Move to Australia

• Rule #1: the closer to the city and/or to the beach, the more expensive and smaller places are.

• Rule #2: if you think a place is too good to be true, then it probably is, so beware. :-)

• Rule #3: basically 95% of our clients should be located around the Sydney CBD (or maybe North Sydney), so use it as your reference point for commuting time (Town Hall Station is a good reference).

Lots of people prefer living close to a train station and further away from the city, so you can spend a little less and live in a larger place. Commute times from most beach suburbs are longer as trains don't go there, so it's a balance between lifestyle and commute (and often price). Although more expensive, if you do lots of stuff in the city, living close means you can walk everywhere and not spend anything in public transport as two people might spend $80/week on public transport if they go to the city every day, so something to factor in as well.

This is a list of suburbs up to 30 minutes from the city with a good cost/benefit (ie. near train or good bus route and with supermarket, some cafes and restaurants nearby):

• Walking distance: Pyrmont, Ultimo, Surry Hills, Redfern, Darlinghurst.

• South: Waterloo, Alexandria, St Peters, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Arncliffe, Rockdale, Kogarah, Penshurst, Mortdale, Oatley.

• North: St Leonards, Wollstonecraft, Crows Nest, Chatswood.

• West: Stanmore, Enmore, Summer Hill, Marrickville, Rozelle, Balmain, Rhodes

Check out this awesome map to visualise areas within a given commute time from the middle of the CBD by public transport, and these relevant sites:

• realestate.com.au - Most popular website for property search (rental and sales).

• Domain - same as Real Estate, also very popular, sometimes it's worth searching both.

• Flatmates.com.au - If you're looking to share a place, this is your one-stop-shop.

• 1Form - online tenancy application form, where you enter all your information and documentation to be ready to apply for a property.

We know that moving countries is a big decision and that it involves a significant financial investment so we offer to pay for certain personal relocation expenses, subject to a commitment of 24 months continuing work with Pragmateam.

The personal relocation expenses we offer to cover for you and up to 3 family members are:

• Document translations

• Medical exams

• English exams (if applicable)

• Employee visa application fees

• 4 weeks temporary accommodation

• Flights to Australia

Given the level of investment in a relocation package, we require a commitment of 24 months continuing work for Pragmateam to cover the personal expenses, repayable otherwise.

If you are on a sponsorship visa, you must have private health insurance compliant with the 482 visa when you arrive; that is usually referred to as Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC).

These are examples of insurers that offer this type of cover to get an estimate: BUPA Essential Visitors Cover or Allianz Standard Working Cover (you are free to choose any insurance as long as it's compliant with the 482 visa).

Whenever you need to see a GP (General Practitioner) or any specialist, your private health insurance can cover anything between 5% and 75% of the expenses, so keep receipts of any medical expenses you incur.

There are two ways you can pay for your medical expenses using your health insurance:

• You get a discount on the spot when paying for your medical expenses at the clinic or hospital, as they will charge your insurer directly; or

• You pay upfront and submit your expense receipt to your insurer and the will reimburse you directly into your nominated bank account.

If you are a permanent resident or an Australian citizen, you are entitled to use Medicare, which is the Government funded health scheme. This page (and video there) explains quite well how the health system works in Australia.

Generally speaking, the level of cover and amount covered by an Overseas Visitors Health Cover and Medicare is similar but health services in Australia are allowed to charge more than the amount covered (ie. gap) so ask what your gap is. Also for Overseas Visitors Health Cover you need to be aware of exclusions such as pre-existing conditions, pregnancy and others.

If you are on a 482 visa and are not eligible for Medicare benefits, you may be able to claim back the Medicare Levy payments in your annual tax return (2% of taxable income deducted each month):

• Obtain a Medicare Entitlement Statement by filling out the form and applying through email

• Claim payments by informing the ATO that you qualify for the exemption in your tax return

• Note that the Medicare Levy must still be deducted monthly from your paycheck, you just claim it back at the end of the tax year

Full-time employees are entitled to 4 weeks of Annual Leave (=20 working days, weekends and public holidays don’t count as leave).

Annual Leave is accumulated gradually during the year from the first day of employment, eg. after a month of work you would accumulate 1.666 days of annual leave (1.666 days x 12 months = 20 days a year).

You can take Annual Leave up to your accumulated leave balance as you wish during the year, eg. 1 week or 1 day or 0.5 day.

Australia has very strict regulations in terms of bringing pets from overseas into the country. In fact, it's a lot harder to bring pets than people! The Department of Agriculture website has step-by-step guides of what is required to bring pets into Australia depending of which Group your country is in, which can get more and more complicated in terms of the requirements.

While we don't have experience in this process, here are a few things to be aware of:

• The vast majority of rental properties in Sydney are not pet-friendly, so you might need to be more flexible when searching

• Corporate furnished accommodation (which we use on arrival) aren't pet-friendly, so alternative arrangements might be necessary

• Most people who bring pets end up hiring a specialised agency to deal with the whole process as there are lots of details

• When coming over, you and pet will probably come in separate flights and there will be quarantine requirements for pets

• To avoid stress, many people decide to move on their own, find a place and settle first, and then bring their pets over

• It's important to always have a Plan B of where you would leave your pet temporarily in case you realise you won't be able to come exactly at the same time

Pragmateam is a Standard Business Sponsor and that means we can sponsor eligible candidates for a Temporary Skill Shortage visa (Subclass 482) when we can’t find a suitably skilled Australian to fill the role.

Software Engineers are under the Medium Term stream and can stay in Australia for up to 4 years, at which point they can apply again or go down the path of a Permanent Resident (PR) visa.

Technically, this is a 2-step process: we first nominate the candidate for a role/visa and then — when our nomination is approved by Immigration — the candidate is able to apply for their visa under it.

Pragmateam is able to sponsor overseas candidates for a 482 work visa, which entitles eligible visa holders to work in Australia up to 4 years (and then it is possible to apply again). We pay all company-related visa expenses and sponsorship fees plus a migration agent to assist in the application process. While it is the applicant's responsibility to pay for their own visa-related fees, we offer financial relocation support subject to certain conditions.

Our policy is to sponsor candidates for a 482 sponsor visa first so they can move and live here and be sure they want to stay in Australia longer term before taking on a PR visa. It is our policy that after 2 years at Pragmateam we offer to sponsor employees for a Permanent Resident visa and we pay all the company-related expenses (the employee still has to pay for their own PR visa application expenses and fees).

Yes, partners / spouses are able to work under a 482 sponsor visa.