A jobs site for Ugandans aiming at sponsored work in Australia and New Zealand

Who runs the site

JobsAbroad Uganda serves people in Uganda who'd like to work in Australia or New Zealand. The operator is Red Migration FZC, a company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with its office at 108, 6th Street, Al Hamriya, Bur Dubai, Dubai, UAE. From Dubai our team helps Ugandans reach jobs with sponsoring employers in both countries, and when it comes to the visa we draw on experienced migration agents and immigration advisers in Australia and New Zealand.

We write with readers in Uganda in mind, but a vacancy is open to anyone whose skills and experience fit it, of any nationality.

What you can do here

• Search vacancies in Australia and New Zealand where the employer has said it will sponsor the visa of the person it hires.
• Read two visa guides in everyday English, covering the road from offer to grant: Australia's Skills in Demand (482) visa and New Zealand's Accredited Employer Work Visa.
• Follow our blog and short videos on rule changes, paperwork and daily life in the two countries.
• Get WhatsApp alerts whenever a new vacancy goes up.
• Apply free of charge. A job seeker never pays to apply here.

From application to departure

1. Find a role. On the jobs page, compare the advert with your own experience, qualifications, licences or registration.
2. Contact us. Press the email or WhatsApp button on the vacancy, attaching your CV and certificates.
3. We review. A good match goes forward to the employer. If it isn't one, we say so plainly.
4. Interview. It's normally a video call from home, with a hands-on test sometimes added for trades.
5. Offer. After a successful interview the employer offers you the job and deals with sponsorship, while you put your visa papers together.
6. Visa, then departure. Once the visa is granted you resign, fly out and start. The visa guides take you through every stage.

Start getting these ready now

• A CV that's up to date, giving each job with its dates, your duties and the tools, machinery or software you used.
• Letters of reference and payslips from earlier employers.
• Proof of what you've studied: UNEB and DIT certificates, apprenticeship records, degrees, licences. None is automatically equal to an Australian or New Zealand one, and trades are normally assessed afresh overseas, so certified copies are worth having.
• For nurses, your registration details. A Ugandan registration doesn't carry over by itself; you'll register with the regulator in Australia or New Zealand.
• A valid passport whose name matches your other papers. Because a Ugandan passport doesn't exempt you from Australia's English requirement, an English test may be in your future.
• An Interpol police clearance certificate from Uganda for the moment a police certificate is requested, along with certificates from other countries where you've lived long enough for one to be needed.

Types of job on the board

• Building sites: roofers, tilers, scaffolders, concreters, plasterers, bricklayers, carpenters, joiners and general labourers.
• Skilled trades: electricians, plumbers, welders, fitters, boilermakers and machinists.
• Care sector: registered nurses, carers and support workers.
• Kitchens and restaurants: chefs, cooks, managers of kitchens and restaurants, and front-of-house teams.
• Vehicles and transport: truck and lorry drivers, motor and diesel mechanics, auto electricians and panel beaters.
• Industry and agriculture: machine and production operators, storepersons, farm hands and farm managers.
• Professional work: engineers (civil, mechanical, electrical), accountants and IT specialists.

What's available shifts each week, so see the current lists for Australia and New Zealand.

The reasoning behind sponsored jobs

People who fly out on a visitor visa to "find something" are taking a chance that often doesn't pay off. If you go with a sponsored job, you leave Uganda with a real position waiting at an employer that the Australian or New Zealand government has approved and goes on monitoring.

• You know where you stand. The employer and the job are settled before any flight is booked.
• There are checks on the employer. A sponsor needs approval and has to follow the pay and conditions rules covering sponsored workers.
• Your family may follow. Partners and dependent children can often come as well, within the visa rules.
• It can lead further. Depending on the rules at the time, sponsored work sometimes becomes permanent residence, for example via Australia's Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186).

Where we are heading

Moving to the far side of the world for work is a weighty decision, and it ought to rest on straight facts rather than sales talk. We'd like each move to begin with a real vacancy from an employer that sponsors, rules explained in plain English, and a link to the government page that backs them up.

The aim, in a line: the right job, the right visa and fewer surprises on arrival.

What you can count on

• Every role we list comes from an employer that's ready to sponsor.
• If your background doesn't suit a vacancy, we'll tell you straight.
• Visa rules are written in plain English and linked to the official pages.
• Going through us to apply never involves a fee.

Something we haven't covered? Write to the team.