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Hi everyone, my parents' got their visa granted today! That was really quick, less than 5 hours after PVC received the payment and the visas' in my mailbox! Good luck to everyone. Tin

IKNOWC but just saying hello. Used to be known as JockinTas but after faffing around couldn't login so changed my details. Been away for a wee while. Had a fab time in NZ and now have my sister visiting for all this month. Having a lovely time doing stuff together.

Stufftif...but our guard dog is on duty...

Never sure why people feel the need to criticise Australia after moving back to the UK, perhaps it's linked to feeling disappointed about the dream not working as hoped. I tried living in Aus, it's a great place but living there wasn't for me, end off. I will definitely be back to visit friends and my favourite Melbourne eateries on holidays though.

update from immi september 22nd 2014 for the 143 visa

Hi, to everyone who is following the date, PVC has just requested 2nd VAC for my parents 143 application, they lodged on 17/9/2014

Hi There, I thought I would reply to this topic with our own recent experience. We used a wonderful and patient Migration expert - Thames Migration. My husband and I lodged our application for a CPV143 at the end of June 2014. As we were expecting the visa to come through at that time in around 18 months we put our house on the market and sold and came over to Oz on a one year visitor visa. We invested the money from the house sale and the interest we earned (still higher over here than UK) paid for us to rent . At the end of the year we had to return to the UK for a 'holiday' as our visa had an 8043 - No Further Stay on it which means you have to be out of the country to apply for another substantive visa. We returned in April 2016 on a visitor visa - surely the 143 would be through within another 3 months which would have been 2 years since lodgement. We flew to Hawaii on that occasion. Unfortunately they were inundated with applications in May and June 2014 so movement as many of you will know was painfully slow. After another exit after three months to Vanuatu we finally had an email to say we could prepare our paperwork, medicals, police checks ready for when we were to be appointed a case officer. That was on 3rd October 2016. Two weeks later we were appointed a Case Officer. Our paperwork was complete, medicals and police checks done all that remained was the Assurance of Support which cannot be done until you receive the letter from the visa centre. Our son acted on it straight away but now the inundation was at Centrelink!!!! This was probably the most frustrating part of all as everything is done by snail mail. In spite of there being no hiccoughs at all we did not receive the request for our 2nd VAC until Christmas week 2016 by which time we hit Christmas holidays and school holidays. We left Oz again on 9th January and our visa was granted immediately we passed through the e gates in Brisbane on our way to NZ. We finally entered Australia as permanent residents on 14th January 2017 nearly 2 years 7 months after lodgement and 3 months after case officer was appointed. Anyone starting out on this pathway might find it quicker to come over on a visitor visa and apply for residency here then apply for a bridging visa. As far as the medical was concerned. My husband had a heart scare before we applied and it was discovered he had a hole in his heart (from birth). You have to fill in a medical form on line before attending the actual medical which was arranged very very quickly. We also took all relevant paperwork with us from the hospital in the UK. The doctor told me that I had passed then and there but that they may want to refer my husband to a higher medical authority but in the end they didn't. As well as chest X-ray, urine,sight and blood tests we were bizarrely asked to touch our toes and stand still for one minute with our eyes closed. The doctor also carried out a palpation of our bellies. Because we had been in Oz for over a year we had to have both Australian police checks as well as UK ones. These were applied for on line and both came through super quick. I really do understand the pain and frustration of the waiting game and not knowing where you are at or whether your paperwork has disappeared into the ether never to be seen again especially as far as Centrelink are concerned. My son waited two hours on the phone to make an appointment to lodge the AOS and in the end went in in person. Once the form was lodged he had to wait for about 3 weeks before receiving a phone call interview. Then it was another wait to receive the letter with instructions to pay the bond. The bond is set up with Commonwealth Bank in person and is a 5 year bond which will roll over to another 5 years at the end of the term. It costs an additional $250 to set up the bond. Then we had to wait for the letter of acceptance to send to the Case Officer. The whole Centrelink debacle took nearly two months. Anyway we are here now and looking forward to the next hurdle - Citizenship. I have got in such a habit of checking the Border.gov email that I still do it. Good luck with everything it is worth it in the end, very character building.

