Independent employment visa for Oz without requiring PR?

variety

My husband and I intend to migrate to Australia, but there doesn't appear to be any temporary working visa that isn't sponsored.

We have travelled around the world for years (South Africa, Ireland, Fiji, UK, Guyana) and our initial visa was always just a standard working visa, (with extensions applied periodically when needed).
We then entered the country, secured jobs and worked away happily for years.

From everything I have read on the immi.gov.au site, it doesn't appear that Australia offers this sort of visa.
Either, you need be employer/state-sponsored to get a temporary working visa, OR you need to apply for permanent residency.

Is there not just a simple, old-fashioned working visa we can apply for, without sponsorship, and without a secured job?
Why must we apply for permanent residency??

We easily qualify for Permanent Residency (I have 95, he has 90 points) and we, fortunately, can afford the expense of the visa and the move (and shipping & quarantine for the dog!), but the PR application process is such a massive deal- timescale being the biggest hindrance (I want to leave asap), .

Information which might assist someone in thinking of an unusual visa we might apply for:
-I'm a teacher, he is an engineer.
-We are both in our early 30s.
-We have family members there (my brother in Melb, his sister and b-i-l in Perth, his parents in Perth). We do have family living elsewhere (Europe and South America).
-I have a Uni of Melb undergraduate degree.

To anyone who can help in any way, I am grateful.
Thx

mandrake04

Australia has a closed immigration policy, if you want to as you say 'migrate' then you need a migrant visa. ie Permanent Residency which is migration, end of story.

If you want to come on a holiday and do a spot of work you can get a WHV, as long as you are 18-31 its not a problem. You can 1 WHV and a 2nd one if you do 88 days specified work on the first.

If you just want to come and work for 4 years temporary on the 457 visa then there needs to be a job available for you to work at, this is usually the case where no suitable local can be found to do the job but you are tied to that particular job. The employer has to go through a process where they sponsor you, they are responsible with providing you with a job as that is only thing keeping you in the country.

If you have the skills/qualifications and meet the criteria then its not a problem to get a visa that will give you independent employment, you just have to prove your skills/qualification and that you meet the criteria in the first place........ that's the process known as applying for Permanent residence.

hussey

variety wrote: »

Is there not just a simple, old-fashioned working visa we can apply for, without sponsorship, and without a secured job?
Why must we apply for permanent residency??

You cannot compare Australia's visa policy yo Fiji and South Africa!

As mandrake said it's a closed migration policy, and it's pretty fair too.

You have to options:
Sponsorship and migration.

Nothing further to discuss really.