Impact On HIA Due To Booming Immigration

I have been living in Australia for the past 7 years and I now find that the boom in immigration has a greater impact on some industries and sectors than on others. One such sector is represented by the Housing Industry Association, or HIA, for short.

1,000,000 New Homes!

Economic forecasters’ projections indicate that demand for new houses is sure to outstrip supply, largely due to increases in the number of immigrants. They estimate that more than one million new homes will be needed in the next five years to meet the demand due to current booming immigration.

Along with mushrooming immigration, additional factors which drive the growth in housing needs are:

• rising population - needs more houses
• rate of construction is below demand
• current interest rates

I read the latest news from the Housing Industry Association is that although there is sudden increase in the immigration numbers, the housing numbers ishows no sign of catching up.

With current social trends, many people - especially immigrants - prefer to live alone or at least with fewer people sharing a house. Nowadays people don’t like to be crowded in the same house and I feel that this decline in the number of people per house could also be a reason driving the need for housing - to meet the demand of a flood of immigrants.

Other factors that contribute towards the shortage in supply of housing are:

• release of land for housing is very limited
• investment funds available for housing is declining

Though demand for housing continues to rise, the supply of new houses is falling behind. There are various factors contributing to this but the primary reason is high interest rates in the property market.

Due to the recent record interest rates, there has been a greater slow down in the building of new houses. I have a house because I built it 7 years ago. Now in this current financial climate, its getting more and more difficult to think of owing even a small house.

My friend recently brought land for about $200K, then found that the estimated cost of building the house had jumped to about 300K. Since he could not afford to pay the higher prices of both land and house, the result is that the land is now vacant, without housing, and he still has high rents for accommodation, as well as paying mortgage costs.

We live in a major city in Australia and find that house prices grow rapidly day by day. Same with house rents which are on the increase. I feel it is vital that major steps must be taken towards meeting the housing demands due to increasing immigration - aimed at cutting these high prices - and would prevent people from facing a homeless future.

This also would increase the need for skilled construction workers and engineers to construct homes for meeting the needs of immigrants.

Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1

TYPES DE VISAS

Il existe de nombreux visas pour partir en Australie.Selon que vous souhaitez travailler, étudier, ou simplement visiter, voici les plus courants : 
  

“LE VISA DE TOURISME
Pour obtenir une Autorisation Electronique de Voyage, munissez-vous de votre passeport valide. Une vérification de fonds peut être demandée ainsi que votre billet de retour. Le visa tourisme peut être valide un ou quatre ans, selon s’il s’agit d’un visa de courte ou de longue validité. Dans tous les cas, le séjour ne peut être supérieur à six mois. Au-delà de trois mois, il est payant.

LES VISAS DE TRAVAIL
 

LE VISA « WORKING HOLIDAY »

 

LE VISA D’ETUDIANT OU « STUDENT VISA »

 

LE VISA DE STAGIAIRE OU « OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING VISA »

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Nine Ways To Emigrate to Australia

‘The only thing that is constant in life is change’ is a popular saying.

This is so true as far as I am concerned. I always liked changes in life and looked forward to new opportunities that are challenging and rewarding. This was always the guiding force behind my decision to move to new places and take up interesting assignments.

In this search for challenging venues, I landed on Australia as my choicest destination to emigrate. With a highly advanced system of education and health, structured immigration policies and not to mention an abundance of holiday destinations, I perceived Australia as a place that could promise me a commendable quality of life.

Having selected my destination, I started my spadework on the various methods available to emigrate to Australia. This refined search opened up various possibilities and, here, I am sharing with you the result of those findings. Read more

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Immigration to Australia

Every year an increasing number of people immigrate to Australia for better prospects. Australia’s economic growth is phenomenal. It needs skilled migrants to fill skill shortages and boost development

There are different visa categories for non-Australian citizens to enter into Australia.

These being for:

1. skilled immigration

2. family, business, visitors, humanitarian (refugee) purposes

3 retirement visas

4. student visas

Australia grants many Skilled–Independent Regional (SIR) Visas (Provisional) to attract and retain, skilled migrants who are willing to live and work in a low population growth metropolitan area for at least 2 years before they can apply for permanent residence. Read more

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Immigration to Australia

Immigration to Australia is fast becoming the preferred option for an increasing number of highly skilled young individuals today. As a country, Australia is actively promoting the immigration of skilled migrants. People who are moving to Australia for better career prospects will be graded on a point-based system where qualifications, prior experience and proficiency in languages is given importance.

