Hi there,

Myself and my family are from the UK and are in the beginning stages of looking into visas for PR in Oz and any advice would be very welcome.....

My husband and I are both 37, we have 2 kids age 14 and 12.

My husband owns a small joinery manufacturing business and I do the accounts/payroll/office admin for the business. I also have a Diploma in preschool practice but have not worked in this for a few years.

On initial points scoring tests i dont think we will meet the 120 pass mark because my current job is not on the skilled list and we would need that extra 5 points!

Does anyone have any knowledge of sponsored employment in construction or tips on where to look?

I also have an Aunt and 2 cousins who are Australian residents, but not sure on their personal situations regarding sponsorship....does anyone know how sponsorship works and if this may be a useful route to explore?

My daughter is hoping to do A level equivalent in Oz before studying Marine Biology (also at Australian uni) and we are keen to move there to keep our family unit in one place!

Thanks for reading, any help would be very much appreciated,
Heather

Hi Heather and quite a mixed bag you have there.
I'll not kid you and right from the start, I'd not think that there is going to be a less than complicated approach for you but being small business owners you probably are used more so than others to complex situations.
So just a few points to help your thinking along the way.
. Preschool management/teaching is on the SOL#3 but as you are aware, recent prior experience is a requirement for independent skilled immigration and you also need qualifications of a particular level, that being degree level for most professional occupations - A-Z Occupations List - Australian Skills Recognition Information a guide.
Could be opportunities in employer sponsorship as many preschools are privately run.
I'd suggest doing some googling and see what is on offer, amall business management perhaps seen as complimentary to preschool experience hopefully not too long ago.
. For construction, sponsorship does happen at significant levels in the steel fabrication side of construction re infrastructure projects but in the building area not so much I suspect as all building trades virtually get contracted out and so you have smaller companies who probably enjoy having forward orders and might even sub-contract or take on casual employees for a meet demand basis.
Australia's building industry is not the most buoyant at the moment either and is always subject to boom/bust cycles.

So like I said, it is not going to be an uncomplicated approach that you may need to consider and I'd suggest you may want to investigate possibilities such as employer sponsorship for yourself and hub and kids can be secondary applicants and he will also have work rights.

Another approach depending on what you intend for your current business is that you investigate potential for a joinery business in Australia and that will have its own set of complications re not just cost, business viability/potential but matching location to suit the childrens' study, and even the best of businesses can go belly up if the wrong set of economic circumstances develop so there is a substantial risk involved, perhaps more so than with the normal running of a small business given international relocation and the GFC etc.
There is also obviously the cost of a business and business visa charges/investment requirements so perhaps there are limited options in that area.
Do a google like Google and you can see how costs for an existing business can vary, the further away from urban areas, the prices do get cheaper it seems and coastal development areas could work in with marine biology studies for though you can probably do courses at a lot of universities, some coastal ones might have a greater specialisation.

If I was to contemplate attempting to do something in the business area, I would certainly do something of a recce trip if you can get away from the business for a month or so, or even one of you and then you could check out a few areas with Unis and see what businesses are available.
There may even be a possibility of negotiating something if a business owner is looking to sell because of age/retirement they may be prepared to sponsor someone in the interim with a view to business purchase and though that could be a bit tricky for all involved, it may at least be worth looking into the possibility.

So no doubt a bit more researching and investigation for you to develop a plan.

Hi wanderer and thank you for your reply.

We have moved on a bit since i posted on here.....hubby is just back from a month long reccie in Oz.....absolutely loved it!

We have taken the plunge and sent the cheque off to the Visa Bureau and so far so good. The next hurdle is to take the IELTS test and then skills assessment.....have to say im secretly relieved that my husband has to do this not me!!

Hi Heather,
You'll not be getting off scot free for there's all sorts of stuff you and the kids will need to do re eligibility as secondary applicants.
So has your husband secured an employment offer and are you going that route?

But there's a lot to consider and for instance do you sell a house in a depressed market and real estate over here is rather expensive, so might be better to hang on to what you have for a while and rent it out if that is an option and rent here for quite a while to see where not to buy re dangers like flooding or bushfires etc.
If your husband has got an employment offer and is to apply for a visa that way, the visa is reliant on him maintaining a sponsor.
If he is applying independently, it can take quite a while.