DianneH68

Oh my god...can't believe I have booked our flights to Melbourne and we haven't even got the 457 visa through (in fact, application not even submitted yet) :scared:
I'm just crossing my fingers there'll be no problems - the company has just been approved for sponsorship and the application will be submitted this week..I've emailed all the stuff to them as requested.

I have a start date of November 13, so have booked the flights for Nov 3 with cathay Pacific from heathrow, with a two-night stopover in Hong Kong.

I was really excited before but, as soon as I got off the phone from booking the flights, I wondered what the hell I'd done!
I never really understood the 'am I doing the right thing' stage that people talked about until now.
We love our little house and our life in England, we live in beautiful Richmond, Surrey - a two-minute walk from Richmond Park, a short stroll from the Thames, great neighbours etc etc.
Now I'm wondering why the hell I've decided to leave it all behind?

I've always wanted to live in oz and have just spent a year there on a WHV so know what I'm letting myself in for - I just hope everything works out OK.

It took me long enough to persuade my boyfriend to agree to it - until he visited during my WHV he had never any interest in Australia whatsoever...now he loves it

So in a couple of months we'll be in Melbourne starting our new life. The plan eventually is to get PR then head up to the Queensland for the sun
But I love Melbourne too so looking forward to enjoying everything it has to offer.

We'll be renting out our house in Surrey (fingers crossed we don't end up with the tenants from hell as we won't be able to do much about it from the other side of the world ) so if it all goes pear shaped then we'll just come back.

And I'm kind of pleased that I'm not going in search of a better life...I don't think i could have much of a better life than I do in the UK.
Instead I'm going for a different experience and a chance to try something new.

So if anyone in melbourne fancies meeting up for a few beers when we arrive - we're a childless couple in our 30s - then let us know

Ozzidoc

Very exciting - good luck!

TeresaG

Good Luck.

daisylilymum

Exciting! Just out of interest, how long does a visa like that take?

DianneH68

Once it's submitted, it should come through within a month (famous last words )

Teliko21

Should be 2 months at most I think. Believe some have been granted in a few weeks!

DianneH68

Oh god, don't say that. If it's two months it will be too late :scared:
Out of interest, is it still possible to get into the country while awaiting the visa (ie, on a tourist visa) or would that cancel the 457 application?

Teliko21

You could come on a holiday as long as you let DIMIA know you will be in the country. You wouldn't obviously be allowed to work and I'm guessing you would have to leave the country to have the visa officially granted as the 457 is only an offshore visa isn't it?

linz & edd

Hi, where abouts in Hong Kong are you staying? we hope to do the same in Nov.

DianneH68

We haven't got as far as booking accom yet! Know nothing about HK so need to a thorough search on here and on the web in general to find out the best places to stay.
Austravel are sending up a brochure of their stopover places so hopefully that will have a bit of useful info in it.
There's a good deal on Cathay pacific now for flights in november so it's worth checking them out if you're in a position to book flights.