Timeline and approximate costs of emigration?

[annebsmith]

Hi all

We are at the very start of our immigration journey to Australia. Our situation is a bit unique as I am a medical doctor and so parallel to the visa application process is the process of getting myself registered with the relevant College of medicine. Luckily a lot of the paperwork is the same!

My question is this:

Could I get a few opinions on the average time frame to actually move over, from the time of getting a job interview to actual arrival? We will likely go over on a work sponsored visa (457?)

Could I get an approximate idea of cost for the whole thing? We are a family of three. I mean, including visa costs, moving costs. pet moving costs, etc etc.

 

Thanks in advance.

Anne

[Goldenlily]

@annebsmith

 

Goodluck with your exciting journey! 

Our budget for moving is also around R500 000, including visa, dogs etc...

If you go on a 457 visa the employer should cover the visa costs, they have quite strict laws about being a visa sponsor.

What is your speciality area? My husband is also a medical doctor and we had a bit of a mix up with our visas. With regard to the 457/189 visa issue... we received 189 visas as my profession is/was on the SOL list. After rejoicing, we found out my husband would not be allowed to work on the 189 visa as he does not have enough GP experience to enroll into a fellowship as a GP, as a permanent resident working as a GP doctor outside the public health system you have to be enrolled in a fellowship/be specialist GP. He has been working in emergency medicine.  Hence we had to apply for his 457 visa from scratch, luckily his employer covered the costs.

Also be patient with the process of registering at AHPRA, they are quite strict in order to protect the public.

 

In order to apply for the 457 visa your AHPRA registration has to have been approved, as I understood it when my husband applied...please correct me if I am wrong.

 

I am not 100% sure if all the pathways (specialist etc...) works the same way though. Just know what we experienced  throughout the last year.

 

There is also a big drive to get doctors etc into rural areas, they also provide relocation assistance etc from the rural doctors network.

We navigated AHPRA for my husband's registration will have to do it again for my registration as OT;-)

Shout if you need more advice!

[Duggen]

4 hours ago, annebsmith said:

Could I get a few opinions on the average time frame to actually move over, from the time of getting a job interview to actual arrival? We will likely go over on a work sponsored visa (457?)

 

The hard part is getting the job, once you have a job the actual visa processing time for a 457 is 6 weeks ish.

 

Could I get an approximate idea of cost for the whole thing? We are a family of three. I mean, including visa costs, moving costs. pet moving costs, etc etc.

 

My employer paid for the cost of the visa - I believe this is how it is supposed to work as the employer also needs to be an approved sponsor and there is a whole process. With regards to the move and flights and all the rest it is a lot more personal. I was given a moving allowance of about R90k excluding flights which were paid for separately. This was sufficient but surprisingly close given you also have to support yourself for a month or two before your first paycheck arrives. I must also add that it was just my wife and I.

 

Edited September 7, 2016 by Duggen

[Husky]

@annebsmith

Not sure if this helpful at all as we are applying for a 190 and are using an agent. Our budget for the entire move including agent's fees, visa costs, English testing, qualification and experience confirmations from industry bodies, PCCs, medicals, flights, movers, pet moving costs (3 dogs), buying household goods (we plan to sell up most of our "stuff" here), living expenses for at least 3 months for the 4 of us, is close to R500,000 and that's being optimistic. 

Probably best to get the real answer to this question from people who have made the move on a 457. 

Edited September 13, 2016 by Husky
Added info

[Lynnor]

Do you have a job offer already?

Why not opt for a 189 or 190?

[annebsmith]

@Goldenlily: thanks so much for your advice! We have received similar advice regarding the 189 visa vs the 457 - seems like a safer option to go on a work visa then apply for PR when we get there. I am an emergency physician. I have been offered a job in a rural area so hopefully things will go smoothly from here on.... the paperwork might just kill me though!

We are working on a similar budget for the move. Hopefully the hospital will offer some relocation assistance and with the sale of our house we should be OK. Still grappling with the pets though - 150K to move all three!

 

Where are you planning on moving to?

 

[NicoletteJ]

@annebsmith did you actively look for work before registering with the Australian medical board? I'm interested as I thought this would be seen as a "negative" on my CV. My plan is to go ahead with Australian registration (I'm a Psychologist) before applying for a 189 visa. I thought if I were registered beforehand then the job search would be easier.

[annebsmith]

@NicoletteJ Hi

I'm not sure how it works for you but our registration process is quite complicated and there are several pathways that could be followed. I first need to get approval from the College of Emergency medicine and then only can I register with AHPRA. I will likely only be able to apply for PR if I have full registration with them, which is unlikely to happen  straight away- most doctors from my college have had to work for a period under supervision first, and only have limited registration initially. As soon as I have full registration as a specialist with the COllege and AHPRA I will apply for PR but this is a year or two away. The other think is tha tI am not keen to go over without a job - financially would be too much of a strain on us. Much better to go over on a 457, earn a decent salary and then apply for PR while there.

[monsta]

Hey @annebsmith,

 

I hope you are a surgeon... the tax office here released some statistics that say surgeons pay the most tax! Anything over $100 000 is a good salary. You probably have a skill, like a CA or sort after IT skills.

 

The tax office says many surgeons are paying tax on a $300 000 salary!  "Surgeons again topped the list of highest earning occupations, with a mean income of $361,202."

 

But the general advise is the same for most doctors (or so I am told)... work in the public hospitals.. build up a good reputation and then go private. The sky is the limit!

Edited October 10, 2016 by monsta

[NicoletteJ]

Thanks @annebsmith - it does look like my registration will also require supervised work. I'm hoping to get connected to another psychologist on this forum that can give me specific details of their registration process, but no luck so far. My contacts emigrated years back so things have changed since then.