Jaycee1

Have you been to Rowville before? We did not venture around there and seriously need to look around before deciding where we want to be.
What made you choose there if you don't mind me asking?
J x

johnknight001

i might sound a bit foolish here but ive never been, we met a couple in there 50s a while ago where we live, got freindly and to cut a long story short they offered us free accomodation in rowville untill we work out where we want to settle, we have become great freinds over the last few months and since they have been back in aus they have sent dvds ect showing us around the area, we knew we wanted to settle in melbourne so this just makes it easier.
john

Jaycee1

Not at all we all have to start somewhere!
It is good that you will have accomodation and someone who can support you in finding your feet when you arrive. It will take the pressure off rushing into renting or buying in an area too.
Rowville is a good starting point, not being too far out.
Good luck,
J x

punoo

Hello All :-)

We applied on the 20th Sep 175 visa OH's skill is in MODL....i have no patience to wait!!! But it seems it takes 6 to 8 mths..average.
We plan to move to Brisbane or Adelaid or Perth or where ever we feel like :-) (and of course where we get a job)would love to go and buy a campervan and travel from Perth to Brisbane...lets see if we will be able to save enough for all these dreams :-)
We plan to do our medicals in jan or feb. We are a family of 3, us and a 11 mth ld monster :-)
Where everyone is planning to move and are you guys already looking for a job or will start after you get your visas :-)
All the best everyone..all of us will get the visa...sooner or later.

MINTS

Hi,

We have been looking at areas such as Mentone, Bonbeach, Chelsea and more recently also Mornington. I've not heard of Boronia, is it somewhere you would recommend.

I think when we arrive we are going to be shown around all the areas from family, so that we don't choose the wrong area.

How nice to be at that stage!

Jaycee1

I don't have a visa yet
I am just going off when i lived there and from what we liked when we have been on holidays.
I haven't been to Boronia for many years, but i have friends there and nearby in Emerald. Emerald is a bit too in the bush for me where as Boronia is at the edge of the Dandenongs and possibly has less spiders
All the areas you have mentioned are nice areas i think some areas of Chelsea can be a bit rough around the edges but compared to here they can't be too bad!
J x

middi

Hi,

175 app submitted to DIAC on 17/09 via agent.

We have already had crushing news - teenage son can not be included on visa due to 'controlling' father playing games (as expected).

But we're pushing ahead as MODL lists change and we may not qualify for the points in the future. This just means that we have a longer than anticipated wait to live our dream(summer 2013)

On the up-side, we've plenty of time to sell our house

Wishing everyone luck!!!!!

crimson_26

Hi matey,

Welcome to the thread. I'm in the situation as you, but minus the family. My first choice of destination is Perth and then Brisbane, however like you said, it also depends on work and employment when you first get there.

I'm into IT and Oracle, and from what i know you really have to be there when applying for work, otherwise you get overlooked. I'm south african, and had the same problem before i came to the UK. It was fine once i got here, but very difficult, over the tinternet and phone. It's worth probably arranging some interviews if you are going to aussie for an initial visit, to get the stamp in your passport before leaving for good.

Anyways.. let me get back to counting down the months ;-)

Laters

johnknight001

welcome to the long wait
john

punoo

Hmm u bet counting days here! :-( But somehow the whole thing is so exciting.
We have been to Australia..i was there 6 yrs back backpacking alone..was so much fun.Than again with my OH 4 years back when we were not married, he studied in Townsville...was so much fun! Right now saving money for Australia so cant afford and trips or even holidays nearby.
Actually Perth is also in our list....we are totally open..well more- Brisbane, Adelaid or Perth. Not Sydney atall...very nice city but too expensive!
Yeah will e intresting to know how other IT people managed...getting a job before moving or after. My OH is in IT too Network secutrity..working for a bank here. We would love to travel first.....actually i am quite scared as read so many threads about people not being able to find jobs for years!!
My OH is German and i am Indian and we will be moving from Germany. After carefully studying the timeline in BEupdate i am hoping that we all will get our visas in 6-8 mths! This gives time to save money too.
Oh and are there any moths which are not good for job hunting?(heard nov n dec are quite slow) When will you start looking for jobs before you get your visa or after?
Fingers croosed n holding my breath for the news ;-) (haha literally)

junglegeorge45

Hello all,

I started the emigration process back in April 2008, after being made a cracking offer of employment situated in Melbourne. At that time I applied for State Sponsored - Skilled Migration, and after waiting two months, finally received their offering letter in June. However, rather than sitting idle during the processing time for this offer, I took the time to get all my police clearance certificates, and other time-consuming items, sorted out and have six certified copies of each document made by the British Trade Office here in Taiwan. (No embassy because Taiwan isn't a country!)

After getting those buggery things out of the way, I submitted my paperwork to the ACS via courier, and was assigned a case number at the beginning of September 2008. Roughly two weeks later, after a few fairly dogged emails to their office, I was assigned an ACS case manager, Vanessa Paull, but there has been no progress since she was assigned.

Once the ACS assigned my case number, I was able to lodge my 176 visa application, which was officially received on September 10, 2008. The day I received the notification that my lodgement was received, I began uploading colour, scanned copies of all my certified paperwork, (see above). However, it took a couple of tries to get everything sorted out, as their upload system decided to quit on me about 40 minutes in to submitting documents. I waited until a few days later, whilst taking the opportunity to review the document checklist, and successfully uploaded everything except medical results, since those are not scheduled until tomorrow, October 13, 2008.

Unfortunately, despite pressing for notification of when I might expect a case officer to be assigned, I have received no feedback, other than canned responses. Very dissatisfying indeed!

How is everyone else making out?

Looking forward to Oz

I sent off my police clearance request on 25/9/08, checked bank statement and they have only just cashed the cheque!! Surely its just a 'poke of the button job' - they type in our name, bring up our records, and click print!!!

The records are (hopefully) blank because we didnt get into trouble!! - therefore it cant even take days to print! (30 second job!).

Wonder what would happen if we turned up at the police station and offered to print the record ourselves!!?? Might even save us £10!.

Jaycee1

Our police clearance/checks cost about £35 each and we received ours within the week. You now pay more but get a better service than the 40 days previously with the £10 checks.
http://www.acpo.police.uk/certificates.asp
J x

Looking forward to Oz

I've never even heard of acpo!!! I filled in a form for Metropolitan Police!! (I live in Leeds) - it was a form that my agent sent to me...just about says it all doesnt it!! Have i submitted the wrong amount? will they now ask for more - yet another delay! On the form on your link it says £35 and returned in 10 days - thats great! - perhaps ive applied to the wrong place! argggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh. This visa app is stressing me out big time!!


:curse:

This is the form that i filled in. Is this the wrong one?

http://www.met.police.uk/information/forms/3019.pdf

ponyrama

You havent done the wrong thing - there are now two ways to get a police check. The one you have done is a "Subject Access Request" under Data Protection - the standard turnaround for which is 40 days and it costs £10.

Earlier this year the Association of Chief Police Officers introduced a new scheme which is quicker and more expensive and was probably in anticipation of a judgment by the Information Commissioner in relation to irrelevant information being disclosed on CRB's and DP/FOI requests which has impacted on some peoples careers etc.

Both checks are currently acceptable for immigration purposes (though this may change in future) and so if you can wait the 40 days (mine took 20) you are £25 better off!