valandmatt
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Everything posted by valandmatt
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I think we may well have had the same doctor! He was joking away and had us in stitches! Blood pressure??? What blood pressure!!!!
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Evening all! Well, meds done and (hopefully) dusted! Can't fault Bridge Clinic, Maidenhead. Everything went well until I had to give up my blood - oh my, what a pallaver, my veins went into hiding - after several attempts in both arms, eventually the nurse got enough blood (just) from the back of my hand - not exactly painfree - but I was a brave girl! Got a few bruises to show for it too! Results for bloods and X Rays back next week. Val x
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Hubby suffers from "white coat syndrome" with regard to his blood pressure and spent an hour in our doctors' surgery where there is a DIY machine, taking his own test until he got one he was happy with! LOL I've been trying to drink loads of water (probably don't normally drink enough) - don't know if it will make any difference - just feel as if I have to do something which may help!
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Hi all, we have our medicals tomorrow and the first two viewings on our house on Saturday..............wish us luck with both! Val x
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My hubby's Mum is still around too and its hard to make that decision - luckily she is very active and independent although she's 86 - and I don't think she truly believes we are going - especially as the visa is taking 14 months-ish - she doesn't understand why we have to wait in a queue! Your extended time in Oz should help with the decision making. Good luck, Val x
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Ah VaVa, yes, the years and years and years of cards...........why do we keep them? Yes, for sentimental reasons - but have you ever looked at them since you put them in the cupboard? Probably not - I certainly haven't looked at mine! We went through our loft a while ago and found cards we sent each other before we were married! Remember those hideous thickly padded cards - they were all damp and mouldy and mis-shapen - I'm afraid we filled many a black sack destined for the recycling paper bin! That's a result getting money for your old bedding etc - that doesn't happen at our local recycling centre! Wish it did though! We also had so much of our kids school and college work - they don't want it, so why should I keep it? Although I did keep a few good bits - can't get rid of everything - can't be too ruthless! But then it'll probably go in the next round of decluttering! At the end of the day its just "stuff". I'm blowed if I'm going to pay to have it shipped to Oz - only to be put in the loft over there! (Hope I practice what I preach!) Just waiting for the car boots to start up at the end of the month - hoping to make a bit of money - or at least find a good home for our unwanted bits and bobs! Val x
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Hi Phoebe, we signed up for 2 years, BUT with a clause that either side could give a month's notice after 6 months, so we gave them notice after 11 months. I preferred to rent unfurnished anyway as there were lots of hurdles to jump, with regard to furniture/mattresses having proof of fire retardent etc, and of course our tenants did not want to pay for storage, so we paid for our stuff to go into storage. Which actually wasn't so bad as it sounds, as you get to do a lot of the decluttering - STAGE ONE! Then, when the shippers come - decluttering STAGE TWO! Not half so bad as having to do it all in one go! It sounds silly now to think I was quite "precious" about bricks and mortar, memories and all of that, but if you do go down the rental route, it does put it into perspective and softens the blow! The only other thing to organise is the EPC - energy something or other - cost about £70, but lasts 10 years! Oh and we also paid the estate agent a monthly maintenance fee as we were out of the country! They inspected regularly and sent reports and collected the rent on our behalf. Good to know someone was keeping an eye on the place. Hope this helps, anything else - just ask. Val x
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Hi Pheobe, we went though the same feelings as you with regard to renting our house. We've lived in the same house for 30 years and the thought of someone else living here was really quite strange. But we rented it out (I never saw the nice people in our house - didn't want to - what the eye doesn't see, the mind doesn't worry over!). We were in Oz for 6 months and did quite a bit of touring of Queensland and drove down to Sydney for Xmas, and to be honest the rental income was really, really handy. Its not cheap what with fuel, camp site fees, food etc, and we were economical along the way! So when we arrived back in UK we were "homeless" for 6 months as the tenants asked for another 6 months to find somewhere to live permanently and they had school-age