roflie

Interesting, thanks. I never knew that them requesting those things depended on age. Is there a link to the risk matrix. I didn't see that mentioned anywhere in the Visa requirements documents. If the risk matrix is favourable, I might go down the route of the 6-12 Tourist (600) Visa as it is easier to use!

Hi all, Do you have to go through the entire process of having the health check, police check, financial checks when applying for the 6/12 month tourist visa, as you do for say a long term 870 visas or the likes? Feels like a lot to get an extra ~3 month on the standard tourist visa which doesn't ask for a lot. Thanks

Okay, Mum on Sponsored 870 with the 8501 condition. She's a UK resident and comes and goes to Australia. We currently pay for private health insurance via Allianz which satisfies the 8501 but I've heard of some peole being able to get Medicare on this visa when they are from a reciprocal country. Anybody eperience this or is it a strict no go? The Allianz insurance is obviously expensive and covers a lot of additional items we don't think we'll need (I understand of course to keep the health system here safe). Thanks

Hi all, I have my step Dad (living in the UK as a UK resident) wanting to visit for a period of 6 months initially and then a further 3 or 4 months later in the year. All travel to be finished within 12 months. As I understand, my options are. Issue here is he has flights booked for a months time so processing times are of concern; 1. 3-Month Tourist Visa (600). Spend a few days offshore (Fiji/NZ) after three months. Come back for three months. Go back to UK for a couple of months and then back here for 3 months all within the 12 months timeline of the 3-month. This is cost effective from the Visa, he was planning on visiting NZ anyway, and it doesn't require medical/financial type information. Processing time is almost instant. 2. Apply for a 12-Month extended Tourist visa as he is my step Dad. Hope for unlimited enteries. This doesn't mean we have any issues with on/offshore. costs more and then the financial/health hoops. 3. Go the Sponsored 870 route and get maybe 2 or 3 years. Lots more expense but sorts us out for a few years. Weighing up between options 1 and 2 as currently we are only worried about the next 12 months. I've heard a lot of people take advantage of the 3-month tourist Visa option to go offshore for a couple of days and reset the 3 month timer and that works well. Any experience here? All thoughts appreciated. Thanks all

thanks... I'm hopeful this will mean i have a CO as that will surely mean i'm not a million miles away!

HI all... In the process of applying for a PR visa (186 from my 457) and my employer nominated me around six weeks (i then received my file number via the acknowledgement of nomination received letter from the DIBP) I have since uploaded my documents... finished that today and will loo at booking a medical in the new year. Today my employer advised me that their nomination had been accepted as a CO had mailed them the "approval of nomination" document. My query is does this mean i now have a CO assigned to my case or will the CO that contacted my employer now just put my application in the queue and the two parts (employer nomination and my personal application) are dealt with separately? Thanks Roflie

Thanks for the swift reply... makes things a lot easier now! Roflie

Currently applying for a ENS 186 PR visa from my 457 visa and have a question on certified copies of documents. I'm getting a Radiation Oncologist (doctor) or the pharmacist at the hospital i work at to certify my documents (even though they are colour copies).... Is it just a simple case of them signing (printing name?) and dating (each page?) each document? Just a little confused as to the rules on this.. I followed the below link to determine that a doctor/pharmacist could certify; http://www.ag.gov.au/Publications/Pages/Statutorydeclarationsignatorylist.aspx Thanks Roflie

Do you get free alcohol on China Southern?

Going to book with Etihad in the end for my trip back home 1st march (flying in to manchester one stopping) and paying $1916 (going through flight centre as they have beaten the price online by a dollar and waived the cc fees and given me a $20 voucher for a domestic flight this year so seemed fair enough) Just wondering what peoples thoughts on this were....? Do you get to choose your seats... I checked seat guru and all of the seats have AC power which was my main thing so i can use my laptop for the whole flight... ...the reviews seem decent... i could have gone with Singapore for the same price but it was two stops and a few hours more transit time....?! Thoughts on Etihad?

I can't find the china southern flights on seat guru to check the plane for power ports in the seats.... I wouldn't fly without this if the in flight entertainment is rubbish as i would rely on my laptop to get me through the long haul!!

yeah i flew with them for my one way flight out here in June last year... brilliant service, couldn't fault them but they are charging $2000 so at $500 more than this china southern flight i'm not sure i can justify it!!

