that the list will come into effect at the same time as it is announced.

The current Skilled Occupations List has some 400 occupations on it. Our best guess is that the new list will have around 200 occupations on it. Skills Australia produced a list called the specialised occupations list. It is possible that this will form the basis of the new skilled occupations list. The specialized occupations list included the following types of occupations:

There are only a few trade occupations on the list, and the future of students completing vocational courses in Australia is far from clear. What happens if I am not on the new Skilled Occupations List?

If your occupation is not on the new SOL, it is still possible to apply for:

Unless you had already applied for a graduate skilled visa as of the 8th of February 2010, you will only be able to apply for the following types of visa if you are on the new list:

So you should still be able to apply for a graduate skilled visa after your course is finished, providing you meet the necessary requirements, even if you are not on the new SOL. Once on the graduate skilled visa, you have full work rights for 18 months. Provided you find either an employer or state government willing to sponsor you during this time, you can still apply for permanent residence. How are the points calculated?

The main elements of the current points test are:

1.      Occupation: either 40, 50 or 60 points
2.      Age: 30 if you are under 30, down to 15 if you are between 40 and 44
3.      English language ability: 25 for IELTS 7 minimum, or 15 if 6 minimum
4.      Study in Australia: 5 for a course taking 2 years, up to 25 if you have completed a PhD in Australia
5.      Work experience in Australia: 10 for working in your occupation for a year or 10 for completing a professional year
6.      Skilled Spouse: 5 points

7.      Language other than English: 5 if you have passed the NAATI test as a translator or interpreter, or have a degree taught in the language
8.      State Nomination: 10 points

Note that the Department of Immigration is conducting a review of the points test. Recommendations are due in June 2010, and the following changes have been discussed:

What are the specific procedures for general skilled migration application?

There are generally 3-4 main stages of the application:

1.      Skills Assessment: this is a process of having your qualifications assessed, and in some cases you also need to provide evidence of English and work experience. The exact procedure depends on your occupation. Generally this takes 2-3 months to complete and you must have a completed skills assessment to apply for a permanent general skilled migration visa

2.      Skilled Graduate Subclass 485 visa: because the skills assessment can take some time, many students will need to apply for a 485 visa to ensure that they have enough time to complete the necessary processes to apply for their permanent skilled visas. A 485 visa requires you to have completed a qualification taking 2 years of study in Australia, 6 minimum for IELTS and to have lodged your application for skills assessment.

3.      State Nomination: This is an optional process, but may be necessary if you do not otherwise have sufficient points to qualify. It can also significantly speed up processing of your application. Generally, the state will require a skills assessment and evidence of English. States have different criteria, and some also require evidence of funds to settle in Australia, work experience in the state, and in some cases study or residence in the state.

4.      Permanent Skilled Application: for this you'll need a completed skills assessment, evidence of English, health and police checks and evidence of your studies in Australia. This stage is currently relatively fast if you have a CSL occupation, but can take 2-3 years if you are not on the CSL.

What is the minimum required mark in the dreaded IELTS test?

This will depend on which visa type you are trying to apply for:

Most types of application require you to show the level of English at the date of application - so you need to plan ahead and make sure you don't leave your English test till the last minute.

Note also that some skills assessing authorities require a higher level of English. For example, accountants will need to show that they have at least 7 in all 4 components of the Academic IELTS from 1 July 2010.
What are the compulsory requirements for student visas and the Do's and Do-not's of a student visa?

There are a number of very important student conditions you need to comply with. Non-compliance with these conditions can result in cancellation of you student visa:

It's that time of the year again when people scurry to the malls and grab the first available merchandise on the shelf that could adequately pass for a gift. Yes, gift-giving is fun, but sometimes it becomes obligatory. Fortunately, the adage “It's the thought that counts”, still rings true. So, the next time you rummage for the perfect holiday gift, think hard. Or that may not even be necessary anymore since listed below are just some of the neat gifts exclusive to Australia which you could give your loved ones.

Boomerangs. Much better if they are the returning kind, since, of course, that's what they are made for. Boomerangs in Australia are personalized and engraved by authentic aboriginal artists, and each artwork is a masterpiece. Note that boomerangs are still a weapon though, so do your throwing only in a wide open area where there are no other people around. To throw a boomerang: simply hold in right hand almost vertically with arms pointing forward. Grip close to end with its rounded side facing you, then throw at approximately 30 degrees to wind direction, with a flicking, wrist-twist motion.

Animal plush toys. Koala, Platypus, Kangaroos, Wombats, Kookaburras, Emus, and lots of other animals only the Land Down Under has under its wings. Surely, everyone has a home in their heart for a stray adorable koala stuffed toy, or a charmingly behaved kangaroo doll. Digeridoos and Clapsticks. The didgeridoo is a musical instrument of the Aboriginal peoples, consisting of a long hollow branch or stick that makes a deep drone when blown. Clap sticks, meanwhile, accompany didgeridoos and provide the rythm to make the most brilliant earthen music. Both digeridoos and clapsticks are hand-painted and burnt by Aboriginal Artists, and they sound full and rich for any occasion.

Merino wool. Knitted into most gorgeous of clothings including hand-knitted sweaters and jackets, as well as beautiful soft blankets and bedding. Australia's 101 million merino sheep yields the longest, not to mention luscious wool fibres in the world. Always look for the Pure New Wool label to guarantee quality. Australian flowers. The warm Australian climate breeds an almost endless, lovely and exciting array of flowers: kangaroo paw, eucalyptus gumnut, banksia, peppercorn, leucosperum, and wattle, just to name a few. Freshly delivered to your loved one's doorsteps, a uniquely Australian bouquet of flowers sends all your warmest holiday greetings where no words can do. For best results, deliver your gifts personally. After all, it's the thought that may count, but your presence definitely speaks louder.