We got our visa's through in Nov 2007 and went over 3 weeks ago to have a look. We too are looking at Pakenham and also Geelong. We are moving out in July 2008 & can't wait.
Are you from Denton in Manchester?
Chris & Loz
Hi Chris & Loz
We are from Wirral, inbetween Chester and Liverpool.
What did you think of the area then? Was it different than you expected?
You can still use the £10 PC we were just advised to use the new one just in case. We thought we would go for this as it only takes 10 days, so if anything did come back and it was all wrong would still have enough time to get it changed. I should have put subclass 176 not 175 doh !
Have just given our doctor the PC forms so he can do his bit, so as soon as there back I'll be sending them off. You said earlier that you have already frontloaded your med's ? Did you have them done recently ? I'm only saying this because it's 12 months from when you have your PC's or Med's done, to validate your visa.
I've been looking at flights and god do they vary, I looked at the same flight, same time and with the same airline all different rediculous really. Looked at Quantas and you can take 20kg baggage and 7kg hand luggage, I asked was there a migrant allowance, yes there was £700 plus taxes about £130 for each adult taking 40kg and kiddies 2 and over get a massive 25% off the adult price ....wow I'm thrilled!!! Have you got anywhere in mind to stay when you get there ?
Anyway, good luck with your adventure, we should keep in touch just to see how each other is doing.
If you have any other questions just let me know.
Helenx
Hi Helen,
We haven't done meds yet. Just received forms last week. Not going to do them for a bit yet. Need to sell our property in Turkey first as we are renting our house as a fail-safe!
My sister works for a long-haul travel agent based in a lady's home on the Wirral. She got us a quote for a flight in September with a stopover in Hong Kong. £1900 for 4 of us (kids 11 & 7). I can get you the number if you need it in the future.
Didn't quite get what you said about baggage & kids discount etc!
Sorry must have rambled this morning, couldn't sleep OH snoring and our little one decided to come into our bed and take up all the room so came downstairs and thought I'd have a dabble on the computer till I was sleepy again (and it was 5.33am that I wrote it and have the bags to prove it !) Anyway, baggage allowance someone else on here has said that if you have a permanent visa you should get extra baggage allowance, however, when I spoke to Quantas they never said anything about going on a perm visa of which I could get extra baggage allowance, will have to ring them again to clarify.
Our agent has said all being well we should get our visas in September as well....ah the race begins !!
I neglected to say that there is six of us going on the flight 5 x adults and 1 x 2 yr old when we fly out so it's going to cost us nearly £3,300 to £3,500 for the privelege, so your lucky there's only 2 adults and 2 kiddies.
No doubt speak soon take care,
Helenx
p.s. if your on the forum when I'm on we could meet up in the chat room and have a chin wag if you like, no pressure tho. Hx
__________________
Appointed Agent 10/07/07
TRA passed 21/09/07.
Sponsorship for Victoria granted 01/11/07
Online application (176) sent and payment taken 24/01/08
PC's done 18/03/08
Med's done 27/03/08. Finally sent to OZ 09/05/08 !!
Awaiting CO...
And "Yellow Gecko Films" Fan !
Sorry must have rambled this morning, couldn't sleep OH snoring and our little one decided to come into our bed and take up all the room so came downstairs and thought I'd have a dabble on the computer till I was sleepy again (and it was 5.33am that I wrote it and have the bags to prove it !) Anyway, baggage allowance someone else on here has said that if you have a permanent visa you should get extra baggage allowance, however, when I spoke to Quantas they never said anything about going on a perm visa of which I could get extra baggage allowance, will have to ring them again to clarify.
Our agent has said all being well we should get our visas in September as well....ah the race begins !!
I neglected to say that there is six of us going on the flight 5 x adults and 1 x 2 yr old when we fly out so it's going to cost us nearly £3,300 to £3,500 for the privelege, so your lucky there's only 2 adults and 2 kiddies.
