Around 140,000 skilled workers came into Australia last year on various visas, many of them destined for the mining and resources industry.

Many migrants find the move to a new country very difficult. Of the estimated 25,000 people who leave Australia each year, as many as half may go back to their former homes.

Employers can also find skilled migration incredibly confusing. But help is now at hand.

Busting the Myths Roadshow: Are you Confused about Skilled Migration and 457s? will kick-off in Perth on March 2 before heading around the nation.

During the event, staff from the Immigration Department will talk to employers in the resources industry about a multitude of issues about hiring skilled migrants.

These will include how to get visas for skilled workers hired on a temporary or permanent basis, how to help temporary visa holders to garner permanent residency visas and how to procure visas for less skilled workers who will work in remote areas.

It will look at how employers can hire overseas students, working holidaymakers and others with temporary visas, as well as how to tell if someone has legal permission to work and the consequences of hiring someone who is not allowed to work in Australia.

After Perth, the roadshow will move on to Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville and Darwin.

The event is sponsored by APPEA: The Chamber of Minerals & Energy, Western Australia; the Department of Immigration and Citizenship; and The Australian Mines & Metals Association (AMMA).

For more information, phone Trudy Bostock on (08) 9220 8536 or 0434 077 585 or email [email protected]