Tappers2oz

To answer the ‘custody’ questions, yes he did agree for me to take them (otherwise I wouldn’t have been allowed to leave the country). I have no ‘official’ court order, but do have 2 signed permission forms (one being the form I would have used to apply to the courts). I now suspect that the only reason he said yes, was because he didn’t think I could cope/live without him and that I would go crawling back with my tail between my legs. Because after 6 months or so, his solicitor basically said they would look at forcing the kids back ‘even if it’s not in their best interest’ (yes he really wrote that). The ex is also on the visa, and tells the girls he wants to move out here too so . I’m managing to support myself and the kids literally on my own. No ‘help’ from the ex and no assistance from the Aus government. There is no way I would be able to do that on a UK nurses wage. Better wages was a main factor for moving.

Hi all, I’ve been meaning to write this post for a longer time. Almost a year in fact. Many of you followed our journey, and after a lot of setbacks, we are here! When I say ‘we’, I mean me and my 2 girls. My relationship with my now ex, was rocky for a number of years. And after 15 years of waiting for him to get the visa, I went and got it myself. Then 6 days after I got the visa, he decided he didn’t want to go (so I left him behind and now we are in the throws of divorce). After all that delay, our son turned 18 just after we got the visa, and as his father was now staying behind in the UK, my son stayed too (he also has a UK gf). Life here is OK, the girls have settled beautifully, it wasn’t easy but wasn’t massively hard finding a rental and I have just signed to stay here for another year which makes life easier. I am casual (as it pays more) and as I get no child maintenance, I am working 45ish hrs a week with no break as I need the money. I’m desperately trying to find a job that pays as much as my casual role, but with the benefits of A/L and sick pay! Life here isn’t easy, and it’s going to get harder when we apply for PR (as I’ve now got to go to court for permission to stay as the kids dad won’t be moving over even though it was his idea and he is on the visa ). We’ve all had a birthday here now, and I’ve had my first Aussie Mother’s Day just Christmas to go. Still hoping Son will come over for an ‘extended holiday’ at some point (I made sure he validated his visa) so he’s got that option. He would love it here, if he just opened his mind. 5ish years of saying he didn’t want to go, means he now won’t ‘backtrack’ and admits he actually wants to come. Anyway, that’s a very brief rundown of the last 10 months!

Is there a Vic specific forum/group? I clicked the link in the pinned post but just get an error.

Hi Admin I registered on to the PIA site last month (might have been longer) but it won’t let me log in. Still says awaiting approval. I cancelled the registration and tried to resign up but it’s saying my email address and username is already in use (by me). Can someone have a look at it for me? (I will pm my details when this post is seen/replied to by admin). Thanks

Hi admin, I’m trying to sign up to the PIA forum but am stuck. I was sent a validation link which, when I click it, it says ‘not awaiting validation’. when I go back to the log in page, it says still waiting approval.

Thanks for the reply. That def makes sense (about safe to fly and health hazard thing). Will keep fingers crossed.

Wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation. My cat is an over groomer. Neither me or the vets know why, lots of ‘could be this, could be that’. (No it’s not fleas as he is regularly treated with flea medication and we’ve not seen a flea in the house in years and years). He is also an indoor cat so the chances of having fleas in the home is very low. He’s been suffering this on and off for a few years. Sometimes he lets it grow back, then it’s gone again. He’s well in himself other then he looks a bit like a plucked chicken on his back legs and stomach at the moment. Could this be something that he might fail his health check/import permit on?

I recently did the PTE. Decided on that one as I’d heard it was easier/better then IELTS. Studied using jay at e2 language (both on YouTube and their month free trial on their website) and passed with superior marks first time. It’s def very much about knowing how to structure the answers.

I think that’s pretty much where I’m at, we love our life in Cornwall (just wish we had better paid jobs and a house of our own!) but the thought of not trying is what keeps me clinging on.

But that’s not for you to judge what others do. Since posting this and being on a bit more again a lot of your posts seem to be quite negative, condescending and judgemental. Being an ‘old school’ forum member (and actually being a member longer then you) I have seen this behaviour from many people and it doesn’t stop me posting. If I was new to the forum and has posts practically demanding my financial history/status I think I’d have left to find another forum. The majority of people here are adults. Quite a few are starting out on the journey (not me) and are looking for advice. You don’t seem to give advice, you seem to question and judge. I’ve seen what you think of parents wanting to emigrate and I think that’s why I’m getting your questioning, judgement and vitriol. Because YOU think it’s not the right thing for MY family. I’m not sure how you would have any idea what’s best for my family but apparently you know what’s best for everyone given most of your replies to people. If you’re so unhappy in Australia/with Australia, change your own life. Thats the only theory I can come up with for why you post like this. Your quote from another thread about families. “If you're single or a couple with no ties, that's absolutely the best attitude. However, once you're married with two or three kids, you can't afford to be so gung-ho. Do you realise that for a famliy, the visa application fees alone are about $9,000? And they can easily spend twice that again for air fares, shipping, buying and selling homes, cars etc etc. That might not matter if you're rich, but some families have to use their life savings to finance the move. You don't throw away your life savings on an adventure, you make damn sure you've researched the pro's and con's of what you're planning to do. Or you do if you're a responsible parent.”

I’m trying!

Thank you. We aren’t quite that close yet (unfortunately) but I’m aware the woofer will need his rabies jab. I think he’s out of date from his last one (we do the ‘usual’ vaccinations but haven’t worried to much about the rabies one) but would need to check his vaccination record to be sure. Don't think the schooling distance learning. It’s not something I’ve asked but I suspect the answer would be a no. Worth thinking about though.

Actually, I have a lot of options I’m thinking about at the moment. The point of my post wasn’t asking opinions on which visa I could go for (I’ve done a lot of homework and have spoken to 2 agents already) or indeed my financial situation. Which quite frankly is none of your business or concern. It was asking about if the feelings of the ‘right or wrong’ reason changes/goes away etc. So I’d prefer you not to make assumptions or judgements when you can’t even seem to read the original post properly.

I didn’t realise you’d never been back! We know so many who have gone over without visiting, the ones we personally know (not necessarily from the forum) have all stayed and have all told us they wouldn’t come back to live. Not even if they were paid.

None and none.