No doubt speak soon take care,
Helenx
p.s. if your on the forum when I'm on we could meet up in the chat room and have a chin wag if you like, no pressure tho. Hx
Just had a look at the chat room thingy. Instant messaging kinda thing is it?
Yeah, no probs. Watchin the footy too!
We are from Wirral, inbetween Chester and Liverpool.
What did you think of the area then? Was it different than you expected?
Best Wishes - Andy & Julie
Hi Andy & Julie,
We were originally supposed to be going to Wodonga but got a bit of a shock when we arrived as it was soooo quiet.
We decided to check out Geelong & Pakenham. We stayed in Geelong for a week and the people were extremely helpful with all of our questions. One night we went for a takeaway and a lady asked us where we were from, when we said Manchester she said she was from near us and had lived out in geelong for 40 years. She said you'll love it here, gave us her telephone number and also offered to sponsor us!!! Mad eh!! We then went over to stay with friends in Beaconsfield but didn't actually make it to Pakenham but our friends said that it's growing rapidly and bringing a lot of jobs to the area. I think we had already decided by then that we preferred Geelong.
BA have lost my suitcase in Heathrow - we arrived back in the UK on 21st Feb!!!! no sign of it! :-(
I hope it all goes well for you guys.
Good luck
Chris & Loz
Hi Andy & Julie,
We were originally supposed to be going to Wodonga but got a bit of a shock when we arrived as it was soooo quiet.
We decided to check out Geelong & Pakenham. We stayed in Geelong for a week and the people were extremely helpful with all of our questions. One night we went for a takeaway and a lady asked us where we were from, when we said Manchester she said she was from near us and had lived out in geelong for 40 years. She said you'll love it here, gave us her telephone number and also offered to sponsor us!!! Mad eh!! We then went over to stay with friends in Beaconsfield but didn't actually make it to Pakenham but our friends said that it's growing rapidly and bringing a lot of jobs to the area. I think we had already decided by then that we preferred Geelong.
BA have lost my suitcase in Heathrow - we arrived back in the UK on 21st Feb!!!! no sign of it! :-(
I hope it all goes well for you guys.
Good luck
Chris & Loz
That's weird!! Our friends who started applying for a visa were looking at Wodonga too!! It was because of them that we started the process! Did you get to see what Berwick, Narre Warren and other surrounding areas were like? What was Beaconsfield like? Will it develop, as i hear there is a lot of development between Berwick and Pakenham. What would you say the population size was equivalent too in Manchester ie: Beaconsfield is the same size as Salford etc etc.
Glad you found somewhere you liked. Saw a bit of Geelong on Wanted Down Under recently and it looked nice.
hi julie and helen just been reading the thread we are also being sponsored by victoria we are with agent and put our visa in on 20 dec and still not heard of a CO we have also put our house up for sale we are trying to decided if to do meds & pc before getting a CO or if to wait as our eldest is doing gcse next june or just get over there we are going mad are you both feeling them? sorry to go on and jump on your thread
Hi Kim, You are further along than us . Its a hard one to say about having meds done early. I suppose if you have sold your house and there is nothing holding you back then i would have them done. Its just taking the chance with having to be in the country within the year of having meds done so you can validate your visa.Where in Victoria are you hoping to settle?Is your eldest doing their exams this June or next? Its hard with the school and exams. Are eldest starts high school in Sept, ideally we would like to be out there by then or Oct don't really want to spend on a uniform for a couple of weeks so fingers crossed.
Defiantly want to be there before xmas, gave all my decks away
Take care, hope you here soon keep us informed. Julie
hi julie and helen just been reading the thread we are also being sponsored by victoria we are with agent and put our visa in on 20 dec and still not heard of a CO we have also put our house up for sale we are trying to decided if to do meds & pc before getting a CO or if to wait as our eldest is doing gcse next june or just get over there we are going mad are you both feeling them? sorry to go on and jump on your thread
thanks kim
Hi Kim,
Our youngest son is doing his gcse's this year, so we will be moving after he finishes school, before oldest son joins Police (in Oz) and oldest daughter finishes her year 9, so we have a nice little slot to try and get over there. As you can see by my timeline we haven't got a CO yet but have just done our PC's and are booked in for the med's next week. Our agent says that they have found with online applications you only seem to get a CO if they want more info otherwise we just wait. We've now reached the stage where everything is all but complete and we are now in for THE BIG WAIT ! We too are nearly ready to put the house on the market just have a bit more painting to do a it's done. It's exciting, nerve racking and god does this process test your patience but I think (and hope) it's going to be worth it all in the end.