Anyone flown with them to/from the UK.... ...they are about $400 cheaper for me to get back to Newcastle from Melbourne in March ($1540 Vs $1912 on Qantas/BA). .... I've done a bit of research and the majority of people are just complaining about in flight entertainment and a bit about food.... The transit times are respectable with only a 5hr lay over and going to Newcastle via Amsterdam....!! thoughts!!??

Thanks, I've not come across that site below - pretty handy! I've found a price for $1852 which includes a flight up to Newcastle from London or an $1800 to Manchester so its looking like around this mark is the best... Anything sub $2k is going to keep me reasonably happy with leaving it a little late!

Hi all... hope everyone is enjoying the Xmas/New Year break... its my first in Oz so a little strange but loving the weather we are starting to see here in Melbourne.... ...Right, on to business....! I'm going home at the end of Feb/start of March and looking to book a flight. Are there usually new year sales with some of the bigger/more reputable airlines at this time of year (i know i have left it late to book but just don't want to book in the next couple of days and then find the prices drop in some sort of crazy sale...)?? Anyone had any flyers or e-mails tipping them off about sales? At the moment i am looking at around $1700 - $1800 return from Melbourne (to London) which i guess isn't too bad!?!? Thanks

definitely take the kids to Healesville sanctuary... its about an hour - hour 15mins drive east of the city by car and its amazing to see all of the animals.... you can easily spend a full day out there..... you would need a car to get there probably but well worth it as even the drive out that way is pretty nice..... Its $58 for two adults and two children which is very reasonable and kids go free on a weekend so even cheaper then enjoy and hope everything goes well for you Roflie

I know it was a bit lengthy - i should have been updating as i go but i've just been caught up with everything there is to do here and all that is involved in moving so far away. ...I've been lucky that the guys i work with and the people i have moved in with are really decent people... As i said i can only comment on my experiences and it will be different for everyone but it really has been a great move for me. I do miss friends and family but Skype is a god send.... it really is brilliant. I've been lucky enough to have a decent speed broadband (which seems the norm now in Melbourne's surrounding suburbs) since i arrived here and keeping in touch has been relatively straight forward. I should have mentioned my latest move was to Carnegie which i'm really enjoying as there is quite an asian vibe with lots of asian food shops and restaurants. If you are coming here with an open mind and can afford to set yourself up initially (definitely take the option to ship as much stuff over as you can as you will most likely have it bought and shipped for less than you would pay over here!) then i think Australia (i can only comment on Melbourne) will be good to you.... A lot of my little worries an anxieties turned out to be silly but i guess its natural to feel that way when you are making such a big move... I only had myself to worry about getting over here so no doubt it will be more tricky with a family but i'd recommend it to anyone... England and the UK doesn't feel half as far away as i thought it would and whilst i do look forward to eventually going back for a holiday possibly next summer i don't miss it anywhere near as much as i thought i would Cheers Roflie P.s. berries are expensive (blue, black, strawberries etc) and takeaways tend to be a similar price to the restaurant menu as there's not many places that are solely takeaways rather than just restaurants who offer a takeaway option..... There are a load of restaurants that offer BYO (bring your own drink) and just charge you a small corkage fee which i've found can really educe the price of eating out if you like a drink with your meal. Wine tends to be expensive in the restaurant but if you shop around and by by the case of 6 rather than single bottles it doesn't work out too bad... I'm paying around $10 for a bottle (i used to go for something around about 5 pound back in the uk straight off Asdas shelf) and its average stuff... i'm not really a fussy wine drinker but i know if the wine is rubbish... you can always pay more or less and if you have time to shop around you will find decent deals.

