Waiting

Currently there’s only one thing I can do concerning my Australia internship, and that is: waiting. Judy, a very nice person from Down Under helped me to organize the nomination for the Visa. Everyone applying for a occupational training visa needs to take this step first, and almost all information has to be provided by the training institution (in this case the University of South Australia). Data provided by me are for example a confirmation of my University at home, proving that there’s a need for me to undertake training to complete my studies. Here’s a detailed checklist with everything important for that first move. After the Australian Government considered me as eligible, I can go on with the visa application.

Talked to a very nice girl last week, who spent some months in Australia. She liked the people and their way of life, and advised me to enjoy the Outback. Hopefully I can do so, right now I’m wondering about how many days will be left for spare time. Working hours are going to be full time, so there’s only the weekend left in general.

I also had the chance to get in contact with an nice Austrian guy who’s currently doing his Dr in Adelaide. In fact, he’s living in the room I’m going to live in, so he knows the environment pretty well. Looking forward to further e-mails…

Visa issues

Last week a nice guy from the University I study visited my flat. I think he really likes it and is going to take it for the time I’m not in Austria. Beside that, the Professor from the University of South Australia sent me the signed and scanned Internship Agreement, which deals with some major topics: Where’ll I work, what’ll I work on, how much am I going to be paid, timeframe and so on. This little sheet of paper is going to be transfered to the head of Communication and Knowledge Media, the course I’m participating in Austria. You can see it as a kind of contract.

At the moment I’m waiting for a reply from Judy. She’s Australian, and really familiar with all the visa issues. I have to admit, that it’s not that easy getting a visa for Australia. In my case, there’s only one possibility, which is called the Occupational Training Visa. The gain of additional knowledge in an company embedded environment is the key criteria for this kind of visa. Unfortunately working with this visa is permitted. Furthermore, Silke wrote on her very informative site (german), that Occupational Training Visas are limited to 6500 – 7000/year about 6500 – 7000 Occupational Training Visas/year are granted.

Next thing to do is the so called Nomination. The Australian University has to nominate me. That means, giving reasons to the South Australian Department of Immigration, why it’s necessary for me and both Universities to participate in this internship program. If the government accepts, I’m eligible to applicate for a visa. So let’s hope and drink some beer…