youngwombat

Just on the off-chance anyone is looking for an answer, i did order one which has been great. It is from fishingtakelshop, and is great! http://www.fishingtackleshop.com.au/products/pop-up-beach-tent-sun-shade-shelter-land-and-sea.html It manages sea breezes; provides good shelter and is big enough for our family of 4 (sitting on the ground).

hello! Looking for recommendations for a beach tent with good UV, and resistant to the wind. We bought one (caribee Guardian beach shelter) which was rubbish in a moderate/mild wind (kept falling on my head and i was lying down in it!). Ideally it would be big enough to fit 2/3 people in it (there's 2 adults and 2 toddlers in the family, but we're rarely all able to sit down at the same time) Thank you!

Sounds like a smart move to do a 457 and see how the place suits you. Re: x-rays - yes, this probably isn't a good idea if your partner is pregnant (congrats!)... but as someone said above, there is rarely a medical for this visa. No-one in my family needed one. I think there is probably an assumption working that people in the UK tend to be generally healthy (ie. you're less likely to have yellow fever or TB or some other infectious disease). I'd be feeling pretty optimistic about getting the visa without any mention from them about needing a medical cert

Can someone help clarify a query for me? My family are all UK citizens, living now in Oz on a 457 visa, do i have a duty to renew my health insurance? I took it out in order to apply for the visa, but have found that the cost isn't justified. I'm paying about 120 pounds per month for insurance with IMG. My renewal date is around the corner. The wording of the 457 details is a bit ambiguous, and it seems that there's a sense on PomzInOz that as long as you have insurance when you apply for your visa then you can cancel without forfeiting anything. Is that right? Or if I cancel/fail to renew my private health insurance do i risk being booted out the country by Immigration??? Thanks! I am thinking about a dentist/optician only option for insurance which is much cheaper and probably makes more sense, but i'm not sure what my legal standing is with the 457 Immi status for dumping the overall health cover. Overall, I miss the NHS!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this. Good to have the reassurance. As an aside, i got an email follow-up questionnaire from the firm asking how my experience was so I suggested that they try to worry people less

Hi Folks I saw a tax accountant this week to help with my first return (we arrived in May). She said that she thought that the most recent budget had led to a change in tax status for people on 457 visas who were not residents which would result in there being no personal allowance. Currently the first 18k (ish?) is not taxed. She thought that the budget meant that for 2016 anyone who wasn't a resident/citizen would lose this allowance. Clearly that's a big hit financially. However, she was pretty uncertain about the specifics and i have found nothing on the first page of a google search which supports what she was saying. I know that for tax purposes being 'resident' isn't the same as what the immigration department use, but she was implying that i'd lose my tax resident status. I don't want to start a panic, but am interested to know if anyone else has heard this or if i can disregard. Thanks!

the last thing Australia needs is MORE spiders thanks folks - useful to know what levels we are needing. Cleaning the hoover sounds like a right pain, especially since we'll need to clean the house before we move out!

Thinking about our packing (next Wednesday)... do we need to meticulously clean things like toaster/bread maker, microwave etc to ensure there are no food crumbs on them. I know that customs are very picky about dirt on outside things, so was wondering if they were equally choosy about ensuring there aren't any unwanted food crumbs coming in. Advice and stories very welcome so i know whether to put this on the to-do list. Thanks (ps. the toaster isn't that bad - but i can't face cleaning it properly if a good shake over the sink would do!)

Just at a note on my processing times... i submitted my paperwork on February 9th and got approved March 5th. I had one query to respond to about a week before it was granted. Relieved mine was on the shorter end of timescales, and really feel for those of you still waiting. I was a bit overboard on submitting lots of documents as support, so maybe i just wore them down?!

oh, nevermind - i just saw the tiny tab in a stupid place in the top right corner so have now done it. Someone should really redesign their website

hi folks i have submitted the online form for my visa, but cannot find where/how to upload all the files which are required. Can anyone help? The FAQ part of the immigration website just says you can submit them after payment, but there is no indication of how! Thank you!

Thanks so much - what a relief to know it might be straightforward. I was banking on having to find someone to notarise them but this sounds like it might be v straightforward. Hurrah! Thanks again for your input - i am sure you can imagine what this is doing to my stress level!!

hi folks, I am mid-application for a 457 visa. Do i need to get my certificates notarised? I thought i had read somewhere that they might need this, but having completed the online form(but not submitted or attached docs) i've not seen any indication of this. I figured someone here will have been through this recently and could let me know. I am waiting on my health insurance paperwork to come through so if my other documents need notarising it would be good to get those done so it can be sent off soon! Thanks for your help Liz

That's good to know that AHPRA register academics too. Shame my clinical quals are such lowly offerings. LOL... but better than the Bob Jones weekender haha.

My visa is a 457, so is applied for via my employer rather than me, so APS haven't verified anything yet. I am a bit nervous that the psychological society won't verify me (just because i know transfering quals between countries is always hard) ... the new job isn't totally predicated on me being registered as a clinician as that is only a small proportion of the role (or at least that is what i will be telling myself during sleepless nights!!). AHPRA site looks much more focused on clinical qualifications adn since my clinical quals aren't psychology (and there is no Australian equivallent in family therapy) i may be a bit scunnered. oh well... i guess i apply, cross fingers, deal with sleepless nights and wait and see eek.