Selah

Hi all.

 

I lodged an application for a renewal of my passport on the 29th Mar and old passport/paperwork was sent by courier and arrived on the 4th April, I have called them a few times and they are absolutely useless, I was supposed to be flying to HK tomorrow morning but my passport doesn't seem to have left the UK let alone arrived in Perth, is anyone else currently waiting a long time or is it just me? the website advises at least 4 weeks from receipt of docs and on Friday it will be 6 weeks,

 

On a seperate note do I need to link my visa to the new passport or is it all electronic now?

 

Cheers

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

would like to know if paper application for citizenship takes much longer to get interview/test date ...

 

hope anyone with recent paper based application could share experience, thanks.

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

Hi, was planning on bringing my kids bunk beds in the container. Does anyone know if the mattress sizes are different in Australia. Here in UK single mattress is 3ft wide. :-)

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

Thank You Jalils! It has really been a fast process for me. I was advised it could take up to 3 months for the test and up to 6 months for the ceremony but all worked out pretty fast. And yes! It's an urgent ceremony for Uni.

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!

Passports & sunnies :cool:

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!