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My wife and I are based in London.

She has an interview (being held in London) for a teaching job in Australia (Ballarat, specifically), starting in January 2018.

I work as a Data Scientist and I understand that my profession is listed on the Skilled Occupations List, too.

Assuming she gets the job, what options are there for me in terms of a visa?

Also, assuming that I can go over with her and that everything is taken care of in terms of a visa, do we have to live in Ballarat or can we live anywhere ("where" we live isn't relevant in the context of this question)?

I have read multiple texts stating that we will be limited to living only in the area where she acquires work for at least 2 years; is there a visa that we can apply for which will allow us to live anywhere, regardless of the job location?

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  • Good question, can you edit the title to match the body of the question more accurately? Title is very broad, body of question is much better focussed!
    – gerrit
    Mar 28, 2017 at 9:24
  • Title has been updated.
    – SnookerFan
    Mar 28, 2017 at 9:58
  • Australia is a huge country, travel times between cities can be very long. How far from Ballarat would you be planning to live? Would you be commuting?
    – Midavalo
    Mar 28, 2017 at 13:56
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    If she gets a geographically restricted visa, she must abide by the restriction. I saw an article recently where a couple were being deported because they were one neighborhood away from their visa-restricted allowed area. I think they were self-employed though so maybe working in the area would be enough.
    – mkennedy
    Mar 28, 2017 at 18:33
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    If she gets a 190 visa, she can live in Melbourne. If it's a 489 (skilled regional), she is not allowed to live nor work in Melbourne for either 2 or 3 years.
    – mkennedy
    Mar 28, 2017 at 18:40

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It's going to depend on the visa she gets. If she gets the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457), which is the most likely option, as her partner you will have unrestricted work rights. However, if she gets the Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489), your work and residency rights will also be restricted to the region; this means your employer has to be within the region as well. The specific areas where you can live on a regional visa are defined by postcode here.

Note that Ballarat is a small country town without much demand for data scientists. However, it's (barely) within commuting distance from Melbourne (115 km by car, 1:40 by train), where you should be able to find a job fairly easily if your visa permits, and you could split the difference by living around the halfway mark at a place like Bacchus Marsh.

The final option would be for you to apply independently, either for your own 457 visa (fast, but requires a sponsoring employer) or a skilled migration visa (no sponsor needed, but very slow).

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