Jobo

We live in Darwin and I have never been to AS so cannot tell you from experience. I have friends who lived in AS for years but left when their friend was murdered after trying to stop one of the regular fights between local drunks so they have quite strong views on the town's social problems. I also have lots of friends (many police) and colleagues who say that around Alice is absolutely beautiful and that Alice is a nice friendly town where most people know one another and you can have a great social network of friends and activities. the trouble really is the anti social behaviour, mostly at night. The issues in Alice are quite different to many other Australian cities and probably very scary for many people. That said, when we lived in the UK we always locked up all the doors and I wouldn't walk home on my own at night. Crime and anti-social behaviour was rife and poor medical and emergency services staff had to take loads of crap from people they were trying to help. So while Alice does currently have significant problems, perhaps a little perspective is needed. All the best, whatever you decide Jo

thanks to Maisies and sioux for giving us an idea of the cost, I would hate for our parents to go into this with the wrong expectations. My dad does have a health condition (industrial asthma) so i reckon they may have to shell out on extra medical fees. It is alot of money but worth the investment if you can find the funds and the wait is so long the other way. I don't think they will do anything until me and my OH get PR, although my two other siblings have PR. I also think they may want to wait and see if the xchange rate improves that can make a significant diffrence when you are looking at thousands of dollars. I hope all goes well for you in June (Maisies) and I hope yor can sell your house for a good price soon (Sioux) so you can realise your dream. i'll keep you posted if we see any developments! Jo

Hi there, we are trying to pursuade our parents to apply for a CPV but they are reluctant because an agent said it would cost in the region of £55,000. they were expecting it to be abut £25,000...obviously it would depend on the exchange rate. without asking too much of a personal question...are you able to confirm how much you have spent getting the visa in AUD dollars? I thought i read on DIAC with was circaAUD $35,000 but are there additional costs, for instance if you need extra medica cover which would bump them up? Cheers Jo