Take care everyone and best of luck,
Helenx
__________________
Appointed Agent 10/07/07
TRA passed 21/09/07.
Sponsorship for Victoria granted 01/11/07
Online application (176) sent and payment taken 24/01/08
PC's done 18/03/08
Med's done 27/03/08. Finally sent to OZ 09/05/08 !!
Awaiting CO...
And "Yellow Gecko Films" Fan !
thanks julie & helen
our eldest is doing exams next june 2009 and everyone has told us to get out there asap as gcse are not recognized out there and he also whats to go in the police, i have read a couple of threads that you have to be out there for two years before you can apply to the police. We dont know where we are going we have looked at a few areas on google earth as we have never been there before. Mornington, st kilda, geelong look nice but i have to find the right school for our second son who is 12 as he has educational needs and is 3 years behind. so where are you both heading? So helen you have to be out there by next march then.Thank you for replying so quick good luck to you both and helen if your out there first you know you will be bombarded with lots of questions lol
__________________
Are you heading for Melbourne and need furnished accomodation on arrival? Why not base yourselves for the first few weeks on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula?
Properties servicing the Melbourne CBD and surrounding areas coming soon.
We have been checking the info on the State’s own site. Will be submitting our application in a few days time; delayed due to having to gather together a whole mountain of paperwork for this and our main visa (176) application - which hinges upon successful state sponsorship!
thanks julie & helen
our eldest is doing exams next june 2009 and everyone has told us to get out there asap as gcse are not recognized out there and he also whats to go in the police, i have read a couple of threads that you have to be out there for two years before you can apply to the police. We dont know where we are going we have looked at a few areas on google earth as we have never been there before. Mornington, st kilda, geelong look nice but i have to find the right school for our second son who is 12 as he has educational needs and is 3 years behind. so where are you both heading? So helen you have to be out there by next march then.Thank you for replying so quick good luck to you both and helen if your out there first you know you will be bombarded with lots of questions lol
Hi Kim,
If your son is 18 yrs old and your on a permanent visa then he can join. This applies to Victoria, not sure about other states tho. Type in Victoria Police and you'll find everything you need to know. Hope this helps. And yes if all goes to plan we should be there well before March.
Take care,
Helenx
__________________
Appointed Agent 10/07/07
TRA passed 21/09/07.
Sponsorship for Victoria granted 01/11/07
Online application (176) sent and payment taken 24/01/08
PC's done 18/03/08
Med's done 27/03/08. Finally sent to OZ 09/05/08 !!
Awaiting CO...
And "Yellow Gecko Films" Fan !
Is anybody else looking to obtain State sponsorship?
Their application process seems to be fairly straightforward; I'm just wondering how long they take to say yes/no.
If successful, what help do/did you get in terms of suppport to settle in and find work?
Hi David & Nicky
We obtained state sponsorship from the Victorian Gov. We filled in the application on line it was fairly straight forward. We heard back within a couple of weeks and the offer lasts for 6 months.
Hope that helps!
Les
__________________
App 27 Jul 07
Ack 19 Oct 07
CO 03 Feb 08
Meds 19 Mar 08
PCs 21 Apr 08 VISA GRANTED 7 MAY
Thanks for the reassuring reply re. timescales. Ours might take more than two weeks as they have a 'special requirement' for teachers, which involves a qualifications/skills check (in our case by Early Childhood Australia).
A formality I know, but it does mean more paperwork/expense!
small world!
