Missus B

Hiya Mark & Vicky, I'll help if I can. I am a Paramedic with the North East Ambulance Service. I've worked for them for many years and am about to relocate to Brisbane with a PR Visa to work for the Queensland Ambulance Service. I consider myself one of the lucky ones, as I have been qualified for a few years now and I was a direct entry. Many individual Ambulance Service guidelines now require you to go to university and get a degree in Paramedical Science. That is the only way they will employ you. You do 2 years training on the road and Uni exams before becoming qualified. In order to qualify for Employer sponsorship in Oz, I had to have 5 years post qualification, on the road experience, for the Vetassess. As Vicky is only 28, she has plenty of time to do the 3 years at Uni and get the 5 years post qualified experience. Some services may take into account, the training period, which would cut the waiting time down to 5 years altogether. The cut off age now for Employer Sponsorship is 50. My workmate is 48 and is applying to the QAS. Mechanics are required in Oz but you need to have diesel experience ad again, the Vetassess requires so many years practical experience. We looked into it with my ex, who is a mechanic, just in case I didn't get a visa. Hope this helps:smile:

:hug:

I'm a Paramedic and I felt very humbled, watching this. These select individuals really are very brave and unique. I don't think I could be so brave in those circumstances......:notworthy:

I've gt 8 weeks left and I am them going to Oz on my own. I'm extremely excited for my new adventure, even if I will be 35 by the time I get there! But I dread saying goodbye to my ex fiance, friends, workmates and family. I can't think too much about it or the heebie jeebies set in. But it doesn't have to be forever as they say:smile:

Yes, that may be the case, but it is not seen as a financial burden as the procedure is straight forward and the device is not costly.

Once the ICD has been fitted, that is the majority of the cost dealt with and you just attend for your regular check ups. Cardiac medication is not all that expensive. Medical conditions that are considered a financial burden on the state, may stop you getting in. Transplant recipients are referred for their medical, but in general, do not get refused because of the transplant. They are also normally only on steroids, which are very cheap. HIV sufferers and people with ongoing cancer, not in remission, may get refused until they are in remission, as they would have to interrupt treatment to relocate, and restart the treatment in Oz. Cancer treatment drugs are extremely expensive. Is it down to the assessing doctor, his report to the DIAC and ultimately their decision, but I do not foresee him getting refused. ICD's are very common. Hope this helps:smile:

I have a ''small £5000'' loan in the UK, that I will be paying off from Oz. I got to to replace the leaking windows and doors in my house. I could afford it at the time and still can, as I have a good job. But as Pablo says, circumstances change and have been changing for many people over the last few years. I'm not comfortable with people judging others as to why they borrow money. It doesn't really matter and it's none of anyone's business, if I borrow $7000 to buy a year's supply of bread and milk. The point is, the guy has come on here for advice, and that's what he should be getting. Not a bunch of ''told you so's''............

Your agent is wrong and your family is misinformed. When you are sponsored, you will be sponsored on an ENS 121. This is a permanent residency visa. I am now in possession of one, after getting sponsored. When you have a permanent residency visa, you are entitled to everything that an Australian Citizen is entitled to i.e. healthcare, schooling etc. You are not looking for the QLD State to sponsor you. You are looking for the Queensland Ambulance Service to sponsor you, as they would be your employer, if you want to live on the Gold Coast. Incidentally, there are zero jobs on the Gold Coast, but you could put in for a transfer after a couple of years and keep your fingers crossed. The QAS never advertise for overseas Paramedics. I emailed the recruitment department and enquired. They sent me an application form, and that started the ball rolling. I don't know if they are still taking people on. Probably. I know one of my workmates is in the process of applying. You will have to email them like I did. I am committed to working for them for 3 years, in order to keep my visa. If I got sacked, I might lose my visa, but it is unlikely. If I was made redundant, I would not lose my visa. I know of people who have left the QAS after a year, to return to the UK, and they haven't revoked their visa. You really should be sticking with the information from people who have been through the process of Employer Sponsorship. It is in an agent's interest to make money from you, so you may not always get the correct information. Employer sponsorship is a much simpler and cheaper process than state sponsorship. Even if you can't get a job in Brisbane, you could get a job somewhere in QLD and put in for a transfer after a couple of years. There are definitely jobs available in Cairns, Townsville and parts of Brisbane, which is only 40 mins from the Gold Coast. Don't worry about the questions. But try and do some research. The internet is full of information.

Hello and welcome:smile:

Why don't you contact the Citizens Advice Bureau in the UK and ask them to intervene. They can ask the Credit Card companies to stop interest and put an arrangement in place to pay a small amount each month, even if it is £10, until you get back on your feet. I don't know where you stand, with living in Oz. But perhaps this doesn't have to be mentioned. Maybe you can contact the companies yourself and make an arrangement. They shouldn't contact your mother's address anymore provided you stick to the arrangement. You should also have a look on the Martin Lewis moneysavingexpert site. He gives good debt advice. There are also other similiar threads on here. I hope you manage to get this sorted. Best of luck.

