Planning to travel on a vacation, for an official engagement, or on permanent relocation and Australia is your choice destination? Worry less because what you need to know about this nation reputed to be one of the wealthiest and safest in the world has been carefully drafted into this post.
First, we’ll take a look at the requirements for legal immigrants who want to either visit or live in Australia and then we’ll highlight some interesting facts about Australia. Follow through closely and you’ll be just glad you did!
REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION YOU SHOULD KEEP IN MIND
Whether you’re intending to visit for a short while or planning to reside permanently in Australia, the basic requirement is that you must possess an Australian visa except of course you’re a native of New Zealand; they’re the only ones who can enter into Australia without a Visa.
However, you need to know that there are different types of Visa you have to choose from when applying for the Australian visa. You want to make sure that you don’t shoot yourself in the leg at this point. Let’s take a look at the different types there are.
WHICH VISA TYPE SUITS YOUR CATEGORY?
One-time traveller or considering permanent residency, there are six classes of Visa you may choose from, of course depending on what category you fall into.
- Work Visa
- Student Visa
- Temporary Entry Visa
- Permanent Entry Visa
- Visitor Visa
- Business Visa
Now let’s take a peek at each one on the above list.
WORK VISA
If you’re looking to work in Australia, you’ll need to consider choosing from two types of work visas:
Working Holiday Maker: This is for those who are visiting Australia for recreational reasons but still want to earn some cash working part-time. Bear in mind that you can only apply for this visa if you’re between 18 and 26 years of age. If however, you’re a South-African, you’re outrightly ineligible.
Temporary Residence: You can apply for this Visa type based on sponsorship from your employer. It will afford you the permission to stay and work for a maximum of four years in Australia.
STUDENT VISA
If you’re heading to Australia for full-time educational purposes, you should consider applying for a Student Visa. You’ll have working rights so that your income can be augmented and you can work up to 20 hours a week when your school is in session, otherwise, you can work for as long as you want to, that is, when school is not in session.
TEMPORARY ENTRY VISA
If you’re seeking to come to Australia specifically for engagements that will add value to Australia as a nation, you can apply for this visa bearing in mind that it gives preference to social, cultural, and international relations as well as skilled employment.
PERMANENT ENTRY VISA
In case you’re considering permanent residency in Australia, you can either apply under The Migration Programme which takes care for everyone who, on their own volition, want to reside in Australia or under The Humanitarian Programme which caters for anyone who is displaced or is a refugee. Both ways, you get permanent residency.
VISITOR VISA
If you’re only visiting Australia as a native of any other country asides from New Zealand (as was mentioned earlier), you should apply for a Visitor visa. You however cannot work in Australia as a Visitor.
BUSINESS VISA
If your aim is to conduct Business in Australia be it a Seminar, Inter-Organisation Networking or expanding an already existing business, this is the type of Visa you should apply for.
There you go. Choosing a visa type should be quite straightforward for you right about now.
Now, Australia is a very interesting Nation. From tourist attractions to sports to food, there’s something for everyone. Check out just a few of the fascinating things there are to know about Australia.
Australia is sparsely populated. This means that there’s very few people concentrated in Australia. One bonus this offers? You can get more out of interpersonal relationships as you’ll have a smaller circle of people to deal with. Less noise also.
Australia offers the best tasting wines in the world. Same goes for coffee.
For the beach lovers, you’ll have over 10,000 beaches to choose from. Interesting, isn’t it?
The Longest fence in the world referred to as The Dog Fence is situated in Australia with a whopping length of 5,600km. It’s use? Keeps wild dogs at bay from preying on about 75 million sheep in Australia.
The Commonwealth Coat Of Arms of Australia features two native Australian animals: The Kangaroo and The Emu. Wondering why these two animals were chosen? Well, neither animal finds it easy to move backwards, so, they’re used to represent Australia as a progressive Nation. Queer but reasonable there.
Now, this one you’ll find interesting. Australians find Kangaroo meat very delicious. It is in fact delicious, not just that they find it delicious. Plus, it’s very low in fat, so, good for the body.
Sports, most particularly Crickets, is taken quite seriously. Check the rankings when it comes to cricket and you’ll find Australia consistent in the top echelon.
Tourists look forward to one of the numerous mysteries of Australia, The Marree Man.. Over 4Km long, the Marree Man is a carving of a native man in the desert. Who drew him, how it was done, no one knows.
There are many more interesting things to know about Australia but we’ve only just highlighted the list above.