children. And you know what, it was really o.k. because at the end of it all we still owned the house and we knew we would eventually come back to it - a cushion, if you like. All in all we lived out of a suitcase for a whole year. And during our 6 months in Oz that's when my hubby decided he could see no reason not to emigrate to be with the family, so we also applied for the 173 temp CPV and we're hoping to get CO in the next 3 months-ish. Our house is now on the market to be sold and medicals are booked for the end of April, and do you know what - I feel so excited and really quite scared as well, lots of "what-ifs". But we've done it once - our friends won't let us sleep on the streets - today I feel brave, tomorrow I'll be a quivering mess saying OMG what are we doing. We've been married 40 years in June and in all that time neither of us had any incliniation to emmigrate, yet here we are following our kids to the other side of the world to start a new life, can barely think of anything else if its not Oz related - bring it on! So yes, if your're passing, we'd love you to call in for a cuppa, (or a beer!) Its good to have a plan - and yours sounds like a good one - all the best! Val x
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How exciting for you! Now its your turn to keep the rest of us sane! Its certainly heartening to see some movement on the tracker, gradually chipping away at the list - don't understand why some seem to be stuck at a certain hurdle? BTW how did you manage to get your meds done so far in advance - did you have a HAP ID? All the best, Val x
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So how do you front load your medical check before you get CO with said letter and HAP ID? Like others on the tracker, we want to organise meds etc before we get CO. ?
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Hi Moira, just looking at my acknowledgement letter and as far as I can see there is only the File Reference at the very top of the page, which is to be quoted at all times. I can't see anything else. Val
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Hi, I think its the date in the letter which is the acknowledgement date. As for 21st October 2010, that means about 16 months to wait for CO. Last June when I applied it was processing date of May 2010, about 13 months. So frustrating.......No wonder when I check the Tracker there is very little or no movement! On that basis we were hoping to be on our way by Sept/October, now it's looking more like Nov/Dec! The knock on effect is timing with selling house, etc. etc. Have been trying to resist visiting the family in Oz "on holiday" for financial reasons (the price of flights and spending money = the cost of a car when we get there) and to avoid the goodbyes (again) to the grandchildren which I find so hard, but with the knock-back in time, I'm now thinking we should go and wait for our CO there! Oh, I don't know..... Best of luck with your wait - hope you have more patience than me! Val x
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Hi Ann and Roy, congratulations on getting your Visa, so encouraging for the rest of us! I hope you'll keep us updated from time to time on how you settle down in Oz. Where are going? How soon? Best of luck Val x
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Great news - What a great Christmas present for you! Perhaps DIAC read the forums! Hopefully not too much longer until you get your Visa grant, fingers crossed! Whereabouts will you be settling in Aus? Keep us posted with your progress please - it gives us hope as I'm sure you know - we are not expecting to hear anything for at least another 6-8 months. Val x
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Hi Mike, thanks for your reply. That's so good to know. Just to confirm - there wouldn't be a problem getting a one-way ticket on a visitor visa then? So long as we kept PVC informed of our intentions? Sorry if this is "dumb", but what do you mean by an "official centre" exactly? :confused: Did you do this, inasmuchas you visited Oz during the "waiting period", except you came back to the UK? Now you have your visa, you are going back to Oz in time for Xmas - one way ticket this time? I only think we will do this if we sell the house quite quickly, the furniture will be on its way, not much point in staying here (Plan A - heart rules):biggrin: If there's a delay, then we'll wait until Visa grant/house sold then go as normal (plan B - head rules) :laugh: Val x
