JohnandEirian

Thanks Angie, and enjoy Devon, lovely countryside. And then you'll be on your way too before you know it. See you "downunder"......ha ha! Val x

Isn't it just sooooo exciting?

We've been supporting & learning from each other for over 15 months now....almost close buddies....and it's all happening for our gang right now.

For those on rung 1 , you'll gain so many friends before too long!

Just watched a pod of 10 dolphins from our balcony just one hour ago. Magical! Couldn't belie our eyes.

Good luck.

John & Eirian

Well, we have arrived. The eagle has landed!

Almost exactly 21 months after first dreaming the dream we touched down at Sydney airport with 13 (yes, thirteen!) suitcases courtesy of Singapore Airlines.

Collected our pre-bought car today and move into our apartment in Fairlight, NSW on Tuesday with completion on Monday. Now the wait for our container to arrive at the end of October. Staying with our daughter across the bay in Manly until then.

But even hiring furniture at reasonable cost is easy here, with next day delivery!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, even though we had so much notice of the work to be done. Don't underestimate it.... make your decisions on what you're taking and start getting rid of unwanted furniture especially (auctions, private sales, ebay, etc) right NOW!!

Time really accelerates towards the end, so don't be disheartened if you're at the start of the road.

Good luck all. We'll keep you posted on "things to do (and not do!)" once you get here.

John & Eirian

Thanks for input to both of you. I suspected it was too good to be true and noticed the difference with the tracker used by people on this thread!! I will let my parent know to try not to get excited...

Yes, when we first looked at the queue calculator in Jan 2011 we thought, foolishly, that we'd be settled in Sydney that same year!

John & Eirian

Once the payment was received in Perth it was just days for the Visa to be granted. Others may have had a different experience. I guess it depends on who your CO is. Angie x

Too true, Angie.

If anyone gets a CO called Rozelle Surman, they're really really lucky.

She was truly fantastic and friendly too. Every mail from me asking silly questions was replied to before I woke the next morning.

Caring , or wot?

John & Eirian

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

Va Va Voooom!

That's the spirit, Val.

Enjoy your hol and make them wait!

John & Eirian

Yippee! Just checked our emails and YES!!! we have our Visa grant letter!!!:biggrin: Such a relief! Thank you everyone for your help and support along the way. Good luck to those still waiting! Angie x

Absolutely brilliant, Angie.

You've been so patient and such a great contributor to this forum. Isn't it odd the way you're pleased to pay the second VAC?

I think all will be plain sailing (or flying) from here on in.

Good luck.

John & Eirian

Hi Pete and Marg, thanks for that will probably go with Singapore Airlines as they seem the cheapest and then annoy the daylights out of them.

Fran.

The good thing about Singapore Airlines is that they double your baggage allowance if you're emigrating with an unstamped permanent visa in your passport. Else, a letterfrom the Australian high Commission. that's why we booked with them too.

John & Eirian

CAN'T BELIEVE IT YET, BUT..........VISA GRANTED TODAY..........EXACTLY FOUR WEEKS FROM ALLOCATION OF CASE OFFICER!

 

Just out for the day in the Cotswolds and looked at my phone to check the time and there it was - the email we've been waiting so long for!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! The celebrations have begun.......

 

I love you all.....especially our CO - you gorgeous girl!!!

Brilliant news!

Sorry to have taken so long to congratulate you, but we're spending all our time at the mo going to tip, Red Cross, etc... and also selling off / giving away half our stuff, including our stash of spirits and liquers never opened!. We're taking a chance on the wine, as duty is roughly 50% + GST.

Container guys from Doree Bonner come to pack on 3-5 September and our flights are booked for 12 Sept.

Contracts on our house are to be exchanged early next week and completion is planned for 10 or 11 Sept.! Fingers crossed! That's what I call cutting it fine

We've been unbelievably lucky to get to here without any problems whatsoever along the way, especially after reading about the grief many of you have suffered.

Can hardly contain our excitement now.

Hope all goes well for you all from here on in.

See you all in Sydney soon!

John & Eirian

Hi

Does anyone know if DIAC take a debit card for the final payment. I telephone ANZ Bank and they said I could pay that amount on a debit card?

MKF - I hope you are able to sort something. Seems so unfair.

Best wishes Moira

No, Moira.

They are happy with an Australian personal cheque or a Bankers letter (draft) only.

We established this with DIAC when we paid our 2nd VAC.

