Stephen Jones

oi! It's not that bad....<lol>

Steve

BettyBoop

We tried to prepare ourselves for the worst, should it happen...we applied for the Sir Visa as we couldn't meet the points for anything else either...ou contingency plan was to apply to New Zealand if we were knocked back from Oz...apparently it's a lot easier to get in there now....good luck for the future.

cadman

Let's be honest.........it is !

cadman

as bix isn't here.....

send me some pics.........I'll make you an offer !

cadman

Sorry, to be serious for a minute.....

Maybe your aunt can persuade your cousin?
We were lucky in that I knew my cous over here before they went to Oz even though I only saw her once a year, and her fellas sister had sponsored them to get into Oz so they were quite amenable to the idea. We also pointed out that we wouldn't actually need financial support.
Isn't the A$5k bond used in the event of financial difficulty anyway and you get back whatevers left at the end of 2 years?

Also, your visa is valid for 5 years but the bond is placed straight away. In our case, we're not going yet so in 2 years we'll get our bond back and the obligation on our sponsor will be lifted before we've even set foot in OZ. Maybe you could agree to do that? or as someone else said, bribe them by saying they can keep the bond after 2 years?

Cadman

lovealot

Pay them to do it for you. I know you shouldn't have to but believe you me, its worth doing to spend the rest of your life in the sun
Good luck
Tell them anything they want to hear

JohnAndNetta

Not sure if I've attached this correctly.....first time I've done it. Its me and the pimp (the pimp is on the left...)

JohnAndNetta

That sounds a bit more hopeful....thank heavens you're not giving up ...where there's a will there's a way..........
Netta

BESWETAJ

I feel for you both, can you go out on a skills visa, have you looked into the skills you need for the points system or could you perhaps retrain and then apply, it may take a year or two but it is worth it and it would then get you the points to go. Keep on trying, you'll do it.

JB

halflinggirl2000

Steve, feel for you mate, don't give up

Like yourselves, I have to sell them on the "assurer" idea and the fact that we would NEVER actually call upon them to spend any money on us. Just as you did, we will have to prove our savings etc. We are currently in the fortunate position of not having a mortgage so the sale of the house should tide us over for a bit at least!

Many of us on here have gone this route and lots of us, have supplied the bond money for the assurer to lodge, might this sweeten the pot, the other thing that people have found hard is knowing if the people you are going to ask to be assurers actually earn enough, if that was the case you can have up to 3 joint assurers and they don't have to be related, sorry if you have already looked into these points, it is not an easy thing to sort out with people that you may not yet know well.

Nicky

mand8002

We too were in the situation of not having enough points..........so we bit the bullet so to speak and cashed in all endowments etc and came on a student visa. The most expensive way to come and also no guarantee of being able to stay, but I decided that if I qualified in a job that is in demand then things looked quite good, and for us it was worth the risk. This is obviously not the route a lot of people can or want to go but it is a possibility.

CadburysFingers

Not sure of its actual number, but you will definitely get in on the 4 year business visa, as you dont need to meet many criteria, except that you will own and run a business in Aus, and employ a certain number of aussies (I think its only 2, could even be 1) and you have to have a certain yearly turnover (again not sure of the figures but I think its $200 000 a year)

Worth a shot, if you think you can do it, and I am sure you could.

CadburysFingers

Who is the attractive blonde with Willie Thorne.

Lavinia

Cadman,

not sure about this, but doesn't the 2 year period only start once you've made the move?

Lavinia

Rogue Trader

Hi Cadbury.....

This is a very thoughtful suggestion as you are looking for any possible hope for Steve and Lynn... but I'm afraid this may only give them false hope.

You may be referring to the old 457IE visa which required very little criteria (if any) to be met at the time of applying... leaving people free to go on a temporary basis and meet the criteria once they'd established their business in Australia (this is the method used by most of the people on the "new life down under" programmes, where they appear to have no business experience whatsoever, yet get in on a business visa).

Unfortunately (or not - depending on your perspective) this changed about three years ago and the new business visas do have some significant qualifying criteria: I know, as I have just had one granted.

If Steve and Lynn do have a business and an "overall successful business career" they could PM me and I will gladly introduce them to a number of people who are currently in the process of applying (just don't tell these people that, "you will definitely get in on the 4 year business visa, as you dont need to meet many criteria")

Anyway... on to lighter things: I thought exactly the same thing..... that is Willie Thorne, isn't it..?!

All the best
Rogue.