Dear John, 
I am a qualified carpenter by trade. 
I met the 120 points needed to apply for my Skilled Independent Visa and was getting it ready when Immigration announced the new Skilled Occupation List won’t be out until July 1 (2010). I also heard the points are changing. Will carpenters be able to apply [...]

Dear John,
My husband and I are six months into our first working holiday visa. My husband has been granted his second-year visa as he has been working in construction and this has covered him for specified work. Is there anyway I can stay on for a second year because my husband has the visa or [...]

Unscrupulous employers in Sydney have been exposed as cheating Irish backpackers with unpaid ‘trial work’.
Though the practise is illegal, dodgy employers are taking advantage of young people who are desperate for work.
Bosses send the worker, often in Australia on a Working Holiday visa, out on a day’s work as, for instance, a charity collector.
Then, at [...]

The Australian Government has revealed the eagerly-awaited Skilled Occupations List (SOL) which will determine the shape of the immigration programme over the next year.
The Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans had vowed to overhaul the SOL to deliver a “labour market demand-driven skilled migration programme”.
The new SOL replaces the old Migration Occupations In Demand List [...]

Diarmuid Kelly :: Chemical Engineer
When and why did you first come to Australia and what do you do here?
I got here in 2005 via south-east Asia and New Zealand and I’m a chemical engineer project manager with CSL in Melbourne.
What qualifications did you have and how did you find the process of having those recognised?
I [...]

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has claimed that there is a current shortage of 100,000 workers in the Australian agricultural sector.
The organisation has declared that the nation’s “economic engine room is in danger of stalling because the supply of labour cannot meet surging demand”.
In news that will be of interest to the rising ranks of [...]

James Kirby :: Journalist
When and why did you first come to Australia and what do you do here?
I came in 1987. At the time there was a huge amount of people coming here. A bit like today. I loved it straight away. I’m the managing editor of Business Spectator, which is a business news [...]

Hello John,
I’ve been here for the last two years on a sponsored 457 visa as a restaurant/catering manager. Can I apply for permanent residency now? Friends have told me I can but I’m not sure.  My de-facto partner is a qualified electrician and has been on my visa for 18 months. He has applied for [...]

Darren Fitzharris :: Personal Trainer
When and why did you first come to Australia?
I was here in 2001-02 for a year on a holiday visa and I loved it and always wanted to come back for the good weather. So I moved out here in 2006 with my girlfriend, Edel.
What exactly do you do here?
I’ve [...]

DEAR John,
I’m on the second year of my working holiday visa and I’ve been going out with my boyfriend, an Australian citizen, for almost a year. We have been living together since last July but we have no lease together and cannot prove our joint address. We didn’t have our post going to our address [...]