Would like to take this opportunity to thank Cerberus and Admin for the major job in getting PIO back and better. And to Cerberus for getting me up and running again...No PIO is like no morning coffee. Yeehaa, The army blokes have arrived, well, 6 trucks to clean up.

I think life in summary is just a long search for contentment and happiness. It's quite easy to read between the lines and see who is unhappy with their lot, who protests too much, and who is trying to convince themselves by criticising or tributing random objects to try and shape their own sense of worth. I don't post here much anymore and only come on for quick spurts and to catch up with any changes, but I've had some people on ignore for years because they added nothing to my experience and still cannot seem to move on with their lives. You just have to filter them out.

I am one of the people that has moved back. Oz and the UK are two of the 13 countries in which I have lived, Both are very similar in some respects and very different in others. For example, both are first world countries with similar first world pluses and minuses. But both are culturally very different in my view. That isn't a bad thing and I am not saying one is superior to the other. Just different. I am very happy back and part of that is haven been away for so long it reopens ones eyes to what the UK has to offer in terms of different things and lifestyles. For example, before we moved to Oz, we lived in a inner city location which, looking back didn't suit us. So, we moved to Oz, thinking that what the UK had to offer was not what we wanted from life and Oz might give us what we wanted. Now, we are living in a rural area (tiny village) we are much happier. That may very well simply be that we needed to be in a different lifestyle in the UK rather than anything else. But we couldn't see that at the time. Both countries have pluses and negatives and one will suit some and not others. Moving to any country has major impacts on lifestyle. It is how each positive and negative applies to the individual. For example, with Oz, some love the heat, I found it oppressive. It doesn't mean Oz is too hot and the UK has the perfect climate. It just means that for me, the UK climate is better. Also, how ones individual life pans out in either will differ. For example, many move to Oz in the hope of a better work / life balance. But we found it far worse with me working longer hours than I have ever worked, but that may be different for others. Likewise housing, some move to a 4x2 in suburbia and think that is perfection. But it isn't for me - it is as close to hell as I could imagine. It doesn't mean their view is any lesser or better than mine. Just different. At the same time, it is important for those considering moving in either direction to have a cross sample of different opinions and experiences as that can help make an informed choice. For example, going back to climate, if someone posts that they want to move to Oz for a better climate, then it is very justified in myself pointing out that in my view it isn't better.

Oh my word, that is excellent news. Let's hope that keeps up So, so close to you now @Catlady2014 and @clerk85 We have definitely decided to go on a tourist visa in June and take a bit of a break before our visas are processed. I'm getting a teeny bit excited today

Hello from England!! Well, we did it, we are finally home! After a few years of thinking "shall we shan't we?" we finally decided last July that "yes, we should!!" The housing market in Perth was not great and we took a drop on the price we originally hoped for but we were sold in 4 months. Chess moving were fantastic, the team were friendly, polite, knowledgeable and hardworking. They way they fought to get all of our belongings in that container was nothing short of a miracle! Insurance was taken out with Letton Percival. we had a motorbike and household goods from a 4 bed house and the premium was about £470.00. After completion we had a holiday rental for a week in order to tie up loose ends and to ensure I had sold my car. Ironically my car sold straight away so we actually did not need that long! STILL waiting for my deposit back from the holiday rental. Not a very nice place to be honest and the owner is now as scarce as hen's teeth!! Funnily enough though she was very attentive during the booking process!! Believe she has been mentioned on here before, I should have paid attention to that! Our dog flew out on 6/3, big shout out to Lewis at Dogtainers who was wonderful and the crew at the animal centre in Dubai. She coped with the journey really well. We flew on 7/3, empty plane, great for lounging! Stayed at the Britannia Country Hotel near Manchester airport, dog friendly, great rooms, bar and restaurants so I recommend them. Be careful when renting a car, we had booked and paid to a car online but when we came to pick it up and mentioned that we had moved back here, and in effect had no fixed address (because they asked us) they refused to give us the car, not good with 6 cases, 2 kids and a dog awaiting pickup!! PM for details of that company. Went to another rental company and got a car!! Subsequently got a refund from first company but still not happy about that! We are now in Matlock, in Derbyshire, so beautiful, weather has been fantastic, even had frost which the kids were thrilled about. The countryside and walks are wonderful. All of us are loving being able to walk without the fear of deadly creatures! The job hunt has started and this will dictate where we finally settle. Had some positive feedback but nothing concrete yet. We were advised to set up on LinkedIn, so maybe think about doing that just before you get here. Also if you know which county you are going to and have school aged kids go on the Councils website and apply for places. We didn't know you had to do this and this has subsequently delayed the school start date. Also note that if you intend to put your children back a year due to the differences in the school year start dates you have to put a special application in with the Council. Our children had just started years 7 and 9 in February so we thought it would be a good idea to put them back to 6 and 8 for the remainder of this school year and start in 7 and 9 in September. Had we known that (a) you have to register online for a school place and (b) you have to put a special application in for out of year enrolment we would have done it prior to our arrival!! All in all, so far a very positive experience. Happy to be home, meeting up with friends and family has been wonderful but is not the sole reason for our return. We returned for US. I feel like a whole weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I know we have a way to go with the job hunt and then the house and then possibly more schools if we move away from here. Sorry for the long post but hopefully some readers will gain from it!!!! J😀

