Tedster

Thank you all for your replies. We're going to go ahead and do the Pickfords video survey and compare it with the others. John Mason have also offered a video survey via phone too. I guess it's as you said and they don't have offices that are close to Somerset.

Hi Kirsty, Thank you for your help. We're not sure whether to go ahead with the video survey as we'd prefer someone to do it in person, but we weren't offered that option for some reason. Thank you for explaining how it all works, though - we're going to think about it and decide in a couple of days.

Hi all, We are beginning the process of getting removal quotes to move from Somerset to Queensland. I've just heard back from Pickfords and they have said that for our area they do a "video survey". I have booked an appointment and apparently they will phone me on my mobile at the appointed time and I go around the house with my phone pointing out the furniture and items which we want to ship while they speak to me, but I may not be able to see them. I was expecting someone to turn up in person to do the survey to actually look at the access to the property and for me to be able to ask questions. I'm concerned that this isn't going to be a very accurate quote if they aren't going to come to the house and look at everything in person. Has anyone else done it this way?

Hi, I'm looking into that option but the problem comes at either end of the journey because he wouldn't be able to get to either airport (about 60kms away) by public transport / shuttle and he doesn't know anyone to give him a lift. When I looked at the flights you can't go direct from Mackay to Bundaberg , you go via Brisbane which makes it more expensive, but I'll work out the costs and compare it if I get some car transporter quotes.

Hi, Does anyone have any recommendations for companies that transport cars within Queensland? My brother has moved to the Mackay area (rural) and has left his second car in the Bundaberg area (also in a rural area). We're trying to work out how he can get the second car up to Mackay - I thought of hiring a car trailer but both cars are quite small and neither of them would be up to a nine hour drive towing a car trailer. I should explain that I'm still in the UK , otherwise if we had 2 drivers we would just drive 1 car each! The problem is that he's by himself, so the only driver. I thought a car transporter might be a solution, but not sure how this works, so if anyone has any advice, recommendations or experience that would be great.

Hi Snowy, We have Case Officer " RN". We applied on 29/06/2015 and didn't hear anything until 30/09/15 when we received an email from RN asking my Partner to get his Medical and Police checks done on or soon after 29/10/2015.

Hi, Thank you all for your replies - it's put my mind at rest a bit regarding the five years. Thanks StevenLozza - what you suggested is pretty close to what we were originally thinking of doing!! I guess the main thing we will need to decide is whether it's worth the cost of doing the validating trip because of the loss of savings & how long it'll take us to save that money again. The information is really helpful and much appreciated, so thanks again.

Hi, I'm an Australian citizen living in the UK since 2010 and my Partner and I have been living together since Dec 2011(he's a UK citizen). I've always been very keen to go back to Australia, so we're now working out how to apply for a Partner Visa for him (309/100). I understand that this is going to take 12 - 14 months and that if his visa is granted he'll have 12 months from the date of the Medical or Police Check to validate the visa. We've been working out our finances and we want to save enough cash to take with us for rent, car, food and living expenses for us to live on for a few months while we find work. Also to pay for shipping our furniture and all the other costs involved. We want to apply as soon as possible, but I'm not sure if we'll have enough time to save the amount of cash which we'll need if we only have approx. 18 months before the visa is granted. I've seen that people go on holiday to validate the visa instead of moving to Australia straight away and I thought this might be an option to give us longer to save more money, but I'm a bit unclear on what happens after that. i.e. how long would we have after validating the visa before having to move to Australia permanently? We were thinking a possible plan might be to go on holiday to Australia to validate the visa, then come back to the UK & carry on working to save more money before moving permanently. Am I correct in thinking that if he is granted the permanent residency straight away, then we would have 5 years to move permanently? (We've been living together for more than 3 years, so we're hoping he's eligible for permanent straight away ). If they only give him the temporary visa and we do the validation trip - does anyone know how long we would have before we had to move to Australia permanently in that case? I hope that makes sense! Any help would be much appreciated. Thank You.

Hi CollegeGirl, That's great! It's really reassuring to know that you got your visa granted without having the 2 statements from Aussie PR/ Citizens. I was starting to panic, but now I can relax a bit. Thank You :smile:

Hi Wozziegirl, Thanks for your reply. I guess you would have heard from your CO by now if the forms weren't acceptable and hopefully your visa will be granted soon :smile: Thank you for your help

Hi Everyone, I have posted my question on a separate thread, but I've been advised to try adding it to this thread to get some advice. This is my first post, but I've been reading other posts on this forum for a while and have found loads of helpful information so far, so thank you for that. I was wondering if anyone can help with something that is really worrying me about applying for a Partner Visa 309. I'll explain the situation as best as I can. I have dual nationality (UK & Australian) and I have been back in the UK since 2010. I met my partner (he's a UK citizen) in 2011 and we are hoping to apply for a partner visa for him in January 2015, so we've been trying to get all the documents together in advance. We have lived together since December 2011 and I think we have all the evidence such as joint utility bills, wills, electoral roll, evidence of holidays together etc. We will be able to get statements from my Mum and my partner's Mum and Brother and our friends - all in the UK. The problem is getting the Statutory Declarations from 2 Australian Citizens or Permanent Residents. I recently asked two family members who are Australian Citizens living in Australia if they will do statutory declarations for us and they have said that they don't want to do it. I hadn't expected them to refuse and was very upset, but now we have to find a solution. In the Partner Booklet it does say "If you are outside Australia and are unable to get an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident to complete a statutory declaration in support of your relationship with your partner, you may obtain statements from people who know you and your sponsor" Does that mean you can just get statements (not stat decs) from the Australian Citizens /PR's - or does it mean that you can get statements from anyone who knows us i.e. people who aren't Australian Citizens / PR's? Does anyone know of a similar situation to this, or have any advice? I guess we probably aren't the only couple who have had this problem. Is the Case Officer able to refuse the visa if we don't have the 2 statutory declarations? Sorry if I've rambled on a bit, but I'm so worried that this could ruin our chances of getting the visa. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.:smile:

Hi bigboy01, Thank you for your reply. I will ask my question on the thread you have suggested. I'm hoping that someone has heard of a similar situation and can let me know what happened. Thanks again

Hi Everyone, This is my first post, but I've been reading other posts on this forum for a while and have found loads of helpful information so far, so thank you for that. I was wondering if anyone can help with something that is really worrying me about applying for a Partner Visa 309. I'll explain the situation as best as I can. I have dual nationality (UK & Australian) and I have been back in the UK since 2010. I met my partner (he's a UK citizen) in 2011 and we are hoping to apply for a partner visa for him in January 2015, so we've been trying to get all the documents together in advance. We have lived together since December 2011 and I think we have all the evidence such as joint utility bills, wills, electoral roll, evidence of holidays together etc. We will be able to get statements from my Mum and my partner's Mum and Brother and our friends - all in the UK. The problem is getting the Statutory Declarations from 2 Australian Citizens or Permanent Residents. I recently asked two family members who are Australian Citizens living in Australia if they will do statutory declarations for us and they have said that they don't want to do it. I hadn't expected them to refuse and was very upset, but now we have to find a solution. In the Partner Booklet it does say "If you are outside Australia and are unable to get an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident to complete a statutory declaration in support of your relationship with your partner, you may obtain statements from people who know you and your sponsor" Does that mean you can just get statements (not stat decs) from the Australian Citizens /PR's - or does it mean that you can get statements from anyone who knows us i.e. people who aren't Australian Citizens / PR's? Does anyone know of a similar situation to this, or have any advice? I guess we probably aren't the only couple who have had this problem. Is the Case Officer able to refuse the visa if we don't have the 2 statutory declarations? Sorry if I've rambled on a bit, but I'm so worried that this could ruin our chances of getting the visa. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.:smile: