perfectmax

Hubby and I are coming over in August and need to get a short term mobile phone while we visit. We are on orange in the uk can we bring our phones and get a sim card if so which brand as our phones are locked to orange.

Any ideas?

Tia

Hi everyone

Myself, the husband and 3 children are going to be arriving in Oz in February. We are going to come over in August to check out areas etc and my parents have very kindly offered to have the kids for us for about 11 days so we can fly in and see which areas we like and visit some schools.

So my question is - we are definitely going to live in Queensland. We have no idea where though. We have been to the Gold Coast which was nice for a holiday but it doesnt feel like it is the place we want to settle.

Our main priority is work for my husband in sales or management of warehousing I suppose but a massive priority is schools for our children. I will also need to work at some point as a secondary school teacher and this has led us to look more closely at Brisbane.

Does anyone have any idea of the best state primary schools in Brisbane or outside of Brisbane - ideally within an hours drive of the city with access (within 20 mins of a beach but closer if possible)

At this point ALL advice would be very gratefully received.

Sian & Danny

We have our visa and expect to go in February but wont be going directly to Oz but via Thailand as we have a family wedding so will be in Thailand for about 2/3 weeks. This all sounds lovely I know but I need to pack for 5 people for a holiday and forever.

Those who have made the move can you suggest a list of what comes next? We are going to rent our house out. Sell our cars and maybe leave the big items of furniture in the house and rent it furnished?

We really need some advice on moving money, booking somewhere to stay short term while we look for a rental in ox (shall we do it from here?) and any other things you can think of that I wont have considered....

*waits patiently for advice*

Thanks

Sian

OH did I mention we GOT A VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOOOO

We have a grant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It came through on 31st May (much quicker than we had been expecting) and we have to validate by May 9th. We will be leaving home in February via Thailand for a family holiday and wedding. There is so much to do and I have no idea where to start.

EKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK WE HAVE A VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just an update from us. We had the medicals done on the 12th May. As of the 21st May they all show as met apart from my Son's form that we took with us. Probably havent got round to it yet as all other things of his are met. Hopefully it will be showing soon. We have begun to make some decisions about what to do if we do get the visa and when we will go to Oz etc.

In your experiences how long does it take from med's being finalised to a visa grant if successful? I thought maybe around a month looking at other peoples time lines.

Good luck to everyone this week.

Sian

Errrrm best undies? Do you mean top half or bottom half? LOL I am such a grown up

LoL Jambos - that is the kind of thing my oldest would do!! Always a sob story.... will take the duct tape lol

wow! very exciting times ahead for you then.

hope the savings stack up and the wedding goes well

enjoy your adventure

Sian

Hi everyone

Looks like it has been going very well for many of you recently!!! :biggrin:

Our medicals are booked for 12th May.

I have posted our Form 80 to the immigration agent.

Our police checks have been submitted and we are awaiting a response.

And I am literally in a right old state of panic......and cant even put my finger on why :err:

Can anyone who has recently been through the medicals give me a heads up on what happens/how long it might take for a family of 5 cos the clinic said about 3 hours.........:dull: with 3 children thats going to be an interesting morning.

I still cant bring myself to tell my Nan and yet I dont want to wait any longer......

And the rain here is making me wish we'd gone already :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Please excuse the ramble but my head is spinning ......next hurdle the medicals.....so any ideas??

Thanks if you manage to get this far.....:rolleyes:

Sian

Whoooooop we have a case officer!!!!! Need to get meds and do police checks within 28 days )))

So excited and nervous!!

Good luck to everyone else this seems to be moving really fast :biggrin:

Having tried to sell vehicles in Australia which were never sold here I can assure you that it's not an easy task and seriously reduces the target audience. If I was in your position and looking to buy something to bring with us then I would start by checking out other models in the same category which could be suitable, narrow the list to vehicles which were sold in Australia and which would represent good value to import, and consider my options from there.

Also keep in mind that something like the Smax would not just be harder to sell here but would also cost considerably more for insurance, quote possibly 2-3 times as much per year as a model which was available in Australia, as well as parts availability and servicing costs.

I thought the insurance & service would be more expensive, but 2-3 times more than usual is a bit of a shock. We will reconsider other options and see where we get.

Thanks Craig

Hi Craig,

Thanks for your reply regarding the cars we have listed. We would like to bring two cars over and each have a car registered in our names, so we have some luck there.

Yes we are not due over for another 10-12 months and would like some advise on the purchase of a Ford Smax. As you say they are not sold in Australia so we are a little apprehensive on buying one although they do fit our family requirements perfectly. If we did go down this route, I think we would be looking at a Ford Smax Titanium 2ltr Diesel automatic or a 2ltr petro; ecoboost engine, both with aircon.

Would be willing to listen to your advise on this matter.

Again many thanks.

Hi there,

Could you please work out the feasibility of taking the following cars.

Car 1: 2006 KIA SORENTO XT - 57000 miles, 2.35ltr Diesel, aircon, manual, chrome pack

UK Market Value: £7200.00

AUS Market Value: $17500.00

Car 2: 2000 Volkwagen Golf 1.8 GTI Turbo 20 valve - 107000 miles, hatchback, manual, unleaded, aircon,

UK Market Value: £1850.00

AUS Market Value: $7300.00

The following is a possible purchase that we are thinking of with the KIA as a trade in.

Car 3: 2010 Ford SMax, 5500 miles, diesel, 7 people carrier, aircon, automatic

UK Market Value: £17500.00

AUS Market Value: $NA

Obviously we would like to take two cars to keep the shipping costs down and ship them in a 40' container with our personal effects. Could you advise if this is possible.

Many thanks

Name: perfect max

Destination: qld

Date of Visa application: 7/10/11

Nationality: British

High / Low Risk: low

Trade / Profession: secondary school teacher

Visa Type: 175

Onshore / Offshore:

Processing Priority Group (Category):4

Date Medicals submitted: not yet

Date Police check submitted: not yet

Date CO assigned: not yet

Date of employment verification (If applicable):

Date visa granted: not yet

Please add us to the list waiting for a c/o looking forward to some good news :wink::wink: