Hi, I was wondering if any Australians have tips on what options might be available for a Thai woman wanting to move to Australia.

My wife's Aunt (mom's sister) wants to head over to Australia and settle. She could easily get a tourist visa there (has all the requirements), but she wants to stay and work legally. My wife's Uncle (dad's brother) is an Australian citizen, and owns a Thai restaurant there.

She's been told that her only two options are to illegally overstay a tourist or student visa or get married to some random Australian guy (a fate worse than death, eh? J/K ).

I've been hunting around on the Australian immigration websites and there's several options, unfortunately since she's not a direct relative of my wife's uncle and because she doesn't have a trade skill (she plans on working and cooking in his restaurant, but that wont' count under Australian requirements, I think), a lot of those options are closed to her (family-member sponsorship, etc...).

I was wondering if anyone knew of other options I might explore.

Might be better in the visa section for a start. The mods will probably move it. But speak to bronco about these things. Or maybe the scouser. They are the guys in the know. I cant help in any other way. Sorry. Even although i'm an Oz resident.

It's not too easy these days to get a visa allowing work and an extended stay. The Aussie government web sites might be a starting place, or perhaps getting onto some members of the Thai community in Oz?

Are you sure working in the restaurant won't count. I'm sure cook/chef was one of the skillsets that their new list of visa occupations included.

Of course, doesn't Oz still have it's points system, so it might be dependent on her age and other factors too.

To be a "Thai Chef" she would have to be qualified and I was told by a restaurant owner that involves a 5 year apprenticeship.

Unfortunately her options aren't great.