If you get Employer Sponsorship, they pay for everything. You will pay for your vetassess and medicals upfront, but they should reimburse you in your relocation costs. I am getting the money back when I get to Brisbane. Why are you using an agent? You will get Sponsorship in Australia, as it is cheaper to bring qualified Paramedics over from the UK, than to train them from scratch. By using an agent, you will be spending unnecessary money, nevermind, how much your visa will cost you. It will take the same length of time as it has taken me, but you will have paid out an awful lot of money that you won't get back. I think you need to research this a bit more and I am more than happy to help. The starting point would be to apply for some jobs. Try St Johns Ambulance Service in Perth. I think they still do skype interviews, so you won't have to travel to Oz for an interview. Try the QAS. I think they are still taking applications for Brisbane and Cairns. Victoria are not sponsoring. But you may have some luck with Adelaide or SA. Basically, agents are there for people who cannot get Employer sponsorship. Employer Nominated Sponsorship is a relatively uncomplicated process and the Employer does most of the complicated paperwork. So, why pay out $15-20k paying for a visa, when you won't even have a job when you get there? Set the job up, they pay for the visa and you're $15000 better off.

I applied 2 years ago. Everything takes so long to get going. Lots of form filling and then I went to Brisbane for assessment and interview. I got the job offer a month later, which is standard. I then accepted and had to do the Vetassess. I passed the Vetassess in March, having applied last November. I went for my medicals in May and got my permanent visa in June. The QLD ambulance service have sponsored me. You have to be sponsored by an employer first. You can't apply for your own visa as a Paramedic, without sponsorship. They asked the usual questions. Why I wanted to live in Oz, why I wanted to work for them. The interview is an assessment in itself. You are given a question sheet, some clinical, some not. You are given a certain amount of time to write your answers. The sheet is then taken from you and given to the interview panel. You are then invited into the room, and they go over your questions and give you a bit of a grilling about your answers. Really nice people though. The practical assessment was stressful. They go into great depth but they really respect our practical knowledge. So as long as you know what you're doing, you'll be fine. The multi choice is again, very detailed. I would suggest going on the QLD AS site and downloading their drug protocals and studying them. They are very big on cardiac and the nervous system. Get to know your nerves and if the spinal cord was severed at a particular level, what would be involved and affected. The vetassess isn't the interview. It is there for everyone, to prove their qualifications, in order to apply for a visa. It's is completely separate to the QLD AS. It is part of the Australian Immigration process.

http://www.walshfamilyfoods.ie/chilled_spiceburger.html Kate, you haven't lived until you have had one. It is indeed a burger with spice!:yes: Although I prefer them cut in half and deep fried. Jaysus I can taste it now.....:notworthy:

The one thing thing I miss from Ireland, that you can't get in England is a spice burger. I've only found one place in Newcastle that does them, but their chips let them down. Gonna fill my boots when I go home to Dublin for 2 weeks before I leave for Oz. Anyways, I'm off to the chippy!:jiggy:

I did! And I gave all my chips to myself! I just take take take!!:tongue:

I went out tonight....I didn't mean for anything to happen and I wasn't looking for anything. But before I knew it, I was back in my place and I was all over myself! Haha:biglaugh:

HIFX have a better rate at the minute than Moneycorp, but you will pay for transfers under £3000. There's quite a few of them. You should set up accounts with the likes of Ozforex, HIFX, Moneycorp and then check each rate and transfer with the best rate you're getting on the day. Patience is the key here. I am waiting until I can wait no more. I really can't see it getting any worse than it is, so hopefully there'll be a bit of an upturn before I go in 7 weeks!

I've been single for 3 months now and 99% of the time, I love it! I've stayed away from the dating scene deliberately as I'm moving to Brisbane in 8 weeks, so there' no point in starting something I can't finish. This in turn has given me more time with my friends, more time to do the things I want and more time to figure out what I want from the future. But the downside are, no cuddles, no sex, no date nights. There are more plus points for me to stay single for now. But I am quite looking forward to getting back in a relationship when the time is right:smile:

I took them on the flight to Oz last year. I wore compression socks and took an Aspirin pre-flight. I suffered no jet lag when I got there.

Hiya Mmint, I am a Paramedic in Newcastle Upon Tyne and have secured a sponsored permanent residency visa with the OLD Ambulance Service. I move over there in October. I already have 2 ex workmates living and working in Brisbane so get a lot of info from them. QLD are still taking applications, I'm not sure about SA. Victoria no longer recruit overseas, but St John's AS in Perth are recruiting. I have been in the job for 13 years. They take all of your qualifications into account but you will not be able to start as an Intensive Care Paramedic. You will start as an Advanced Care Paramedic and you will have too apply to do The Challenge in order to gain a place on an ICP Training course. Your underpinning knowledge has to be top notch and there is a lot of competition for the Challenge and sometimes you can be on the waiting list for 2-3 years before starting your training. Even as a Qualified ECP in the UK, the level of an ICP is above and beyond that of the training of an ECP. The role of Ambulance Officer is similar to Patient Transport to not really relevant. The difference between an ACP and an ICP are down to knowledge, drugs, and you will be giving up some of the skills that you can use as a Paramedic in the UK. You will drop IO, ET, Autonomous Chest Decompression and external jugular cannulation. The drugs you drop are Amiodarone, Atropine and Hydrocortisone. We can only give Narcan and Midazolam i.m. Basically, ICP's do everything that we do in the UK.

Great post. Very enjoyable to read:notworthy:

Wow....breath taking:notworthy:

I couldn't afford a holiday rental on my own so I had a look on http://www.airbnb.com and found a gorgeous room in a luxury apartment in Hamilton with a lovely gay couple. It was half the price of a holiday rental with food included and they had brilliant reviews. Check them out!:smile: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/424674