Cez

I'm not sure this can be seen as great news. I work for the state government here in NSW, our department has to make some redundancies and these aren't the middle management executives, receptionists or even admin staff, they're actually cutting frontline positions. At the same time demand for our services increases and we have more clients than ever.

Why would the UK embassy issue an Australian visa? It's quite easy to fix, she just needs to take both old and new passport to a DIAC office and they'll put a new label in the new passport.

I had a similar issue recently with my citibank card. They didn't call and I can't remember if I even got a text, I just tried to log into my online banking and couldn't access my account. My card was blocked as well. I rang up to find out what was going on, it turned out that they were alarmed by "unusual spending" on my account. Asking what on earth this could be, seeing as I have accessed this account in rural towns in India, Antigua, Nepal etc.... Turns out it was a $2.99 purchase for a PDF Lonely Planet chapter. Perplexing.

I'd do it now. They'll add up to nine months to your next passport expiry date if you renew before your current passport expires. Ie if you renew now, your new passport will be valid for ten years + nine months. It's more expensive here.

When will you be eligible for the visa, ie when will you have 12ish months of cohabitation? All I can think of is that if you apply as soon as you're eligible, then by the time you've finished your trip in Oct 2014 your visa may have been processed. I think with an onshore partner visa you can be offshore when it's granted, so you won't need to travel back but I'm not sure, maybe George can help us out with this one?

Geez, and to think there were times when the idea of being obligated to my Aussie boyfriend for two years seemed a bit harsh :biggrin:

But they may be eligible for PR on a partner visa from the start? And it may be quicker than waiting for a 187? Personally I would be more concerned about marrying smoeone who has a shadow of a doubt that I may be using them for a visa :-) Just thought it was worth flagging up as a potential option, and it means no obligation to a particular state.

Why apply for a visa with restrictions on where you live when presumably you could apply for a partner visa of some form?

I work for the NSW govt too and we are paid fortnightly ona Tjursday, next pay for us is a week next Thursday. Money lands in the account at midnight on Weds night as it were. Hope this helps!

There's an old thread here http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/67689-does-whv-count-toward-citizenship-2.html, or try here if the link is allowed http://www.australianmigrations.com/visa_citizenship_rrt.htm ​good luck! Early citizenship would be a nice treat :-)

Any lawful residence (back to a certain year, I forget when) counts towards citizenship, including working holiday and tourist visas. I'll be applying under similar circumstances next year!

Heya, just a thought- are you putting your visa type on your cover letter / resume? If so then I'd remove it, you have the right to work here and if employers / recruiters really want to know, you can tell them. I didn't include this info on my résumé when I first moved across.

We bought a place in NSW last year, settlement was delayed by the vendor but we understood that the law says the vendor can delay settlement by a certain period without penalty. This wasn't an issue for us, but would've been if we needed the compensation. Worth checking with your solicitor though...

Dept of Attorney General and Justice, NSW Govt. Don't want to give too much away but it's a role which requires a degree for the most part. I started on a working holiday visa, there's been a number of english backpackers working there because my boss likes us Brits :-) I started as an agency worker but now employed directly by the department.

You can work for the NSW govt without PR or citizenship - I do and I only have temporary residency (WHV followed by 820). I don't know about WA, it might be worth clarifying - maybe you have to be a citizen, though it seems a bit odd?

Agreed, social work over here is shocking. I work in the adult sector and long for the days of decent adult protection measures. What there is here is hardly worth mentioning. The nursing homes are awful as well, we often have UK workers in my office and I warn them before we go to the facilities that they may be shocked - 4-5 older adults with mental health issues sharing a bedroom, heavy reliance on medication for behaviour management, a substandard inspection process, lack of community services. And that's even before looking at the lack of mental health services which see people living on acute units for several years because of a lack of supported accommodation for adults with MH issues. The pay is pretty good - I'm on around $40/hour - but the work is soul destroying.