Have you always dreamed of living in “the Land Down Under”?
Or are you interested in escaping from the reactionary politics of
Trump’s America and living in a more tolerant, welcoming society?
If you are an American citizen and have been giving thought to immigrating
to Australia (or if you are already here on a student or temporary work visa
and want to explore options for permanent residency) then please get in touch
with me – an American trained lawyer from New York, living in Sydney and
thoroughly familiar with the complexities of Australian immigration laws!
The good news is that Australia is extremely welcoming to migrants,
and there are a lot of different options for Americans!
To start with, Australia has an ongoing skills shortage, so if you
have a skilled occupation, you can migrate here through Australia’s General
Skilled Migration Programme.
A wide range of occupations
is eligible for skilled migration. You can apply to do skilled migration either
independently, or you can do it through employer sponsorship.
If you’d like to “test the waters” and see if Australia is really
for you, there’s a temporary skilled visa programme here too, called the 457
programme. Under that (employer sponsored) option, you can get a visa to
live and work in Australia temporarily for up to 4 years, and if you do wind up
liking it here, there’s a way to convert from the 457 programme to a visa
pathway that will lead to permanent residency and citizenship. It's perfect if you are already working for an American multinational!
If you want to find out if you have an occupation that is suitable
for independent skilled migration, you can check the Skilled Occupation List on the Department of Immigration's Website.
For employer sponsored
migration, have a look at the eligible occupations (it's extensive!) on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List.
There are a lot of other options to consider as well!!!
For example, if the love of your life is an Australian citizen or
permanent resident, you could be eligible for a partner visa under Australia’s
Family Stream. You don’t have to be married, as Australia recognizes de facto
relationships for the purpose of migration. And while Australia doesn’t
recognize same-sex marriage yet, people in same sex relationships can nonetheless get
partner visas.
If you are a student, Australia has truly world-class universities
and a huge international student community.
So you could consider studying in Australia on a student visa.
When you’re done with your studies, there are options for staying
here for an additional period to work, through the “485” post-study visa
programme.
Or if you are between the ages of 18 and 31 you could come here for
a year on a Work and Holiday Visa, and see if Australia really is for you.
Think of all the wonderful things that Australia has to offer:
Fabulous multi-cultural cities! An incredible, amazing Aboriginal community and
heritage. A glorious natural environment, with beautiful beaches
everywhere, fantastic national parks (Daintree and Kakadu to mention just 2),
the incredible outback and Uluru, and wonderful, unique wildlife: not just
koalas, kangaroos, kookaburras and crocodiles (you won’t get eaten if you
don’t do anything stupid!) but also wombats and platypuses and emus! And a
fabulous, sunny, healthy climate!!!
Please get in touch with me at concordialaw@optusnet.com.au if you’d like to find out what options
for immigrating to Australia may be most suitable for you.
