Archive for the ‘Move to Australia’ Category

Moving to Australia is very popular with the British. One in three UK nationals have expressed interest in spending time living and working in Australia. However, expressing interest and actually moving to Australia are very different things.

Moving to any country can be a daunting task and only a small number realize their Australian dream. If you have decided you would like to live in an Australian city, deciding which city is bound to eat up a big chunk of your time. Here Global Visas investigates the Australian immigration rates for UK born immigrants now living in Australia to help you decide where to move to.

Population statistics were gathered in 2006 and the cities are listed with the most desirable city for Brits to live in at the top.

1. Perth, Western Australia: 168,000 UK born residents


Perth at night is an impressive sight: Photo by rob

Moving to Australia: Perth

Perth is the fourth largest city in Australia. It is the capital of the Australian State of Western Australia and boasts a population growth rate consistently above the national average. In the Economist’s 2009 list of most liveable cities, Perth is tiered for an impressive fifth place. Perth became known as “the city of lights” when residents switched on all their lights as American astronaut John Glenn passed over the city in 1962.

Perth’s population contains the highest proportion of UK born residents than any other major Australian city. That fact, coupled with the above benefits, means Perth takes the top spot for Brits planning on moving to Australia.

2. Adelaide, South Australia: 93,000 UK born residents


The botanical garden building at Adelaide is known as “The Crystal Pasty” by locals, due to the architecture: Photo by amanda

Moving to Australia: Adelaide

Adelaide is the fifth largest city in Australia. It is the capital of the Australian State of South Australia. Adelaide is well known for its many festivals and culture of sport, wine and food and ranks within the top 10 most liveable cities. It is the commercial and government centre for South Australia and so many financial and government institutions can be found there. Adelaide is a coastal city, and it has long inviting beach fronts.

3. Sydney, New South Wales: 175,000 UK born residents


The Sydney Opera house during “Lighting the Sails”. Photo by domasan

Moving to Australia: Sydney

Sydney is the largest city in Australia and due to its location is often called “the harbour city.” Sydney is the capital of New South Wales and its well known land marks include the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. According to the Mercer Survey, Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city to live in but it also ranks as one of the top 10 most liveable cities in the world.

4. Melbourne, Victoria: 156,000 UK born residents


No clouds in sight in sunny Melbourne: Photo by mapu

Moving to Australia: Melbourne

Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city and is recognized as the cultural and sporting centre of Australia. It is the capital of the State of Victoria and is well known for its distinctive blend of Victorian and contemporary architecture. Melbourne ranks as one of the most liveable cities in the world. In addition to culture and sport, Melbourne is also known as a centre for the arts, education, industry and tourism. Melbourne also contains the worlds largest tram network.

5. Brisbane, Queensland: 95,000 UK born residents


Brisbane enjoying it’s sub-troplical climate: Photo by: kev

Moving to Australia: Brisbane

Brisbane (pronounced Brisben) is the third largest city in Australia. It is the capital of the Australian State of Queensland. The city is situated on a low lying flood plane, which the River Brisbane twists its way across. A well known landmark is the Story Bridge, which crosses the river Brisbane. Brisbane has a humid sub-tropical climate. Unlike other Australian capital cities, Brisbane is controlled by the local government, the Brisbane City Council.

Conclusion:

Amazingly, four of these thriving Australian cities (all apart from Sydney) are less than 200 years old. Australia truly is a nation of immigrants.

Brits are also the largest immigrant group in Australia, so I’m sure you will feel right at home!

Move to Canada before all wildlife disappears!

Following on from the story that Australia was set to cull over half-a-million camels, Canada – a country that prides itself on its abundance of wildlife – is set for its own heinous ’slaughter’.

Canada will spend $75 million on encouraging farmers to stop breeding pigs. The move has been welcomed by hog farmers all over the country as the pig industry enters a economic crisis.

Meanwhile, concern shifts to the rather alarming news that over many millions of sockeye salmons have vanished from a river on the Canadian Pacific Coast. Climate change has been cited as a possible cause.

With all this creature culling and disappearances, it surely makes sense to get your Canada visa application in quick before all the wildlife goes for good!

Smoking camels: 650,000 camels to be culled in planned airstrikes by Australia

Australia, noted for its warm welcome to tourists and migrants from all over the world, has shown a rather rare barbaric side

The Australian government, will be launching airstrikes against the million strong camel population that is roaming the outback and competing with livestock for food.

650,000 Camels will be killed in the cull, making the move they made to Australia from Saudi Arabia and India in the 1840s seem increasingly foolhardy.

