Hi there all fellow LYN-ers!

I'm planning to head to Australia to work, as the wage there is around AUD9-15 per hour for casual workers...though I realize working as casual labour over there will not build me an impressive resume, but I've made up my mind that the monetary gain I may get over there is definately more rewarding then me working my butt off and getting demotivated over here in Malaysia.

Right now, my question is ..

Does anyone know how long does the Visa Application and costs are like?
I've heard that its around RM1k+ plus it takes quite a while...

So was wondering if anyone here can provide some better facts and details ... or any other details regarding what I can expect from my jobs and life over there...

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

This post has been edited by EmoO: Mar 8 2010, 05:34 PM

not trying to demotivate you..but as msian, only few type of visa is available in order for u to work legally in australia..

WHV - for those aged under 30, but got 100 quota per year.. (if im not wrong)

PR - this will take 1-2 years depending on your skills and experience

Sponsorship - have to get an employer in Oz to sponsor u to come over to work..

for start, goto www.immi.gov.au

and it's not easy to get a casual job here nowadays, and you've to consider the cost of living here as well, especially the rent, which will be expensive..

Thanks, will look into it..

I was thinking of applying for WHV ... casual jobs including farm work is hard to get nowadays? You're currently based in Aussie?

TS,

You seem to have a clear view of what you want. BUT sadly you lack a lot of information regarding working in Australia. Finding a job in australia as a casual worker may not be difficult. HOWEVER do consider that you are a foreigner in that land where people prefer to hire locals compared to foreigners.

Dont be demotivated. It's not going to be easy but not impossible

I got my WHM visa from the UK a couple of years back for 2 years. The interview queue was a year long. I didnt have to go for interview due to strong paperwork (I had a non-blood sister there, I was to come back to finish my degree and not settle permanently, I listed down the gigs and places that I wanted to go arond Europe and I had enough proof of funds ) and the visa for Malaysians got frozen 2 weeks after mine was approved.

Sadly, ended up not going due to family matters, safety and other issues . But it gave me the strength to believe in myself

yes, im working in Oz now (on a PR)..

to tell u the truth, when i came over, tot of getting a casual job while looking for a fulltime (my profession job), but no reply at all..thats y i said its not easy for casual job..

the casual job im referring is just retail assistant, waitress and stuff like that.. not farm work..

Australia just recently drop all application for PR from low skill worker, if you dont have skill that they want like high tech and mining industry, dont expect to easilly get to work there legally since they are now trying to end influx of low skill foreign worker.

This post has been edited by robertngo: Mar 8 2010, 09:14 PM

How about cost of living in Australia such as food, house and so on ? is it too expansive compare to malaysia?

Hi fellow Malaysians. I have a cert in Unix. But sadly, my working experience is not in Unix Support though it is a bit work related. does anyone know abt my chances of migration?

as long as you are earning oz dollar, you will be able to survive there..

Rental - Depending on where you are planning to stay. I can't speak for the rest of australian states but will try and provide info on NSW (Sydney) as its where i am based. Its usually the saying of the further you stay away from the city the cheaper it gets except for those upper class luxury suburbs which are expensive

Ranges from AUD120 - AUD200 sharing with others. if you do not mind sharing a room with others or having 7 people in an apartment you can get really cheap deal since you probably want to spend most of your time working anyway. Certain accommodation only have 1 toilet. A lot of notices are sticked onto traffic lights and poles looking for housemate... if you are a hot chiq, your chances are higher in getting the accommodation.

Job - if you are staying in the city, i highly doubt you will wanna take a casual job as a fruit picker as they are like pretty much very far away, not mistaken last time i went and pick fruits when i stay in the city area it takes me about 2 + hours drive away... Buses and trains may not reach the area or you have to transit many times. Working in retail on a WHM visa for instance restaurant staff, clerk, data entry, customer service maybe an easier find but not sure the chances of malaysian.

i once worked in restaurant casually and received AUD12 per hour + super + tax returns in sydney. It kinda ranges from employer to employer as I know some friends who works in thai restaurants received AUD7 an hour without any benefits and some who works in better upper class restaurants receive better remuneration. If you work in a professional sector the chances of better remuneration is higher.

Food - it can be cheap or expensive depending on your diet. If you like to eat steak everyday or eat a lot then its gona cost you pretty much a lot. but if you buy your own groeceries and cook then it could save ya more. the portion of food are higher therefore if you pack like from the fellas from chinatown in the take aways, it may last you for 2 meals for AUD10.

