Nothing back from the ACS yet regarding Mike's skills assessment. However, our agent (the lovely George) has been in touch with them and they have said we should hear in about a week.

With that in mind, we got the 3 missing items sorted for our DIMA application. We had to get new passport photos taken of the girls as DIMA require 2 of each person on the application. We also needed a further certified copy of Mike's passport which the girls and I got in town yesterday. Finally, we had to add Mike's most recent pay slip (to add to the others we already had in the pack). He got this today so added that to the pack and then took it all to the post office.

So, that's it. Assuming ACS comes back with no problems (fingers crossed), our application should reach George next week and then he will submit it for us. We are looking at a wait of between 4-7 months as a general rule, but it can take longer.

IF we apply next month, we "should" have visas next April/May. We are thinking of putting the house up for sale around April time and Mike will resign as soon as the visas come through so long as the house is sold. The biggest problem with all that is that Mike's on a 3 month notice period so we might have to stay a little longer than we would like.

The diet in preparation for the medicals (and our new healthier lifestyle in general, here or in Oz) is well under way and we're doing great. We're also getting to the gym loads which is great.