The cull will be carried out using airstrikes and helicopters and is expected to cost $19 million. The dead camels will be turned into camel burgers, camel sausages and camel mince meat.

Environmentalist say sterilizing the camels would be more humane, but agree that their numbers need to be reduced to protect native species.

At the moment the camels have the ability to double their population every nine years, doubling the number of humps every 4.5 years.

Australian immigrants are reassured they will not be culled in 180 years.

Razaee has only a photo of his children after his move to Australia

Two years ago an Afghan man paid an expensive price to live in Australia.  The price was his family.  Read the incredible survival story of Ali Kosh Razaee, who just wanted to live in peace with those he loved.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The Razaee family are Hazaras, a Shiite minority who makes up nine percent of Afghans.  This made it especially dangerous for them because the Hazaras were slaughtered in their thousands by the Taliban who are Sunni Muslim.

Towards the end of 2007, Razaee, his uncle and father were kidnapped by ten thugs and brutally beaten for hours.  The thugs then left them and Razaee’s father manage to thrust him out the window.

Razaee made his escape but his father’s dead body was found a week later.

Razaee was able to move his wife and children away to a safe area, but he and his brother were still in danger there.  A welder from Pakistan offered a loan of $7000 to smuggle one of them out of country but the welder wanted $2000 up front and demanded one of them stay behind to work off the rest.

His brother Muhammad volunteered.

“I didn’t want to leave him but …” Razaee trails off, his gaze far away. “We decided to save one of us. The threat was higher against me than my brother.

He went on to say: “Everything in our lives has been dangerous. At least we trust the smugglers more than we could trust the Taliban.”

After leaving his brother effectively enslaved in Pakistan, Razaee was put on a plane in Quetta.  He had never been on a plane and had no idea where he was going. 

Razaee says:  “They told us to keep our heads down, don’t be noticed.  If there were other refugees like me on the flight, I didn’t know about it. I didn’t understand any of it and didn’t speak to anyone the entire time.”

After ten hours passed the plane landed in Jakarta, Indonesia.  It was nearby that Razaee spent almost one month living in a hut made of reeds with eight other Afghan refugees.

He says:  “I didn’t know what would happen next. I didn’t know if my family were safe. I didn’t know where I was or if I would ever leave this hut.”

Eventually, a total of three months since he left Afghanistan, he managed to get on a flimsy boat crammed full of refugees.  There was barely enough food and most people were too sick to eat it anyway.  He lay aboard the boat expecting to die as it was rocked on the ocean.

An Australian Navy ship intercepted the boat.  Razaee had never heard of Australia had never felt such relief.  His only remaining possession was a photo of his three youngest children who were left behind. 

He was resued and granted refugee status to live in Adelaide. He is now awaiting results of his Australia visa application.

A work visa can boost your brainpower

Don’t just take Global Visas’ word for it that living and working abroad is better for your mental health. A research project has proved there is actually a proven link between improved creativity and living abroad.

The study was conducted by two psychologists, William Maddux of INSEAD, a business school in Fontainebleau, France, and Adam Galinsky, of the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. Their findings were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and a brief overview of their work is summarised below, in an article featured on the Economist.com website:

Maddux and Galinksky conducted two experiments to test their theory. The first, asked 155 American business students and 55 foreign ones studying in America with a test used by psychologists as a measure of creativity.

To check that they had not merely discovered that creative people are more likely to choose to live abroad, Dr Maddux and Dr Galinsky identified and measured personality traits, such as openness to new experiences, that are known to predict creativity. They then used statistical controls to filter out such factors. Even after that had been done, the statistical relationship between living abroad and creativity remained, indicating that it is something from the experience of living in foreign parts that helps foster creativity.

Given a candle, some matches and a box of drawing pins, the students were asked to attach the candle to a cardboard wall so that no wax would drip on the floor when the candle was lit. (The solution is to use the box as a candleholder and fix it to the wall with the pins.) They found 60% of students who were either living abroad or had spent some time doing so, solved the problem, whereas only 42% of those who had not lived abroad did so.

A follow-up study with 72 Americans and 36 foreigners explored their creative negotiating skills. Pairs of students were asked to play the role of a seller of a petrol station who then needed to get a job and a buyer who would need to hire staff to run the business. The two were likely to reach an impasse because the buyer had been told he could not afford what the seller was told was his minimum price. Nevertheless, where both negotiators had lived abroad 70% struck a deal in which the seller was offered a management job at the petrol station in return for a lower asking price. When neither of the negotiators had lived abroad, none was able to reach a deal.