It does seem that things are generally more expensive in australia if you convert them to ringgit everytime you spend but with the higher remuneration it may make things actually cheaper than in malaysia

My answers are in no way accurate but based on my experience and information that i have gathered while living in sydney.

annielee: with the soon electricity price hike a lot of ppl earning aussie dollars find it difficult to cope =( survive yes but then to do more than surviving is a tad bit difficult lolz

ya, i heard that from the news as well about the electricity bills increasing..
how long you've been in sydney ? im considering going back to msia for 2 years, and will move perm to oz after that..

imagine AU$100, you can buy more stuff here, where RM100, cant get you much.. (which my 'survive' means)

This post has been edited by annielee: Mar 19 2010, 06:32 AM

Thanks annielee for the reply,

I was scheduled to migrate to Austaralia sometime next 2 month for working reason. I will be based at Welshpool, Western Australia. Do you know about this place? is it a rural or urban place? How about cost of living there? Can I save some money to bring back to Malaysia when I'm working abroad at OZ?

lets see what the coalition has to say lol this labor government like to eat money only lol

this is my 5th year in sydney... wont be going back for good in the near future since theres a steady job right now though might wanna change lol...

yea i do agree with your purchasing power in regards to the dollar... thats coz probably coz you spend a lot... judging by your handle, you seem to be female... shop lesser please (no offense on any discrimination as it is not intended) but then if we take a petrol pump attendant that is near my malaysian home, the last time i check with is a couple of years back his wages are RM600 a month and he is able to survive just that kenot get luxurious stuffs...

no idea about the area, as im in NSW..
as to whether you can save money and bring back to Oz, will be based on your lifestyle (spending) in oz..

never heard of it and have never been to WA... but try using this site... www.whereis.com as it will provide you a map to know the specific area that you are going to as it has the whole map of australia and then tells u the direction and how much time / km away from places that you wanna go... i have tried entering info based on welshpool and perth though i have no adresses it returned with les than 10km so i think its probably part of / near the city area

cost of living, sorry cant help you there but judging that its near perth, things may be cheaper...

definitely you can bring money back to malaysia while working abroad... its your money anyway but then if you decide to bring over AUD10,000 of any currency in / out of the country you have to declare to customs

---

Added on March 19, 2010, 7:23 amTotally off topic and tumpang thread.... annielee where you working in nsw? mayb can come out yum cha lolz

This post has been edited by witchx: Mar 19 2010, 07:23 AM

i do shop more here, as buying power is higher :-)
wow, 5 years, getting ur citizenship ?

erm i only had my PR for 2 years actually... came here for studies and then decided to stay and then got a job and might not apply for citizenship depending on how malaysia handle the dual citizenship stuffs.

oh i c, im still waiting for MY for the dual citizenship if the government is considering, then it will be good.. which suburb you are at ?

im currently living in the city, ultimo to be exact but will be moving out to the lower north shore... wut bout urself?

annielee: i think we are very off topic atm and decide to take our random chatter to PMs as i dont think our personal chatter contributes to this thread. cheers

This post has been edited by witchx: Mar 19 2010, 08:49 AM

Hmmm you're flying there with a visitor's visa?

I remember mine took several weeks for visa processing (student visa) and you're required to go for Medical Checkup whereby the report is directly sent to the office/ embassy. Yes, it takes about RM1k+ (visa)

Like the others mentioned it depends on which part of Australia you plan to work in. I used to stay in Perth for a while so I'd say the cost of living is slightly lower than in cities like Sydney, Adelaide etc because it's more to a suburban area.

Thing is... preferably you have some special skills or expertise required. Otherwise employers in Australia finds no reason to apply and pay for your visa (working visa). They can always hire locals or students looking for part time job there. Also bear in mind that although the pay is good, the living cost is also on par. Unless you live thrifty otherwise money will be spent easily (there's too many temptations there!).

Do expect some form of discrimination towards Asian. Generally the people there are nice but I can't say the same for some. Just be wary of the aborigines as some are not friendly... and tend to cause trouble. If you're a girl, even more reason to avoid night shift (if any).

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Mar 19 2010, 09:30 AM

what i heard for my colleague in Aus is that most company there focus on experience not cert, except for gov department.

anyway it is the list of skill needed in aus

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1121i.pdf

This post has been edited by robertngo: Mar 19 2010, 10:04 AM

No witch. We are willing to listen your chit chat with annielee as it might be interesting and moreover it more or less can help somebody like me or anyone else whose never been to Aussie before. heheh..

Anyway, how about Australian people? are there kind & friendly? what else the important things I should know about Australia if I were to work there?

Cheers.

to me, ozzie people are friendly compared to msia..
at least over here, i dare to talk to strangers (as in the train/bus/station) and even said thank you to bus driver whenever i get down..(which is a norm here)

work over here is not like MY, as is work until 5pm..and its not advisable for OT, as you will spoil the culture..
as shops also close at 5pm most of the time (except thurs - sat)
and tax here is quite high compared to MY..

Gosh, what do you do after 5 ?

Hi everyone, I have a few doubts. Does an expatriate who is residing in Australia need to pay tax? if so, what are those taxes?

