Move to Western Australia
When we hear people talking about a move to Western Australia sometimes we wonder whether they grasp the size of the place. Moving between cities in WA isn’t like moving between London and Manchester, it’s more like moving from London to Rome by land.
Western Australia remains one of the most affluent regions in the Southern Hemisphere with most commercial activity centered in Perth and the surrounding areas. It’s from Perth that people working in the mining and offshore industry live and fly in and out from and its commercial center is one of the most dynamic in the whole of Australia.
As you can imagine demand to immigrate to Perth and WA as a whole is strong and the State has the ability to pick the best migration candidates out of over 150,000 applications every year. Moving to western Australia is about Perth choosing you, rather than you choosing Perth so it’s especially important that we build out the best possible application to help you and your family emigrate to Australia.
If you’re either thinking of making the move to Western Australia or have already started the Western Australia Immigration process then you’re certainly in the right place. Let’s Go! Global are the Western Australia immigration experts having assisted many applicants make the move to Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia.
Complete our free visa tool to check your eligibility today
Why move to Western Australia, Perth and Other Cities
Western Australia (more commonly referred to as WA) is one of the largest states in Australia and its State Capital, Perth is one of the most isolated cities in the World in relation to other Cities. For example, its closest neighbour is Adelaide which is over 2,100km away!
People want to move to Western Australia for a variety of reasons and whilst every situation is unique we do find on the whole that people look to move to Perth in preference over many of the other cities such as Mandurah, Rockingham, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton, Albany, Kwinana and Busselton.
Perth is one of the most beautiful and desirable places on the planet and one of the favorites among both the team here at Let’s Go! Global and our clients. With a consistently strong economy, great schools, a strong expat community and being located along 40km of sandy beach on the Indian Ocean what’s not to fall in love with… If those weren’t enough reasons to move to Perth then do remember that the weather in Western Australia is often described as perfect, with hot summers and a temperate winter season.
Emigrate to Perth
The best way to immigrate to Perth is thorough a Western Australia permanent residency visa, also known as a WA 190 subclass. As a guide, Western Australia migration sponsorship is also known as western Australia state sponsorship and allows the holder to become a permanent resident of Australia with the caveat they should technically live and work in WA for the first two years of their PR visa.
After this two year timeframe the visa caveat disappears and you’re free to live and work anywhere in Australia as your visa starts to move towards Citizenship. Therefore a move to Western Australia is often the first step for many people and most tend to stay once they’ve experienced everything that Perth and other cities have to offer.
How to Emigrate to Perth, Western Australia
There are two ways to emigrate to Perth and Western Australia Permanently from the start. One way is through the 189 Visa and the other is through Western Australian State Sponsorship to get a 190 State Sponsored Visa.
The other route besides the 190 is the 489 WA Visa. The 489 is an initial temporary visa class that lasts for four years before converting into a full PR visa. The 489 WA visa then is sometimes used as the first visa on the road to a more permanent stay in Australia.
If you have an occupation on schedule one of the Skilled Occupations List (as well as meeting the other Australian Immigration criteria) you may be able to secure a 189 PR Visa which allows you to live and work anywhere in Australia from day one. If you‘re keen on Western Australia and Perth then this visa will certainly do the trick.
Many people don’t have an occupation on schedule one of the skilled occupations list so they need to start looking at whether their occupation in in critical demand within the state of WA.
Check if your occupation is in demand in Western Australia by searching all 175 occupations currently in local demand.
If you’re having difficulty finding your occupation in the above table simply take our free visa assessment and let us assess your chances to move to Western Australia or even some of the other States and Territories.
My occupation is wanted in Western Australia how do I emigrate to Perth?
Great news! For PR visa applications we always recommend you appoint an experienced and qualified MARA agent although in terms of general overview what you now need to do is check your immigration points score ensuring that you have a minimum of 65 points.
Remember, because you’re calculating your migration points for a WA 190 Visa then you can add on the all-important extra 5 points for State nomination and Sponsorship.
Moving to Perth Australia from UK is the same as moving to Perth Australia from the US because Australia Immigration policy is applied equally regardless of country of origin. With that said the US and Canadian qualifications systems do vary greatly from those in the UK, Europe and South Africa.
Western Australia State nomination migration requirements 2016 / 2017 dictate that stage one is to submit your Expression of Interest visa the SkillSelect online migration portal.
Providing you’ve at least 65 points and a positive skills assessment you are considered eligible to express and interest in Western Australia State migration.
How Does Western Australia State Sponsorship Happen
In the case of Western Australia state Sponsorship happens automatically from your SkillSelect Expression of Interest application. Every few weeks the State of WA draws out a selection of candidates that are at Expression of Interest stage and notifies them or their migration agent that they’ve been selected to apply for Western Australia State Nomination.
Candidates are usually selected against a number of criteria such as points score, local state demand and occupation ceilings. When we talk about ‘local’ demand do remember that west Australia is larger than half of Europe combined!
Once you’ve been invited to apply by the WA Government Visa then the application fees are due:
$3670 AUD lead applicant
$1835 AUD secondary applicant
$1835 AUD dependents over 18
$900 AUD dependents under 18
These are usually paid directly by card payment and are non-refundable in any instance so at this point its worthwhile double checking your EOI and making sure its 100% accurate before moving forwards. Your consultant at Let’s Go! Global will arrange everything to do with your formal application so you have nothing to worry about.
You will usually have 28 days to accept the offer so you’ll need to act fast at this point. Remember also that the Australian Immigration online Portal is not always the most reliable and do be prepared for some ‘timeout’ frustrations.
Do I need a job to move to Perth, Western Australia?
Even though you’re moving to Western Australia Perth on a western Australia state sponsorship the caveats around whether you’ll need an offer of employment before your visa can be granted depend on whether you have a Schedule one or Schedule Two occupation on the Western Australia Skilled Occupations lists.
A full list of the Western Australia State Sponsorship occupation lists is below, along with whether an occupation is classed as either Schedule one or Schedule Two for the State of WA.
If you have an occupation on Schedule One of the WA Occupations List then you’ll need to satisfy the following criteria before your 190 visa will be granted:
Have a job offer or contract of full time employment for at least a year in your specified or closely related occupation or be able to show evidence of at least three current and active job opportunities in regional west Australia.
If your occupation is on schedule two of the WA list then you’ll need to have a firm offer of employment and contract in place covering at least the first twelve month period for your 190 or 489 visa to be granted by immigration.
Where in Western Australia to move to?
That’s an easy one to answer, Perth and its suburbs are by far the most popular and desirable location in Western Australia.
What next in my Perth Immigration
Take a look at our Migration checklist which is designed to break the immigration process and requirements down into easily managed segments.
At first glance moving to Perth can seem to be a little overwhelming which is where Let’s Go! Global comes in. Your dedicated account manager and MARA agent are on hand to smooth the bumps and ensure a positive successful outcome leaving you free to plan the more exciting aspects of your move.
A move to Western Australia can sometimes be a frustrating task and it’s important to remember the Global element of Australia Immigration. There are many thousands of people from all over the World looking to immigrate to Perth and it takes time for Western Australian Immigration to process everyone. Stick with it, if you have a great case you should get there in the end.
Let’s Go! Global, the loveliest brand in Australian Migration.
Dedicated to your successful move to Western Australia
Move to Western Australia, Australian Immigration
Jane Njoma is an Australia Migration Agent who has many years of work experience as an Australian Migration Consultant and runs Lets Go Emigrate Australia as a Free Resource for Information on Immigrating to Australia. Jane believes in broader global access to Australian Immigration information and provides the information free of charge and making it available to the greatest number of people worldwide.