Temp to permanent

[Guest JamesP]

Hey guys and girls,

 

as some of you will know, i am initially coming out to Oz on a whv. I am hoping to qaulfiy for a 2nd year, as will be working in regional Oz. My question is this...

 

If i were to apply for temperory residence, how long is it before you can apply for permanent residence?

 

If i'm in Oz for 2 years on WHVs, can i apply for perm residence straight away, and can it be done whilst i'm in country?

 

I am looking at all options of course, but just wondered if anybody had been through this sort of scenario.

 

Help and advice always welcome

 

Jim

[RockDr]

Permanent residence is not purely based on how long you've been in the country. There are many different types of PR visas. Anyone can apply for a PR visa, provided they meet the criteria for that particular visa. If they don't meet the criteria right this minute, then temporary visas can sometimes provide extra points towards eventually meeting those criteria, so end up being stepping stone visas.

 

Assuming you don't have an australian partner, you'd probably be going down the skilled visa route.

What is your occupation, is it on the SOL list? The quickest route at the moment is to get employer sponsorship. If you don't qualify for the permanent visa yet (worth looking it up, many people don't realise they do actually qualify...), you can get the 457 visa which will give you 4 years temporary residency provided you keep working for that employer, which will allow you to build up the requirements for the PR application. Think of your WHV as a way to get your foot in the door, so employers can "try before they sponsor". I would have a read of the immi.gov.au website, it lists the requirements for all the different types of visas, if you have any more questions come back here, or try the pomsinoz migration section, it's a little more active than this one, and has several migration agents who post there.