Thanks.

www.ato.gov.au will be your answer..

if u r not a resident (citizen or PR) in Oz, you have to pay higher tax.. if im not wrong

Waaaa... how high is it? die la if like that... haha.. probably Annielee, If y u dont mind, appreciate your suggestion or idea on how I should demand for my salary at Aussie?Apparently cost of living in Aussie is much more higher than malaysia.. wondering how much should i demand

non-muslim survivability rate in oz is higher compared to muslim.it's kinda hard to find halal's food and more expensive than the non-halal's around here.i'm from clayton,about 40mins drive form melbourne CBD.still a student.
working?if i'm not mistaken PR and citizen pay more for tax.40% if not mistaken la.last time did fruit picking,forgot how much kena already.waiting for tax return though xD
the thing is,when u get a PR/citizenship,u got a lot of benefit from the government.4 sure aborigines dapat lebih bcoz they were not the newcomer.
dude,apply for taxi driver.sure sounds lame but believe me la,u can go back msia and become jutawan with driving taxis here xP

Did u mean 40 % of their salaries? wow.. can be considered as high. if that the case, how to make money when working abroad, no use working abroad but salary still the same as what is in Malaysia.

You do not have to be a pr/aussie citizen to pay tax at resident rates. You only need to fulfill only 1 out of the 4 resident tests, eg staying in aus for >183 days a year. I'm sure you can find out about the other tests if you do a little research. 'Resident' in tax law differs from the PR/citizen type of resident. If you do not fulfill any of the 4 tests, then you'll be considered a non-resident and thus you will be taxed at non-resident rates. Also, you'll need to apply for a Tax File Number, otherwise you will be taxed at the highest marginal tax rate of 45%.

This post has been edited by kumahachi: Mar 22 2010, 10:50 PM

Highest Marginal tax rate is freaking 49%

Thanks for the info.

theres marginal tax rate / marginal deduction rate

the more you earn the more they tax ya... they dont tax the whole 40% of your salary... that would be overkill.

Always get a Tax File Number!! even keeping money in bank you get taxed... but then after my calculation, i still earning similarly to in malaysia if we are having dollar to dollar comparison =( i iz phailed

oo.. in which line of work u are in right now?

even earning the same in MY, let say u earn RM3k(after tax) in MY, and A$3k(after tax) here, do you think i can live comfortably (as in spending the same in MY) in MY with RM3k or in Oz with A$3k ?

Bro, you need to made 180k to get tax at the highest 45% lah,

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content....583&mfp=001/002

them_me_you : marketing... actually i do not intend to make it sound that my life is that bad... not saying that my salary is in anyway bad atm...

annielee : i think we went through that before which I agree you can spend on more stuffs cause with the exchange rate you will live way comfortably with your AUD being spent in malaysia.. but then right if go out eat chicken rice in in sydney, will cost me bout 9 bux a plate malaysia 5 ringgit (extra rice extra chicken the last time i ate)... if talk bout branded goods then don't really need to compare already if wanna take LV products and pricing for both malaysia and australia.

hehe..just wan to point out that even earning the same in Oz ($ to $), life in Oz will be better than MY..

anyone have experience being accredited by the ACS?

go to tavern

since this topic is up, i've got a scenario which i need help with. please hear me out?

my bf and i are discussing about migrating to australia. both of us find that if we are going to start a family, might as well go to a better place with better living standard, healthcare and such. we all know how malaysia is in certain ways. i'm not saying it's really bad but what we want and deserve, malaysia couldn't give... or should i say, aussie is better.

anyway, we aren't sure how hard is it to apply and how much it cost. the last time we checked, it cost about AUD2250 (non-refundable). should we hire an agent? and how much would that be?

his grandparents and uncles are there, citizens, so this might be a plus point, plus he is an engineer although with only 1+ year experience. what are the chances of him getting a PR? for me, should i apply with him as a spouse? or get married only AFTER he has gotten his visa?

any feedback appreciated!

@Fujihime

where are you guys situated at this moment and what kind of engineer is your bf? if you are gona submit an offshore application you should best start now as it will probably take years to get the PR application approved. not to pour cold water, even the graduates who are onshore are waiting more than a year for their PR application to be approved and they are also working now... so if you are serious in getting it try applying it now. if you are onshore, agent is a waste of money coz they basically do the same things you have to do in regards to documentation and stuffs and follow up. its more convenient but not really applicable unless you are in some superbly difficult situation. Agents usually will charge 100% of the cost of the application fees ( do not quote me on this am merely guessing due to agent handlers in sydney)

im not too sure the chances of your bf getting the visa, plus points having relatives in australia but if the job field is not in the list for the required points, he can't apply under certain subclass. Im no pro in the migration stuffs but you can read probably read up in the DIMIA website. There are a point system whereby if you do not meet the required points, there are no chance at all in getting the visa under certain subclasses. if you are an offshore or onshore applicant that may provide more info to look into. dont think you can apply under him as a spouse coz if you are not married its de facto.... in the de facto stage if he get his visa and you tumpang, you guys ahave to prove a lot of stuffs that you are staying together, sharing a bank account, utilities, friends to be witnesses etc etc if you are onshore application but offshore no idea how it works

dont think i helped much, but probably seek advice from a migration agent... they may charge you a consulting fee then you can choose to proceed or not to proceed with the application

Before I proceed, if you're staying in KL, you can visit this site (http://www.prforaustralia.com/). They provide free consultation. Office is located near Pavillion. soliciting the services of an agent will give you less headache however it's not impossible if you want to apply for PR yourself.

