vava
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Everything posted by vava
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Oh Angie you know me so well. We will be in the Wynnum/Manly area from end November to end December so yes, drinks and a meet up would be lovely. I sent the final VAC payment via Dhl on Monday using a personal ANZ cheque. I know they don't really approve but tough! We could have our 143 by the end of the month. Lets all keep in touch, Val x
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hi dev007, we did our medicals in manchester and only had the letter from diac to show them. They know that parent visa applicants are not on the electronic system. Make some phone calls to the clinics on the list and they will help you. Good luck !
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Congratulations Angie & Ted! I suppose there'll be more corks popping tonight! Soon be there enjoying the sunshine! I got an email form immi this morning too. I asked them last week when they are likely to request the final VAC and got the usual blah blah reply. So, we booked a cheeky little week in the Canaries (going this afternoon) and today we get the email asking for the dosh. Typical! Anyway they can wait till we get home - I refuse to stress about this process any more! Have a lovely weekend celebrating! Val x
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hi Phoebe, great to see you on here again but sorry to learn that your health problems are still not sorted. Cant believe your youngest granchild is 17 months now, how time flies! We have another due in November and we're hoping the 143 will be granted in time for our visit to welcome the baby. Do please keep in touch and let us know how you are. love Val x
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Hi Fran, We contacted Singapore last year to ask for more luggage allowance and they said that as our visa was a 173 temporary one, they could not let us have more than the 20kgs. However I wrote back to thank them for their quick response and said that I wished we had booked with Emirates as they give 30kgs as standard and probably would not travel with them again. They changed their minds then and let us have 30kgs each but only on the outbound journey. We didn't mind as most of our extra allowance was taken up with Christmas presents etc. You don't get anything if you don't ask! Good luck! Val x
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Congratulations Val & Matt! Sorry I didn't join in with the good wishes earlier, I got a new computer and hadn't logged in to PIO properly! Hope the rest of the move goes smoothly - keep us updated on your progress! Best wishes, Val x
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I was filled with optimism when I read this reply from John & Eirian as I've just received my ANZ cheque book and thought I could just write one for the final VAC and send it to Perth. Now Val & Matt are saying that DIAC told them that personal cheques (and cash) would not be acceptable. Anybody else think that DIAC are making up the rules as they go along these days? Its been 7 weeks now since my daughter arranged the AoS. Centrelink have sent confirmation to DIAC and they tell me they will let me know if they need anything further from me. I thought that the final VAC request came hot on the heels of the AoS............I don't understand why they only gave us 28 days to sort AoS then they don't bother to go any further. Crazy! I'm having a glass of wine now - sod the blood pressure! Val x
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Hi Moira, If its an ANZ card, check to see if it is a proper debit card. Mine is only an "access advantage" card and has just 15 numbers across the middle instead of 16. It can only be used at ATMs and Eftpos machines in shops. They tend not to give you a proper debit card until you are resident. At least thats what my branch told me. Hope yours is alright, Val x
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Hi Va, I would have thought that your bank would issue a bankers draft when the time comes for you to transfer the house proceeds over to Oz. You could then courier the cheque to your foreign exchange dealer. The one I use confirms the rate before I send him the £££s. They email me every week with the latest AU$ deals and it depends on how much you want to trade. I think yesterdays email said that £67k would buy you AU$100k. Not good and no hopes for anything better in the forseeable future either I'm afraid. All the best, the other Val x
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Hi Moira, Well done on the flat sale - one less thing to stress about!. I'm sure the covering letter explaining the reason for the change of sponsor will be ok. Best of luck! Val x
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Hi Wannabies, Would it be possible to use the address of your child in Australia. We did initially and then changed it back to UK address when we came back here. Hope this helps, Val
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Hi Moira, I have copied & pasted a quote from the parent visa site about who can sponsor. As you'll see, the sponsor does not have to be a relative - they could just be a friend. We almost asked a friend of mine to be our sponsor but unfortunately he returned to the UK. We were worried that our daughter and SIL wouldn't earn enough but everything worked out ok for us. Here's the quote: [h=2]Sponsorship[/h]All applicants for parent migration must be sponsored. At the time the visa application is made, the sponsor must be a 'settled' Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or 'eligible New Zealand citizen'. 'Settled' means a person must have been a resident in Australia for a reasonable period, which under policy is usually two years. If the child of the parent is 18 years or older, then the parent can be sponsored by that child or by that child's cohabiting partner. If the child has not turned 18, applicants may be sponsored by the cohabiting partner of their child if the partner has turned 18, a relative or guardian of their child, or a community organisation. I hope this puts your mind at rest. Would your son be able to sponsor? I assume he has been there long enough. Good luck, Val x
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Hi Daniela, I would think that the 2006 student year would not have counted. My understanding is that your daughter and SIL would have to be settled permanent residents for 2 years. Not good news I know but better to wait a while then to be turned down because they haven't been resident long enough. Twelve more months isn't such a long time in the grand scheme of things. Good luck Val x
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Hi there, Its the route we took after being advised by a migration agent. If we had known then what we now know, we would have just got it all over and done with and done the 143 at the start. The 173 costs a huge chunk of $$$$$ and is only valid 2 years. In the meantime the cost of applying for and paying for the inevitable 143 increases by 10-15% per year. Lets be honest, I doubt anyone would part with all that cash and only stay 2 years so, having done the 173 then 143 thing myself, I would just do the 143. That said, we had the $$$$ standing by and earning interest in Oz already. I know others have to sell their houses to release the funds. Its all a matter of personal circumstances. Good luck with whatever you decide. Val x