Long time no speak Hi all, Firstly can I apologise for not being active on here since my move to Australia around 4 months ago, as you can imagine Its been a busy old time and with a 1001 distractions I’ve not had time to sit down and type out something meaningful. To recap, I’m a 27 year old lad from the north east of England and having secured a job in a hospital way back in Feb I embarked on my visa mission to get myself on a plane to Australia….. Work arranged a company to process my visa and the agent was quite helpful but at times didn’t seem to know everything you would expect them to know (she advised I need a medical/health check up as I was going to work in a hospital but after a little bit of reading online and speaking to you guys on here it turned out not 100% of people needed this check up so when the agent looked in to it a little further turns out I didn’t need it and saved myself a few hundred pounds in the process)… Anyway after accepting the job and getting together all of the paper work I lodged my e457 on 11th April 2011 and after submitting some further information (It was a travel insurance document to prove I was covered for medical on my arrival in Aus – I didn’t bother with private medical, still haven’t, just got a cheap 20 pound travel insurance policy online) on 27th April I heard the great news that my visa application had been successful on 4th May 2011 (24days from it being lodged!) I booked my flights through Singapore airlines and flew out of Heathrow. I managed to negotiate up to 30kg by sending the customer services an e-mail – they could not have been more helpful! I had never been to Australia and I didn’t know anyone out here so it was a bit of a leap in to the unknown but I eventually boarded the plane (and sat delayed on the run way for 2 hours!!!) 15th June and away I went. I had managed to set up some accommodation before I left using easyroommate.com.au….. basically I was to be sharing with 2 kiwi’s and an aussie on my arrival and just paying for the room and bills all inclusive on a short term deal until I could get something for concrete. This was based in Cheltenham to the South East of the city. The journey over to Australia could not have been smoother…. The check in staff were great and I can’t praise Singapore airlines enough. I was flying on one of their air buses and could only get a seat on the lower level for the leg to Singapore but luckily I had a vacant seat next to me which made everything that bit more comfortable, especially considering the longest I had ever spent on a plane was 5 hours!! The food was great and the staff regularly popped round offering refreshments…. The little touches like the touch brush/tooth past/mouth wash/hot wet towels all just added to a splendid journey..... I took a small netbook on to the plane with me but hardly used it. The onboard entertainment was enough to keep my occupied, although the excitement probably helped, but with my standard travel plug the netbook kept its charge for use whenever needed. Due to our delay out of London we had a quick turnaround in Singapore…. We got through the internal checks relatively quickly and just wondered straight up to the departure gate… I had checked my bags all the way through and was grateful for this as it meant I could relax for 30mins and stretch my legs whilst waiting to board the second leg to Melbourne…. This was on time and I was lucky enough to get on the dog deck and had once again a vacant seat next to me (felt like I was in business class!!)… both flights were about 80 – 85% full but I guess I was just lucky having the seats vacant next to me….! I didn’t sleep much and landed in Melbourne bang on the expected time, early in the morning on the 17th June. The weather wasn’t great on my arrival, the typical Melbourne winter really… bit of cloud, the odd splash of rain and the sun trying hard to make an appearance but it was nice and cool and I was just happy to have negotiated my way there without any problems… Due to the fact we were one of the first to land in the morning the queue’s for customs weren’t too bad. I declared prior to going to Australia on my visa that I had been fined by the police in the UK about 5 years ago and I mentioned this on my customs form (which they ask you to fill in on the plane!)… I got asked what this was for after I had passed through the main customs desk (nothing scary like some people had reported about being hauled off to a darkened room and interrogated) by a nice guy who was happy just to take note of this and let me on my way. My bags were waiting for me after I had passed through customs and I wondered straight through without any problems…. The Beagle sniffer dogs are pretty cool… one woman just in front of my in the queue had food in her bag (fruit I think) and the dog sniffed it out no problem…  I was greeted by my new boss at the airport and hitched a lift with him to the rented accommodation I had lined up in Cheltenham after a spin round the City. It took around 30mins (from memory) to get in to the city and a further 40mins+ to make our way down to Cheltenham. As mentioned I hadn’t ever been to Melbourne and I was impressed by the city and all of the big buildings. Everything felt a little bit strange to start off with, like I was on holiday but when I arrived at my rental accommodation I soon settled in and began to enjoy suburban Melbourne. Cheltenham is quite well placed on the Frankston train line and has an express service running in to the city centre (about 30mins)… I was also luckily situated quite close to the Southland shopping centre (a large indoor purpose built centre with three floors of shops and everything you would ever need) which was great and really handy for my first bits and pieces I needed. I was going to be working in the city and in East Bentleigh and without a car I have found the public transport to be more than tolerable…. Its not the most posh/comfortable ride but I’ve found it to be a load better than the public transport on offer in the north east of England and its very affordable… you can get round Melbourne all day for $11 (that’s zone 1 and 2) which is cheap compared to the price of everything and the wages. On a Sunday they do the same ticket for $3.40ish which provides an even better excuse to get out and about. I haven’t got a car yet so not sure how much they cost (does anyone know how I go about sorting my driving license out or if I can drive on my uk one whilst over here?), they seem more expensive but again that’s expect and they are probably proportionate when you factor everything in. Dental is expensive so get everything check out and fixed if needed before you arrive… clothes and shoes can be pricey if you want a brand or a name… that said a few of the shops in the uk deliver over here now (I’ve personally used topman who only charge 9GBP and it took 8 days to arrive) if you ever needed a few cheaper bits and bobs and you know they are going to fit…!! I would recommend Cheltenham as a suburb to anyone…. Its quite peaceful and quite