With regards to migration only, as you will come to know, Australia is having major changes to migration policy since February 2010. There will be no more of the old critical skill shortage list, they will be replaced by a new skills list which will determine who will get PR or not. The previous list was very loosely based and had a lot of loopholes. But with this new list, it will tighten the job scope a lot more. It will affect both offshore and onshore applicants. Some 20,000 applicants who has applied since 2007 will be also be rejected.
Not to demotivate you, but you should wait until June 2010 and see whether this new list will apply to you.
However, saying that though, if that doesn't work out, you can also chose to migrate with the option of having family there.

in australian law, you don't need to be legally married to be considered his partner. however, i reckon it's better that you get legally married before applying for PR. but it still doesn't matter if you do it after or before.

Now the next question is mine actually. Before I proceed, please don't turn this thread into Malaysia vs Australia but I just hope to get some different views on this. You were talking about Oz is better in giving what you want and deserve? I am just wondering what is Malaysia lacking that you can't get it here?
Political stability?
Employment opportunity?
Salary?
Entertainment?

My sister is looking to apply for a job in Aussie, anyone got any pointers?

This post has been edited by audreyreiko: Mar 25 2010, 03:56 PM

thanks witchx for the reply!

my bf is an electronics engineer. i read that they need engineers but i'm not sure which ones. we are currently in malaysia and plan to apply here. the part about me tumpang to apply with him is quite the challenge. so we'll prolly get an agent to help us. but thanks for the input, appreciate that!

remeron, i'll check out the agent that you recommended, thanks!
maybe i might sound harsh when i say about the deserving part haha! hmm i do like alot of things that malaysia offer, the food, night life etc. but other than that, standard of living, my major concern is unfulfilling. lets say a freshie gets a starting pay of RM2k, it wont get u much in m'sia. for aus, a freshie gets AUD2k (with tax minus off) can afford much more. a reputable car there only cost about AUD20-30k but dollar-to-dollar we can only get a kancil or kenari maybe? raw materials such as food are much more affordable there as well although i can't say the same as eating out. but after even things out, i still prefer the living in aus.

other than that, working ethics. australians work 8hrs and they can go home tepat2. for us, the culture is different. going home on time can sometimes means u r being lazy @_@ i mean this might not happen in all companies la but you get what i mean. i wan to work for what i'm paid, something like that.

when i have kids in future, i wan equality in schooling too. i'm offended with the quota thingie. this goes the same with buying a house. it's unfair that some ppl have to pay more. there's no such inequality in aussie.

these are the things that i can see so far. there might be other aussie stuff that i missed out that i might need to consider as well. for one, i'm quite uneasy about the suburb areas being too quiet and dark after 7pm. it seems too 'dead'. but so far, from the perspective of my bf's relatives living there, they lead happier lives compare to when they are here.

That may be true for blue collared or hourly-waged workers, but I assure you no professional works those hours in Australia. In fact, it is more than common to do 12 hours a day, plus weekends.

hi,

just want to check with you all. If I got an Australia visa under Employer Sponsored Workers type, which subclass I will fall into? the reason why I'm asking this, because I surf through Department of Immigration Australia website, I found out that there are two major types of Visa. one is permanent & the other is temporary. And still there are many Visa sub-types under those two categories which is called as Subclass. So, can someone brief me about this complex things.

Thanks

@fujihime - I think you only are looking at the bright side of things in regards to Australia lifestyle and the bad sides of Malaysian lifestyle. No doubt I have to agree with you in regards to the automotive pricing...
In regards to the working hours, it is not 100% true you leave at 5pm you can choose to do so, but at the end of the day you have to finish your job... it isn't fair that we get the same pay, we get the same workload, we both work 8 hours, myself finishing 100% of the workload and you only finish 60%... where's fairness and equality in that? if you have to stay back and finish to catch up you gota do it...

If you were gona stay in Australia long term and intend to buy a house, its way way way more expensive not to mention interests on loan. To help you understand better, visit www.domain.com.au or www.realestate.com.au and browse around the suburbs you may wanna live in and check on the pricing... Education level maybe good in Australia but I dare say that many graduates from local college / unis are more successful than those that has studied overseas or have education in Australia. A lot of kids brought up by the Aussie way of life are not better off than those that are brought up in Malaysia. Racism do exist in Malaysia but I feel its worse off in Australia especially during school times. Certain kids have little or no respect to their parents.. mostly due to upbringing and peers and the laws surrounding the minors and its very difficult to discipline your child ( no i do not have concrete evidence but based on my observation and only applies to certain and not all).

At the end of the day, its still up to you on how you can adapt to your lifestyle and where you chose to live in. My thought is that you look at pros and cons of both countries to be assessed before making a final decision. But getting a PR in australia and if you dont feel you like it in the first couple of years and decide to move back to malaysia thats still okay but once get citizenship it will be a bit difficult. I am in no way here trying to deter you from making your decision to move to australia

@ RBR - I've gota agree with your statement there.. There are many asian investors that has entered australia and kinda change how the working culture are around

how come housing become more expensive, i see the price of detached house mostly 300k-500k within 20km from city like brisbane?

