I am J, one of many silent readers of your blog. I had started reading your blog from start and still not finished yet...lol now only read til your Jul 2015 post. Brief intro of myself : Singaporean male, 35, married, 1 7 yr old son, wife is vietnamese convert to singaporean 2 years ago. I am living in Punngol presently in my Bto.
I have a job offer recently to move to perth within the next few months. I had just return from a few days at perth for the job interview actually. This potential employer had paid for my airfare n accommodation to go there for the interview just last wed to friday.
Ok back to main point. I am still considering the offer and would most likely take it up. Although I am currently on a similar pay scale here in singapore but just want to try the new experience of working and living in Perth for the duration of the 457 visa and possibly migrate in future.
I guess I am one of few lucky ones who would not need to do much or pay anything to go there since the employer will do my visa and stuffs and provide for car n room for the first month of my employment after which I need to find car n accomodations on my own.
The problem I have atm is that my son just started primary 1 this year and I prefer for him to stay here instead of going to Perth halfway through the semester. So I would likely be there by myself first. My employer would apply for visa for my family as a package and had advise me to bring them over straight away. But my wife would prefer to stay in sgp with son to study here while I try it out and see if can adapt to life in perth. This arrangement is fine for me as I feel is less of a risk in case they don't like it and want to move back after a few months.
I am not financially strong and will be on small budget when in perth. I had read your struggles and is impressed by how you managed doing all your settling down. Actually I am quite similar to you as in I don't like crowded areas and I will be trying to settle down there on a small budget.
I hope I will be able to meet up with you when I am there and get some advice on car purchase and stuffs. It would be great to have some friends while I am by myself over there.
Arh.... Sorry for the long windedness and I had not come to the main point of this email to you.... lol.
The thing I would like to check with you is that whether my wife and son is able to still stay in singapore after getting the 457 visa which will be tagged to me. My employer will be getting a 457 for me with my wife and son tagging to it. I saw in your previous post that they would need to at least go to perth once to activate the visa is it correct? So after that they do not need to be stating there?
And if I were to apply for PR 2 years down the road, would it be possible that they might get rejected since they did not spend the last 2 years in Perth? This is quite important as we might need to redo planning if they need to be physically in Perth 2 years before applying for PR.
The main reason by I do not plan to bring them over initially is the cost of schooling for my son as a foreigner and cost of living for a family as a foreigner. Thats why We plan to only get wife and son over after getting PR.
I think I will stop here for now as this email is getting too long winded in case you fall asleep. lol.
ps : I hope your health is still in good shape as I was quite sad when reading the part where you got cancer.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
J C
Hi J C,
Congratulations on your successful job interview. I'll take it that you are taking it up so let's just go straight to the point.
Subclass 457 do not require an initial entry. I may be wrong so do your due diligence if that bothers you. If I were you, I wouldn't worry much about it. The reason is simple. Since your wife and son are not coming to Perth before you turn PR, it makes no difference whether they remain on or offshore while you are on work visa. If you eventually do apply for PR (which includes your family members), then they must do an initial entry 1 year after the application is approved. Only the main applicant will be point tested, thus there is no criteria for family members to fulfill any prior requirement of stay. Please re-read the point system for skilled migration for a clearer understanding.
Since you are reading my blog, make a mental note and see if our philosophies are similar. Otherwise, it will not be necessary to seek me out for advice on starting out, as none of my advice will makes sense to you. (I found out about that the hard way) I am aware I am slightly different from your regular wholesome Singaporean out there but am happy to point you to other Singaporeans if necessary. Else, you are welcome to drop me a note about the details of your arrival and what you are looking out for. I will be happy to give you some pointers about accommodation, car purchase etc.
My health is still okay. Thank you for asking.
Good luck and see ya around soon,
asingaporeanson,
your small budget specialist.
