Australian Immigration Daily News

Have the results of last week's election in the US got you down?

Are you one of the millions of people who helped to crash Canada's immigration website after the results came through? But do you hate the idea of living with the freezing cold, snow and ice, a summer that lasts for half an hour in a good year and the risk of being eaten by a polar bear?

Here's a better idea: Consider migrating to Australia!!!

Think of all the wonderful things that Australia has to offer: Fabulous multi-cultural cities! An incredible, amazing Aboriginal community and heritage.  A glorious natural environment, with beautiful beaches everywhere, fantastic national parks (Daintree and Kakadu to mention just 2), the incredible outback and Uluru, and wonderful, unique wildlife: not just koalas, kangaroos,  kookaburras and crocodiles (you won’t get eaten if you don’t do anything stupid!) but also wombats and platypuses and emus! And a fabulous, sunny, healthy climate!!!

Also: Australia has a moderate, relatively balanced political culture that won’t drive you to drink, or make your spouse threaten to divorce you if you complain too much about you-know-who! There are actually sane gun control laws here! Not to mention universal health care that no one in politics would ever think about repealing.

Sound interesting? Well here’s the good news: Australia is extremely welcoming to migrants, and there are a lot of different options for Americans!!!!!!!!!!!! There’s even baseball here!!! Although the hot dogs are pretty awful (you can’t have everything!) (But there’s compensation if you are a foodie, for one thing there’s great coffee everywhere you look, it makes Starbucks seem like Drano!)

To start with, Australia has an ongoing skills shortage, so if you have a skilled occupation, you can migrate here through Australia’s General Skilled Migration Programme.

 A wide range of occupations is eligible for skilled migration. You can apply to do skilled migration either independently, or you can do it through employer sponsorship. 

If you’d like to “test the waters” and see if Australia is really for you, there’s a temporary skilled visa programme here too, called the 457 programme.  Under that (employer sponsored) option, you can get a visa to live and work in Australia temporarily for up to 4 years, and if you do wind up liking it here, there’s a way to convert from the 457 programme to a visa pathway that will lead to permanent residency and citizenship.  

If you want to find out if you have an occupation that is suitable for independent skilled migration, you can check this list published by the Australian government by clicking here. For employer sponsored migration, have a look at the applicable list by clicking here.

There are a lot of other options to consider as well!!!

For example, if the love of your life is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you could be eligible for a partner visa under Australia’s Family Stream. You don’t have to be married, as Australia recognizes de facto relationships for the purpose of migration. And while Australia doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage yet, people in same sex relationships can get partner visas. I can tell you from my own experience, Australians make the very best partners on the planet!!!!!!

Did I mention that Australia has a very tolerant and welcoming attitude toward its LGTB community? It does!

If you are a student, Australia has truly world-class universities and a huge international student community.

So you could consider studying in Australia on a student visa.

When you’re done with your studies, there are options for staying here for an additional period to work, through the “485” visa programme.

Or if you are between the ages of 18 and 31 you could come here for a year on a Work and Holiday Visa, and see if Australia really is for you.

So you may be wondering: how hard is it to make the adjustment from the US to Australia?

In a word: it’s as easy as pie! I did it as a lawyer! In fact my American accent actually helps me! The judges in the courts where I go always remember me – “Yeah, he’s the American who talks too much!!!"

And what about family life? Australia is incredibly family-friendly!!! We brought my son over to Australia from Brooklyn, New York and he has absolutely thrived here. Even if you would never know that he was born in Manhattan at rush hour (in a hospital and not a taxi, of course!) – His American accent is gone completely! And it's standard for annual leave here to be 4 weeks, not just 2 like in America! 

So if you are thinking “quality of life” (or getting as far away from that person who lives in a garish apartment on Fifth Avenue and his crew of enablers and haters), then Australia is without question the place for you!

It’s even an English-speaking country, sort of!!!!

Does it all sound good? It’s even better than you can possibly imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Questions? Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .