JohnandEirian

G'day and Happy New Year to you, all other Sydneysiders and all PiO members!

We seem to have dropped out of the email alert system (like some others), so are just catching up on postings.

 

Is Wednesday lunchtime still on? It's fine by us, as is Dee Why RSL as the venue. As you are a member, Marian, can you suggest a precise venue within the club? (It looks pretty big from the outside!) Perhaps outdoors (pref shaded) if there there is somewhere – the forecast (for what it's worth) is pretty good.

 

About 12 – 12.30pm?

 

For ID purposes, I have a (short) beard!

 

Looking forward to meeting you, Mike and Sue

All this sounds so warm and comforting, especially as we are within 2-3 months of our CO date. Having completed medicals and police checks already, we're champing at the bit and can't wait to join the club of Sydneysiders soon!

Best wishes for a Happy & Successful 2012

John & Eirian

WE submitted in January 2011 for 143 and before returning to UK in May had our medicals done in Melbourne,it was cheaper and easier for us to do so but with some detail requested on me from UK doctor it took until August for my medical to come through.So OH has a May medical and mine is August with 12 months validity.Posted into DIAC but think they can access electronically anyway.Had our Oz police checks done May 11 and UK done June 11 so if/when we get CO hopefully about Feb 2012 we only need AOS.

That was the plan with us,just hoping it all works--even have our destination as NZ with stopover in Melbourne hoping to get new visa validated there.Now looking to alter dates as we optimistically booked January 2012 but can change--heading back to UK anyway to sort out things and avoid Melbourne winter--Emirates fares to NZ not much dearer than to Oz with stopover in Oz each way.

 

Hope medicals police checks are valid 12 months--can anyone confirm??

Thanks, Mac.. useful info.

Yes, both medicals and police checks have a 12 month life. Visas must be validated within this time.

John & Eirian

We have several bottles of high quality olive oil which a friend in the south of France gives us each year.

They're not in sealed bottles, as they were locally pressed; bottled in used but clean pastis and perrier bottles, in fact!

Does anyone know whether these will be confiscated by customs when our container arrives in Sydney.

If so, is there any way of "validating" these so that they get through?

Thanks.

John

G'day

 

It's OK to "front-load", but both meds and police checks last only 12 months, and you'd have to redo them if you overrun – eg, by entering Oz after 12 months or, heaven forbid, if the CO appointment is delayed.

 

Good luck, Mike

Thanks, Mike.

It's what I thought but suddenly lost my nerve!

John

We had our medicals done last July 2011 although we do not expect to be appointed a CO until Feb/March 2012. Is this permissible?

Are you expected to wait until you get a CO before arranging your medical?

I realize that we will have to validate the visas before July 2012, but that's OK.

We're also planning to get our Police Checks done soon, so that all is ready and waiting when we get our CO.

When I asked parents.immi this question by email, they said we should do nothing until getting a CO and any "frontloading" would be ignored. Is this correct? Has anyone jumped the gun as we have done? Was it OK to do so?

From its tone, the email did seem to be a standard response.

Thanks.

John & Eirian

Also can't decide whether to transfer the money across from our UK house sale or leave it in the UK until we find something to buy over here.

 

David & Sheila

Definitelty worth transferring the money to Oz asap, David & Sheila.

You get 5.6% interest or thereabouts for tying it up even for 3 months compared to 1.5% in the UK?

Makes sense.

John & Eirian

Hi Mike, what a blow, the cost of Marmite is certain to rise now especially the exported version Our Mate!

Are you sure it wasn't Vegemite?

John

 

My news is that i have a job! More hours than I originally wanted but a good job, close to home and well paid so i can stop worrying how to pay the exorbitant rent! I was worried that my age-60- would count against me but the question never got raised. Hope that is reassuring News for Liverpool Loo who I believe was concerned about this subject.

I don't start till the end of January so i still have another 8 weeks of " holiday"..lovely!

Congrats, Fiz.

All sounds as though things are going great!

John

That's what we're planning to do but maybe every 3 months instead of monthly

Fingers tightly crossed for your house sale completion!

John & Eirian

Hello and welcome

 

There are probably two reasons; they're still active but have forgotten to update the tracker OR they've dropped out of the process.

 

I will need to program it to hide any records that appear inactive otherwise it won't be a lot of help to anyone. The challenge is how long to give them before hiding the record.

 

Cheers

 

Steve

Would it be possible to send them a message automatically after x months of inactivity to ward them that they will be struck off unless they let youy know, Steve?

e.g. at present. x = 13 months after acknowledgement say?

A simpler solution might be to include another date field on the document, where users can enter the date they last looked at the tracker. You could then delete them altogether if > x months'

John

Oh come on, there's no need for this is there. Of course we are aware as anyone of the difficulties others are having and have enormous sympathy for anyone struggling. Anyone who has or is making this journey has experienced hard times. We made it here only to find that we can't fund buying a house of our own which comes hard at our time of life so it's not all roses. That wasn't what we were talking about, we were discussing the merits of the various airlines flying the UK/Australia route and lets face it, if you have just coughed up several thousand pounds to fly business class you do have the right to expect good service. And no, that is absolutely not being a whinging POM. Please do not let us go down the route of that other forum where straying off the subject is severely punished.

Cath

Thanks, Cath.

John

Now, now, now

 

No need for this. Someone was just trying to give some feedback on what service was like. We have all been grateful for feedback and advice from othet people. There is no need for petty criticism. Let's be positive and continue to help each other. Thats what it is like in Australia.

 

Charlie

Thanks, Charlie.

Some people clearly find talk about food and drink indigestible. Pity their sense of humour deserts them, especially when my comments were followed by a wink?

John

Hi

 

We too have always flown Emirates and found them fantastic....friendliness service, pick ups etc.

 

If you go onto their website there are local numbers you can ring (I know ther is a central number 0844 800 2777) ask them about your luggage allowance when emigrating etc, they have always been helpful with me :yes:

 

Good Luck with it all :biggrin:

 

Phoebe

There's no doubt, Emirates are GREAT and have been for the last 12 years while we have flown with them.

Having said that, I'm not totally convinced about the 380's.

No question, the flat beds are fantastic especially on a long haul flight to Oz via Dubai. However, not too many 380 flights from Brum to Dubai.

Also, I do have one grievance. The 380's have so many business class seats that service leaves a lot to be desired, compared to the smaller planes. Not being served breakfast, lunch, dinner at the same time as each other is really not good enough.

Waiting for a drink for 15 minutes when the flight attendant light is on is also something that can make you MAD!!

John & Eirian :wink:

:shocked::shocked::shocked:

 

What going on now??

 

$1.46 to the :Randy-git: £

 

Cue Country music. :arghh:

Yes, and all this while the pundits forecast a $1.75 exchange rate by June/July 2011!

I'm not sure things will EVER get better while the economy continues stagnating.

John

I would email them, we noticed we had had dropped 4 weeks behind Framboy getting his CO when we were 2 weeks apart on application thanks to Steve's tracker, we emailed them asking if we could expect a CO soon and 3 days later we got one.

 

I don't think one email will hold up the process and it could just jog things along. :yes:

What is the email address you use before you get your CO?

It's all about someone you can talk to before the CO, n'est pa?

John

Hi all,

 

I'm new to this posting thing but wanted to say how brilliantly helpful this forum has been to us as we try to negotiate our intended move to Aus. My other half is retiring from the Army next year and our dream is to move North of Sydney to be near our daughter and her growing family. We're trying to do all of this while living in Nepal, so it has been quite a challenge even with an agent! One question, we have been keeping an eye on the 143 visa queue, our lodgement date is in May and we seem to have jumped 290 places in 1 month to number 80. I know lots have sadly had to drop out of the process (with the escalating costs this has crossed our minds too, but what the heck, we were never meant to be rich!) but at this rate we might get a CO very soon. Is that possible? We were expecting a wait of at least 9 months + which would have tied loosely with our posting back to UK. Best laid plans etc, etc.....We are just about ready to react if we hear sooner but surely the wait can't have plummeted so quickly. On the upside, it shortens the time in limbo. Any thoughts anyone?

 

Kim:err:

Which queue are you referring to Kim?

Do you know something I don't perhaps? What intrigues me is that you have clearly identified yourselves in a queue of some sort. Can you send me the link, please?

Thanks.

John

You lucky people. Looks like our sale is about to fall through as we'll have to start all over again!

 

Accepted an offer a month ago and had all the searchs done, papers drawn up and signed but the buyers haven't had a survey done yet! They say they're waiting for their buyers to do theirs first.

So sorry to hear this, Jane & Clive.

It must be heart-breaking after all the long wait for a CO.

Hope your luck changes soon.

John & Eirian

Some doctor on tv this morning said the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started. So I looked around my house to see things I'd started & hadn't finished, then I finished off a bottle of Vodka, a bodle of Baileys, a botle of wum, a pock of Prungles, 1/2 chesecke an a bocs a choclezt. Yu haf no idr how bludy fablus I feeel now. Plaese sned dhis orn to dem yu fel ar in ned ov innr piss!

 

 

Just thought ...when all we seem to do every day all day is plot plan...and hope re our visa' s ...we could all with a good laugh

Val x

I too found inner piss true dish reshipee. Der Retsheena had bin ****ting in the cubbad for sheven yirsh, ever shince Shkia... oh what the hell!

John

IGA stores stock bisto granules nearest would be in Frankston.also the British shop on Collins in the city.

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Bisto good luck.

Best idea is to stay in Neasden and enjoy them fresh?

John :wink:

Hi Angie, we did the drip feed into our son's off set mortgage account so we had no overseas income to declare to HMRC, when the time came to pay 2nd vac they withdrew money and sent an Oz bank cheque to Perth, worked for us.

 

To us it seemed better to have our son able to control the money that was sent to Oz rather than have to visit the bank in Oz, not a lot of use having $75,000 in Oz if you can't access it. :wink:

I'm really not too sure about this as we opened an account with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia when we were ther last Christmas. We have full internet banking facilities and have been depositing funds in a fixed term savings account since then. ... from six months upwards at rates randing from 5.8% to 6.1%.

It might be thaat we have internet facilities only because we were in Oz when we opened the account, but it might be worth checking this out directly with the Bank.

Hope this does not throw a spanner in the works!

John & Eirian

Some might be interested - from Senate Estimates on Monday (emphasis added):

 

"Even in the delivery of this year's migration program 2010-11, we are struggling to fill all of the places in the contributory parent visa category. Best regards.

I'm puzzled, Alan.

Why are they struggling to fill the places when there is a waiting list?

John & Eirian