Look inside
The plan for Australia, from the inside
These are all 36 steps of the Australia journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 36
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 43
- Only for your situation
- 9
Phase 1
6 steps
Orientation
Only after this phase do you start spending money. Not before — whoever pays first and researches afterwards pays twice.
- 1.1
Understand the three visa routes
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 1.2
Check whether your occupation is on the list
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours of searching
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 1.3
Calculate your indicative points
- Lead time
- about an hour
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 1.4
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.5
The family conversation
- Lead time
- weeks, not hours
- Costs
- none
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- decision moment
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
7 steps
Documents
Documents have lead times and validity periods. The art isn't to apply for everything as early as possible, but for everything at the right moment.
- 2.1
Determine your assessing authority and start the skills assessment
- Lead time
- 8-16 weeks
- Costs
- varies strongly per authority — indication AUD 300 to 3,500
1 official source
- 2.2
Collect your basic documents
- Lead time
- 1-4 weeks
- Costs
- fees per extract, tens of euros in total
1 official source
- 2.3
Arrange translations (only what's needed)
- Lead time
- 1-3 weeks per batch
- Costs
- per document — count on tens to hundreds of euros in total
1 official source
- 2.4
Police certificates: map out which ones you need
- Lead time
- taking stock takes an evening
- Costs
- differs per country
1 official source
- 2.5
Qualification assessment, if your authority asks for it
- Lead time
- a few weeks to months
- Costs
- per authority
1 official source
- 2.6
Medical examination: not yet
- Lead time
- appointment plus result, a few weeks
- Costs
- per person, panel physician rates
1 official source
- 2.7
Pet: register with Australian customs
- Lead time
- the whole process takes at least 6 months
- Costs
- per animal — transport, examinations and quarantine
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 3
5 steps
Language test
The language test is the biggest points dial you can operate yourself. Between the minimum and a top score are 20 points — often the difference between years of waiting and an invitation.
- 3.1
Understand what the test does for your points
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 3.2
Choose your test: IELTS or PTE
- Lead time
- decision moment
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 3.3
Book your test at the right moment
- Lead time
- booking can be done right away, the wait until the test date grows
- Costs
- test fee per provider — count on a few hundred euros
- 3.4
Practise specifically
- Lead time
- 4-8 weeks, a few hours a week
- Costs
- none — official practice tests are partly free
- 3.5
Result in: cash in or improve
- Lead time
- PTE usually within 2 days, IELTS a few days to a good two weeks
- Costs
- possible resit
2 official sources
Phase 4
6 steps
Lodging
From the invitation a clock ticks: 60 days to lodge your application. Everything from phases 2 and 3 is prepared so that those 60 days are a formality and not a panic.
- 4.1
Lodge your Expression of Interest via SkillSelect
- Lead time
- lodging 1-2 hours; waiting for an invitation is unpredictable
- Costs
- free
- 4.2
Apply for state nomination (route 190 or 491 only)
- Lead time
- varies strongly per state and round
- Costs
- per state — sometimes free, sometimes application fees
2 official sources
- 4.3
Invitation in: the 60-day clock
- Lead time
- 60 days, hard deadline
- Costs
- none — the costs are in the underlying steps
1 official source
- 4.4
Police certificates and medical examination: do them now
- Lead time
- Dutch certificate days to weeks, foreign ones 4-12 weeks, examination a few weeks
- Costs
- certificates per country; examination per person
1 official source
- 4.5
Lodge the application via ImmiAccount
- Lead time
- half a day with good preparation
- Costs
- visa fees, indexed annually on 1 July
- 4.6
The waiting period
- Lead time
- indication 5-11 months
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Phase 5
12 steps
Move & arrival
The visa is done, but there's still one hard deadline in it: your first-arrival date. After that the journey shifts from paperwork to practical.
- 5.1
Know your first-arrival date
- Lead time
- deadline from your visa decision
- Costs
- none, unless you make a separate activation trip
2 official sources
- 5.2
Request moving quotes and plan the shipment
- Lead time
- quotes 2-3 weeks, shipment 6-12 weeks
- Costs
- according to your moving choices
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.3
Book your pet's transport
- Lead time
- the process has been running since phase 2
- Costs
- transport, examinations and quarantine
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
- 5.4
Arrange the import of your car
- Lead time
- the assessment may take up to 60 working days — start well before you plan the shipment
- Costs
- about AUD 57 application fee; then 5% import duty, 10% GST and inspection/modifications
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.5
Close the Netherlands neatly
- Lead time
- deregistering is possible from 5 days before departure; the whole takes 4-8 weeks
- Costs
- limited — cancellation costs per contract
2 official sources
- 5.6
The first week in order
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks; a TFN can take up to 28 days
- Costs
- limited — SIM card, possibly a bridging insurance
- 5.7
Housing, school and transport
- Lead time
- housing weeks; driving licence within your state's deadline
- Costs
- deposit and first rent; licence fees per state
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.8
Landed
- Lead time
- it's done
- Costs
- none
- 5.9
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few things to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.10
Living partly in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.11
The house in the Netherlands: sell, rent out or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when renting out possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.12
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one report a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
9 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Australia journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 5.4 of your plan
Arrange the import of your car
- Lead time
- the assessment may take up to 60 working days — start well before you plan the shipment
- Costs
- about AUD 57 application fee; then 5% import duty, 10% GST and inspection/modifications
Without prior import approval importing is an offence, and a car that arrives without approval isn't released — it then sits in the port at your expense. The application runs via ROVER and the assessment may take up to 60 working days, so you arrange this before you even plan the shipment.
For emigrants there's the personal-effects route, with precise conditions: the car has been your property continuously for at least twelve months and demonstrably in use (a stored car with a low mileage doesn't count), you're coming to Australia to stay, and you apply within six months of your first arrival. The fee is about AUD 57 — the money is in what comes after.
Because a relocation exemption like Spain and Portugal have doesn't exist: motor vehicles are explicitly excluded from the Australian household-goods concession. Count on 5% import duty (the EU trade agreement that scraps this has been negotiated but isn't in force yet) plus 10% GST on value, freight and insurance together.
And then the rule that does older cars in: asbestos. Import is forbidden, foreign tolerances don't count, and you have to demonstrate that the car is asbestos-free — brakes and gaskets are the notorious parts. Have suspect parts tested or replaced before shipping and keep every receipt; insufficient proof means testing at the border, at your expense. Add all this up and the honest conclusion is the same as always: only a car of special value deserves the crossing. After arrival the registration in your state follows — that wants to see the import approval.
Where you arrange it
What this step rests on
- Department of Infrastructure — import approval compulsory before import (Road Vehicle Standards Act, s. 22)
- Department of Infrastructure — the personal-effects route and its conditions
- Australian Border Force — taxes on import, and no release without payment
- Australian Border Force — asbestos in imported vehicles: the burden of proof is on you
This is step 5.4 of 36. The other 35 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on Australia?
All 36 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 399 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Australia: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Australia really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.