DSouzas

Glad you’re all enjoying Perth, we would love to meet up when we finally arrive – hopefully mid- September time. Just trying to look for accommodation, schools etc for when we arrive so lots to organise! Where NOR do you live at the moment? Can you recommend any nice areas for us to look at? We’ll need to rent at first as we’re keeping our house in the UK for now. Thanks for the update, keep in touch x

Glad you liked Perth so much, we did too. The jet lag will probably last about a week, that’s how long it look our kids (6 & 3) to stop waking up at silly o’clock! When are you hoping to make the move? Have you decided on an area yet? We’re hoping to move by September and I’m so nervous we’ve got so much to organise so much more research to do, I honestly don’t know where to start! Good luck with the orgaising, keep in touch and hopefully we can meet up when you make the move x

Hi Barry - Good luck with the move, how exciting, counting down the days now! We’ve just been over to validate our visa in Perth and we used Mindarie car hire (NOR). They were really helpful whilst in the UK and also once we got over there. They can also arrange to pick you up at the airport and drop you off but I think they only cover the Northern suburbs.

Hi everyone We’ve just got back from validating our visa and absolutely loved it We stayed in Mindarie which was a lovely area. We visited loads of places including Hilary’s which is lovely for the kids, a really safe area and the beach at Sorrento is beautiful. My hubby met with couple of companies and loads of agencies so his face is out there but unfortunately I think unless we are super lucky we’re gonna have to make the move without a job and then apply when we get there. This is really scary especially as we have two children (aged 6.5 & 3.5). We are hoping to be out in the next 6 months – the sooner the better for me but we need to save as much money as possible as it is expensive over there. We would love to meet up as it would defiantly help to know people when settling in. We would hopefully be looking at staying NOR. Keep in touch and good luck to you on making the move. Clare x

Hey Hope you’re still enjoying Oz and settling in ok. We’re back home now been back for a week, the jet lag has been quite tough this first week especially for the kids! We had a fantastic holiday; we even managed to convince my parents who came with us how nice it was! Can’t wait to come back now, hopefully it will be in the next 6 months. We’d definitely like to meet up when we’re back. Keep us posted. Clare

Good luck with the move, we're over here at the moment validating our visa and we love it! We're staying in mindarie right by Clarkson. Please keep us posted with your move, good luck Clare

Hey Cal, thanks for the message - only 3 days to go, mostly packed just got a few things left to do. I'll make sure to do a post with an update on my return Clare x

We’ll be on our way to Perth to validate our visa!! Whoo, we can’t wait!! We haven’t visited Perth before so we wanted to visit before we make the move hopefully later this year. We’ve booked a rental in Mindarie for the first part of the holiday and then by the Swan river for the second part of the holiday. My OH has lots of meetings booked in with agencies to see what the market is like and what jobs are about. We’ve done loads of research and have various trips / days out planned. The kids can’t wait, they’re looking forward to visiting the beach – we’re lucky it’s only about a ten minute walk away. We’ve got the picnic bags / blankets all packed and are looking forward to some of the outdoor barbies. We’re also going with my parents; as they want to check out where we’ll be living soon for themselves! 6 days and counting……

Hello there, sorry you've had such a bad experience, would you be able to PM me the details so that we can avoid when the times comes for us to make the move? Hope you get to hear somthing positive from your complaint. Thanks again

Our agent gave us the information that needed to be included in the references and we used this as our template. My OH typed them and emailed them to his previous line managers / HR departments and asked them to print on headed paper and post back to us. Luckily all were happy to do this. The only information that was different on each of the references was the duties listed for each role. Good luck

We used Go Matilda and would definitely recommend them

I love this site, it’s really helpful and I don’t think we could have completed the visa process without the help and advice of people on PIO – thanks! I still log on even though we have our visa just to see what’s happening!

We used Go Matilda for help with our skills assessment and would highly recommend them, good luck with your visa applications!

Lovely post, we're over in Perth in Feb to validate our visa's and reading you post is making me even more excited! We're planning on visiting some of the places you have - really can't wait now :biggrin:

My OH’s cousin flew from NZ to the UK last week by herself and she’s 15. He mum arranged for someone from the airline to accompany her all the way (she flew with Singapore Airlines). When she arrived in the UK airport the lady who accompanied her waited until family arrived to pick her up so someone was with her all the time. Hope this helps, good luck with your situation, I hope you get some good news soon. Clare

We have used Go Matilda and would definately recommend them. Very helpful and prompt to answer any questions.

