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Eddy Smirks

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Everything posted by Eddy Smirks

  1. Eddy Smirks
    G'day Gareth. Not sure on the school situation, but the suburbs of the northern Gold Coast are pretty family friendly and close to the Broadwater. Try Runaway Bay, Hollywell and Paradise Point. Slightly more affordable are Coomera and Helensvale - this is also where there are train stations on the main Gold Coast- Brisbane train line and are close to the motorway. There's definitely less jobs on the Gold Coast than Brisbane and situating yourself close to good transport links up to Brisbane would help open up more opportunities. Cheers, Eddy
  2. Eddy Smirks
    Hi. To be honest, as nice as a pool can be, be prepared to spend a fair bit of time maintaining it. Coupled with the extra electricity, water and consumables costs for the sake of 12 months I wouldn't bother. Bear in mind pool weather in Brisbane is pretty much over now until November. So in the mean time you'll be paying the premium for having a pool without being able to use it. If it was myself, I'd forego the pool for now, increase the available properties you can choose from and reduce costs. Cheers, Eddy
  3. Eddy Smirks
    Hi JPH, I believe you can apply for PR at any time on a 457. The two year minimum allows you to avoid the skills assessment. I very much doubt that leaving for a year and returning with the same employer on a new visa would count toward your two years though. A quick search on the DIBP website should give you a more comprehensive answer. Good luck. Eddy
  4. Eddy Smirks
    G’day folks. The day has finally come. Just been informed my 186 PR has been granted!! Feels like it has taken an eternity. Started the process last June, but with my company’s HR department being generally useless it took until November for them to get the application in and there was another month’s delay when they hadn’t uploaded any docs with it. Kicking myself I waited until the nomination came through but that’s life. Good luck to everyone still waiting!! Freedom!!! Haha!!!
  5. Eddy Smirks
    Ha-ha! What planet are you on!? :err: As to the original question, do a quick Google search on non-compete clauses (or covenants). The clause has to be reasonable and the company has to prove that your actions have had a detrimental effect on their business (trying to poach their clients etc). Highly unlikely to be enforced but it covers them in case you do something that screws them. Good luck on your job search! Eddy
  6. Eddy Smirks
    Hi Shriniwas, I don’t believe it’s quicker if you have your nomination already approved. There appears to be a couple of us who applied late April after the nomination was approved who are still waiting. In fact, it almost seems like it takes longer to approve if the nomination is already in place. Eddy
  7. Eddy Smirks
    Yes, still says 'application recieved'. Hasn't changed since 30 April. Hopefully it gets approved in the next week or so. I'll be gutted if they ask for more info and I lose another month. Been waiting over a year (June '14) since I first started the process when I enquired with work about getting sponsored. Eddy
  8. Eddy Smirks
    Hi. I'm almost in the same boat. Nomination approved before visa app on 30 April. It's been a hell of a long wait and still nothing. Eddy
  9. Eddy Smirks
    Update on the last post. Unbelievably just received an email from the Civil Aviation Authority (maybe they read the forum ) who contacted BA on our behalf saying that BA won't pay compensation for the downgrade because it was a code share, just the difference in cost between Premium Economy and Economy. The difference they calculate as $77... Well, if I can get an upgrade on an international flight for $77 I'll fly BA for the rest of my life. W@nkers. Eddy
  10. Eddy Smirks
    My experience from flying premium economy last year with BA has put me off them for life. I flew Brisbane-Singapore-London. First leg to Singapore was actually pretty good but that was a code share with a Qantas plane, the rest of the experience was pretty average. Worst though was that on my return a few weeks later we were informed Qantas no longer flew a premium economy flight from Singapore to Brisbane so we were downgraded to economy. After over a year of correspondence and arbitration by the CAA I'm still waiting for compensation for paying a premium for a seat which I never received - seems like BA can take your money for a premium/business/first class ticket, stick you in economy and walk off with your money. Eddy
  11. Eddy Smirks
    Hi. I believe you need to get your employer to share this information via their account. It's not something you can just do by entering your nomination TRN. Annoyingly there is absolutely nothing about this on the immi website. I queried this with immi and was told that the employer nomination can include sensitive information which the employer may not wish you to see. It would be good if you could see some basic info about the employer app though. I was told by my employer's HR dept that they had made the application 8 weeks before they really did! Only found this out when they sent me the approval confirmation letter. The wait was driving me insane, believing it had gone in 2 months earlier certainly didn't help. Good luck with your app! Eddy
  12. Eddy Smirks
    G'day. Does anyone know how to import a nomination into myimmi? I have the TRN number from my employer but when I try to import the application I get an error message saying "This type of application cannot be imported". Can't find anything about this on the web. Any thoughts? To add to the thread, nomination went in on 08 October. As far as I'm aware from my HR department there's been no movement whatsoever. Painful to say the least as I'm waiting for the nomination to be approved before I apply for PR. Cheers, eddy
