abz123

Ok so the economy isn't as strong as it has been but the world seems to hate that we rode out the GFC better than anyone else. I don't want this to drag down into politics (as it invariably will) but like it or not, the government intervention at the time kept Australia out of recession.

Hi If it is proceeds from the sale your principal private residence (i.e. your family home) then no, it is not taxable anywhere. If you use one of the broker companies that advertise on here (Ozforex or Moneycorp) they will ask you to declare the source of the money in which case you tell them it is proceeds from the sale of your property. They will ask so that they are not money laundering on your behalf. Either of the above brokers have good reputations on this site (I personally used Moneycorp) and will give you a better exchange rate than your high street bank will. Edit: A piece of advice, give your bank (or whoever is holding the money at the moment) a letter before you leave advising them that you will give verbal instruction by phone to have the proceeds transferred to whoever you decide to use to handle it before you leave the country. We had some issues with out bank in that respect.

Based on a quick google search a 40 foot container is 67.7 cubic metres so that's probably what you are looking at. That's the "standard" big container that you see on the back of lorries. We had some overspill on ours (bad estimating by shipper) but it should be adequate as we brought everything except the kitchen sink as we "had the space" according to the rep. Shippers should come and give you a free quote so give one a shout and they should be able to give you an idea as to whether the tools can come (and the cleanliness level required) prior to shipping. edit: we moved a 4 bed house with separate dining room and two large sofas from our conservatory.

I thought so too. I had to get letters from past employers confirming that I had been employed in the occupation I was submitted the application under.

Anyone done the test with the small 9 volt batteries (like the ones that go in smoke alarms) where you put the two terminals on your tongue :tongue:? Tastes kind of "fizzy" :arghh: but can actually hurt, so please don't try this one at home - especially the younger members on here.

Kettle - daily Nespresso machine - daily Toaster - daily Iron - too bl**dy often :arghh: Kettle and toaster are UK imports that still have Aussie adapters on them as are the toastie machine, stick blender, electric whisk, slow cooker etc. which don't come out of the cupboard very often - yeah, the only thing that didn't make the container really was the kitchen sink!

Two pieces of glass with a vacuum (or inert gas) between them so same idea as a Thermos flask and yes, becoming more common here also as a sound insulator but silly prices at the moment.

They are not fundamentally different other than they tend to go with the American "resume" rather than use CV but terms are both used. Google will give you examples of differences but to be honest, I did not change the format of my CV to any great extent.

And if things haven't changed (which they may well have) you would need to be under 45 at the time of application to be granted a permanent resident visa so the clock is ticking depending on which one of you would be the primary applicant.

I believe some countries like to see it in your passport before leaving to return to Oz even though they should be able to check this electronically.

Still doing PAYG almost 4 years later! Some people don't like Vodafone in Oz (well, a lot really!) but had no issues with them in Perth metro and your $ credit (as opposed to free minutes/texts) can be used for international calls. Telstra has the best overall coverage for Australia as a whole but there is a bit of a cost premium as a result. if you are planning on unlocking handsets it will be cheaper to get this done in the UK

I'm a plus one for Crown despite a couple of niggles that we sorted out amicably. We did have to claim on insurance for a couple of items (fortunately nothing of sentimental value) and that was handled well but could have been avoided if they had read the "do not place heavy items on top of leather suite" when they emptied the container at this end and caused crush damage to it when re packing it for delivery. (Short time spend in storage prior to contents being delivered) Packers were first rate at the packing stage but delivery guys maybe a bit less friendly when we got here but still professional.

Not sure. Guess for some sort of statistical purposes. From memory it was questions around how long had it taken to find work, was I still working for the same employer as the last time we had spoken etc. I guess if they are issuing visas they want to gauge how successful their migration policies are. I did come over on an occupation that was on the CSL (Critical Skills List) at the time so maybe that had something to do with their interest in me.

Can't comment from a 176 perspective but we came over on PR 175 and I received the paper questionnaire and one (maybe 2) follow up calls from DIAC but follow up certainly stopped before 24 months as far as I can remember. and yep, they had no problems keeping up with address change without being notified for the reasons Goochie gives

I am finally approaching my 4 years in Oz and have started looking into the Citizenship process. My understanding from the official website is that you submit the application and upload the required docs, sit the test, wait for the decision to be made, attend a citizenship ceremony to recite the pledge and become a citizen. Reading between the lines it looks like this could take six months or more end-to-end but I was looking for advice from anyone who has been through the process recently. Is there a requirement for another police check from the UK - I haven't been back more than a few weeks during this time - or do I just need the Australian one? Also, it states that you must be in Australia when the decision is made and this is the big one for me as I have an offer to return to the UK for a few months to work on a contract with an old boss/friend. Is this one hard and fast as my issue would be that if I delay the application until after the UK work then I will probably fail the "no more than 90 days in the year prior to application" test and then take the pain of having to apply for a resident return visa if I needed to travel outside Australia again. My gut feel is to just go for my citizenship and politely decline the UK work.

How many bottles and are they already open or still sealed in their packages? Might be easier to hand carry or put in your suitcase if you are saying you don't have a lot. Other thing to consider is the temperate extremes they will go through in transit so may be "off" at the other end regardless of the answer to the first question. shipper is probably just covering their own back for their licence.

I don't want to seem like a pedant but try and make sure you use the correct stationery/stationary, their/there/they're, principle/principal etc. in your written paper as this demonstrates your understanding of the English language. I also heard that a misspelt answer in the listening section would be a wrong answer e.g. Goverment (missing n) but don't know if that is true or just a scare story.

I hope you are not involved in Treasury forecasts: 45% of 50,000 is 22,500.

Think you might actually want to check the facts with the Principal​...