Currently there are two programs that regulate immigration to Australia:

1. Migration Program – To move to Australia under the Skilled Migration Program, you need to have a good understanding of the English language, be well qualified and be under the age of 45. Alternatively, you can migrate to Australia if you are sponsored by a member of your family who is “an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen aged 18 years or over who lives in Australia”. This comes under the Family Migration Program.

2. Humanitarian Program – Under this program, refugees and people with “humanitarian” needs can apply for immigration to Australia. This program has sections for “offshore” and “onshore” resettlements.

There are many other ways through which you can turn your dream of moving to Australia into reality.

If you are willing to invest in the Australian economy or have a business skill set, immigration to Australia will be quite easy.

Want to study in Australia? Opt for a Student Visa and you can study in some great institutions and equip yourself with additional prestigious degrees.

Australia also provides Working Holiday Visas to many participating countries. Young people can move to Australia and work there while on a long holiday.

Australia has emerged today as a leading destination for relocation because of the highly lucrative opportunities it offers. Indeed, the land down under is now the land of opportunities!

Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1

Journey 4 - From Germany to Tasmania

Some people think I’m crazy ….but some think I’m very brave.
I will let you judge for yourselves.

I’ve always been very independent and enjoyed traveling. Read more

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Journey 3 - From UK Fireman to “Real Aussie”

Our journey started 4.5 years ago.

My partner and I have decided to leave the UK, I already had a sister living in Australia and have visited a few times, the beaches, the laid back life style, the weather and all the possibilities for outdoor activities – surfing, scuba diving etc were very tempting so we decided to make the move.

We were both firefighters in the UK and enjoyed our work but apparently this was not in demand in Australia so we had a problem with skilled migration.

We hired a migration agent and were advised that our best option is to study in Australia and we were told that if we structure our studies properly, we may be able to apply for Skilled Migration when we graduate and this will enable us to get our Australian permanent residence.

It was a long term plan but if nothing major changed in the law then we had a good chance. We decided to go for it and I decided to study to be a Pastry cook.

I’ve always enjoyed baking and thought the move to Australia would be a good time for a career change.

We started the process of getting all our documents together to get them ready for lodgement to Australia House in London but then the worst happened.

In the medical tests that we had to do for the student visa application, the doctors discovered a cyst in my chest. I then had to start a series of additional tests to discover the nature of the cyst and I was later told that the cyst needs to be removed for me to satisfy the health requirements for the visa.

My studies had to be deferred by 6 months, I was operated and was at home for 4 months, no fire fighting and no scuba diving…….

All this time I tried to keep my spirits high and I’ve done pretty well I think.

I recovered well and got the go ahead from the specialist.

Finally we were able to lodge the application which was approved pretty quickly and we arrived to Australia, settled down in the beautiful Sunshine Coast in QLD. Have I mentioned the great beaches ???

We sold our house in the UK and that gave us enough funds to buy a plot of land and build our home, we truly felt at home and were very settled.

My studies were lots of fun, for 2 years I studied all aspects of pastry and baking and I found work very easily working in a few local cafes and bakeries, getting enough work experience which after completing my Certificate III enabled me to apply for a skills assessment with the TRA and nominate the occupation of Pastry Cook. Once that was completed our migration agent lodged our permanent residence application through Skilled Migration and that was approved after 6 months.

We couldn’t believe it! We were Australian permanent residents at last!!!! We already felt very much at home here so that made us feel like real Aussies….

So yes, it was quite a long journey because of our specific circumstances and we had our share of trials and tribulations along the way mainly because of my health issue but looking backwards we are grateful for the decision we took.

Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1

Journey 2 - Next Top Chef in Australia

I love what I do, I’m a chef.

I haven’t always been a chef, I actually used to be an engineer but that was for a very brief period of time until I discovered cooking.

I decided to do an 8 months cooking course and turn my passion into my work. I studied everything I could including pastry and baking and chocolate making and while I was studying I started working in a few restaurants to gain as much experience as possible.

It’s not easy but it’s like an addiction – if you love it you can’t stop!

And so I was working for over 6-7 years as a cook in France and life was good and busy.