Given the importance of creativity to working practices and individual self-development and the relevance of multicultural experience in our increasingly globalised world, such research is of insignificance for anyone who makes the effort to obtain a work visa and live abroad, or for employers who recruit from an international pool of workers.

There are, of course, many things to consider when embarking on a new life in Australia, but here are few practical tips that people moving to Australia need to be aware of.

The weather
The Australian summer falls from December to February and is dry and very hot. Australians typically wear factor 30+ sunscreen as skin cancer is common. However, the weather is a fantastic plus-point to settling in Australia and is a great excuse to make the most of the beaches and water sports, available to everyone living near the coast.

Water safety
It is essential to take note of water safety flags when visiting an Australian beach. A red and yellow flag indicates that the beach is being patrolled and it is safe to swim.

Electricity
Australian immigrants may need to replace some of their electrical goods with devices that can be used with the Australian 230V 50Hz electricity supply. People moving from abroad can use a plug adapter, but again, they may want to replace plugs for long-term use.

Trading hours and holidays
Trading hours are much like elsewhere, in that they begin at 9am and end at 5pm, although shops in larger towns and cities may stay open until around 9pm. Supermarkets generally stay open until 9pm from Monday to Friday. Christmas, New Years and Easter Holidays are as per most Western countries, but there is also Australia Day on 26th January and ANZAC Day on 25th April. There are also several State holidays. School holidays also differ in each State, but all have four terms with the main Summer holiday running from mid to late December through to around 26th January.

Crime
Crime in Australia’s cities is comparable to that in any city of the world and as such, newcomers need to bear in mind that they should keep their bags safe and attended at all times to avoid being targeting by pick-pockets.

Tipping
Tipping is not compulsory in Australia and people tend to only tip when service is very good. However, a 10% good and service tax is added restaurant bills.

Emergency numbers
The number of the emergency services in Australia is 000, which is free to call.

For more information about Australia immigration and your Australian visa requirements, let Global Visas be your one stop immigration advice and solution finder.

Life's a beach for Australian visa holders

Worried industry leaders in Australia are lobbying the Federal Government to expand its Australia visa programme, warning that the state will struggle to meet its two million population target and future skills demand without changes to Australian immigration policies.

With an estimated 20,000 new jobs needed to be created to retain status quo, it is a strange paradox that Australia finds itself also suffering the effects of increasing unemployment figures.

More jobs but more people out of work. How can it be so?

The reason is that many Australians do not want to take jobs in sectors like the hospitality industry. Such jobs are viewed as menial, low paid and low status.

For overseas workers who move to Australia on an Australian visa, the opportunity to work in hospitality and move to Australia is viewed as more attractive.

Industry heads see the future of sustaining growth in industries such as hospitality lies in recruiting from a largely immigrant workforce. And this, many argue, calls for reforms in Australia visa regulations to allow immigrants an easier path into the country and to find work in Australia.

With more jobs available and potentially less bureaucracy to obtain your work visa in Australia, this can only be good news for anyone seriously considering Australian immigration.

We at Global Visas offer you some handy hints as to how to most efficiently secure your all important work visa:

1.  Patience is paramount in the visa process.
We all know someone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them.  But Immigration laws apply to everyone equally and the process takes time. In only very exceptional cases, fast tracking visas is possible,  but in most cases, the visa process must run its set course. Make sure you plan well head, allowing plenty of time for the visa(s) to be granted.

2.  Don’t book a flight until the visa has been issued.
This may sound like obvious advice, but even the most straightforward cases can be delayed.  Recently we had a client who booked a flight thinking the case visa would be issued in ample time. Unfortunately the employee’s passport was expiring within six months and this prevented a visa being granted.  The visa would have taken 24 hours to secure. His passport took six weeks to renew.

3.  Visa restrictions last longer than you think
Every visa comes with rules and conditions that must be adhered to. And that means even after your employee has arrived in ther host country. Your company must continue to track and manage their visa status any changes to their role, leave your employment, or extend their stay beyond their visa expiry date, then such changes must be reported to the relevant authorities and the visa amended. A visa only ceases to be an issue after your employee has returned back to their home country.

4.  Be prepared for others’ mistakes
It is not uncommon for a government employee to misread a form and then reject a perfectly acceptable case, or for a busy line manager to forget to sign a box.  Don’t panic! Immigration decisions made in error are common and there are procedures to correct them.  Managers in host countries often do not recognise the importance of just one form but with a close eye these things can be picked up early enough not to affect the case.