  13. Eddy Smirks
    RAMS has a high interest account offering up to 4.11% if you deposit at least $200 and make no withdrawals. Eddy
  14. Eddy Smirks
    Hi, As Chortlepuss said, this really depends on your expectations of what is comfortable. If you want to live in a house within 5km of the cbd, take multiple overseas holidays a year, own a new car and eat out three times a week this is going to cost a lot more than someone who doesn't. The 2.2 - 2.5 multiplier is a good starting point for some comparison though with your current salary. Best thing to do is to write down your expectations then trawl the net to find equivalent AUD costs. Personally I think Brisbane is good value. You can live cheaply if you have to without being too far from civilization and there's plenty to do which is free and great access to the Sunny and Gold Coasts. Good luck with your adventure! Eddy
  15. Eddy Smirks
    Hi Michael, Looks like your sunnies could be a legitimate expense if used for protection purposes (I'm guessing working outside on playground duty for example). https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/In-detail/Deductions-for-specific-industries-and-occupations/Teachers-2012-13/?page=8#sunglasses_sunhats_etc Eddy
  16. Eddy Smirks
    Hi $800 on food sounds like a lot if you only currently pay 150GBP. I reckon budgeting $400 would be comparable but you can compare costs using something like Coles Online. If you already have mobile phones you could get them unlocked (if they're not already) and pay as you go Sims are pretty reasonable with say $30 or $40 top up a month. Eddy
  17. Eddy Smirks
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  18. Eddy Smirks
    That's the crazy thing. I'm British with reciprocal Healthcare and despite paying the same as an Australian for medical cover i still had to pay the surcharge I'm surprised the government tightened up on the 457 Visa as we're the perfect people to live here: must be employed therefore must pay tax, can't claim benefits, in some states have to pay school fees, pay this medicare surcharge thing and if we finally lose our jobs and can't pay tax we get kicked out of the country, Haha! Sorry, but off topic... EDDY
  19. Eddy Smirks
    No Worries. For comparison I think I was paying about $80 per month as a single person on their most basic package. The surcharge was going to be about $800 and I was quoted about double that so I could avoid paying it... Bit of a no brainer really. However, whilst i was covered I did go in for surgery privately at a cost of about $6000 and Iman picked up the tab in full no questions. In that respect it was probably worth having paid the premium although I was a bit miffed when I got hit with the surcharge. Good luck on your adventure! Hope everything goes well. Oz is a great place :biggrin: Eddy
  20. Eddy Smirks
    https://www.nib.com.au/home/newtonib/whynib/pages/temporaryresidents.aspx Quote "Your Working Visa Health Plan membership does not help you avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge. The good news is you can join nib’s Public Hospital Cover which will help you avoid the MLS whilst you are a temporary resident in Australia." Eddy
  21. Eddy Smirks
    Not necessarily. I am on a 457 and was with Iman. Even though I paid for private healthcare (pretty much exactly the same as someone with PR or citizenship), i was still liable for the surcharge as it doesn't fully cover you. They don't tell you this until you attempt to complete your tax return and you can't enter the code you need need to provide. They will however sell you additional hospital cover which, although you cannot actually use, will exempt you from the surcharge. When I did the math the additional payment was more than the surcharge cost... In short, I canceled the cover and took the hit on the surcharge as it was much cheaper. Not sure if this is the same with Bupa but definitely ask the question as you might get a shock come tax time. Eddy
  22. Eddy Smirks
    Try gumtree. They have a short term let and house share section. Eddy
  23. Eddy Smirks
    No worries. Also, make sure you factor in that your rental is unlikely to include any white goods. Seems to be the Australian way of renting. Although your rent will probably already include council and water rates which is good. Eddy
  24. Eddy Smirks
    Hi. I don't think you specifically need a medicare card, you just need enough ID to satisfy their '100 points of ID'. See link below to a Ray White application form which should give you a feel for the kind of form you'll need to fill in for an application (they're all pretty standard). On the last page is a list of their acceptable ID. https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fd3qtx5cwjhbvrw.cloudfront.net%2Fcompanies%2Fapplication_forms%2F966%2F4330-201161683630-1338015474-original.pdf%3F1338015474&ei=eXj-Uo7SD5GJlQXJ5YHICQ&usg=AFQjCNEGHNHn0vURU9cHhbuyq_-ea_4fRA Good luck. Eddy
  25. Eddy Smirks
    Hi I went to one in London a couple of years ago. It was pretty useless and I was glad it was only 20minutes from home at the time. You'll get more information from searching through this forum for 30 Minutes. Although it was nice at the time to feel like I was 'doing something' in my search to get over here. I wonder with the tightening of the 457 Visa restrictions in the last year or so and the slowing of the australian economy (and increase in unemployment) if these expos are now even less likely to yield anything of use. Seems pretty odd not to tell you who is exhibiting though - it wouldn't surprise me if most of the exhibitors aren't people offering jobs but companies like removalists, Migration Agents etc. Eddy
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