You may be thinking about moving or you may have already decided that Australia is the place for me. You will be joining many others that have gone down under to enjoy the sun and enjoy life outdoors.

It can be a minefield trying to organise and understand what you need to move and what options are best for you.

This will give you an easy-to-understand guide on some of the most popular visas available to you and how to start the process.

Skilled Independent Visa

The most popular and straightforward visa to apply for is the skilled visa. This is for individuals who are moving and have skills and experience in one or more of the occupations on the skilled occupation list.

With this visa, you can:

  • Live, work and study anywhere in Australia
  • Enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme
  • Sponsor your relative
  • After a certain time, you could be eligible for Citizenship

The visa costs AUD4,640.00 for the main applicant. For any family members you wish to add to the application, there will be an added cost.

Before you apply; You must complete the Eligibility assessment and score 65 points or more. You must submit your expression of interest (EOI) through Skillselect telling the Australian Government that you are interested in applying for a visa, You should provide proof of health and have any necessary health checks before applying to have a better chance of being accepted.

You will then be invited to apply for the visa formally, you can do this by logging into your Skillselect account. You will need to apply within 60 days of receiving your invitation so you should have all your documents ready before being sent the invitation so you are prepared. The application will tell you what documents you need and you must attach them all at the time of applying, not after you submit.

You need, an ID, Character documents, your results from the eligibility assessment, and proof that you are proficient in the English Language.

If your application was successful they will tell you:

  • your visa grant number
  • the date your visa starts
  • your visa conditions, if applicable

Skilled Nominated Visa

The visa costs AUD4,640.00 for the main applicant

You can be nominated when you submit your EOI and a state or territory government agency decides to nominate you to be able to apply for the visa.

You can contact these agencies by state directly to inform them you are interested in a visa and have completed the EOI.

The state and territory agencies include:

  • Australia Capital Territory
  • New South Wales
  • Northern Territory
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia

To be nominated for this visa you must:

  • Be 45 or under when you are invited to apply
  • Have a suitable skills assessment from the last 3 years
  • Have obtained 65 or more points from the Skills assessment and the EOI
  • Have skills or an occupation on the skilled occupation list.
  • Meet the health requirements and take part in a health check
  • Have competent English
  • Meet the character requirements which include a clean criminal record and immigration record, E.G. not had a visa cancelled in the past or have been deported in the past.

With this Visa, you can live and work permanently in Australia and sign up for the public health care scheme. You will be able to sponsor relatives to join you in Australia. You will be able to travel to and from Australia freely for 5 years, after this has expired you will have to apply for a Resident Return (RRV) visa (subclass 155 or 157).

Employer Nomination Scheme visa

The visa costs AUD4,640.00 for the main applicant.

If you are moving to Australia for a job then your employer can nominate you for a visa. You must be already working or will be working for the employer on arrival to Australia.

You must:

  • Have the necessary skills for the job.
  • Be nominated by an Australian employer.
  • Meet the health and character requirements.

With this visa, you can:

  • Live and work in Australia for 5 years
  • Travel to and from Australia for 5 years
  • You may be able to apply for permanent residence after 3 years from the time your Employer Nominated visa began.

With this visa there are three routes you can take, the employer-sponsored stream which allows employers to fill the shortages in their industries. The labour agreement stream is only for employers who are part of this agreement. Finally, the subsequent entrant is for family members who are joining the main applicant on an employer-nominated visa.

These are the three most common visa’s for people moving to Australia