John & Eirian

Hi all, hope you're all enjoying the Olympics! I have a question....... we have been asked for the 2nd visa payment (YAY!!) and have made arrangements with a FX company to buy AUD in the correct amount for this. When it came to transferring the POUNDS from our bank account to FX bank account I had a limit of £25,000 in 24 hours, so did this in two transactions - all o.k. Now I'm thinking, what happens when we are ready to transfer our house sale proceeds which will be a considerably larger amount of money? Obviously impossible to do this in £25,000 "batches" each day, so how does this work? If you have transferred large sums, how did you do this? I only thought of this potential problem in the night, so haven't had a chance to speak to anyone (at bank or FX company) yet, but was wondering if anyone could throw light on this so I don't worry about it until Monday. All help gratefully accepted!!

 

Val x

Congratulations, Val. It won't be long now, I promise!!

We've successfully transferred £400,000 into our Oz bank account using Hargreaves Lansdown who have always dealt with our investments. As long as the money is in your current account, there should be no limit on transferring money to your FX firm using your debit card. Ring your bank to be certain of this.

Good luck with emptying your house, etc. It's a nightmare after so many years, but exhilerating at the same time.

John & Eirian

Hi Some advice from you all if possible. Although we have a parents visa are

leaving for Brisbane 19/8 initially until June of next year, husband worried how

we will manage financially. We are in the process of renting out the house so

rent and pensions will be paid into our UK bank account and we also have some

Building Society saving accounts. We do not want to transfer our money to

Australia yet due to exchange rate and husband still not totally convinced we

are doing the right thing. The problem is that we are unable to change the

address on our accounts or credit cards until we have proof of new address, we

were going to give care of address. Have others encountered this problem and

what did you do the resolve it. Any advice would be gratefully received as going

round in ever decreasing circles trying to get everything sorted. Removers

coming 14/15 flying 19 August will we ever be ready in time the lists get longer

not shorter.

Why do you need to change your contact address at all? Maybe I'm missing something?

If unsure about your permanent, long-term location, I'd say just "pretend" you're living in the UK with a temporary holiday in Oz.

John & Eirian

We've little choice with the timeline John and Eirian, Kevin retires from the army in exactly 12 days! To say we've been up against it is an understatement. So it was either book the shippers or start searching for temp accommodation, although we had practically decided we were going to squat here until the visa came through! And now at last it has all come together. I have my last married quarter to scrub clean and then I'm heading for the airport with a big grin on my face!

 

Kim

Now that's what I call military precision... truly brilliant.

Of course, it had to work out, didn't it!

John & Eirian

Good morning all,

 

Just wanted to share the great news that our visa has been granted this morning, YIPPPEEEEEE!!!! At last the wait is over! Shippers are in on 23rd August and flights booked for 2nd September. Just waiting for the relief to kick in and the tension to disappear.

 

This is not a journey for the half hearted. Good luck everyone, may your cups runneth over soon!

 

Kim and Kevin

Great news, indeed, Kev & Kim.

We can only add EYE O O to your excitement.

You really got your skates on, didn't you! Hope all goes smoothly.

We've just booked our container for 5 Sep and our flights for 13th. Suddenly, there seems to be an awful lot left to do in a month!

John & Eirian

Hey Pam

We must meet up when you come out in October. Not long now and the weather is already spring-like!

Marian

Sounds like everyone is going to Sydney in October, doesn't it?

What a party we're going to have all along the Northern beaches!

John & Eirian

Very handy for presents also - I buy family presents this end and our daughter puts the money in dollars in our Aus account. Makes a great change from I buy family presents here and she promises to give me the money when she sees me!

Ha ha! I thought I was the only one that happened to!

Separate question for you........which home swap sites have you used? Or have I misunderstood one of your previous replies?

Anyone out there want a house near Bath for a couple of months, swapping for one in or around Sydney?

Maybe this is the wrong thread?

Try http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/moving-back-uk/

Good luck.

John & Eirian

Hey John and Eirian

Really looking forward to meeting up again in the Spring. We are both well and happy and enjoying the lovely Northern Beaches! Rachel is waiting on tenterhooks for her Parents to hear from their Case Officer.

See you very soon

Marian and Ian

Yes, we're getting more excited by the day now.

The middle/end of September just can't come quick enough. Sounds like there will be another get-together before Xmas. Mike & Sue and Fiz are already up for it, I know.

Please tell Rachel to give her parents to contact us directly if they want to chat over any problems/issues.

See ya later!

John & Eirian

Oops, sorry!

I hadn't read the rest of the responses to your mail, Vava.

It seems very harsh indeed to ask you to re-start the process. Maybe try ringing Perth and asking to speak to one of the CO supervisors? They prefer a direct approach from our experiences.

Good luck.

John & Eirian

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

Spot on!

John & Eirian

G'Day all

 

It seems that DIAC are a tad more efficient internally than they are at communicating!