Yeah, those options are much lesser nowadays, they do suffer from the property being "fried". For now, what we can see is for a suburb house, ~550k AUD. A former classmate of mine previously in QUT wants to find a place a Toowomba (near the airport one, I hope the spelling is still correct) and the cheapest he can find is 420k, and that is a 95% wooden made house.

He ends up buying a condo there for ~350k.

---

Added on March 26, 2010, 4:54 pmHi EmoO,

I stayed in Brisbane, Australia for 2 years. Hopefully my advice is still helpful And this is just my opinion. If I offended anyone / make someone unhappy, I am sorry.

Casual Worker - What is your definition of casual worker? You mean like working as waitress, work in a pub, shopkeep etc these kind of things? Unfortunately, due to recent migration law change during the recession, these kind of work are basically only open for Aussies only. Unless you are onshore now with a work permit, you have less than 5% chance to be able to get such "casual" job.

Monetary gain - Hmm, Let say you get AUD15 (Nando's there one hour is AUD16.50), so work for 8 hours a day, you will get AUD120 per day. So, work 6 days a week and a month you will get ~AUD2900. That's about RM8700. A lot right? Wait a minute, out of AUD2900, you will need to pay their tax and superannuation, so per month, you will probably get less than AUD2.2k in cash. (Please note that last time I check, work without paying tax and super is a big offence). AUD2200 still need to use to buy food, daily goods, transportation fee and accommodation. Minus all those things out, the best case scenario, you will have ~AUD1500 left.

Relative Optimistic Calculation
Food - AUD10 per day
Daily Goods - AUD50 - 70 per week
Transportation - AUD3 - 5 per day
Accommodation - AUD100 - 120 per week

more rewarding then me working my butt off and getting demotivated over here in Malaysia. - Forgive me if you had answered this question before, but what job you are working now? One thing, never ever use monetary gain as an "excuse" for you to go work somewhere else. I seen people do it before and I gotta say, it doesn't end prettily.

Does anyone know how long does the Visa Application and costs are like? Honestly, the only VISA I see you are eligible for are:
1) Work Holiday Permit - not sure whether they still open this for application
2) Political asylum - Sort of impossible
3) Skilled Migrant - If you have a degree, then you are eligible for this, but you will need to get a professional job.

I've heard that its around RM1k+ plus it takes quite a while.. - the last time i checked, it is AUD480 for skill migrant scheme. It might change now. The rest, you can check DIMIA.

life over there... - If you are talking about casual job, then you will probably be same as the Indonesian, Bangladesh worker here (how people treat them is another issue). I am sorry, but that is the truth.

Life wise, I think your first choice will be Melbourne and Sydney? I can only say one thing, don't let the thing outside affect your decision. You need to see the inside to get the full picture.

Hope this helps.

This post has been edited by alex13: Mar 26 2010, 04:55 PM

the point is 500k still can get a detached house within reasonable distance of the city, try finding that in KL.

one thing i dont understand is why malaysia dont have developer build house with timber, we have so much forest and land to farm timber, we only export our timber to foreign country to build house. and most of the time they are the one that need brick house more than us with hurricane and bush fire. Malaysia seen to be overkill to build such solid house when we dont have much of natural disaster.

Probably timber can preserve heat better than brick. We don't use heating in the house at all. Look at Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, I think the building materials used are pretty much the same.

It seems quite prominent that a lot of Malaysians who choose to migrate/work in developed countries usually do it for the same theme, ie. better more ?transparent politics elsewhere, fairness in education system, better income (if you start converting), cheaper car (dollar to dollar, when you do start converting), no prejudice when buying house and safer environment.

Actually, I myself have been thinking about this as I have been headhunted to work in Australia. And I am trying to figure out the same life altering questions people are asking. But some part of me keeps screaming, "What is so wrong about Malaysia?" or is my desire to move house and home is because of years of absorption of people around telling us "elsewhere" is better. And if you're Chinese, it happens even more often.

And I can say, at the end of the day, it's a White's Man Land. No matter how well you feel you are being treated, at the end of the day, you feel alone. However, saying that though, it all depends on your personality.

Its fallacious to think that the Asians have changed the working culture in Australia. My industry has few Asians but yet is renowned for its long hours. Ttry checking out any professional service companies (accounting, consultancy, law) in the US and UK. They've been doing long hours for ages.

You would be surprised to see how hard the locals work as well, and I'm not just talking about the hours, but also what you do during those hours. In an economy where wages is high, then workforce efficiency is important.

I agree. When I was working in Canada, going back on time was not frowned upon, but most locals work overtime anyway. Which will make you look bad if you go back right on the dot. And the commitment they put in during those working hours can be quite intimidating (at least to me). Their enthusiasm (fake or otherwise) can sometimes make you look bad if all you wanna do is just get by.

can always goto www.seek.com.au

but without PR, no one will bother to look at your CV, unless ur skills are needed there..

hey guys, I like to ask if anyone still be able to get the Working Holiday Visa to Australia? I'm planning to go next year if possible. I'm going to New Zealand Next month, planning to continue working in Australia after my working holiday visa in new zealand expires. Planning to apply for WHV for australia in New Zealand. Is it possible?

Anyone working in Melbourne now? I'm jobless. Lol

Hi Tom,

What qualifications you think you have to be eligible for Working Holiday Visa in Australia?

imo, a main thing difference between AUS vs MY:

in AUS, there are laws, and they do function.

in MY, there are laws, but they only work for specific party.

Maybe someone can share out this experience:
Do you find any difference when you go to police station to lodge any complaint/issue between the 2 countries?

I think thats just one of the factor - professionalism.

I went to their Immigration department before to update my visa previously.

1) Their guards are very professional and strict. If I work for immigration department, I will be very relieved that these guards will have my back. They will warn you for whatever minor offence you made in the immigration office, and will kick you out if you are being unreasonable.

2) The service agent that help me to update my visa is equally professional. They know the details from step 1 - step 10 and willing to explain to me why it will take time / need this and that details. I am particularly impressed that they are able to put a straight face and re-iterate to their clients even if the clients are playing Mr. Complain-a-lot.

I think that training do play a big part.

hi there,

I look thru the jobs ads in Australia. When they say Australia work visa is required, I wonder how can we apply the visa without getting a job first?

Hope someone can enlighten me. Thanks.

With the exception of a TR/Bridging-visa/Working holiday visa, as far as I'm aware of there's none. If you are not a graduate from Australia, the first two options do not apply to you. And I have a feeling Malaysians are not eligible for their working holiday visa, but I stand corrected.

malaysian can apply for WHV, but there's a quota every year..

i guess those job ad means, you can only apply if you can legally work in Oz, means u must have a valid visa and no sponsorship will be available..

as mentioned b4, in Oz u must have a visa to get a job..unless ur skills is super in demand, then a company might want to sponsor you..

The best way is to apply for a skilled visa, which is what most people do. If your professional skills are in demand, it shouldn't be a problem getting a visa which allows you to work in Australia. Believe me, the working visa system in Australia is really good compared to the US. I've been through both and much prefer Australia's system although I'm not currently working there (would probably return someday).

I was thinking of applying an Aus PR a few months ago coz I heard my occupation as a mechanical engineer has quite a strong demand there. However, most job ads that I came across require PR/citizen. Since I do not have enough points (only got 115/120...sad), I am unable to get PR. One possible way is to get 2 years job exp in Aus to secure another 15 points...more than enough for me to get PR by then.

The problem is....If I cant get a PR, I cant get a job. If I cant get a job, I cant get a PR. Sienz

I kinda feel is a chicken and egg situation for me....Dunno which one comes first.

Another option is to go for state sponsorship. I am eligible for that but the downside will be having myself stucked in the state for a few years.

Any advice?

This post has been edited by Nokia convert: May 7 2010, 04:38 PM

you go another option..
.
.
.
.
married an oz citizen/pr

State sponsorship is a good option. If you're going to be working in that state (find out if there are jobs there), then I don't think it's even an issue at all since you'll be living there while you work there. There are no restrictions on where you can travel, so you can still spend your weekends in other states if you wish to do so.

Guys,

Hi fellow Malaysians. Just want to check with you all.. Will I survive with the salary of AUS $ 5000.00 per month in Aussie when considering the cost of living there is quiet high. Actually. I just don't know how high is it. I hope someone will enlighten me about this thing. I'm still single which mean I will be going there alone, so is it enough for me to survive there utilizing the said figure above? and would I have some money to bring back to Malaysia?

As all of you know there is a tax for expatriate being implemented is Australia and it is higher compare to other countries, so how it is calculated? and how many percent of the salary one have to pay taxwise?

For your information, I will be working at Perth/Western Australia. Are there any additional and useful information I need to know before going there?

Thanks in advance.

A$5k is after or before tax?
for tax details you can go to ato.gov.au
if you are non-resident, you will be paying higher tax..

usually the big chunk of your salary will be for the house rent, since you are going alone, you can either rent a room or a small apartment, which is guess will be around $300/week or less if you are not choosy..

whether enough or not, will depends on your spending....

for me when i was in sydney and melbourne, i found the stuff is cheaper over there than in Msia ($ to $) and managed to get some branded stuff..which i didnt managed to afford in Msia.. :-)

This post has been edited by annielee: Jun 6 2010, 09:45 PM

ooo.. that figure is before tax, so what will be the new figure after taxed? Goodness me, $300/week just for 1 room in an apartment. anyway, thanks for your reply.

according to ATO, you will have $3,943.00 nett per month..
btw, is that A$5k include super (aka EPF) if yes, then your nett will be lower, which is about $3,640.00

u can always opt to rent a room for the first few month which will cost less than $300/week, then when you've enough money, just get yourself an apartment....

its always harder at first when u move to a new country, but things will get better once you settle down..