I can tell that it will not work for you. Your thread title pretty much summed it up for me. "Bemused", I was also underwhelmed and thought is this it?.... I would guess British Expats are made up of a third who genuinely love it and it all works perfectly for them, another 3rd are so determined to make it work that they slog through the wobbles and convince themselves that they did the right thing - they are the ones that compensate for their insecurities by splashing out on toys like jet skis and jacuzzis to reward themselves in the hope that their homesickness fades - they lock it away in the back of their mind. The other 3rd pretty much know from the 1st 6 months that they don't belong and take the pragmatic approach. The acceptance that it was a mistake for me was like a load off my back. Telling everyone was slightly tedious with them all telling you how crappy the UK is and how fantastic Australia is but you need to follow your instinct. Even landing back in the UK when the whole enormity of what you did hits you, the huge lump of money spunked, getting back in the system, banks, schools, house, doctors,... It a stressful period but for me well worth it in the end. I now live in SE London, just an average outer london suburb but a million miles from the typical suburban hell you mention above. We have good pubs, micro pubs, restaurants, shops, schools, surgeries, coffee shops.. all a short walk away. A bus takes 20mins (stopping every 10 yards!!) to the O2 areana or Greenwich town center, blackheath common, greenwich park. 20mins on a train into Charring Cross, Rugby clubs, football clubs, 1 hour to the coast, 20 mins to bluewater. The social life is whatever you want it to be, walk in a pub you have never been in and within minutes you are chatting to new friends. I think I am the luckiest man alive, I live in the best city in the best country in the world, my kids are happy, the missus is happy the dog and cat are happy. Forget about the Aussie dream being shattered, start building your new dream!! (sorry about the poor grammer,puncuation but I have a raging hang over)

One of the things you have to realise is that Australia is different, and it won't change because you miss the English system which in many ways is better and more efficient. Every single day i see something that the UK does better, but it's getting out of that habit of comparison that is crucial to your future if you decide to stay. If the UK was that good, it would have a better quality of life, the population would be wealthier, healthier and happier, but any comparison you can find says that just isn't the case (overall). There are horses for courses, but maybe the more relaxed perspective over here is actually beneficial, although frustrating at times. It took me a long time to realise that I was trained to respond like a monkey in the UK and see the bad side in everything, when there are more important things in life that i was missing and at the time, didn't care about. If you're British trained in health with experience, you should get on very very well here, and that will stand you in good stead when you find your feet and break through the cultural barrier. 5 years ago we were down to our last $2000 and I, being the partner of the VISA holder had taken 6 months to find a job as i had nothing lined up, couldn't get an interview. Very depressing, very worrying and I was falling into the same sort of "what the hell is going on" frame of mind. 5 years later, we're citizens, have a house, earning enough money to aim to pay off a 30 year mortgage in 6 years. We have money to invest which we never had in the UK, we have cars each, better health, better food, and we're 100% happier for feeling we've achieved something that really wasn't going to be possible in the UK. I miss the pub, miss the closeness of mates, a good balti, the football away trips, the sarcasm and pointed humour, even the whinging and blind optimism to bad news. But for me it's a much nicer place to go back for a holiday and actually do the things i want to do, than have to live there and try and build a life. Australia is a huge place and it's not the same everywhere you go. Take a look at the greenness and wetness going on in QLD and Northern NSW at the moment, then have a look at the South East corner about 400 miles long for spectacular coastline, views and mountains..and your 4 distinct seasons. It's all on the doorstep.

