hello everybody only just come across this site and what a great site it is let me introduce myself i am a joiner and i have a partner lisa we have 3 girls aged 8,5 and 22 months .we have just recieved our visas todaywe have sold our house about 18 months ago have been renting since did not realise how long the application would take.anyhow we are at the final hurdle now .we are going to adelaide and i have the skilled independent visa 136 i have been going through the forums and have not noticed anyone who has used the meet and greet service available. if anybody has we would appreciate your views on this service as we have applied to use this service as it is free and helps you get settled in on your first few days .ie first shop,rented accomadation ,registering tax file number medicare etc .i am looking forward to hear your views thanks

We would also be interested in the replies.
We are considering a meet and greet service which is costing £1500. For that money you get met at the airport, 2 weeks accomodation, care hire, mobile phone, food hamper and a couple of other things. We are not sure it is worth it as we may get it cheaper if we did it ourselves.

Jackie
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hiya jackie thanks for the reply but i am led to believe that the meet and greet service is free laid on by the s/a goverment i know you pay for the rent but all other settling in services are free.maximum stay in meet and greet accomodation is 12 weeks so as to give you enough time to settle in and find your feet as we have been advised and have in writing from our agent .where in oz are you going?

We are looking at WA......Perth area

I think that quote was from an agent. We are not going to use an agent but the meet and greet service looked useful.

I am not sure about it being free in WA but lets see if any who know post about it.
What does it include in Adelaide then?

jackie
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Hi Jackie

My name's Angie and my partner (Frank) and I are moving to Bunbury WA, in Oct 2007. We've been looking into the meet and greet service but have not come across one that's free. There is a site called www.aswa.com.au that offer the service but you will have to pay, accommodation starts from $550 per week. If you find out about any others please let me know.

Things are getting very exciting here, we've only five weeks to go till the big move. Good luck to you.

Angie
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here is a transcript from immigration s/a the sos (settlement orientation service) can provide you with a range of useful local information about s/a systems which will help you settle into our way of life/work sos is a free service to assist skilled migrants who have recently arrived in s/aunder the following visa categories 495,136,137,134,119 spouse,regional457 spouse as part of the meet and greet servce you will be met by a volunteer on arrival in adelaide they give you details of accomodation including address,keys, lease details and nominated time when the housing s/a housing manager will visit you to sign the lease.also you get transfered to your accomodation in there volunteers own vehicle (note:if their vehicle is not large enough for your family and luggage a taxi can be hired at immigration s/as expense while additional taxis at your expense.also 1 accompanied shopping trip to buy food and other essentials if required and guidance about essential tasks that need to be done on arrival such as : opening a bank account / registering with medicare/applying for a tax file number.rental cost depends upon location and size of property but generally range between$140and$260 per week.furnishings available

beds/mattresses
wardrobes
dining table and chairs
fridge
crockery/cutlery
vacuum cleaner
washing machine
toaster/kettle
cooking equiptment
cleaning equiptment
portable heating can be provided upon request during the cooler months.

we think this is a great help for people emigrating good luck to you and all.

Sounds great to meet other people in a similar position to yourselves. We are thinking about using something like this aswell when we finally come over, more details would be appreciated. We are hoping to move to Queensland, have our visa's but not sold our house. Have decided to bite the bullet and use our savings to go for a holiday to activate visa. We will have to return till our house sells.

There is a free meet and greet service in South Australia but not in any other state.

We didn't use it ourselves because we couldn't give them the required 6 weeks notice. I have heard mixed reports on the housing - it seems to depend on what's available at the time you apply. More than not though it's been a Godsend for the most part. Mostly it will be basic housing, but it's somewhere to sleep and get your bearings.

I think it's a great idea from the SA governement as it gives you a bit of a helping hand to settle in and time to find out which area is what you are looking for without the silly 'holiday' prices of caravan parks and short term rentals.

See you in sunny Adelaide

Jackie save the money and do it yourself.

OMG thats a rip off

Most people end up communicating with others in the areas they intend to arrive at. Through this you might even get picked up for free, at the very least they will point you in the right direction of accomodation (short and long term) and a taxi fare from the airport is going to be cheaper than £1500.

We used the Meet & Greet service in Adelaide and also had on-arrival housing provided by SA. The house was clean and had everything we needed with the exception of linens. No worries, we went to K Mart and bought pillows and the kids had brought their sleeping bags to sleep in.
The people who met us at the airport were a retired couple originally from UK. The were really nice, but after a 30 hour flight we were exhausted. After they had been at our rental house for about 3 hours we had to ask them to leave. They then decided that they absolutely HAD to take us to the shops to buy groceries. They picked us up from the airport at 10 am and we finally got rid of them about 4:30 pm. If you use the service, just be sure you are firm and tell them to bugger off if you're tired.
The housing you have to apply for and your name will be put in a pool. You only find out a short while before whether or not you have been successful.

That seems a lot of money!!!
Why not arrange your own accommodation/car hire..............then go to the expat meets to make new friends!!!!

yeah we probably will do that to be honest.

Thanks everyone for the replies

Jackie
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