sasbear

Will let you know - hope you had fun...we did

Squem

Hellloooo everyone,

First of all... YAY ... a post about Canberra with actual people in Canberra posting! It's great!

I'm new to this forum and I just wanted to introduce myself… I currently live in the UK with my mum, dad and 2 sisters! We started our visa application nearly 2 years ago (maybe slightly less… it’s been so long that I’ve lost track of dates)! We are all looking to go over on my dad’s visa which I can’t remember what it is but I do know that we have to move to Canberra as that’s where my dad’s skill is needed!

Last week we got asked to provide medical information and police checks which I believe is a good thing  so I’m now in the process of researching Canberra as much as I can! I didn’t bother doing it sooner because I didn’t think I would get accepted on my dad’s visa as I’m 21 years old and according to Australia government I’m not dependent on my parents, which does make me laugh as I definitely couldn’t afford to move out at the moment let alone pay bills and have a social life!

Anyways I’m getting a little side tracked here… my main reason for posting on this thread is I would like to hear what everyone really thinks about Canberra! Also in your own opinion what is it like for people my age? One of my sisters is 20 too so we are both curious about what our life out in Oz will be like especially in Canberra!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

daz181

Hi All

We are also at the same starting point for our 176 visa as you guys. I had a positive response back from my skills assessment as a Construction Project Manager back in December, it took about 4 weeks which was surprisingly fast!

Sent a copy of my CV for them to have a look at, and got the all clear to proceed with our visa application.

We have just finished putting together our "Commitment to Canberra" statement but are a little worried as to whether we have ticked all the boxes. Has anybody sent theirs and had any feedback?

cheers

Daz

sprintman

Nearly everybody is into sport. Have a look at Questacon, CSIRO Discovery Centre, Tidbinbilla tracking station, Cotter Reserve, National Zoo & Aquarium, War Memorial (excellent), National Museum of Australia, and well just to many to list.

101126

Regarding the commitment statement, for me it really was a case of writing down all the research that I did. So I covered things like:

- Summarising why I chose Canberra
- Explaining what research I had done i.e. what website’s I reference, what paper’s I used, the expo’s I attended and what magazines I read and what i found out from them.
- Employment – what research done there, what the jobs availability was, what the employment market is like, clearly there is a lot of federal employers so for the work I do in IT this is a consideration as many need security clearance and how I would anticipate working with that, what websites I used to research the market such as www.seek.com.au etc
- Lifestyle and work life balance – I covered things such as Climate, Work life balance (so things like getting around, lack of traffic congestion as the role that I had at the time meant a 4 commute each day and how working in Canberra can significantly reduce that which is time I can productively give to either my employer or family), Arts, Culture. Sports and Leisure Facilities, property and education.


All in all I did a huge amount of research and documented it in a succinct way. If you have an agent use him/her as they should know what they are after and should be able to share other successful commitment statements, I would send a copy but unfortunately lost it when my disc crashed, and like everybody who works in IT had never bothered to back it up :-(

daz181

Thanks for the info 101126.

Re, your lack of back-up................my PC died a few weeks ago, followed a day later by the external hard drive which was used as a back up for all my music, films family photos etc so basically we lost the lot!!!!!

Daz

ngoni

thanks for that, thats hpeful

Faircity

More good news - we accepted an offer on our house today so looks like the final hurdle has gone as soon as it is through for def we will be on our way!!! YAY!!!

sasbear

Hey great news!!!

Satch_Boogie

I am seriously considering Canberra for my family. Research is showing this might the best place to raise our children and have a good work/life balance. We are thinking about the 176 visa (depending on what ACS gives as my ASCO code) but had a question about sufficient funds.

I currently have a portion of the required funds saved but my father is going to "gift" the remainder of the funds to me. Can he simply provide his bank statements and letter stating that he will provide the required funds upon our immigration or do the funds need to be put in my name prior to the application? My father would, of course, prefer not to give the funds out of his bank account until necessary because of interest lost. The reason my father is doing this is my wife will not let me sell our home here in the UK until we are positive that this is the right move for the kids because she doesn't want to be homeless. My wife is already an American expat living in the UK and worries about expating again.

sprintman

I've lived all over the world (ex RAF family). Please PM me and and I will give you details on ACT living you really need. Won't say more here as to many negative people on this forum. Cheers..stephen

quoll

Sorry dont know about the sufficient funds other than another chap on another board got knocked back because he didnt have what was required and he tried to get away with citing funds that his parents/family had. I dont know how you get around that. Mind you he didnt even get close to the $20k or what was required of him.

Canberra is a pretty good place to bring up a family but I can quite understand your wife's desire for a belt and braces approach.

Good luck

Satch_Boogie

Thanks so much. I am trying to understand what the ACT considers transferable assets as much of our money is tied up either here or in the US. I have money than enough for the 5 of us in my pension but I doubt that is a transferable asset since I am only 35.

The ACT sounds lovely for my family. I rarely see my three daughters due to commute and work issues and sounds compact enough with loads to do for my wife.

sasbear

Canberra is certainly a good choice for families. Welcome to the Canberra Bound thread

LBT_ACT

Didn't think there would be this many ppl considering a move to Canberra! Nice to know that you're in the same boat as many others.