Tigger chillaxing, which is all he ever seems to do

My boy has just got his skippers ticket .... only minor problem is we don't own a boat lol

Radiography is a great course imo! If I didn't want to do nursing so much that would probably be my next choice . I WISH I was getting my own bathroom! I don't mind sharing in a house though. I live with someone (family) who spends 2 hours in the bathroom so it can't be any worse than that... If she's happy to stay at home then commuting is definitely a better option, just to save a load of money at least! I heard Cardiff is a great university! Ah so I guess you're a Paramedic? That must be a pretty good (but tough) job too. Maybe you could retrain when you move? Or are you set on Paramedics now? I'm 25 (almost 26) and I've had my heart set on this since I was 20 so I definitely intend to stick at it! Even if it means having horrible placement commutes and no social life!

Finally today my day after 8 years fulfill my dream I can't explain my happiness Nomination and visa applied 12/08/2016 Nomination granted 04/04/17 Visa granted. 05/04/17 Best of luck everyone

Unbelievable storm, watching it all unfold on the news was so scary just glad the death toll as been kept as low as it is. Nice that you and your area are ok considering, trees regrow nature does that.

Here we iz...160 kmh wind gusts, 26 inches of rain and squillions of broken branches. Lost 1 tree and 3 banana plants. 3 days after the cyclone, the leaves (what are left) are starting to fall due to the very soggy and boggy ground. There was no storm surge that the experts predicted... They predicted Debbie to cross the coast at 9/10 AM on Tuesday, to coincide with the very high tide. However, being a fickle female...Debbie decided to slow down to 4 kmh and landed about noon, 2 hours after the v high tide, hence, no surge. No structural damage to any homes in our village, but big damages in Ayr, Bowen and a few of the Whitsunday Islands. Hamilton experiences gusts to 262 kmh!!! Lots of flooding from Ayr, south to the NSW northern towns. Our jacaranda tree...

I am sat here worrying about @Bobj and this Cyclone.

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Hi all - I've lived in Melbourne for 7 years and like many, thoughts have crossed my mind about moving back to the UK temporarily or permanently. I love Australia, my partner and daughter are Australian and I have another little Aussie on the way. Partner is willing to move back (no visa issues). One thing I do wonder though - are people really happy when they move back? I know many who have - a couple of Ping Pongers too who state they made the right move but seem so hellbent in criticising Australia at every opportunity. I don't understand why? If they have moved on? These people also seem quite sour since they left - just going by email conversations. There is a negative slant on everything 'But we are so happy we moved back, Aus is so expensive etc'. I've noticed too that people who have moved back a while ago continue to post here? Criticise and 'warn' others about Australia, and I don't really get it if you are truly settled into your new life. I guess I'm struggling to trust people who have made the move back when they say it's great, because I wonder if they would admit if it wasn't....

Just been offered a place at college today. Time to dust off the old brain!

OMG! I just got a call from the High Commission, they asked me to upload my British Citizenship certificate and then assured me they would issue my husband's 309 and 100 this afternoon! Check out my dates! This is super quick! We are ecstatic!

I won't say where (because you never know who's reading this haha!) but Adult Nursing is she studying nursing too or something else? I could have tried to find a house share privately for cheaper, but It's awkward to arrange because I'm not living near the city and it'd still be a gamble as to who I'm living with. I can put down preferences such as living with mature or other health care students and hope I get lucky haha. Also the house share would only be with 2 or 3 other people so it's not too bad. I just want to live with people who are clean and tidy and don't make loads of noise in the evening. In second year I hope to share with people on my course.

