WeGottaGetOuttaThisPlace

I thought you only needed to get a Statutory Declaration from any non migrating parents and that the migrating biological parents only have to complete the form 1229. Is this right? I am about to send off all the certified docs and the application form/police checks but have now read some people did a Statutory Declaration as well as form 1229... I am just worried if I send off the paperwork and then Case Officer comes back and says we need Stat Dec too. Anyone else apply for Child Visa 101 with only the form 1229? Thanks

Just realised I didn't come back to this one. Obviously, it didn't work as they were only our case officer for the 176 visa and it was granted years ago. Just sent the forms off to Australia House for the update re the new passports and currently applying for the 101. Thanks for the help!

Thank you

PS Sorry if this has already been cleared up but I just can't find a definitive answer - lots of conflicting advice... I don't want to waste £90 when we are struggling to pay for the visa application and medicals already Thanks

Just getting the Child Visa app under way as we are still here in the UK and new baby needs a visa. I am wanting to double check something. With our main visa applications 5 years ago we just got the police checks done by the local Police Station for about £20 each but have been told we now need to get the ACRO Police Checks now as they have changed the rules since we applied. http://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx Anyone else confirm this is the case please? Thanks :arghh:

Thanks. I am panicking! Didn't realise we could do the tourist visa if it's not through in time.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I am stuck again.... We are WAY behind in applying for child visa for our new baby. Our visas run out Dec 2013 but we still have to get a visa for our little one. We have filled in the application form as best we can and are in the process of getting the documents all certified. I am just trying to find out what we need to send off with the initial application form.. Is it: Cert copy birth certificates for myself and hubby Cert copy birth certificate for new baby Cert copy passport main visa holder (eg OH) Cert copy passport new baby Application form and Stat Dec Form Visa application fee cheque/credit card form The medicals and police checks go later don't they? Also, is it originals and not cert copies for these??? Thanks for any advice on this. I am starting to panic as I have heard it can take up to a year to get the child visa just now :shocked: so I am worried we have left it too late... I am not even sure how we are going to get to Oz but the clock is ticking now and it's this year or never. Can't believe our visas have nearly run out and we are still here.

thanks so much! That link is great - I needed to know what to enter in the job field so that is going further than I had hoped! Fab

Thanks for the replies. Snifter that is an idea - I could always move in with my Dad with the kids for a while and OH could head out to get work first. Might put that idea to him when he gets in tonight! THanks

We have been dipping into our savings over the past few years as we have a young family so I am home with the kids as it was too expensive for me to go back to my menial job. Hubby is a joiner and has been paid off countless times over past 5 years and his current contract comes to an end at the end of this year. Our visas expire end of next year but to even get to Oz it will take most of our life savings and the rest will be spent funding the first 6 months over there in the hopes that hubby gets a decent job and we can afford to live. Is it worth it? I don't really know what the alternative is tho.... stay here and watch the work dry up spending our savings on the mortgage/food/bills then running out of money here anyways.... AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGH! AM HAVINGA CRISIS TODAY! Too much time to think.... :sad:

Thanks Nicola. You are right - it's not about the money but feeling ready to go. I have to say we have been ready to go but not actually managed to do anything about it out of fear of the unknown but now the visas are going to expire it's like a big push to go. We don't want to have to go through the whole visa application again so are going to go for Child Visa 101 for new bubs and just go for it... Thanks for the tips. We haven't sold the house yet so haven't actually managed to get to the stage of getting a few quotes then haggling so I will def keep that in mind. I am just one of those people who wants to know what is going to happen next in minute detail and then even if you have something mapped out it never goes the way you planned it anyway. There are always unexpected hurdles that we have to get through... I just want to be realistic about how much it is going to cost and make sure we have some cash left over for when we actually get there. I remember back in 2005 we had pretty much chosen a fab apartment in the CBD, got the keys and everything and loved it then realised it was a long term lease when we only wanted 10 months or so n ended up forking out double for a smaller apartment (in a fabulous area we can never afford now!) cos it was "short term" since it was under 12 months lease! The bond was huge too... Just these things that pop up unexpectedly are easier to deal with when you are a young couple with full time work but as a family of 4 and I am home with the kids it just seems to becoming impossible to imagine being able to afford it... Then again I can't work out how we can afford to live here in our UK house either so.... I don't know what to do :arghh:

