l55lee

Hi All We've been living in Perth now for four months and it's time to start searching for a rental property. We've been really lucky as we've been able to stay with relatives so there's not been the need for references etc. We owned our own house in the UK, so the rental market will be a whole new experience. Will a letting agent be concerned about our lack of rental experience? My relatives are happy to write a reference but I'm not sure whether it's necessary to embellish the truth to make us look more favourable for the rental market e.g. say that we've been paying to live at my relatives. In terms of finances I've got a reasonable amount in the bank and have a good contracting job in the CBD with a well reputed IT outsourcer. Any hints or tips would be gratefully appreciated. Cheers Lee

Speaking to another agent may well help. Stephen Dickson helped us through the process and I had my 176 within 4 months. I had to take the RPL route and attained extra points for my IELTS score. One of Stephens areas of expertise is IT, he even worked in IT in the UK. You'll find him on the Migration Outcomes Australia website. Good luck (with the process not with Stephen, he know's what he's doing). Cheers Lee

Cool, that's good news for you and others that would have to travel some distance. :biggrin: It's a shame that their staff don't all understand that it can handled digitally! Hey ho, at least I only live 45 minutes from the CBD.

I tried to email my stuff in but they wouldn't have any of it, apparently/allegedly only a physical visit would suffice.

The SS doesn't kick in until you activate it. I don't believe that this has any impact on your visa though.

I'm a big believer in the moral obligation part of the equation here, I wouldn't have got to Aus so quickly if that hadn't been an option. I realise that there's a multitude of opinions on this and everyone's entitled to their own.

I was rather surprised, which was why I created the thread. It's a tad crazy that we're not either (1) notified how to deal with it when we arrive or (2) that it's done by default when our visa's are activated. When you get to Perth it's easy to find immigration, if that's any consolation. It's next door to Myer on Murray Street, on the second floor. Cheers l55lee

No worries, it's http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/172455-wa-ss-activation.html. Basically I took in my passport and the signed copy of the SS notification, that was all that they needed. Cheers l55lee

Take a look at the thread that I started on 02/01/2013 called WA SS activation. You'll see everything that you need there. I dropped in to their office with the required paperwork and was done within ten minutes. It's worth mentioning that the office is not open every day of the week, I went to see them on the Thursday morning. Cheers l55lee

Hi All I've read many conflicting views on POI about activating WA SS, so I thought it prudent to speak with migration myself. It turns out that I do have to physically activate the SS, it seems a little crazy that this can't be done at the same time that I validated my visa. It's worth having a look at this if you haven't seen it already... it tells you what you need to do - http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/skilledmigration/Pages/Newlyarrivedskilledmigrants.aspx. Cheers Lee

Speaking first hand I applied for a number of jobs from the UK earlier this year and received nothing more than a "thanks for your interested but.....". I've been in Perth for three weeks now and I've already had two job interviews. It seems likely that you'll need to get over here before employers/agents will take you seriously. Personally speaking, as a Manager in the UK, I would never have entertained employing somebody 12,000+ miles away. Good luck with you endeavours.

Hi All My wife and I are heading to Perth in a couple of weekends time and have the use of 40kg each available in the hold, as we're both christening our visa's. I'm thinking of taking over my PS3 and Bose Wave etc. and storing them in an ABS case, so that they will be protected from the inevitable battering that they're going to get. I'm going to buy some "fragile" tape, which I'll wrap the suitcases in. Has anyone experience of doing this in the past and, if so, is there any advice that you can offer? Cheers Lee

I was very fortunate, my assessment as 135111 took less than 3 weeks. It took me almost two weeks to compile the evidence! :biggrin:

Sorry, I meant SA SS.

Yeah, I don't see any issue with applying for your police clearance. It takes them 10 days to turn it around anyway. My WA SS application was approved within 24 hours. You'll need your TRN before you have your medical, so you'll need to wait for that. Hope that helps. Good luck with you WA SS!