IKNOWCB.....5 months until I move to uni! That still seems like a while away but I'm so excited already. Applications open for accommodation today. I'm applying to stay in their houses rather than halls, so fingers crossed I get what I want... don't think I'm down with the 18 year olds anymore, I like my sleep too much

Stufftif...but I know it is a poor photo. When 'Debbie' knocked the power in Central Coastal Qld, Jo lit a candle and put it on the coffee table in front of the tv screen, resulting in a beaut set of spectra Cheers, Bobj.

Instead of asking others the best way is to ask yourself which one is and will be better for you.

Nothing in the rule book says you have to like it! I reckon you know fairly quickly if it will be for you or not. If you're footloose and fancy free then please yourself, cut and run and retrieve what you can of your old life before it is out of reach. It's much harder when you have a whole family to consider. I always chuckle at the "Australia Dream" thing - it's just another first world country as far as I can see.

Long story short but I tracked down someone who lives near @Bobj and they were so lovely and went to check up on him today. I didn't get chance to chat as the phone cut off but he and Jo are alive and kicking so that's all I'm bothered about and their house is structurally ok. I wish I was there with them I feel so helpless but the roads are still cut off up there. Just feel relieved.

lovely meal at Rossie's house ...

Bottler is coming stay with me this weekend...... getting excited! Wonder what us "Senior Citz" can get up to! Answers on a postcard please.

no way I would sleep outside even in a tent ... too much wildlife inside and out ... this afternoon I have filled up the boot of my car with some of the logs I had to move out of my shed during the fire season ... after I unloaded them I saw a skink / gecko running up the back of my back seat ... should be fun driving into Midland tomorrow ...

End (or at least climax) of the story... This week Sue and I received our Australian citizenship at a ceremony in North Sydney council chambers, and celebrated with friends and family. Friends have asked if we were excited etc. The honest answer is, Very happy, yes, but the real excitement and sense of achievement came when we finally got our permanent residence (Aged Parent) visas and moved to Oz in 2012 – this was just the icing on the cake that rounded everything off. Good luck and good fortune to all who follow...

Hi everyone. Missed you all

People can be quite blinkered and also defensive. Migrating is not easy and I would always say to people think long and hard before moving countries. Often just moving within the UK can make a real difference, even in the weather. Some bits of the UK get less rain than Adelaide! I love the UK and I love Australia. They are different and we are finding it hard to choose! We will get our Oz citizenship this year and that will give us options. We are in our mid 50 s and financially it makes sense to base ourselves in the UK but we will always want to come back here for extended periods. Hate is a very destructive emotion and often obscures something else.......

I wonder why people get so worked up about these things.

back inside after pruning my roses ... something is eating the leaves ... not holes but straight cuts ... looked it up on Google ... all I could see was leaf cutting bees ...

Glad that you're safe and well hope the recovery is a smooth one.

I would have had a swimming pool at the door @Bobj . I am so glad to have you back with us

Trenches dug, services almost up to build zone soakwells installed and piped ready for connections bricks delivered and set out for builders. We also have toilet facilities on site now so we know it's begun can stop pinching each other now.

I have a see food diet...

Also some people order food off eBay

Messing around on the internet after spending the afternoon painting the garage window and digging up weeds. Why is it that the minute you put your house on the market you suddenly notice all the half done jobs?

I regretted dumping my lovely leather boots because it was supposed to be warm all the year round ( in Melbourne? Gotta be kidding!) Wish we'd have brought the cat because it died soon after we left in the charge of m-i-law. Our bedroom suite - in those days the things on offer here were disgusting but things have definitely improved in that respect.

We brought everything and were glad we did, I regret getting rid of somethings (not major but memories attached) in the big declutter and sell phase.

Busy packing suitcases for our next cruise. Fly to Dubai tomorrow for a few days, then sailing from there to Venice. It is a tough life.

Woohoo the like button is back