Immigration for Medical practitioners: Doctors and Nurses

This post is for those doctors and nurses who are interested in obtaining visa 457.

Australia is suffering from a drought of doctors and nurses. The demand for qualified medical practitioners has sky rocketed during the last few years.

Overseas doctors trained doctors and nurses who are interested in working in Australia can either apply for permanent migration by applying for 175 visa(Please see my post for overseas immigration) or obtain a sponsorship from an employer who is willing to sponsor and get a temporary 457 visa which is a three years work permit.

The following websites of each the health departments of each state territory of Australia lists jobs which are open for medical practitioners.


NSW: http://www7.health.nsw.gov.au/healthjobs/Default.cfm?ID=1233

VIC: http://www.health.vic.gov.au/jobs/index.htm

SA: http://www.health.sa.gov.au/Default.aspx?tabid=93

WA: http://www.osrecruitment.health.wa.gov.au/

QLD: http://www.health.qld.gov.au/jobs/default.asp

TAS: http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/careers

NT: http://www.health.nt.gov.au/Careers/index.aspx

The process of obtaining a 457 visa is long, specially for doctors and nurses as it requires obtaining approval from state territory boards as well.

The first step is to get an employer interested in you. Get a letter of offer and kick start the process.

Apart from the above mentioned websites, the DoctorConnect website is also a very good resource to start with

DoctorConnect http://www.doctorconnect.gov.au/

Junaid

Migration Agent Registration Number: 0964018

Immigration departments of States and Territories

This post is for those interested in obtaining visas which require state sponsorship i.e. visas 176 and 886.

Here is a list of websites of the immigration departments of Australia's various states and territories.

Victoria: http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/ViewPage.action

South Australia: http://www.immigration.sa.gov.au/site/index.php

Western Australia: http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/

Queensland: http://www.workliveplay.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v4/apps/web/content.cfm?id=4044

NSW: http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/migration/state_independent_migration.asp

Northern Territory: http://www.migration.nt.gov.au/

Tasmania: http://www.development.tas.gov.au/migration/skilledmigration.html

ACT: http://www.act.gov.au/CAP/accesspoint?action=menuHome

The skills in demand in each of the state can be found by visiting the immigration departments websites of the respective states.

Kind Regards

Junaid

Migration Agent Registration Number: 0964018

Difference between visa 176 and visa 475

This article is for those who are interested in applying for 176, 886, 475 or 487 visas. Normally people who cannot achieve the pass mark for 885 or 175 visas apply for the above mentioned visas.

Those applying for offshore immigration (applying from outside Australia) often ask the question

"What is the difference between visa 176 and 475?"

A similar question is asked by those who apply for onshore immigration (applying while inside Australia)

"What is the difference between 886 and 487?"

Searching for the answer, I stumbled upon this link by the Victorian government.

http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1441&languageId=1&contentId=-1

As obvious from the link, every state maintains two types of occupational lists. One list is for 176 visas and one is for 475 visas. 475 visas are mostly regional visas away from Metropolitan centres of the state.

So if your occupation is present on the 475 list of a state, then you can only apply for 475 visa. If your occupation is listed on the 176 list of a state then you can only apply for 176 visa.

Please note that 475 is a temporary 3 years work visa where as 176 is a permanent visa. Both of them require 100 points to qualify.

Here is a list of state/territories offshore 176 and 475 visas. The same applies for onshore 886 and 487 visas.

Victoria 176 list
http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/digitalAssets/1377_Skilled%20Sponsored%20176%20Eligibility%20List.pdf

Victoria 475 list
http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/digitalAssets/1365_Skilled%20Regional%20Sponsored%20Eligibility%20list%20.pdf

WA 176 visa list
http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/media/documents/priority-skills-list.pdf

WA 475 visa list
http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/media/documents/skills-in-demand-list.pdf

QLD 176 visa list
http://www.workliveplay.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v4/apps/web/content.cfm?id=3709

QLD 475 visa list
http://www.workliveplay.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v4/apps/web/content.cfm?id=3710

NSW 176 visa list
http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/migration/state_independent_migration.asp

NSW 475 visa list
http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/migration/pdfdocuments/Skills_In_Demand.pdf

NT 176 visa list
http://www.migration.nt.gov.au/documents/STNI_Shortage_List.pdf

NT 475 visa list
http://www.deet.nt.gov.au/employment/workforce_nt/docs/nt_occupation_shortage_list.pdf

TAS 176 visa list
http://www.development.tas.gov.au/migration/Skilled%20Sponsored%20visa%20list%2022-7-08.pdf

TAS 475 visa list
http://www.development.tas.gov.au/migration/Skilled%20Regional%20Sponsored%20Visa%20List%2022-7-08.pdf

SA 176 Visa

http://www.immigration.sa.gov.au/pdfs/gsm/OccupationList_Permanent.pdf

SA 475 Visa

http://www.immigration.sa.gov.au/pdfs/gsm/OccupationList_Provisional.pdf

Junaid

Migration Agent Registration Number: 0964018