This post has been edited by annielee: Jun 6 2010, 09:55 PM

is aus a good place for biotech?

i think tax is calculated at 50cents to a dollar you make being a non resident...perth is the most expensive city to live in at the moment..a 1000sq ft unit would cost about 400k aud due to overwhelming occupation of asian immigrants of late..

upon starting work you should get your tax file number and mostly you will be paid on a weekly basis and your tax deducted.. you would probably have a superannuation fund being paid by your employer depending on which sector that you work in..which can be collected upon your returning to malaysia however it also depends on the class of visa that you're travelling in..you will get medicare and get free consultation from doctors but prescriptions are payable at normal rates.. which sounds like a good thing but a 300+ fee is payable or deducted from your refunds upon doing your tax returns... which means if you went to the doctor once in a financial year it would cost you 300+ but if you went to the doctor for 300 times in a year, it will still cost you 300+ (you make up your mind whether it sounds good or not)

a second cook in a malaysian restaurant would probably make about 800 aud per week tax free (depending on negotiations with employer eg sometimes employer pay their taxes to avoid paying other funds) and would live quite comfortably... to have a char kueh tiew for lunch would cost you almost rm20 over there but to have a 3kg King Crab would only cost you 180 aud (in Malaysia the crab is going for the rate of rm30 per 100 grams) which translates to cheap food expensive and expensive food cheap..

while being there i would suggest you try all the western cuisines available and not think of malaysian food too much cos the western food there is mmmmmmmmm.......... also visit all the places that you wanna visit otherwise you will regret it just like i did...i stayed in melbourne for five years and only visited perth for a week and found it to be boring...but that is just me.. the opera house in sydney is a must and so are the beaches during summer.. and the raves if you are into electronic music and also all the live acts and concerts which we rarely get to see them perform in malaysia..and the alpines..ohh i think perth is not cold enough.. but in melbourne there is...check it out..

whether you will have money to bring home really depends on your level of comfort and spending...so there you go.. good luck mate..

What profession u are in & which location? AUD5000 should be enough if u don't spend a lot. Cook your own meal is very important. Else, u will start struggling.

cooking? you must be kidding right? I'm afraid that I will be lazy to cook... hehe,, I'm in Oil & Gas line and the company's office is located at Perth. I forget to ask before, beside the basic salary, does the offshore allowance still have to pay tax?

not joking..cooking is something you will pick up when you are there, since eating out is expensive :-)

you need to read things up, since i guess you are on 457 visa, where LAFHA allowance will still be taxable i think.. (i might be wrong)

im sure you can check with your company, right ? or go to other oz forums and read.. :-)

http://britishexpats.com/forum/
http://globalmalaysians.com/forum/forum_to....asp?FID=5&PN=1
http://www.overseassingaporean.sg/forums/i...hp?showforum=85

Cooking at home and bringing your own lunch box to office is very common, unlike Msia. I thought of the same thing that i could eat outside, but after a while..i start calling back to Msia to get homecook recipe. Every meal is gonna cost u AUD10. And if you cook, it's gonna a fraction of that... AUD2.

Go out and enjoy the restaurant only during weekend.

AUD5k a month = AUD60k per year in oil and gas? U are pawned!!!!!

Freshie can get 65k in o&g..

allowance will be taxed as well. Btw if you are on 457 visa, ask ur company to recommend an accountant to adjust ur tax as you can get back some money for living allowance. Do it when you arrive in perth

---

Added on June 7, 2010, 3:47 pmHe will be living in australia so he will be considered as resident in terms of tax payment. Tax rate will be according to normal rates.

This post has been edited by jphlau: Jun 7 2010, 03:47 PM

With AUD5k/mth, you will survive if you live frugally but the salary is very low even when compared to locals, what more expats.

LAFHA is non-taxable, I'm receiving >AUD20k/mth of LAFHA.

Actually I still can be considered as a fresh graduate as I only have experience of not more than 1 year. Emm.. around 10 month working experience to date. As a matter of fact, I'm being offered the salary of 70000 USD/AUSD plus offshore allowance of 330 USD/AUSD per  day. I still need to clarify with the company's HR regarding my salary currency, because it's not clearly stated in the offer of employment letter whether I will be paid in American or Australian dollar.



Thank goodness, it means that I will be taxed at a lower rate, am I right? Thanks for your info, really helps me a lot.

This post has been edited by Them_Me_You: Jun 7 2010, 09:30 PM

Very informatics for people who interest/consider of migrate,
Previously I was planning to move to NZ as we manage to score good points on the EOI but the work opportunities there is way too low and is hard for us.
Will sure follow this tread.

Thanks

Exactly mate... i am agree with what you have point out here... the racist problem here are definitely way more serious than MY. anyway.. thats my own opinion.

I just got my WHV of New Zealand last week. Now I'm attempting to get a job at there. Starts from tomorrow.

But since I have one sister who currently lives in Sdyney and she has Permanent Resident already. So i am wondering, is it easier for me to get a job in Australia and become PR in Australia than working and living in New Zealand all by myself?

And heard that getting WHV in Australia seems not easy at all. And the cost of WHV for Australia cost a bomb. ( correct me if I'm wrong ). So right now should I apply the Australia WHV right now and give it a shot or should I just run to New Zealand there? Anyone can enlighten me? Any help would be appreciated.

