Emigrating to outside of EU?

[TheSevenSeas]

Hi everybody

First, I'd like to say that I am a long term lurker and have never really seen a reason to bother signing up until now that I need a little advice... :-)

So I am a deck officer currently employed by Shell. I have been contemplating moving abroad for a while now- either the likes of Australia, USA or Canada which are all really hard to get into. I get that. Does anyone have any/know of anyone with experience of doing this? I've looked on all the emigration websites and it looks very complicated. I took a test to see whether or not I'm eligible and each place says I have a chance although it is tricky given my circumstances.

If I were to emigrate, I would not transfer jobs to employment from one of the country's shipping companies as 1) this requires a bunch of national tests to pass and 2) I'm content with my current contract. So, I would simply just be a resident there and working for a European company. Possible or not?

Do you reckon my flights to and from ports would continue to be paid for? Would I keep my job at all or would they not care entirely about me moving? Also, does anyone know the process of actually getting residency in any of these three places and which one is the easiest to get into? (I have a a hunch the USA is nearly impossible)

[EH75]

This thread may be of interest:http://www.officercadet.com/showthre...a-New-Zealand?

[bobofinga]

Not entirely sure on the emigration side of things (I'm quite interested in Canada too!) but what I do know is about flights - My last company would pay ?500 for an Officers flights to ANY place in the world. Any price over that they would have to match themselves. There was a good number of officers living in Asia , Thailand etc.

[YoungMariner]

Multinationals like the cruise lines will fly you from wherever you live in the world, no problems.

I've gone through the Australian visa process and am currently awaiting the issue of permanent residency visas for my family and I. This has involved me meeting various requirements in terms of skills, years of experience, age, English language (I'm British and still had to take an English test), character (police clearances) and medical. I also had to go over to Australia to take an Australian Masters Oral, they don't accept the British one at face value. Deck Officers and Engineers are on the skilled list so you can apply for residency visas without having a job offer. The process has cost me over ?10,000 all in all.
However the idea of residing in Australia and working for a UK company isn't realistic as I'd be paying Australian income tax and liable for the Australian high cost of living.

I looked into emigration to Canada and believe that you would need a job offer with sponsorship to move their unless you married a Canadian.

The United States is pretty much the same, with the exception that I don't believe you can convert to a Us Coastguard license so it would need to be a shore job.

None of this is authoritative information, I could be mistaken, but it's what I discovered as a result of my research.

[TheSevenSeas]

Hm.. Very useful information! Pretty much reflects my research though- that it is a very difficult process. But I suppose if it wasn't everybody would be moving away :-) I don't really mind which of the places I would live in, I'll take whatever seems easiest... Sounds like Australia, although not EASY, is a simpler process than the other 2. And I think (correct me if I'm wrong) less people apply for visas to live there rather than USA for example which gets millions of applications every year..

I shall try to look into taking the Australian test if that's compulsory for working as a seafarer over there... ?10000 sounds like a small fortune but there's no doubt it's worth it- after all, it amounts to less than buying a new car!

@YoungMariner how long have you waited for the visas since applying? Did they give you a date? I understand Canada have a 3 year wait... Ouch. I couldn't wait that long :-)

Thanks all.

[Chiefy]

Under MLC the companies are responsible for getting you home, OR to a mutually agreed place.

My current Captain is a Yarppie, but lives on a yacht currently in Borneo, and never has any issue getting flights to / from there.

As for where in the world to live.......no idea, think the US would be trickiest but you might (eventually) qualify to join thier union and join the hall system if you feel so inclined

[alistairuk]

Under MLC the companies are responsible for getting you home, OR to a mutually agreed place.

My current Captain is a Yarppie, but lives on a yacht currently in Borneo, and never has any issue getting flights to / from there.

True, but one could argue if you live in one place when you start working for a company - and then suddenly move to other side of the world, they would just drop you?? (eg if you work on ships where you'd join in the UK then you moved to australia - good luck remaining employed)

I'm not too sure, but I was looking at moving to the US several years ago, it appears to be a lot easier to get a visa if you only want to live there - not work, etc. - although thats probably not what you want as I get the feeling your more looking at starting a family and living in a country for rest of your life.

[ETwhat?]

Canada isn't too bad to get into, but you really need to be on the list of desired jobs and then be prepared to sit around and wait for a while, even marrying a Canadian can take a year to process the paperwork. The easiest way is if a Canadian company will employ you as they take the risk of you disappearing but you can go straight away ish (to keep the economy going) while the paperwork is sorted.

As for flights it would be reasonable for the company to question any change in your address, I know mine states the airport I would be flown back to, and while if I moved to Glasgow it would be reasonable to change it Sydney may not. ultimately its a change of the conditions of the contract so there is no automatic right for it to still be your home address. I have come across the its to the UK or an equivalent contribution if you want to go somewhere else.

[bobofinga]

I think the flights obviously depend on the type of work and area where you work. If you live in Glasgow and commute to Aberdeen to work in the North Sea I don't think they will take kindly to you changing your home airport to Rio but , if you work on Cruises and change to Rio for example that will be closer to the likes of the Caribbean so won't affect as much.

[bobofinga]

Another option I've thought of is living elsewhere in Europe , but my German is pretty limited!

[Bulman]

It's funny how hard it is now, I dunno how true this is as it may be one of those stories they tell you when you're young , but supposedly my uncle immigrated to Canada for ?10 back in the days, as they were doing some sort of deal haha

[TheSevenSeas]

Another option I've thought of is living elsewhere in Europe , but my German is pretty limited!

I've considered this from time to time myself. But sadly I only speak English and three words I remember from my O level in Spanish... Perhaps I could take a course abroad and then move somewhere like Spain or Italy? Not as appealing and equally difficult because of having to learn the whole language :/

[Silvertop]

Shell have officers living all over the world and the flights thing isn't an issue. If you are emigrating though you have to be serious because it is a long and often costly process, but certainly worth it if it is what you want to do!!

[GuinnessMan]

I've considered this from time to time myself. But sadly I only speak English and three words I remember from my O level in Spanish... Perhaps I could take a course abroad and then move somewhere like Spain or Italy? Not as appealing and equally difficult because of having to learn the whole language :/

Live in the place for a while, you'd be surprised at how quickly you pick the language up...

(well, if not the language, at least the swear words...)

[YoungMariner]

Hm.. Very useful information! Pretty much reflects my research though- that it is a very difficult process. But I suppose if it wasn't everybody would be moving away :-) I don't really mind which of the places I would live in, I'll take whatever seems easiest... Sounds like Australia, although not EASY, is a simpler process than the other 2. And I think (correct me if I'm wrong) less people apply for visas to live there rather than USA for example which gets millions of applications every year..

I shall try to look into taking the Australian test if that's compulsory for working as a seafarer over there... ?10000 sounds like a small fortune but there's no doubt it's worth it- after all, it amounts to less than buying a new car!

@YoungMariner how long have you waited for the visas since applying? Did they give you a date? I understand Canada have a 3 year wait... Ouch. I couldn't wait that long :-)

Thanks all.

I started the skills assessment process and getting the documents together in February, eventually sat the Oral in August in Perth and shortly after did the points assessment and submitted my expression of interest. At the start of September I received my invitation to apply for a 189 visa (skilled independant permenant residency) and submitted my application. It takes roughly 8-10 weeks from submitting the application until the visa is issued. By this point the refusal would only occur if you'd made a false statement.