ozziepom

Hi, I'm trying to figure out when my wife and me are eligible to apply for citizenship, I've done the immi wizard and it says now, but I thought it wasn't until next May. First my wife. Came to Aus for a holiday 2008 for 3 weeks. Holiday visited again 2009 - 2 weeks. 176 granted Nov 2009, arrived as PR May 2010. Been overseas 5 times since then, all for a 2-3 weeks each, 2 trips in the last year total 5 weeks. When I put this into the wizard (with accurate dates) it comes back with "You may be eligible for Australian citizenship - General eligibility" Thing is, 4 years is not up until May 2014, from the date of arrival as a PR? I put the "first arrived lawfully" as 2008, we had a visa, even though it was a holiday one. The help says "Please enter the date when you first arrived lawfully in Australia. You arrived lawfully if you held an Australian visa." My history is as above, but this is my 2nd time as a PR, I lived here for 4 years in the 90's then went back, PR lapsed and had to get it again, how I wish I'd got citizenship then but there you go. I'm keen to apply as soon as possible and would love to do it on Australia Day, but thought I had another 6 months to go? Any suggestions or should I call them?

Back in 2010 I was in the line for an unsponsored visa (175), had all of the points/skills etc to apply for one, however the wait was long and the conditions kept changing. I was advised my my agent (well known and respected on here) that if I knew which state I planned to move to, I could make the process quicker by going for SS. This we did and where granted it by Vic, the only state I applied to, some other people where applying to 3 or more states. Just after this the rules and queue order was changed a number of times, at one stage a lot of people who were weeks away from visa grant suddenly got dropped to the bottom of the queue, the threads on this forum were full very upset people at the time and I don't blame them, some had sold houses etc. But, I was lucky, this was when the Critical Skills List came out and my occupation was on it, within a couple of weeks I had Vic SS and a visa grant - the CSL was what got me in so quickly rather than the SS, from application to grant of PR took about 8 weeks, however I still intended to move to Vic and started looking for jobs. Shortly after this a friend who had moved to NSW contacted me about a job in Sydney, quite a good consulting job at an Investment Bank, I applied and got it. This was all done via phone and video conference so I had a job before arriving - quite an appealing prospect. So, I wrote to Vic and honestly explained the situation, they where great and formally released me, in writing from my commitment. We'll be eligible for citizenship in just over 6 months and I'd be amazed if this affects it, never really entered my head. I believe in honoring your word and I do feel bad that we didn't move to Vic but sometimes circumstances change and I'm very appreciative of that state's sponsorship dept for their understanding (and sponsorship), who know's we may live there one day. I did the 6 monthly survey from Vic for the first two years. I also wasn't the only one who did this at the time, the system really did push people to go for sponsorship, not sure if its the same now but for some it was the only option to get a visa, which put them in a difficult moral position I guess.

We moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast (work in Brisbane) a couple of years ago. We prefer where we live now but no real difference in people, both good and bad, just different surroundings.

Our house is on a gated community and its fine, although we don't have kids most in the area do and you see them playing around with no issues. There's also no through traffic. We didn't particularly look for gated but I have to say we like it now, regularly see security driving around which is good if you're going away, check the body corp rules as some can be quite strict, number of pets allowed, no caravans on the driveway etc, again we actually like this. I'd be a bit careful about Nerang though, without wanting to offend anyone I believe it has higher than average crime for the area.

Its not that hard, imagine being a non native English speaker who has to do it, there where heaps of them when I sat mine.

Went to fill up the car yesterday (Sun arvo). I had noticed fuel was 142.9 the day before, got to the servo and the neon sign outside said ULP was 162.9, up 20c in a day. While I was filling I noticed the pump was reading 142.9, and that's what I was charged. Mentioned to the girl inside that the sign was wrong, no she said, the price just changed. Sure enough when I got back to the pump it was 162.9. A jump of 20c/litre in a few seconds. I know the oil price is changing all the time but this was a swing of almost 15%, I get the idea that the companies put the prices up at high demand times, are there any generally good/bad times to fuel up? I spend about $130/week on petrol so it adds up over time.

Debbie, Mike here. I know of at least 3 mobs of wild roo's less than 1 km from where you live on Hope Island. 1) Opposite Marina Keys tavern, bit of bush/parkland which a large mound of soil has just been dumped on. 2) Next to Hope Island marina, near the Cova development. 3) In Saltwater park, next to Hope Island resort. There's also a few in Sanctuary cove. We see them in one or more of the above places every day, either around 7AM or 5PM. Each mob is 3-4 adults and 7-8 joeys. Hope this helps! Mike

Saw them in the states a few years ago and thought they where just OK.