5.  Keep it simple
Your business maybe rocket science or even dealing with complex brain surgery. But that should not make securing your work permit any more difficult.  Immigration laws are the same regardless of what your company does.  The law is blind to certain details even if they are critical to your business.  When dealing with visas, keep it simple and only focus on the laws and what they are asking for to administer that law.  Ensure  your explanations on visa applications meet the requirement of the Immigration law only.  Offering explanations of how complex your business is will only confuse the officer charged with dealing with the case.  Stay focused on the rules.

6.  Protect your brand
Governments the world over need to show they are no pushover when it comes to enforcing Immigration law. Do not allow your brand to become that ’six o clock news’ example.  Always aim to ensure your staff remain compliant with the Immigration law at all times in all countries.  Immigration audits which show up any negative issues can have an adverse impact on a business’s reputation and should be avoided.  Even if you make a mistake but tried your best that will go a long way in your favour.

7.  Use a reputable Immigration consultancy
Make sure any immigration consultancy you use is up to the job. Do they have registered offices? Do their staff have the experience and, most importantly, are they qualified to address Immigration issues for the host country that you require?  In many regions across the world local “immigration advisors” operate with no supervision or control.  Their limited resources and knowledge can lead to difficulties and should be avoided.  Aim to secure the services of a company that is able to assist pre-departure and has offices in the host country.

8. Understand dependents
Dependents of employees often want to study or work in the host country.  Usually it’s a straightforward process to make the necessary arrangements or to explain why they are unable to do so if restrictions apply. Whatever the outcome, dependents are as important to the main applicant as his or her own visa.  The visa process may change depending on when the dependents apply for their visa.  Polygamous marriages are banned in many countries but acceptable in others, as are gay marriages and the maximum age a child can be a dependent.  Make sure you take into account all the issues before confirming a secondment the expat declines later due to family reasons.

9.  Localised staff can bring you benefits
Many on expat benefits find it hard to give them up, but a company can make big savings if they localise their expats quickly.  If a person elects to stay in a host country, you should be ready to arrange residency and even citizenship in that country.  It will mark the end of expatriate status and localise the employee in a supportive way.

10.  If in any doubt, ask
Immigration law tends to be one of the most complex areas of any country’s legislation.  Our team are always happy to answer our clients’ questions and we would prefer they confirmed facts rather than assumed them.  Our reputation is attached to the success of our clients international mobility programs and we want to get it right 100% of the time.  Whatever your question, we want to hear about them because you are important and so is your business

For all your work visa needs, let Global Visas be your one stop immigration advice and solution finder.

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islandreefjob.com

Tourism Queensland’s dream job to be caretaker of Hamilton Island, a remote, sun drenched atoll on the Great Barrier Reef, has been whittled down to 50 candidates from 22 countries.

The marketing campaign seduced 34,800 applicants that want to work in Australia for $150,000 a year job, in a multi-million dollar villa (for free), with all travel expenses paid.

The job itself includes producing videos for the web, keeping a blog and updating the photo diary for the whole of Hamilton Island (five square kilometres).

Read the rest of this entry »

Australia, a beautiful land adorned with rippling waves, golden shores and glowing sunshine, sounds like paradise? Well new census figures show that there is a growing problem affecting life down under… and that is a lack of the male species.

According to statistics at present there are almost 100,000 more females than males in Australia, with the imbalance steadily increasing. According to the national census the figures are largely a product of changes in immigration trends throughout the country as a whole.

Coastal cities in the Australia are particularly feeling the female dominance, as many women whom were previously residing in more rural villages and towns are instead internally migrating to larger, more cosmopolitan areas in the hunt for greater employment opportunities.

Although a natural sign of the times, this alone is not the reason for such a radical change in census numbers. Instead it is this movement combined with the external movement of Australia’s men.

As global mobility increases the world-over greater numbers of men are applying for visas to study, work and live outside of Australia, subsequently leaving the women behind as the study shows that Australian women are less eager to move abroad.

This news is not the first of immigration affecting gender numbers in Australia. In previous years Australia has been flooded with men thanks to immigration policies favouring males. This however, is a position which has been reversed, mainly due to the thousands of Australian men in their 20s and early 30s whom are leaving Australia to seek work elsewhere.

Speaking of the census, Demographer Bernard Salt said “The exodus of young men to foreign countries is leaving its mark. If you go into the United Arab Emirates census you’ll find there is around large numbers of Australians living in the UK, mostly male, mostly in the 25 to 34-year age group.”