Moving to Perth as a nurse.
WA is actively recruiting internationally and the clinical side is well trodden. The part nobody helps with is the life side — where to live around your roster, and how to win a rental before your first shift.
Moving to Perth as a nurse or healthcare worker
Registration is the gate. Everything else queues behind it.
Typical time from starting AHPRA to your first WA shift.
Many WA health services and private groups sponsor overseas nurses.
The registration and move sequence
Order matters. Doing these in the wrong sequence is the single biggest cause of a move slipping by six months.
- 1Step 1Apply for AHPRA registration
Registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board through AHPRA is the gate to everything else. Internationally qualified nurses go through a self-check, then a portfolio or outcomes-based assessment pathway. Start it before you apply for jobs — employers want to see it in progress.
- 2Step 2Sort English language evidence
IELTS, OET, PTE Academic or TOEFL iBT at the required level, or an approved exemption based on where you trained and worked. This trips up more applicants than the clinical assessment does.
- 3Step 3Line up the job and the visa
WA health services and private groups recruit internationally and many offer sponsorship. Your visa route — employer-sponsored or skilled independent — changes your Medicare access, your partner's work rights and your children's school fees, so confirm it before you sign.
- 4Step 4Documents and credential pack
Certified transcripts, registration history from every country you've worked in, criminal history checks and referee details. Getting these certified from overseas takes weeks, not days.
- 5Step 5Choose where to live around your roster
Perth is spread out and shift work makes commutes brutal. Pick your suburb around your hospital and your shift pattern, not around the nicest photos.
- 6Step 6Land, register, start
Tax file number, bank account, Australian SIM, WA driving licence plan, and your rental secured before your first roster starts. Orientation weeks are exhausting enough without house hunting.
Registration requirements are set by AHPRA and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and change from time to time — always confirm the current pathway on ahpra.gov.au. We're relocation specialists, not migration agents.
Where to live for your hospital
A 45-minute commute is fine at 9am and miserable after a night shift. These are the practical catchments around WA's major hospitals.
Commutable from: Applecross, Bibra Lake, Bull Creek, Kardinya
Commutable from: Shenton Park, Subiaco, Floreat, Wembley
Commutable from: East Perth, Victoria Park, Mount Lawley
Commutable from: Joondalup, Currambine, Iluka, Hillarys
Commutable from: Subiaco, Claremont, Mount Claremont
Commutable from: Midland, Guildford, Ellenbrook
Ballpark costs (single applicant)
Sponsored roles often cover part of the visa and relocation — check exactly what your offer includes before you budget.
- AHPRA application & assessmentA$700 – A$1,500
- English language testA$400 – A$600
- Document certification & courierA$200 – A$500
- Visa (single applicant, sponsored)A$3,000 – A$5,000
- Flights + excess baggageA$1,500 – A$2,500
- Temporary accommodation (4 weeks)A$2,500 – A$4,000
- Bond + rent in advanceA$3,000 – A$5,000
Start your first roster from a home, not a hotel.
We inspect rentals in person near your hospital, build the rental resume WA agents expect from a new arrival with no local history, and handle the agents while you focus on registration.