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Really great to read your post and that on the whole you've had a good first year! It made me feel quite envious as all we want to do is be with our family (both children and 5 grandchildren are settled in Oz) and wish we could fast forward to next summer (our ack date is 10th June 2011) applied for a 173 Visa. We did spend six months in Oz last year and loved it - we also did camping, but up and down the East Coast, we were based near Brisbane, and also found everyone to be extremely helpfull and friendly, and a great way to see more of the country - as opposed to flying to destinations! We're planning on putting our house on the market early next year, and hope it sells without too much delay - fingers crossed. Do you or anyone know if we will then be able to get a visitor visa so that we can "wait" for our 173 Visa in Oz (I know we have to be off-shore) when/if its granted - presumably NZ or Singapore or somewhere is acceptable. And can we have our Meds done while on holiday in Oz? Perhaps someone might read this and offer advice? I just don't think I can wait another 9/10 months (at least) before seeing the family - which will be 18 months altogether before I see the grandkids again - they grow up so fast! Wishing you all the best for your 2nd year and hope its even better than the first! Val
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Hi Val, we have also applied for a 173 and assumed we would get the double allowance, so glad I've read your post, and will be prepared! But agree, 2 weeks, months or years makes not much difference to the amount you need to pack, especially if you have "extras" from from family to take with you! Our plan is to apply for the 143 soon after arriving in Oz, so to my mind we are going permanently, but thanks for the warning re baggage allowance. Still a long way down the list though, patience not my speciality. Moira's right, not a lot happening on the tracker! :arghh: (another) Val x
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Many thanks to everyone for your replies, all very helpful and plenty of food for thought. And thanks for the PM's will keep safe for future use. Val x
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Hi Ann, its lovely to "talk" to someone rather than "cyberspace" wondering if anyone will bother to read your post! As we have been visiting Oz for the last 10 years on holiday to visit our son, we did stop off in Perth en route to Sydney once and thought it was beautiful, we stayed in the city a couple of nights then hired a car and drove down to Margaret which was fabulous, and stayed in Fremantle for another couple of nights. Our son lives near Cronulla (Sydney) for 10 years and our daughter lives near Brisbane, her family emmigrated nearly 3 years ago and love it. We have 5 grandchildren, so its a "no-brainer" for us to follow them if we want to see them all growing up. So, what are your plans? Do you have a house to sell and when, is the question. My head says wait until the spring time, my heart says do it now in case there's a hold-up - it would be awful if the visa is granted but the house is not sold! But then if it should sell straight away????....well I expect you've gone through these thoughts - timing is everything isn't it? We have some shipping companies coming to give us quotes over the next few days just to get some idea of costs etc, or whether we will have to take less then we first thought. I know its a bit early on, but I just have to do something! Val
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Hi everyone, have been reading recent posts and have to say congratulations to those of you have recently got your visa grant! We still have a way to go yet and the hardest part at the moment is the waiting - I am sooo impatient! I want to get going! Having spent last winter in Oz I am definitely not looking forward to the cold winter months here in the UK. I miss our kids and grandkids so much and this weekend my son was taken very ill with a virus which attacked his heart (he's 34 - no age) and it just brings home to you how far away Oz is, I just wanted to jump on the first flight to see him - it doen't matter how old they are, they're stil your children! Anyway, he's out of the woods, and hopefully recuperating with lots of bed rest. What I wanted to tell you and ask advice is: my Oh and I have just paid a visit to a financial advisor this morning with regard to pensions etc, he's not 65 yet but its just around the corner and the FA told us about something called QROPS whereby your private pension can be transferred to Oz so that its paid in AUD as opposed to having it paid into a UK bank and then transferred into AUD which of course the amount will fluctuate according to the exchange rate. Has anyone heard of this and if so, have you done it? My second question is, the FA asked if we had made Wills, we have many moons ago and should probably be updated, but there was doubt if Wills in the UK would be recognized in Oz - does anyone have any information regarding this point, or where we could find out? I hope I haven't been too long-winded, and anyway would love to hear from anyone whose acknowledgement date is around June 2011 for a chat, we planning on settling near Brisbane. Thanks so much and love the site, its just so informative and encouraging reading all your stories and whereabouts you are in the process. Val x
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Hi new to PIO and have been looking on here for any info regarding timings and general stuf. We have just sent off application for Contributory Parent Visa, both children now live in Oz. My husband is 60 and I am 57. Can you please point me in the right direction!