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Hi Player, Firstly there is a balance of family test - meaning at least 50% of your parents' children (including step-children) must be permanently settled in Australia. There are no hard and fast rules on what DIAC consider to be "settled" but its usually two years. There are lots of options for visas for your parents and I suggest you have a look on the website and search "parent visas". Many of the contributors of this thread have gone down the 173 (temp) or 143 (perm) route. Both are extremely costly - approx UK£65,000 in total and time consuming - think minimum 14 months and you won't be far off. It all depends on their circumstances and the ages of your parents too. You'll always get answers on this thread though and point you in the right direction. Good luck, Val
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Hiya Nutmeg, Sorry, no idea how long. DIAC seem to be acting rather contrary these days. Our daughter paid assurance at Centrelink in Brisbane early this month and I emailed DIAC a few days ago to ask if they could confirm they had got the confirmation. I expected them to reply and ask for the final VAC but they just said they would be in touch when they needed anything further from us. Have a look on other applicants timelines and check on www.gainwave.co.uk too. We have had all our visa money in Australia for a long time now earning much better interest than it would here. So all I have to do is request a bank cheque and they will send it to my daughter and she will courier it to Perth. Some people on here use FORex. There are loads of others to choose from. I myself use Halo Financial in London who were recommended by ANZ bank. I'm not sure but I think they can only transfer directly into another bank. DIAC have changed the payment system since we got our 173 last year. Somebody will know for sure and post on here. I'll be curious to know if I can pay electronically when my time comes. At least you've sold your house - we are nowhere near ready for putting on the market yet. Hope to in the spring after we return from OZ. Hope it goes to plan for you..................Val x
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Hi again Nutmeg, Wow, that seems very harsh! I hope that Centrelink will pull out all the stops and get it all sorted for you asap. If you dont meet your deadline, does that mean that you will have to begin the whole process again, ie do the 14 month wait? I'm keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed for you - good luck and do let us know how you get on next week. Best wishes, Val x
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Hi Nutmeg, Sorry to interfere but your deadline can be extended by simply emailing Perth and asking. Centrelink in Brisbane took from May until earlier this month to process our daughter as our assurer. The parent visa centre are aware that Centrelink can be a bit slow. As long as you keep them imformed of any potential delays there won't be any need to re-apply so rest easy. All the best, Val x
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Hi Mike & Sue, Yes you're right - communication is a concern. Especially when every email reply begins with "Please do not reply to the sender of this email as you will get no response". It doesn't fill you with optimism. We only applied early in May this year and only 8 days later were contacted and asked to arrange the AoS so I naturally assumed things would progress quickly. Centrelink have taken up all the time from late May until now. DIAC don't appear to be in much of a rush for their final VAC so let it earn a bit more interest at ANZ. We have a Christmas visit booked (bargain flights) so if the visa is granted by then, great. If not, so be it. We haven't sold the house yet so we can't rush. Hope you're both enjoying life "on the road" - you ought to start a blog, I'm sure it would be an interesting read! Val x
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Hi Mike & Sue, Congratulations on your visa grant. Was such a pity they didn't let you know at the time though. I don't know what is going on with DIAC at the moment, they seem to have changed all the rules since last year. I note that it was almost 2 years to the day between your 173 acknowledgement the the grant of your 143. Well its our 2 year 173 acknowledgement this week but sadly no 143 visa grant for us just yet. I hope you'll keep in touch with us all - I'm waiting to hear all about your shipping/import stories and beyond. Best wishes to you both............Val x
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Hi there!, Really pleased for you - you'll be feeling quite high for the next few days I'll bet. Good luck with the Form 80.................if you're anything like us, we used to go abroad 2 or 3 times a year till our child in Oz had a baby. Much of it was approximate guesses. We had a reply from DIAC this morning too, acknowledging that they had got the Centrelink forms - its only taken them 3 weeks to reply to my email! Won't be long now until you have the visa...............Val x
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Hi Kim, Yes the letter says that they have informed DIAC but when we got our 173 visa last year, all the communication was via email. This time for the 143 they seem to send everything by normal post. This is the reason for the initial hold up. They sent me a letter which I then had to send back to Oz to my daughter. If it had been emailed I could have forwarded it in seconds! I have told them to contact me via email but it hasn't sunk in. Not really in too much of a rush to hand over the $32010. Now the Centrelink stuff is sorted, DIAC can wait for their money, I'm certainly not ringing them to ask if they want it! We should surely have the visa by November in time for our next visit, if not, we'll validate it some other time. It'll be a good excuse for another visit! Val x
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Back in May we got a letter through the post asking us to give our assurer the enclosed letter to give to Centrelink. Its taken all this time with one thing or another. Centrelink seem to have no concept of time or urgency. You have to be very patient with them. Our daughter only received her letter the other day confirming that she has been accepted. I'm assuming they have told DIAC because every email I send to the parents@immi.gov address, all I get is an automated response telling me where to look for advice on their website! They haven't asked for the final VAC yet so at least we're getting some interest on it while we wait. Is it wine o' clock yet? Surely it must be somewhere in the world.................... Val x
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Kim - I agree wholeheartedly about Centrelink - they are proper heel draggers! Add to that the fact that I didn't realise that my account at ANZ would only allow me to withdraw/transfer $1000 per day! Not much help when you need to shift £14000 into the daughter's bank account without delay! I know we moan about banking in general in the UK, but at least they let you spend your own money! We too saw Dr Smith in Manchester and he was really lovely as were all the staff at the Bridgewater. Nearly there..................... Val x
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Hi all, Congrats to all of you who have come to (or almost come to) the end of this very stressful process. We are waiting for the final VAC request - should be any day now (she said hopefully). Just the small matter of selling the house, winding up the business and packing all our belongings. Stand by for lots of advice and info on shipping! Best of luck, Val xx