Do you intend to work in Australia and are of the view that you may bring your family on an Australian Work Visa, too? Well, good news is that in many cases you can do so. An Australian Work Visa opens a doorway to Australia to skilled workers from every part of the world to live and work in the country. It also allows many times for your immediate family members to join you. Thus, it would prove to be one of the good options to start anew in this beautiful country with your loved ones.
In this blog, we shall take a look at how you can bring your family along on an Australian Work Visa, what types of visas are available, and what is involved in the process.
Understanding the Australian Work Visa
A working visa in Australia is a license that allows skilled workers to enter the country, live, and work for a specific period. Depending upon occupation, skill, and length of stay, there are several kinds of Australian working visas. One of the major advantages of many Australian Work Visa is the option to include family members in the application of the primary visa holder. Put differently, it would depend upon the type of Australian Work Visa that you are applying for if you could include your spouse, partner, and dependent children in your application.
Types of Australian Work Visas Allowing Family Members
There are several classes of Australian Work Visas that allow one to bring his or her family along. A few examples are as follows:
- Temporary Skill Shortage Visa (Subclass 482): for which a continuous stay and work of four years will be permitted. It allows you to include your family members on your application; otherwise, they will also be entitled to live, study, and work in Australia.
- Skilled Nominated Visa (Subclass 190): It nominates those skilled workers who get a nomination from any state or territory in Australia to apply. Members of your family can accompany you and avail themselves of all public facilities with equal rights as yours.
- Skilled Regional Visa (Subclass 491): Through this visa, skilled workers are permitted to live and work in regional Australia on a temporary basis. Family members included in your application can also live and work in Australia during the duration of the visa.
- Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186): This visa will provide you with the opportunity to live and work in Australia on a permanent basis if you are sponsored by an employer from Australia. You can even include your family into this, and they will have all the rights equal to yours.
Application Process for Family Members
You can include family members in your application for an Australian Work Visa. Adding your family member in the application involves some steps:
- Eligibility: Make sure your family members can meet the eligibility criteria for inclusion in your visa application. Generally, this will include being your spouse, de facto partner, or dependent children.
- Documentation: You will have to show proof of your relationship to your family members, such as a marriage certificate, birth certificate, or evidence of a de facto relationship.
- Visa Application: You need to include your family members in your application when lodging the said application for an Australian Work Visa. You will, therefore, fill in the relevant sections about your family members and attach the required documents.
- Health and Character Checks: Your family members will be required to undertake health and character checks, also an indispensable part of the visa. These are just checks to see whether they meet the health and character requirements set by Australia.
- Visa Decision: After the application processing, a decision will be given, and if your Australian Work Visa is selected, then their visa applications get selected, hence your family joins you in Australia.
Advantages of Bringing Your Family Along on a Visa as an Australian Worker
There are quite a number of advantages that come along with bringing your family with you on an Australian Work Visa.
- Support System: It would provide you with a regular support system at both emotional and practical levels while shifting base to a new country and starting work in it.
- Shared Experience: You and your family can experience the beauty of living together in Australia: lush landscapes, culture, and lifestyle.
- Education and Healthcare: The family members shall be entitled to the education system and healthcare in Australia, which is one of the best in the world.
- Work: If your family members wish to work, this may be possible depending on the terms of the visa issued to the family member.
Key Things to Consider
While you can bring your family with you on an Australian Work Visa, there are a couple things you want to keep in mind:
- Conditions of Visa: Understand the conditions of your visa and those of your family members. Conditions placed on some visa types may include any restriction on the type of work your family member can undertake or where they can reside.
- Costs: There may be extra costs in including family members in an application for a visa. Such costs may include the visa fee and health checking associated costs.
- Time taken to process: The time of processing for family members’ visas varies; always be prepared for delays that might come up and always plan for this in advance.
- Legal Advice: Sometimes, it is important to get advice from a migration agent or attorney who can help go through the visa application process and ascertain whether one meets all the requirements of the visa applied for.
That means to say, if you migrate to Australia for work, you are usually allowed to bring your family along with the facility of an Australian Work Visa. A proper understanding of which visa to take and how the application process works paves the way for a hassle-free transfer for you and your loved ones. This means that with careful planning and the right documentation, you could be well on your way to starting your new life in Australia, having your family by your side, with all the vibrancy that the country has in store.
