# Nurse thinking about moving from Canada to Australia..



## hans (Mar 2, 2011)

Hello all.. I am a nurse with 6 years of ICU experience.. I was thinking about making the move to Australia and was wondering if anyone could help me with initiating the process.. specifically as a nurse on a skilled workers visa.. or a work/vacation visa. I was thinking of getting the latter.. so that I could travel and find what city is to my liking, prior to settling in one place. 
I am confused in the process, if I find a job first/sponsor, get my nursing registration done, or submit for a visa first? is it best to do this independently, or use a nurse recruiter? Does anyone know of reputable recruiters? 

Thank you so much! Any bit of information to clear up the confusion, would be a great help and highly appreciated!!


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## piglet74 (Feb 15, 2011)

Hiya 
Didn’t want to read and run, but Im just very new to the process myself so probably not the best source of reliable information. My family and I are also hoping to make the move and I’m also a Nurse and a Midwife

From my understanding the working visa is for people aged between 18 and 30 who wants to have an extended holiday supplemented by short-term employment, you don’t need any work sponsor for this so will have to contact the hospitals in the cities that you are interested in. 

As you have 6 years experience you can also apply for the 175 visa which is permanent residency (PR), takes longer to get 12-18 months but you have no restrictions and can come and go all over Australia as you see fit. With this visa you would have to have your nursing qualifications assessed through anmc.org.au the full assessment that you will need costs $710 (valid for 2 years after which you will have to pay a small fee to have it updated) followed by registering with the APHRA ( see nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au )(yearly renewal). With this visa you would not need to have a job offer first so just apply for the visa and whilst that is processed you can sort the nursing bits and bobs out and start contacting hospitals towards the end.

Another option is to apply for the 457 visa, this way you will be sponsored through either a hospital directly or via an areas health board. This is a temporary visa for 4 years but you can apply for PR sooner, more often than not the hospital will sponsor you for the ENS visa. A couple of hospitals that I have been in contact with also pay for relocation up to $15,000 to cover things like shipping, flights, visa costs, short term accommodation for you and your family (if applies). However you are then contracted to stay with your employer for a minimum of 2 years you would also not be entitled to any benefits and would need private health and ambulance insurance whilst on the temporary visa. With this visa you would not need to have your skills assessed just registration I believe and then when your employer sponsors you for the ENS you will do the modified skill assessment for $215. One of the Human resources lady i spoke to in Melbourne said that its quicker if you do the registration before applying for jobs as this can take months (some argue 4-9 months currently), once registered contact hospitals and when job offer made you can apply for the visa

Immi.gov.au is a good starting point and has details of the above visas

Best of luck


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