Additional: Are the job recruitment agencies in New Zealand better than Malaysia/Singapore cause I have a bad experience being employed by recruitment agency before >><

This post has been edited by Jet23sky: Jun 9 2010, 06:04 PM

5k is more then enuff for a mth - depends on what you do as well

if you bring homecook meals, share a house and avoid visiting the casino you should be fine. YMMV though depending on lifestyle

This post has been edited by hotchoc: Dec 20 2010, 09:13 PM

Haha.
$5k per month is more than enough. If you spend wisely you should be able to save 30-40% of your salary per month. I've been living in Melbourne for 5 years or so, graduated in 2008 and been working for 2 years.

I buy most of my stuffs in Malaysia (clothes, watch, accessories etc, they are 3 times cheaper back home). The cheapest meal you can get here cost you around AUD$10.00. If you prepare your own meals, obviously it'll be 50% cheaper. Rental is about $150-200 per week. Public transport is about $100+ per month.

For me after living here for so long, I feel home sick all the time, home is still home. I'm working in the health industry, after meeting so many aussies/ ABCs from different background, I am not sure if this is a good place for me to raise a family (I'm getting married next year). Low moral value, low family value, quite sad etc. But if you are still young, I guess this is a good place to earn and to learn, you'll get more opportunities here, australia value talents, if you are good, you will do very well here. Not like Malaysia, too many redtapes, racism is everywhere.

Hey Silverfox,
What do you mean by low moral value and low family value?
Any examples to share?

very common for ppl to get high with weed / alcohol here and sleep around with randoms (i'm assuming that is what silver is referring to here). you can beat a cop / glass a person and receive a suspended sentence - means you don't need to go to jail but if you re-offend you will then head jail. in theory this is suppose to be a good deterrent but don't be surprise to see a person having a 3-4 suspended sentence under his belt. get a good lawyer and dress up in an armani suit on the trial and the court will pretty much say alrite you felt remorseful over yr actions which is pretty fked if you ask me but yeah that's the justice system here.

in terms of family values i suppose getting married and divorcing is quite the norm here. in my previous workplace alone there are about 4-5 single mum raising their kids on their own cos the husband cheated, alcoholic, drug abuse, etc so yeah some food for thought here. btw, if you do get married ovre here pls choose the partner correctly, it's not uncommon for women to be allocated 75% of yr assets cos the media here portrays women as the 'victim' eventhough she is having an affair. again, getting a good lawyer to argue it's the husband fault for the women straying is quite common. happen tp know a frd's colleague whose wife was having an affair with the gym instructor and at the end have to give 50% still O_O. Heng no kids or more jialat ocs you have to pay parental support till the kid is 18.

family wise, ppl tend to move out after 18 to rent / stay with friends over here though the trend is starting to change now cos of crazy house prices and cost of living atm. not much comment on this as i have yet to start a family.

having said that, each country will have its problems so it's up to you to see which one outweighs the other from you.

disclaimer:
the above is just my observation, diff ppl will obviously have diff experience. been in perth for 8+ yrs so the views above are from a person whois paying tax (damn bloodsuckers) and not some tourist talk : )

This post has been edited by hotchoc: Dec 21 2010, 06:51 PM

i can't agree more. this post is indeed some food for thought

hey there,

i would like to know normally if one were to go for work and travel to Australia, would it be advisable to apply through australia agent like http://www.morganconsulting.com.au/ ?
or stick to the other option of contacting the employers directly through: http://www.backpackerboard.co.nz/australia/index.php ?

i guess you are referring to working holiday visa, right ? WHV which i think you can apply on your own..

but, if you are talking about PR, then its different, where an agent is needed if your case is complicated or you dont have the time to run around..

Whatever it is,I think Australia is still better than here in Malaysia.At least the standard of education is far more advance compare to here (if you're thinking of migrating and raise your family there).The standard of education here in Malaysia is really sucks big time. I heard from a friend of mine that the 11yr old kids in Singapore starts to take literature.Wow!

Hi forumers,

In this end of year, I'm going to finish my degree study at Taylor's University. I have a internship for 6 month and I'm very interested to go Australia. The discourage of this internship is I've to do my own placement, but I've no choice because is compulsory.

I do some research on Australia and I acknowledge that in order to enter Australia for a job I need working holiday visa instead of Student Visa that only available foreign student who study at Australia. In other word, I've apply for working holiday visa.
in the past 2 week, I consulted E.T.Educational Service (http://www.etes.com.my/index.htm), they provide me visa, seek employer, accommodation, and they also estimate the return of investment as well as living cost. This offer is good for me to go Australia; however, the fees is RM20k for entire package..

although they estimate the return of investment around 6 month time, but the point is the initial payment is RM20k. As a student, I've very difficult situation with the payment.

So here is my question

1) Do anyone know how to go Australia through agent with minimum charges?
2) Do anyone know about E.T.Education Service? I worried that they are some sort of cheater, RM20k is not small number.
3) Any other option to go work in Australia?

Please share your opinion
Your time is very appreciated
Bless you
NerdAlert

This post has been edited by NerdAlert: Mar 11 2011, 11:59 PM

Just a question: what is your degree designation and what are you looking for in Australia?



I realise it's actually two questions, but there's one question mark. Sue me.