 

After frustration at hearing nothing about receipt of our $32k 2nd VAC payment (which our daughter express-mailed to them by bank draft over four weeks ago), and getting no reply to three emails sent to our CO, this morning I wrote an email again to the general "parents@immi" address, cc'd to our CO. (We knew that someone had cashed the draft, as the bank confirmed this.)

 

Within five minutes :arghh:a reply came back from the CO saying that our 143 visas were granted on 27 June, and a letter was mailed out that day to that effect. A copy of the letter was attached, and at the top it says clearly "By email..." Except that someone forgot, and as far as we know the hard copy is still winging its way somewhere between Perth and London...

 

Anyhow, the important thing is that we are now officially perma-residents! We only feel cheated that we didn't have a chance to raise a glass – well, not for that reason, anyway – earlier! Now it just seems a little bit of an anticlimax.

 

But we do wish the very best of luck to all those following the same path; and thanks to everyone – especially the sadly missed Gollywobbler – who helped us on the way. We look forward to meeting up (again, in some cases), other parent-immigrants in Sydney

 

Mike & Sue

Heartfelt congrats, Mike & Sue.

You must stay on this forum after your departure, as you've been a huge source of reliable and detailed information over the last year or so for many of us.

We must meet up with the Sydneysiders gang this Spring, like you did last Xmas ... again courtesy of Marian?

We're hoping to go for good mid September, having been very lucky with house sale, etc.

In fact, we've already bought an apartment, car, etc, and got our Medicare cards, Senior Citizen cards, Tax file numbers, et al. Anything we're missing?!

Gud on ya mites!

John & Eirian

Hi Kim

Great news should be plain (or is that plane) sailing from now on.

I have a query. This is to all the people who have had there meds done before getting a CO. Did you apply for your visa by email? Only I cant get my meds done until I have a CO to give me a HAP number or has anyone else who submitted a paper application been able to get there meds done before getting a CO. Just out of interest. (feeling paranoid)!!!

Best wishes Moira

We had our medicals done 7-8 months before getting a CO, Moira. No, we posted off our visa applications to Perth.

You only need a HAP number if the medicals are done electronically. We had ours done in Cardiff and these were then posted by the hospital to DIAC Sydney.

Many others have done the same.

John & Eirian

Absolutely thrilled to be able to say that we received the request for the 2nd VAC at 11:15am today. At last, we might just get across that finishing line! Happy days!

Kim

Congratulations, Kim.

At last .. the final straight!

Good luck for your visa VERY soon.

John & Eirian

Thankyou Jon and Eirian, yes we got our meds and PCC done in AprilMay, shippers sorted, house on market, de-junked (just waiting for some dry weather to have car boot sale) - can't do more until "D-Day" or should I say "CO Day"!

Does CO stand for "Come on?" From what several other mails report, perhaps it does!

John & Eirian

Hi Fran

I am afraid I cannot advise re the exchange rate (except to note that the AUD has strengthened against all the major currencies since we moved to Perth over 2 years ago) but I would like to ask you a question if you don't mind? When did you do your medicals and Police clearances and what made you decide to do them before getting a case officer? My parents have lodged an application for a 143 a couple of months ago and are trying to decide whether they should do their medicals about 10 months after acknowledgment.

Thank you and hope you get some good financial advice!

Michelle

Do it, Michelle.

I'm sure our dealing with both 8 months before we got our CO speeded up the final visa offer enormously.

Good luck.

John & Eirian

PS meanwhile GBP v AUD exchange rates continue to tumble (now 1.52 to the £), so every day costs! The "experts" see no end to the flood/drought?!

 

My acknowledgement date is now past one year and its "excruciatingly" slow going, the anticipation - I'm afraid I wake most mornings at 5a.m. and rush to check email!

 

My 7 year old grandson today said (big sigh) "but Nanny Val WHEN are you coming to live here? How many more sleeps? I miss you......." Oh the agonising reply - I don't know yet, but soon!

 

Come on DIAC - get a move on! PLEEEEEEASE.......

Awwwwwww , our hearts go out to you, Val & Matt.

If over a year since your acknowledgement date, you're almost there.

For us, we got our CO within 14 months, and after that, all hell broke loose.... we got out visa offer about 4 weeks later, only largely because we had a delay with getting our second VAC paid over with their silly system.... see elsewhere re this topic!

The last few weeks speed by so fast, once you know that you've got it... got it!

I'd advise you to get your medicals and police checks done right now.

Good luck and bon courage!

John & Eirian

Exercise care - I believe DIAC doesn't like VACs being paid by way of personal cheques.

 

Payments by bank cheque or credit card are preferred.

 

Best regards.

Is credit card an option? Our letter didn't suggest it is! Straight choice between personal cheque or ban cheque, it said.

Why do they make this so difficult?

Regards.

John & Eirian