Forums > Social Chat > freelance work in AU

Posted: 28th Sep 2005
Go the the Australian Immigration website www.immi.gov.au and they have info on all the visa you need.

You don't want the immigration thing unless you want to wait over a year to hear and pay $1750 for the assessment plus medical bills for X rays and stuff.

On a working holiday visa you can only spend 3 months with the same company.

Your best option is to come under a temporaray business sponsored visa which lasts up to 2 years, the onus is then on the company to prove there is no-one in Australia who can do the same job and they need to sort it out from this end (there's something about companies have to have over a certain number of employees before they can sponsor you, it used to be 10, so if it's a one-man-band you'd be working for they can't get you over this way).

Once you are in the country then you can apply for a tax file number, that's something you don't worry about until you get here.

Basically your best bet is to ask your prospective employer to sort it out, or visit your Australian Embassy.

There is a slight possibility that I am not actually right all of the time.

Posted: 28th Sep 2005
My friend is in Oz at the moment on a 1 year working holiday visa (under 30's only)

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.

Posted: 28th Sep 2005

i would probably suggest visiting your nearest australian embassy too, simply so that you can talk to someone face to face and avoid confusion as much as possible.

"i am exotic, and must keep my arms down" - Rougie

"i don't understand what penises have to do with getting married" - Foxie

Posted: 29th Sep 2005
thanks a lot for your hints.

Written by:

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You don't want the immigration thing unless you want to wait over a year to hear and pay $1750 for the assessment plus medical bills for X rays and stuff.

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I knew, one has wait to some time to get a reply but I thought it was about one or two months...dang. Same with the costs - its far more then I expected.

Anyway - I´ll try to get more info about this "temporaray business sponsored visa" when I´m in Berlin to visit the embassy and am also thinking about simply get a work and holiday visa and go fruit picking or s.th.



cheers, michael
EDITED_BY: :mono: (1127990411)

Posted: 30th Sep 2005
Find out if your potential employer has a Holdings Company; here it's very common for a company to divide into several small companies, so if one gets sued it can become bankrupt without the entire company going under (mine employs 50 people but is made of 5 seperate companies, only one of which has assets and technically, that one has no employees so we cannot loose company stuff through court cases.)

Basically, if it does, you can do three months of a working holiday visa under one company, then change to the holdings company, this saves a hell of a lot of hassle.

As for the time delay on immigration, it's not uncommon to wait 2 years or more. If your job considered in demand (builders, mechanics, civil engineers) then they'll fast-track you. If not you can wait up to three years on the books before you have to reapply.

If you do consider immigration and want to take the points test, do not go to one of those ones that advertise on the internet and promise to tell you if you will pass for money; the only one that counts is on the official immigration website and it's free.

There is a slight possibility that I am not actually right all of the time.