Hi Ali My OH works in HR and we are planning on moving to Perth (hopefully) next year. We’re off to validate our visa’s in Feb and my OH is going to arrange meetings with recruitment agencies in Perth and look for jobs. He’s spoke to a couple of people already and applied for tons of jobs but unfortunately gets the same response as you. Although a couple of recruitment consultants said he once he gets over here it will be easier to find a job. We think that my OH is going to have to go over first and we’ll have to stay behind until he finds a job. As we have two children we can’t all go until we have job security. Sorry I couldn’t have said anything more positive. I’m really looking forward to our validation trip in February, it’s only 11 weeks! Good luck with your job hunting and organising the move – keep us posted Clare x

Great post, thanks for the information!

Thanks everyone for your really helpful replies sharing a bit of an insight from you’re experience of the move to Oz. We’ve spent the last few days applying for jobs and also as Rob DC did we've been looking at firms which my OH would be interested in working in and then we can contact them also. Thanks again for all your help, much appreciated. Clare x

Hi all Thanks for your responses and your advice. It’s really difficult; I think for so long you focus on getting the visa, I think you forget that you’ve actually got to get a job next! Lol We would prefer to have a job to go to when we arrive in Oz but I’m not sure this will be possible –as a last resort my OH would have to go ahead whilst I stay at home with the kids until he finds a job (at least then I could keep my job in the UK for a while longer to pay some bills!) We’re hopefully heading to Perth and from what I can gather it’s quite expensive so I’m not sure how long we could afford to live without a job! Si – Yeah my OH is on linked in and he has a few contacts at recruitment agencies so I think when we visit in Feb and hopefully meet up with them that might help. Do you mind me asking what sector you work in? My OH works in HR in the hospitality sector so I’m not sure this is going to be as useful in WA. I think we’ll be spending a lot more time doing research….thanks again Clare.

I was hoping for some advice, we have recently been granted our visa and my OH has just started contacting recruitment agencies and emailing contacts he has in OZ so it’s very early days yet. We’re planning on visiting in Feb next year to validate our visa and hopefully meet up with recruitment agencies etc then. I was wondering for people who have experience of making the move, is it possible to get a job in Oz from the UK or do you find that people only want to look at candidates who are already available in Oz? My OH works in HR and we have two young children 6 & 3. We are worried about the risk involved moving our family without having the security of a job to go to in Oz! But then maybe we’re not being very realistic!? Anyway thanks for any advice you can provide. Clare.

Hiya Once your medicals have been finalised, your police checks uploaded and all the other documents have been uploaded and the CO is happy they have everything, then you are usually granted within days. You might want to check out this link, there are other people who applied in June and there is a spread sheet which details people’s progress from when they have applied for their visa. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/151471-176-lodged-june-2012-a.html Good luck

Hi candygirl We applied for our visa online and we scanned colour copies of everything which I believe is acceptable. We provided colour copies of the following documents: Passport (photo page) Birth certificates Marriage certificate Passport size photo References from employers (10 years worth – although this may have been because we were claiming maximum work experience points??) Payslips / P60’s (again 10 years worth) Contracts of employment IELTS result Skills assessment result Proof of address Pension details University degree certificate Form 80 Hope this helps! Clare

Hi Wendy I hope you hear soon about your medicals, the wait is awful, especially as we’ve got so far and are at the final hurdle. My medicals were referred on 30th July. I’ve called the panel doctor and they have assured me that everything is fine and they don’t know why I was referred. I have mild asthma and eczema so I’m guessing it must be because of this. I was a little bit surprised that I was referred as on the panel doctor guidelines it states that this is only minor and not an issue. I’m hoping as it’s been 3 weeks since the referral that they get finalised soon!

Hello there, Unfortunately we don't have a sucess story We got the results right before Christmas saying that we had failed. My OH is a HR Director but he hadn't been in the position long enough to be classed as senior enough. We are going to have to apply for the skills assessment through VETASSESS now, which I'm not sure how long that will take. We were due to get the results back by mid November but they actually came towards the end of Christmas so there was a slight delay. I know there is another post on PIO where another member has applied for the skills assessment with AIM but I'm not sure whether he has had the results back yet: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/129109-hr-manager-aim-assessment-criteria.html Good luck with your application, hopefully it won't take too much longer now.