with not a great deal going on but it has great links to the city with the major Nepean highway running through and the train line too. There seems to be a big push around Melbourne’s inner suburbs to upgrade single storey houses to doubles or big flat complex’s but Cheltenham has survived this to an extent which is nice as you get a feel of being away from the city. I regularly ran to Sandringham beach which took around 25mins or so… Its beautiful and every time I have been (granted its been winter over here) its been deserted… even when the sun was out… Little things like this have made being here great. I’ve settled in really well and met some really nice and friendly people. It hits you straight away how genuinely nice the people here are, especially when compared to the UK… I love England but everyone seems very busy worrying about their own little world to just say hi to a neighbour or just G’day (I was the same to be honest) for no other reason but to be nice and polite…. I’ve found settling in really straight forward and any advice/help I’ve needed I’ve been able to find or get quite easily. The price of things was probably the most difficult to get my head around…. I know there is always a big debate on how expensive things are here when compared to the UK but I do find when everything is considered that Australia is fractionally more expensive. This might be because I have had to set myself up with a lot of ‘home’ type stuff which we tend to get quite cheaply in England. I like to shop around, get a good deal and have a handle on what things cost so I’ve sort of enjoyed the whole experience of a new country in that respect. Whilst I think day to day things cost more I am earning a lot more than I was in the UK and at the end of each fortnight (fortnightly pay is a dream and its pretty much he norm over here I’m lead to believe) I have more in the bank than I ever did back home and that’s with all of the start up costs and everything which comes with moving countries…..I’m even using moneycorp (free transfers for PIO members) every once in a while to send some money back home (although the Aus banks do like to charge you for it!!)  I signed up with commonwealth bank, they are one of the big four, and whilst they have been fine I am looking at moving to one who charges less for international money transfers…. They hit you with a $22 charge initially and they pass it on to a third party bank who charge you $25….. I have heard one bank does offer free transfers if you deposit a set amount each month but I’m nt too sure who (any advice appreciated on this one!?)… The bank account was really easy to set up. As was the Medicare card. Just turn up in the shops and away you go… just have your I.D. handy when you go out and about the first few weeks as I needed it quite a bit to sign up for various things. Another I got straight away was a sim card…. $2 a sim card and I top up $30 for 30days and it gets me $300 credit… its about $0.50 a text back to the UK and about $2 per minute ringing friends on their uk mobiles so it works out really cheap (this is just a convenience pay as you go deal with Optus one of the big mobile/comms companies out here so I am sure you can get a better deal). I haven’t bothered with a 12/24 month contract but when I enquired they wanted a bank statement with 10 transactions on before they would accept me as a customer. There is so much to see and do in Melbourne, whilst I’ve been busy at work and really trying to get my head down I’ve hardly touched the surface I’ve been to the Aussie rules (I’m a St Kilda fan now!) and soccer, the aquarium and recently the Caulfied Guineas…. They love their horses over here!! A must do if you are coming here is the Australian animal sanctuary in Healesville…. Its amazing… They pretty much have all the usual Australian animals and then some!! I signed up for a years zoo pass as they have the Melbourne zoo and a safari type zoo/park and you get unlimited access for a year ($100 I think). I’m probably missing out loads so feel free to ask…. I shipped over 3 big boxes (about 25kg each) with Transglobal express… they were fine and very competitively priced although I did get a 100GBP fine for having some shaving foam in my box… hey ho… They used DHL for the delivery and I had my boxes within 10days (quoted 5 days but delayed due to the shaving foam and the delivery at this end was sub contracted to someone who wouldn’t arrange a time for delivery which was a bit of a pain!) ….Downsides are few and far between… there is a lot of graffiti in the city and on the trains/buses but you almost forget its there after a short while…. Alcohol is expensive where ever you go (even supermarket), even when you factor in the inflated wages you are on over here (a standard crate of 24 costs around $40 - $50 depending on what you go for) …. Speaking of supermarket, Coles is really good and stocks a decent range…. Aldi is great for cheaper items and there are fresh fruit and veg shops in every suburb so I shop at a range of places to keep prices down…. Furniture is expensive too…. I’ve recently moved away from Cheltenham (a little too quiet and away from the city for me) and now live in a flat with a couple of friends I have met since being here. There’s a lot more going on and its only 15 mins in to the city. Loads of good restaurants (the Asian food over here is simply amazing, loads of variety and slightly different twists which is great as I love my food) and just a busier type vibe to it which suits me a little more…. I’ve not really come across any problems as far as crime/violence/hoodies/chavs are concerned, there’s not the massive binge drinking culture on show over here (I’m sure it exists in pockets but its not thrust in your face in the street or through the media over here) and I haven’t seen any nasty wildlife… which is great as I’m not a fan of spiders!! The birds over here are pretty noisy but I don’t mind it… they are way more pretty and colourful than back home and it makes me smile when I see a pair of the green/blue/orange parrot things sat squawking away as you really do feel a million miles away from home but in a good way…. I haven’t found anywhere to play soccer regularly yet but there are loads of parks to go for a kick around….. We have foxtel (same as sky) so I get to catch up on every premier league game from back home and its got a good selection of programmes, incl some of the British stuff! I know I will have missed loads out and probably the important bits which people want to know about but I’m happy to comment on anything I’ve written or may have missed or any questions/queries anyone has…. All of this is just my opinion and I just wanted to share it with the forum as it was a great help to me when I was moving over that I should have tried to get this written sooner… I guess it’s a testament to how good Australia is treating me that I haven’t had a great deal of time to sit down and get it done…. All of this and we are just getting in to the spring months and the warmer weather!! Cheers Roflie

