steve781

Thanks, yes I think like you say, you just can't touch that money in your account until they release it, have found one that seems to be very low though as long as I have 0 excess which I don't mind. We fly over on the 11th but are doing a few days in Perth first before flying to Brisbane on the 15th and will then heading up to Hervey Bay Area for the rest of our time, and yes excited and just counting the days!

Hi, my daughter and I are taking a months holiday in in Queensland this month, flights both international and domestic are booked, hotels are sorted and we know the main sites and cost of places we want to visit. just one bit of advice needed if anyone can help, we want to hire a car for twenty days which is ok except that when I have rented in the UK they have my card number to hold against any problems that might arise ie damage etc, but if I'm reading the Australian rental sites correctly they want to actually hold a deposit which seems to be anything up to 3k. is there a cheaper alternative or am I missing something? Thanks

I live in a small town in Devon, A cop shop at one end of the road and a few pubs as well, Saturday night there were the usual bunch of drunken yokels fighting for about twenty mins across the road, only stopping to take a pee. Three cop cars drove passed them without even slowing down, Either there was a doughnut sale on or thats turning a blind eye. Bet your arse if they saw someone doing 33mph down that same bit of road they would have scrambled the chopper and done them:happy_face_outlaw_s

This is where i get confused because when i read it, Subclass 489 (Skilled Regional) The 489 visa is for intending migrants who are interested in either state or territory government nomination or family sponsorship. The subclass 489 visa is a four-year provisional visa where the visa holder must live and work in a specified regional area in Australia. Those that do so for a sufficient period have the opportunity to meet the requirements for a permanent subclass 887 visa. Visa requirements include:  nomination by a state/territory government or sponsorship by an eligible relative living in a designated area  invitation to apply  nominate a skilled occupation from the relevant skilled occupation list To me this seems to say that if your nominating relative is living in a designated regional area and you are willing to live and work in same then its instead of state sponsorship, SOOOOO if the csol list applies does it need to be on that states list? If so what would be the point of family sponsorship?

Well i nearly have it sussed out! Does anyone know if on a 489 family sponsored, do you have to be on the sol 1 or can you be on the csol? if you can be on the csol does it need to be on that states list even though family sponsored?:arghh:

Cool, Cheers for that, we want to live near as would be good to see them and for the kids to get to know them but they live on an acreage and we aint ready for that much isolation yet! Thats good to know, thanks

Yeah my bad was 4570! Thanks. Thats really good to know. He does live in that area which is around Gympie. If we were to get a fam sponsored do you have to be in same code or within a certain distance as we would like to be about half an hour further north.

Hi all Could anyone tell me if postcode 5470 in Queensland is classed as regional or not, my old man says it should be as in wide bay burnet area but others have said its too near Brisbane for a family sponsored. Want to finally take the plunge and would rather be near my father on a family sponsored than WA on state sponsored. Cheers:happy_face_outlaw_s

Hi Just wondering if anyone knew of any specific licences needed other than the ACMA? Is a level 2 C&G recognised?

Well i wouldnt class myself as a telephone engineer by any stretch! I install Virgin telco, digi tv and broadband recently being promoted to an installs manager. optus iselstra seems to be top dog on the NBN installations wise, they also look after standard telco tv bb. Optus is another one that does the traditional three but i think contracts out the hard work to companies like Abigroup. Any others i would be glad to hear about as when the time comes im going to hit them all with applications. cheers

Thanks, Virgin media installations manager, Dont mind WA by any means but my father lives in Brisbane area and it would have been nice for the kids to be able to visit. SS will do fine.

Hi Just wondering if anyone has gone over as a telecommunications technician and if so did you go as state sponsored or employee sponsered, I have been told that going state i would have to go to WA but wondered if i go the other way would there be more options of places to go. I thought that with the NBN being rolled out that there would be a big need for these jobs but there doent seem to be so many out their. Any info would be useful. cheers

Been quoted about £6000 by an agent for the cost of the visa process, this includes; visa agents fees all admin goverment visa cost qualification skills test ielts Does this sound about right?

Thanks all. Looking at go matilda, visa bureau and concept australia I have contacted one agent and been quoted about 5 grand, with their fee, getting right qualification through master builders, skills test, ielts and finally the visa cost, Does this sound about right?

I know its probably been asked a thousand times before but we are trying to shop around with visa agents and was wondering if you guys had used any decent ones you would recommend before we take the plunge next week