Selah

Yes you do need to link your visa to your new passport (and THEN it will be electronic )

According to the immigration office in Adelaide, yes paper applications take longer. I recently applied on separate applications for my 17 year old and then for myself and other 3 children online. I received email with interview date within a week and the interview/test was approx. 3 weeks later. Selah

Funny you should bring this up. We came 4 years ago (yes 4) and brought the kids bunk beds from Argos (I think...) After 4 years of complaining how uncomfortable they were I finally (when we just moved) realised that the mattresses we purchased here are just a fraction bigger and as such don't fit inside the bed frame. My children have been tilted for 4 years. Yes I AM a good mother.... Liz

That's great! We're eligible on 25th November and I have 16 year old who is starting Uni in Feb so REALLY helpful if hers could go through!

My heart goes out to you as not everyone understands the joys, blessings and challenges of being in a cross-cultural marriage! The reality is that one of you will always be 10,000 miles away from family or friends. At some time both of you will face the challenge of a death, illness or other family tragedy and quite probably that person will be in the "wrong" country. Have you ever noticed that being a parent breeds guilt (you're working, not working. too much time with kids or not enough) and ironically being the child also breeds guilt (spending too little time or too much...) There is a strong possibility that whichever you choose - you will still feel a certain amount of guilt - that you left or perhaps resentment that you stayed. Ultimately the choice is yours and I know my parents have always urged me to do what I thought was best for my nuclear family. I should explain that I'm a US citizen married to a Brit who has now emigrated to Australia so my parents have faced me being 3000 miles away for 13 years while we were in England prior to the past 4 being 11,000 away here in Australia. Last January we had the opportunity to go to US for a few years and we went for a reccie. The greatest gift my mother gave to me was saying she didn't think it was right for us and we already decided it wasn't. It wasn't easy for her and she cried. Will I look back and wish we had gone? Perhaps. Do I wish we were closer so that my 3 children have the same relationship with them that my nieces and nephew have had? Yes, quite possibly. However, do I regret the lifestyle we had in the UK w/o them or here? No, I do not. I echo what someone else said. What will you say to your children? Because one of the gifts you are giving them is dual citizenship and therefore they will face the same issue. I am raising children with US, Australian and British Passports. I can GUARANTEE that I will be the parent left behind at some point. BUT I have promised them that I will encourage them to live where THEY want to because I want them to have the opportunities that we had to choose our own adventure. There will also be friends and family who don't agree. However, the only thing you can control is how YOU react - not how they do. Best of luck!

I'm the one the movers talk about. The one who woke up with a sinking feeling the Friday before a Monday departure and 3 days AFTER the container left to realise they had asked my for a picture of my husband's passport and I put it in the printer, closed the top, took the copy and walked out of the room as they packed the printer. Yes. 3 days prior to departure - On a weekend - WHILE we were in Cornwall no where near London - AND scheduled to arrive the last possible day we could to validate the visa - I realise one passport is on its way with out us. stay neurotic. You might have forgotten something LOL!

I'm not reading the entire thread but I'll be non-ozzie to say please don't buy a kia carnival. We loved it for the size. Bought a 2005 in 2009 for 14,000 put 5K in within the first year (after we find out head gaskets go notoriously in Kia's.) Ended up selling for scap in 2011 for $1500 so a hefty $17K mistake. Kia said the head gasket problem stopped in 2003's but you will find loads of people like us who had the problem in 2004 and above. I was horrified with customer service and the response from their head office and dealers. They wanted to sell us a new one but wouldn't take part exchange of their own brand. Liz

We wished we had brought it all over and put it in a 6.5% savings account as it would have made the difference between the house we wanted and the one we got. We waited in November 2009 as exchange rate had recently dropped under two and by the time we exchanged to buy our house in June 2010 it was 1.70. The reality is the economy doesn't seem to be improving that rapidly over there and it's staying the same or improving here. My inlaws who have ping ponged have always said better to take the plunge and move forward not looking back than try and wait out the storm. Liz