calNgary

We flew with a just turned 3 year when we came years ago. My biggest tips would be- -Dont let them sleep unless you are in the air. - Take their fav reading and colouring books. - If flying with your spouse/ partner, take turns entertaining, to give each other break. - Have plenty of snacks on hand. Overall it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. Good luck Cal x

Most people seem to book a holiday let or short term let for the first month. This will give you time to look for, view and secure a longer term rental. To secure a rental most of which are a 12mth lease you will need to provide ID and a covering letter explaining your new to the country hence have no aussie history. We have quite a few threads on the forum about what sort of ID and paperwork to provide but yell if you get stuck. When to buy is personal choice, some people rent for a few months and then buy ,others rent for a few years. Cal x

TV has improved here from when we first arrived. We dont have any pay TV other than Netflix on the Telstra T Box but we are never short of something to watch in the evening. In fact Channel 9Rush is a big favorite in our house and on 90% of the time the TV is on, they have some good shows on there. Cal x

I think this info you found is probably correct,,, i have just had a google and found similar - 'Shorter periods where the applicant has travelled outside the specified areas (other parts of Australian or overseas) will not result in a breach of their conditions or be subtracted from their 2 years if it is no more than 4 weeks duration for each year. The total of 4 weeks is permitted to match the annual leave component in Australia. Short travels for holidays will not be considered a cessation of residence. For example, in Mateo’s case, his stay in the UK was only for 4 weeks during his annual leave. If you have travelled back home and stayed there longer than 4 weeks at one stretch or more than 4 weeks during a 12 month time span, it would be wise to lodge the 887 visa application at a later date to make up more residency time in Australia.'

As you are not sure what you want to do and you are still relatively young i would not go anywhere until you have citizenship. This gives you a lot more flexibility in the future without jumping through hoops. It also seems like you have a pretty good boss /job so be wary of throwing that away. Maybe once you have citizenship ,have a trip back. You do quite often read how people who miss friends etc go back to find their friends have moved on and its harder to slot back into the life you had. I think you do need that trip back to decide where you want to settle. Lots of luck with everything Cal x

Hi The licencing may vary depending on which State are you headed for. Have a read of these links as i think they will answer a lot of your questions. This link is for QLD but explains the High Risk Work licence (HRW) - https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/licensing-and-registrations/work-health-and-safety-licences/apply-renew-or-replace-licences/apply-for-a-high-risk-work-licence These go into more detail on the actual scaffolding licence, it seems there are a few different divisions depending on what sort of scaffolder you are / want to be - https://constructiontraining.com.au/courses/scaffolding-courses.html https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/scaffolding#:~:text=and Scaffolding Work.-,Competency and licensing,scaffolding high-risk work licence. https://www.licences4work.com.au/scaffolding-licences Hope this helps and good luck with everything Cal x

Try and get double glazed, i don't think its just your windows that are rubbish, i think its the majority of houses here ! I have heard it is expensive compared to normal windows but i am yet to come across a house that doesnt have drafts via the windows,lol, I know if we replaced ours we would look into it. Cal x

I think the OP is saying they want room/ acreage like they had in the UK, so have been put off other places (in this case Perth) due to imagining it to be very built up. Cal x

Totally agree with this, we insulated the roof a few years ago and it makes a lot of difference. Cal x

I am by far a visa expert but just had a quick read on this and from what i can see your visa can only be cancelled if its proven you had no intention to stay with that employer and so applied fraudulently. This write up specifically does say - ''When an employer feels used and abused in the ENS process by their employee, yes they quite often do tell the department. This does not mean the department takes any action to follow up with the employee. In fact in the last 20 years we have never seen or heard of that occurring. I’ve seen many of examples of the department trying cancel an PR holder who obtained their residency through RSMS (187) but never for those who obtained it via the ENS (186) program.'' https://www.australiavisa.com/immigration-news/186-ens-employment-contract/ As i say ,i am no expert only letting you know what Google is throwing at me but a few different places seem to say the same thing. Cal x

I agree with Marissa, reverse cycle is quite cost effective in comparison to electric heaters. We dont use ours all the time through winter, maybe a couple of hours at night and an hour in the morning when its most chilly and i havent really noticed much of an increase in my power bill. We do have solar though. Up until getting air con a couple of years ago,we had a wood fire and to be honest nothing can beat it for that cosy affect and heating the whole house, but it can be a PITA gathering wood, cleaning the fire out etc. I must have got lazy as this last couple of years ive found it much easier to click the 'on' button on the air con,lol.. Cal x

When this post was made no one knew what the future held and we were in / going into a hard lock down so the info given at the time was quite correct. If the question was asked now, then the answer you quoted would no doubt be totally different. Cal x

I think if you are down playing how much you want to be here in Aus, you need to start planning a move back. You certainly wont be the first family to move back to Aus. Would your children have an adult figure in the UK if they choose to stay there and you moved? You mentioned you would miss your friends ,so i was just wondering if they are close friends who could help your children in an emergency if the need arose. How old is your youngest? Cal x

Why does your boss not want to supply the required documents? Cal x

I have removed the screenshot for you Cal x

As some members have requested the rules to be relaxed again as time has now passed, we have been allowing a little liency here and there before making a set decision, testing the water so to speak. Quite a few threads have mentioned covid as the thread has progressed and been fine. Unfortunately this thread has become an example of why the rules have not been relaxed. so on that note it will be closed. Cal x

This thread is not in CTF and some posts have been removed. Cal x

Quite a lot of arrivals seem to stay at the Westin in Brisbane CBD for their quarantine. The ones you see there with kids look to have pretty big rooms, its just crap you cant leave the room and use the facilities but just keep thinking you have a lifetime to do that once your free,haha. Good luck with it all and keep us updated. Cal x

Bless you, it is certainly a stressful time moving across the world and with COVID chucked into the mix, i can only imagine how you are feeling about it all. We have a couple of threads going from those who have moved the move and done the quarantine and they have all said it's not that bad. Where are you flying into? Cal x

Hi Im not sure where your partner is flying into but this link tells what to do 'before' you arrive and what to expect 'when' you arrive etc. It is for Brisbane though https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/protect-yourself-others/quarantine/planning-for-your-quarantine-stay-when-arriving-from-overseas#before-you-arrive Cal x

What do you mean ' free tests'' ? Do you currently have to pay to have a test????? Cal x

Not sure, i never renewed ours ,we just got Aussie ones as soon as citizenship was through Cal x

We used out of date ones and it didnt affect our application. Cal x

When where you last there Paul? Its grown loads over the last 12/18 mth and i think the population of Toowoomba is now somewhere around 120.000. Its no longer that little town you want to just drive through. I am only mentioning it to give the flip side as if i was the OP your comments would scare the hell out of me right now. I haven't spent lots of time there, more just stopping for food and a leg stretch when passing through but i do know a couple of families who have moved from the Gold Coast to there and are very happy. Personally i would rather raise my children in somewhere like Toowoomba than on the Gold Coast if they were my 2 choices. Cal x

LOL, We did the same, just got Aussie ones and never renewed the UK ones. When flying to UK, Spain, Amsterdam and the Canary Islands we have had no problems and found passport control was wayyy quicker too. Cal x