Thats interesting as the lady i spoke to today at commonwealth mentioned they had ''identical'' bank charges as WestPac and that the banks were matched on pretty much all levels apart from that Commonwealth were slightly bigger than WestPac

how do i contact him?? that would be great if i could incur no charges as after speaking to Commonwealth i am starting to think it might be $22 to send and $7 to recieve which is pretty rubbish!!

Thats right - I was speaking to Commenwealth bank this morning and they have advised that i would pay $7ish for a money transfer in to my account and $22 to make an international money transfer... not sure if this still applies when using money corp as i will be making a same currency deposit/transfer/withdrawal each time so the bank doesn't have to change anything!!? I am wondering if moneycorp is just treated as a stnadard bill payer and therefore an $AUD direct debit to them might not cost?? I am looking at moving funds too and from the UK from time to time and basically don't want to pay silly charges....

Hi guys, Just looking at which bank to go with here in AUS and as i will be using MoneyCorp i was wondering what charges (if any) people have encountered when transferring money in and out of the counry (to/from the UK) with the AUS banks.... ...I have ben thinking about going with Commenwealth Bank but not really sure.... It states on their website they charge $22 for international money transfers but i'm unsure if this would be charged if going through MoneyCorp Cheers Roflie

Also it states i have to be in Australia when i lodge so i will have to wait until Friday

I think i have queried this before but i'm going on a 457 visa for 4 years so i'm entitled to class myself as an australian resident for tax purposes right?

I've packed a large case full of clothes, shoes and the usual stuff and this morning it weighs 29.5kgs i've got a couple of last minute things to go in so i should be bang on the 30kg limit.... the case is holding up okay too....!!