We moved from Sydney to Brisbane (we live on the Gold Coast but work in Brisbane). Sydney is a fab city but it is very expensive and pretty busy. I prefer Brisbane overall but they both have amazing plus points, best to visit both before you commit!

$1.69 last time I looked to the UK pound and under .90 against the US $ (which is the lowest in 3 years). No-one has a crystal ball but I wonder how low it can go...

Its seen as posh or snobby not to look down your nose at Surfers (and I'm too old to enjoy it by night), but the Gold Coast as a whole is one of the best place in Aus to live, if you can get a job nearby. Many ignorant people think Surfers (about 2 sq miles) is the Gold Coast (about 100 square miles), a bit like thinking Brixton or Chelsea representative of the whole of greater London.

We arrived May 2010, went back for Christmas that year. Then in June 2012 and Christmas 2012, so in 3 years we've been back 3 times and are booked to go again this Christmas. Its easier for us as there's only two of us, we also find Christmas to be the best time as lots of friends & family have time off work. The big downside is our families are in the 4 corners of England & Wales so we spend a lot of every trip travelling from one place to another. As above, we always book from the UK, i.e. when we go back this coming christmas we will be on the return leg of the one we came over on last christmas, never extended it by more than a year though (we did a 1 way in 2010).

Always thought Joe Hockey was much more electable than the mad monk Mr Abbott. TBH I think a lot of folk are just sick of Labour and the Libs will get in by default, I suspect the Libs will become very unpopular shortly after taking government (big spending cuts etc).

Err - some mistake I think, the 457 changes have just been passed by parliament, at least that's what the SMH just posted on twitter. Confirmed, 457 restrictions have been happened: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/abbott-wont-block-rudd/story-fnhqeu0x-1226670630254

So, lots of people are critical of TV in Australia, especially locally produced stuff. Its understandable as with the smaller population and advertising revenue you can't expect Australian channels to match the output of the BBC or big US networks. I don't watch much TV, maybe an hour a day and mostly its stuff downloaded, we've loved "Game of Thrones", "Breaking Bad", "The Wire", "Downton Abbey", "Luther" and several more. As we have no interest in talent shows, cookery contests or home renovation competitions (which sadly seems the mainstay of the commercial networks) - the only locally produced show we usually see is the news but I wanted to ask peoples favorite Australian made TV show. I have two: 1) "Rake" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/ - black comedy/legal drama which we're absolutely loving, laugh out loud funny and clever script, with just a hint of the absurd. I really don't understand how there wasn't more buzz around this when it came out, every show I've seen so far has been an absolute cracker. 2) "The Gruen transfer" - a bit like "Have I got news for you" except about advertising, pannel are ad execs and its both funny and a real eye opener as to what the marketing industry really gets up to. I've been meaning to watch some of the "Underbelly" series, but not got round to it. Any other suggestions?

There's also Jupiters Casino on the GC (misspent some of my youth there). Poker machines (pokies) are everywhere, agree with W & W's comments above.

We're on the creek The Exchange was good and we booked a table by phoning the day before, right in front of the giant screen. Food was OK but took ages to arrive. Could be a whole different prospect with Game 2 being in Brisbane, we're probably off to the boat house in Hope Island for that one.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-sacks-cricket-coach-mickey-arthur-on-eve-of-ashes-20130624-2orlv.html

The most important things are your dates of employment and details of exactly what tasks you performed, this needs to match what the assessing body qualifies as your occupations key skills.

Possibly not, but we could potentially list a friends address.

Hypothetical question: In just under a year we become eligible to apply for citizenship having lived here as PR's for 4 years by then. We're wondering about taking a "round Australia" trip by motorhome which would mean that by the time we're eligible we would be living on the road and not have a postal address (could use a friends I suppose). Would this affect our ability to apply for, and be granted citizenship?

I'm not sure if its anything to do with Aus or just age but... I'm much less confident here, much more worried. Feel isolated, miss friends and family. Made no friends in 3 years here, just some acquaintances with work colleagues which melt away with each change of job. We have one more year until eligible for citizenship, if it wasn't for that I'm not sure we'd still be here. I'm not blaming Australia or Australians, its a wonderful country, I think maybe some settle easier than others though, and as I said on another thread, I think the older you are the harder it is.

I realise I've had longer gaps between pings & pongs - would really like to get citizenship this time as I've done PR twice from scratch and am now too old to get it again, its been much harder to make friends the 2nd time, in my 40's but now married. Honestly I think the older you are the harder it is to settle.

Not really but I see the hostels are pretty expensive, all temp accom in Brisbane is. When we first arrived we found a very nice hotel on the Gold Coast for about the price of a Brisbane hostel, if that's an option.

Wow, I went to the YK bowls club to watch Origin a couple of years ago, nice spot but not much there (or many people) at the moment, it would be a huge change for the area.