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I recently migrated to Australia from the states and may be able to give you some information.
First, I completely understand how overwhelming it can be to go through all the documents on the Australian Immigation sites, but my advice to you is to just do it. You will want to start by looking at the Skills Needs List (just google this and include Australia in your search and it should pull up links to the appropriate pages). The Skills Needs List will show what professions are in need (and there are a lot - I think I remember seeing one geared towards welders, but it's been a while and the list is periodically updated) and it may even show how many points each profession is worth.
After you've located your proper profession, there are two things you need to do. First, you should take the points test. This test will tell you whether or not you qualify for immigration (including work and self sponsored). I can't remember the number of points required (maybe 120) for qualification, but having a profession on the Skills Needs List will give you anywhere from 40 - 60 points. Google 'Australia Points Test' - this will bring up a number of different sites with the test (just for your info, I tried out the Skilled - Independent test for you assuming you're under 29 and your skill is on the Skills Needs List and obtained a score of 125, but I suggest you do this yourself as I don't really know you).
Second, you may need to get verification of your skills (this entails sending information such as your resume, proofs of certification, etc. to a specific office for verification. The site will point you in the right direction in terms of where to send this information).
After you've done these things, then you can start looking for companies that will hire (or better yet, sponsor) you. It's much easier if a company sponsors you because they will complete the rest of the paper work (i.e. filing for your work visa) and make arrangements to ship your belongings (though they may only give you an allowance and a 20 ft container from L.A. to Brisbane is about AU$8500 [US$5600]- weight may be factored into that, too).
The whole process for me took about 2 years from first thought to actually landing in Brisbane (though I did kind of slack off for about 8 months just to prolong things). I would say that if you started today, and everything matched up well (i.e. your occupation is on the Skills Needs List, you have the minimum number of points to migrate and you find a sponsor), you could be in Australia within 6 to 8 months.
Now, if you are just looking to wait out the next four years (or 8 or whatever) and you can handle intense heat, low population and self-entertainment (hiking, fishing, etc.), the mining companies in North Western Australia are constantly looking for good workers and pay very high wages (AU$100,000+ or US$67,000, depending on current exchange rates). There is also a possibility of doing what's called 'fly-in-fly-out' where you work on site for 2-3 weeks straight and then have a week off at home (and home can be anywhere in Australia).
As I mentioned above, I decided to move to Brisbane (or Brissie, as we call it) on the east coast. I came here mainly to gain work experience in water desalination (as there are a number of large desalination plants under study and construction here in Australia) and it is much cheaper to fly back to America from the east coast (saving about AU$1,000 - 1,200). Definitely look up information on climate to make sure where you want to go is suitable - and check cost of living, too. Oz is not cheap.
Now, as for why Australia is called 'Oz', it's in the pronounciation. It sounds like 'Oztrailya' so we call it 'Oz' for short.
Hope this helps and good luck with your migration efforts.
There was a time like that here, no one cared, no one was paying attention, and look at the fine mess that got us into.
Thats One of the things against Compulsory Voting (Which we've had since the 1920's) Is that It creates a certain level of political Apathy, As people are often only voting because they have to. Rather than actually wanting to!
Last edited by Kangaroofarmer; 10-16-2008 at 09:47 PM..
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