SOS!!!

[CharlotteACavatica]

Been wanting to move to Australia for a couple of years and have spoken to several agents/companies about it, have always been told we have enough points etc, so we decided to finish renovating our home and sell it and all the money we make of the sale we will pay for our visa's with etc and get going, we did this and have now moved into rented while we get going with the whole process, and we have made a fatal mistake! - dp (who is the main applicant) recently turned 30 and that has lost us just enough points to make us fail! we are now well and truly stuck, dissapointed, shocked, what can we do? has anyone any ideas at all!! we can get about 115 points, but we need 120!! we have exhausted ourselves trying to figure something out but we need some serious loopholes we think! Anyone with ANY advice please please help us, my sister is moving out there in 2 weeks and i cant bare the thought of not being with her and our kids not growing up together! help...

bumping for you as the Ozzie crowd are probably more likely to be about now and hopefully can help!

there are some good websites for people who help with this stuff... i have details of a couple on my other pc. can check and post the links tomorrow for you.

Ok, are you SURE the points reduce at 30? I thought it 40?

Any migration agent worth their salt should have firmly told you not to sell up/put house on market until you had the visa in your passport! I can't believe they didn't tell you. It was one of the first things we were told.

Anyway, that doesn't matter, does it! Too late now. I guess the only thing I can advise is wait until your sister is out here & see if you get anywhere by her offering to sponsor you when you get here.

are these people any good to oyu? (recommend actually calling them if the forms dont seem to fit you or say what you want to hear )

www.migrationexpert.com/australia/

i found them while checking to see if my brother can go for a year on a working visa... and they keep emailing so seem keen to follow up and get him sorted.

HTH

I thought it was ok until you turned 31!

check out www.britishexpats.com - the forum is full of info on aussie immigration. I always recommend it as even if you cant find a thread with the answers to your questions - you can always start one - there are even some agents hanging around on there who will give you advice (and it seems to be free....)

Thankyou everyone, im going to keep at this, thanks for the links etc too, someone else has said recently that its not 30 so all might not be lost yet (fingers tightly crossed) my sister can sponsor us when she gets out there but because its a sponsored visa we wont be entitled to any benefits and help re: medicare is extremely limited so we really dont beleive we would be able to afford to live out there with no money! we are so confused now as to how to continue, but i will certainly have a good look at this info, thanks again

Have you looked into other ways of obtaining residency - eg through employer sponsorship?

We went to Australia on a working holiday visa, dp was then sponsored by a recruitment agency and granted a 4yr temporary business visa (457), and I was granted the same as his de facto. Being sponsored by the agency meant that he could work for different employers as a contractor. You can receive successive 457 visas.

His current employer required him to be a permanent resident and so sponsored him. This process was much quicker than applying via points and only took a few months. Again I was granted a visa as his de facto.

For employer sponsorship your employer has to prove that there are no australians more qualified for the position.

You're probably familiar with the aussie immigration website, but just in case:

www.immi.gov.au/immigration.htm

Good luck!!

Wow thanks abm, my dp falls into the 'Graphic Designer' category, and from what we have been told its not likely anyone would sponsor us and agree to all the hassle, when they could employ and aussie, dp says that graphics designers are pretty much 'ten a penny'. its worth asking though, thanks

we are going in a couple of months on a student visa, my husband is doing a course and once he graduates, we then apply for a graduation visa which is for an extra 18 months and in the 18 months he needs to get 12 months work experience in his field of study and if he get this then we can apply for residency! Its really quick and easy to apply!

Sorry - haven't been keeping an eye on this thread Charlotte. I have two friends who are graphic designers and were sponsored by their employers for permanent residency. They both came here as temporary residents at first like us.

My DP is in IT and there are even more of them than graphic designers. But if your DP has experience and skills that make him a superior candidate for a job then an employer can sponsor him.

Where abouts in Australia were you hoping to move to? We're in Sydney. If you're interested we could swap email addresses. I could put your dp in touch with my friends who might be able to give him some advice.

We're all the wrong side of 30 as well !

LOL abm, thanks our email address is [email protected], we'd love to chat with you some more. xx

and our desired destination is anywhere aussie!! lol