One day my best friends left for Australia…

That was very sad but it was their dream so I was happy for them that they had found the courage to follow their dream.

We were very involved in their process and knew about it a long time ago, once they got their permanent visa in Australia they were trying to convince us to come and join them. They immigrated to Sydney and it took them a while to settle down and feel at home there but after a few months they were very happy there. They both found good jobs and bought a house and wanted us to join them.

My wife and I were trying to have a baby so we felt we have to be near our families in France and can’t leave.

We’ve never been to Australia but they are our best friends and a bit after our baby was born we decided to try and make the move and immigrate to Australia and be near our friends.

We heard that life is much easier in Australia and my dream is to open a restaurant and chocolaterie in Sydney. I know French restaurants are very popular in Australia.

Australia for me represents the land of unlimited opportunities.

Something seems very primal there, more detached from the chaos of the rest of the world and that’s a good thing.

My friends recommended we use the same migration agent they used as they were very happy with their service so we ended up doing that.

As I’m a chef we had to go through Skilled Migration. First we had to get my skills assessed with the TRA, that’s the skills assessing body that assesses cooks and chefs in Australia.

I had to provide very detailed letters of reference about my work experience and had to prove my qualifications and it took me a few months to prepare the documents but eventually we completed this stage and I was assessed by the TRA as a Cook.

The next hurdle was the IELTS, I had to do an English test but studying English wasn’t easy, when you work full time and have a baby and the last time you used your English was when you were 18 then it becomes rusty you know…. So I had to take a private English teacher and study seriously. I did the IELTS and passed it the second time.

Our visa application was lodged 6 months ago and we’re eager to get our permanent residence and arrive to Australia as permanent residents.

No matter what the outcome is, I am happy that we had the courage to go all the way.

I’ve always believed that if we want something we should go for it so that we don’t regret later that we haven’t given it a try.

Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1

Journey 1 - Destination Australia

It all started 10 years ago…

This feeling of wanting a change in life, of wanting to do something different, experience the world and what it has to offer and not be stuck in a main stream life of work, mortgage, the mundane routine that so many of us go through…

So we decided to leave our very secure jobs and buy an around the world ticket with the final destination being Australia…….

Why Australia ?

We got the feeling that the people there are nice, life not as stressed as in other countries but above all there was this mystery that appealed to us, we really knew nothing about it and this “unknown” was very attractive.

We didn’t know if we wanted to immigrate to Australia, the word immigration can sound pretty daunting doesn’t it… we decided we wanted to spend some time in Australia and our first destination was Melbourne. An amazing city that was quite embracing from the very beginning so after 2 months we realized we have to find out how we can stay there.

Our dream was to become Australian permanent residents, we knew that would enable us to stay in Australia, live and work here and have a life without limitations because nothing is really possible on a tourist visa except traveling.

We felt we needed the grounding and the legal basis of living in this amazing country. Finding the right migration agent was quite a journey but we ended up choosing somebody who seemed reliable, professional and caring enough and we felt comfortable to work with. Skilled Migration seemed to be the best option for us as I was an accountant and accountants were on high demand (appeared on the MODL).

We first had to go through the skills assessment process so I had to get my skills assessed so that I could nominate the occupation of Accountant. At that stage we felt very stressed in time and going back home was not an option so we decided to apply for a skills assessment with all assessing bodies even though only one is enough so we applied to CPAA ,ICAA and Vetassess too (in case the first 2 are not successful).

We were very stressed in time as I wasn’t working and one of the basic requirements in Skilled Migration is to have recent work experience so in our case time was of high essence.

Luckily the first stage was completed successfully and all the skills assessments were positive and once that was completed our visa application was lodged.

It took about 10 months overall but our stress levels were pretty high, I remember I used to think that our determination and perseverance is being tested here…….

Getting the visa approved was one of the happiest days in our lives, it was too good to be true! We had to go overseas and get our visas evidenced in our passports at the Australian embassy in New Zealand and there was something magical about coming into Australia with a permanent visa in your passport and later with an Australian passport. We felt very proud!

Today, 8 years after our move and Australian citizens for a few years by now I can say that migrating to Australia was one of the best decisions we made in life that opened the door to many options. We took a leap of faith and it was definitely worth it!!!

Brought to you by the Australian Immigration Experts at Synch1