Migrating to Australia On Your Own

We Filipinos belong to one of the fastest growing migrant communities in Australia (the fifth largest, actually). Filipinos now amount to 1.0 percent of Australia’s total population and given what we know about Filipino culture, you can be sure that a big chunk of those migrants are comprised of families.

Here on the iRemit blog, migration is a topic that we often cover, and we’ve written several posts on how to go about it. But today, we will discuss two of the most popular options for Filipino migrants to Australia: applying on your own or through a migration agency.

If you are one of the millions considering migration to Australia and are wondering if you should go it alone or enlist further help, you can read on to help you decide better:

Migrating On Your Own


What You Need to Do


Whether as an individual or as a family, there are five basic steps to migrating:

Determine the right kind of visa for you.

There are about 40 kinds of visa’s available to anyone who wishes to avail of a permanent residency in Australia.

If you get stuck, you can use this tool to find which visa is best suited for you, but the most popular ones can be had through a family-based permanent residency (where a spouse or a parent can petition for you) or a work-based permanent residency (if an Australian employer sponsors you or if you possess certain skills that are valued or needed in Australia).

See if you are eligible for the visa you have chosen.

The official website of the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Patrol (DIBP) ought to have the eligibility requirements for the type of visa you’ve decided on.

Applying for a visa, whether as an individual or as a family, can be costly and time-consuming so make sure you are fully eligible for one.
You can also view the complete assessments for the many different kinds of visas here.

Apply for your visa.

Once you have established your eligibility, gather all the requirements (e.g., bank statements, medical/dental records for everyone in the family, etc.), and submit them along with the appropriate application fee/s.

IMPORTANT: Your application has to be complete before you submit it, otherwise you risk delays or outright rejection.

Wait for the final decision.

It could take weeks or months, depending on how much work the DIBP has and how complete your requirements were.

If and when your application is approved, get your visa.

If you get to this point, congratulations! You are now free to live and work in Australia permanently (or at least, for the next five years as per the mandated renewal period), and in some cases, you may even be eligible for citizenship.

How Much It Will Cost


This would depend on the sort of visa you avail of. General skilled migration visas for individuals range from AUD370 (Php12,846) for skilled regional workers to AUD 3600 (around Php125,000) for skilled independent workers. Bringing in an additional applicant under this kind of work visa ranges from AUD95 (Php3,300) to AUD900 (Php31,250) if the latter is under 18 years old while the price goes up to AUD185 (Php6,423) to AUD1800 (Php62,500) if the additional applicant is past that age.

For people who are bringing in a spouse or a child (partner or child migration), the fees are AUD 6,865 (Php238,359) and AUD 2,370 (Php82,288), respectively.

Pros/Cons


One advantage of applying on your own is that the Internet makes it relatively easy to do so, provided that you are migrating as an individual. You can research on the many different kinds of visas you need through official government websites, and you can also browse a few of the personal blogs out there that detail the experience of migrating.

If you are quite experienced with applying for various travel documents (e.g., visas, travel permits, etc.), handling the migration process on your own shouldn’t take too much of a stretch (given that you don’t have any outstanding debts or criminal records, of course).

Applying on your own is also easier on the wallet, as you’ll see later on, and you can even do it online.

However, applying without assistance can also be frustrating and confusing simply because there’s just too much information out there. Newbie applicants may very well be overwhelmed by all of it.

Trying to migrate the entire family on your own can be very challenging too, as there are so many visa classes that could apply to each member, and the more family members are involved, the more time-consuming the process tends to get. And if you’re up against a deadline, that can’t be good.

There’s also no way for you to get personalized guidance or individualized advice from the Australian embassy or migration bureau in case you want to ensure that your application is complete or correct prior to submission if you are applying on your own.

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