Midwifery Jobs

[alex.d.clark]

Hi One and all

I'm brand new to this community having found it recommended in an online guide. I am Alex, Chief Executive of a small charity in Kent. My wife Anna is a Midwife. We have 2 little ones, a son (3) and daughter (1). I have always wanted to live abroad and have loved visiting Australia in the past. Anna is a little less keen, but I'm working on that .

I'm conscious that if we were to move, we'd stand the best chance of doing so through Anna's job. Does anyone have experience of moving as a midwife/nurse? Should you look for and apply for jobs in advance in hope of sponsorship? Or look into a visa before job hunting on arrival?

If we do come, we're considering a trial period (renting our house out in the UK and giving it a year, maybe 2 before definitely committing). Again, does anyone have any experience or advice around this? Is it easier/better to take the full plunge or is it feasible to get a short term visa/job and keeping your get out clause in case it's not what we dream it could be, or the distance from family is all just too much!

 

I know that's a lot of questions, but any thoughts would be gratefully received.

 

Alex

[verystormy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Generally speaking, I advise against temporary / business sponsored visas as they come with a lot of catches. These include the fact it is a temp visa and by the time you may want to apply for anything else, they may no longer be able. These visas are tied to the employer, so if she were to lose her job for any reason, she has 60 days to find another sponsor or leave the country. There is no government assistance available for people on these visas including for things like childcare and the state will actually charge you for education. At the same time, the partners (you) can have issues finding work as employers are not keen on someone whose fate isn't in their hands.

I am a,so going to give a note of caution on persuading your wife. This is a very risky thing to do. Migrating is incredibly stressful on a relationship when it is easy and both are wanting to do it. When one isn't as keen, I have seen more than one couple land in the divorce court as a result. 

[alex.d.clark]

12 hours ago, verystormy said:

 

Thanks for the reply. That clarification is really helpful. Am I right in thinking that you can also get temporary visas without employer sponsorship (assuming you meet the criteria) and that this is similar, just costs more?

Thanks also for the comment about relationship tensions! I was perhaps a little flippant in my opening post, my wife is just considerably more attached to her family in the UK than I am, other than that she's quite open to exploring the possibilities. We're just realistic about the possibility that, even if we love in in Aus, the family distance might be a deal breaker and we might want to go back after a year! Alternatively we might love it and stay forever!

Any thoughts on the pro's/cons of applying for PR or Temporary Visa?

Alex

[ali]

Personally, if you are able to get PR then that is the best option.  Temporary visa's require job offers.  I know my own service (I work in MH) gives preference to PR and Citizens for jobs and they don't offer sponsorship.

Your wife will need to look at having the skills assessment (for visa purposes) by ANMAC and also register with AHPRA.  You can do both simultaneously, or apply for either first.  With AHPRA (registering body), once you have your letter to say that you are registered in principle - you then have 3 months to present in person to finalise this and become registered.  If you have AHPRA registration, you can apply for a modified skills assessment with ANMAC

[verystormy]

Temporary visas all require employer sponsorship if you want to work. The only ones that don't are working holiday visas, available to people under the age of 31 and they cannot take dependants.

If she is able to apply for a PR visa now, then I would recommend it. There is no guarantee she will be able to in the future. The government have recently removed over 200 occupations from the list and announced it wants to see most medical occupations removed. 

The only real benefit of a temp visa is that it is slightly cheaper as the visa fees are paid by the employer and at the end of the visa the employer has to pay for the flights home. But, given the overall costs involved in migrating, this is a drop in the ocean.