Ok... I am starting to think we can't even afford to get there so what is the point in worrying myself sick over not being able to afford the rent/school/health insurance/food/bills n all that jazz... My other half def has rose tinted specs on about the year we spent in Melbourne as it was a working holiday, the exchange rate for £1 to AUD$2.50 and we rented a furnished apartment in South Yarra! We will never be in that position again and our 176 visas run out December next year. I am terrified as we have 2 kids and no money. Our house is one of 4 for sale in our street alone and the last house to sell was a repossession that went for 30,000 under market value We really need to make some money from the house sale so renting while we're emigrating isn't really an option... Sorry, I digress... I have been looking into the cost of even making it to Australia (state sponsored by Victoria so heading to Melbourne) and am just wondering if anyone can tell me how much it cost to get there recently and how much you advise we should have since we have to support ourselves until we get an apartment/house and find full time employment. Getting the 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kids under 4) around £4,000 air fare. Shipping a 20ft container with essentials that we can't afford to buy when we get there eg tv's, furniture, tools for hubbies work) £6,000 Then we have to buy a car when we get there too... That will be a 2nd hand car plus insurance etc... Then I have to think about furnished accommodation for a couple of months while we try to get settled and find work... I will have to budget for bills and everything. I actually don't think we can afford to get there now. Or if we get there we will arrive, buy the car and pay the bond for apartment rental then that's it. No money left Any advice PLEASE please PLEEEEEAAASSSEEE! Looks like the reality is about to hit home and we're not going to get there. We are about to apply for a child visa for the new baby which will cost around £1,000 too since we have been waiting for things to get better before making the final move and we are just as stuck as we were 4 years ago when we got the visa and the markets crashed I am depressed and a bit :arghh: Please help :twitcy:

Good idea. I will let our 176 case officer know and see if they can help us. Thanks!

Fantastic! Also, you must be psychic because I was just searching for the answer to "Where do I send Change of Circs form 929?"!!! We just had our passports renewed and need to let DIAC know. Thanks for your post. Brilliant.

We are still in the UK about to apply for Child Visa 101 for our new baby. I just had a thought though - should I have told DIAC that we have another child now since you are meant to inform them of any change of circumstances or will applying for the 101 visa be the next step? If I do have to tell them, who do I contact? THanks in advance

Ach bummer. Thanks very much for that. I'll have to get a whole bunch of docs certified for the child visa application so will get the photos done then too. Wish we had just moved back in 08 when we got the visas granted. Down with procrastination....

Thanks for the reply. I suppose that is the best idea... I will look out the visa grant letter and see what it says. I don't mind waiting until we are in Australia and get married later on if we want to - once we are settled. I just thought I would try to find out if anyone else had been in the same situation as there seem to be quite a few of us who got our visas at the time the markets crashed and have been hanging on here in the UK waiting for things to get better/houses to sell/pound to grow stronger and basically it's been a waste of time.

ok.... We are still in the UK and have been waiting for house prices to go back up before selling up and emigrating. We have been since we got our visas in 2008. Prices have never recovered and our visas expire next year so we are just going to put the house on the market and go. The only thing is my fiance would love for us to get married before we go and our reception could double up as a big farewell party. If we do get married before we make the final move to Oz what would we need to do wrt letting DIAC know? Anyone else get married after visa granted?

We have our visas but are still STILL in the UK-thanks to the recession and house not selling/"holding on to see if things get better" only for them to get worse- so are just going to go for it and make the move anyway. Thing is, we just had a baby and need to get him a visa so we need to get our police checks done again... In the case of Scottish Police checks is it still a Subject Access Request and £10 payment? Also, what ID do they need? Will a certified copy of passports do? Thanks soooooooo much in advance

Thanks to everyone for keeping us up to date with how you are getting on with this. It looks like we are highly likely to be here in the UK for our baby's due date since it looks like the houses round here are still completely stagnant in the market. We will have to get a few things done in the house before it is likely to sell for anything more than we paid for it originally. Anyway, without going off topic thanks again for the updates and best of luck getting the visa asap.

We got Huggies for our baby when we were on reccie and they were fab. Huggies in the UK leak for us but the ones in Oz were WAY better than the ones here in my opinion. We just didn't have room in the suitcase for the amount of nappies we needed for a few weeks holiday. Hope you enjoy the holiday!!!

Thanks for posting this question - I too have been struggling to find the info we are looking for. Wow - I am totally shocked at the costs involved here... We have 176 visa and were planning on emigrating a couple of years ago but the economy situation meant we have not been able to sell our house or save anything and we are still here in the UK. On top of that, we would like to try for another baby and were putting it off until we got to Australia but of course time is marching on, the visa expires 2013 and we are getting older so it looks like we may be facing having a baby here and having to add them to the visa. :arghh: What happens if your child is not granted the visa before the expiry date of your visas??? Yikes. We are in trouble now... I'll be watching this thread!!!