Alaska

I did an online course here and researched the company (due to our visa being a 457, I couldn't afford to do the qualification at TAFE). I managed to find information - on a government website I think - that verified that it was recognised. I don't know what area you are looking to work in, but some of the online courses (like mine) had a practical component - I had to do at least 50 hours work (voluntary or paid) in the sector. Also a lot of online seminars. All that stuff was much easier to do over here obviously! Anyway my online course went well and I ended up with casual work from one of the placements, which gave me experience to apply elsewhere and I now have regular work. Good luck! x

Great that it has worked out! Also worth pointing out that International fees aren't always prohibitive. My DH is starting a part-time degree course through a UK university (we live in Oz and it's distance learning) and it's £1000 a year more than the domestic fee which was a lot less than we thought it would be.

I am sure that she will catch up fine so I wouldn't worry. I will say, that if it similar to my experience of UK education, then moving here (albeit Queensland) then there will be a fairly noticeable gap initially but don't panic. They are real little sponges at that age.

Where are you moving to? We save around 30-40% since we swapped to Aldi from Woolworths and Coles. The quality is generally great too (on dry and frozen goods at least). We spend around $80-$100 a week (family of 4) at Aldi, plus around $30 at the fruit and veg market. We also do monthly or so shops at the butchers - I'd be guessing at around $20 a month. Our electricity is always going up. We have no pool and rarely use the air-con and ours comes in at around $550 a quarter (Queensland) but I know several people with pools etc and it comes in lower.

Don't buy a cheap chain and risk losing it! At least buy 2 cheap chains and use both, in case one breaks!

It will give you a good feel for the country and as blossom79 says you have the option of the 2nd year if you do the regional work. However, you will probably find that doing a PT course in the country, won't give you the qualifications and experience to stay in the longer term so I would maybe talk to a Migration Agent about your options. Remember as well, that any courses you do in Australia will have international fees which can be significantly higher.

I would look into work opportunities as a priority. I hear a lot of people (on here) talk about construction being slow in Brisbane but I don't know if it's still the case. In my opinion - Sydney was fantastic as a young, child-free person for going out and everything going on. However with a family and less inclination to go partying, I adore Brisbane.

I could be wrong, but I thought that, if unmarried, the father couldn't be named on the birth certificate without being present anyway or a stat dec or something.

Can't think how that would be true as you wouldn't renew a passport with almost 5 years on it - especially children who have 5 year passport. Anyway we had to renew DS's passport which ran out about 18 months after arrival.

How frustrating especially in the heat. Ours was a bit different but our dishwasher packed up, someone came around and said it was basically completely dead. So we waited for a new one and waited. We were told one was ordered and would be delivered shortly, the next email we got (from a different person at the agency) was that they were still trying to source one! This was after 6 or 7 weeks so was getting pretty frustrated. In the end I phoned the RTA (I'm in Brisbane) and they advised us to issue a "Notice to Remedy Breach" which we did. It gives them a certain time (I think around a week but can't remember for sure) to rectify the problem but they advised to give them a bit longer as a goodwill gesture which we did (2 I think). So anyway, that finally gave them the impetus to sort it out! Took almost 2 months in all. Good luck!

I spent a few months in Perth and had a great time. I have lived in Brisbane for almost 2 years now and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Climate is great (most of the year), lovely beaches, lots to do in the city, really lush, green environment, and better access (than Perth) to the other cities. Love it!

Kate, just click on "Friends" on the left hand side on your home page. Then "Create list" and add the people you want. Then when you post you need to select that list to see it (just at the bottom of the post).

Double check your settings are definitely friends, not friends of friends too. Like I said as well, as soon as you tag someone else, it becomes visible to their friends. Have a look at your sidebar and what you can see and the settings other people have that are visible to you, to see if my theory holds up!

Same applies as far as I can work out. I also use the tool when you can see what the public can see on your page, for example, to make sure it's watertight.

Double check this as I have been really careful with my settings and making sure the people I want to see, see things and those I don't, don't. I have been monitoring it via the sidebar and it seems to hold up - the stuff I can see is "friends of friends" or "public" or someone has been actually tagged.

I have set up a "most" group where I have literally had to add people individually but didn't take long. This means that every time I want to rave about Australia for example, I don't have my sister (and other family members who didn't support us) raining on my parade which was happening before.

As far as I understand their friends will only be able to see them if they are actually tagged, not if just liked or commented.

It's funny about perceptions. I have always felt "more vulnerable" on a forum especially one like this that is open. With FB I have very tight privacy settings. On here you are always reading that Immigration might be reading or whatever. I would love to see a section for regular members - maybe accessible for people who have had 200 posts or whatever - for more sensitive issues.

Thanks GlobeTrotta. The issue is whether we need to do it at all. I have spoken to a couple Americans - both have had problems. One had 3 attempts at the fingerprinting rejected (that they did in Queensland) and one has been waiting almost 2 months for the FBI to even acknowledge that it has been sent to them. We need to be sure that we need to do this at all.

One last bump before I tackle the agents about this - would love any more feedback. x

Thanks. X

Would your wife be willing to move back? If not then it's probably a fairly easy decision. How does she feel when you talk about it? The problems you have in the UK are hopefully fixable. It depends why you moved back - will the issues you had with staying in Oz still be there if you went back?

I can't find any evidence for it, that's the problem. Someone on an American site I go on has been waiting almost 2 months just for the police check to be acknowledged, another has had 3 sets rejected by the FBI!

Just bumping in case an agent/someone in the know might see this.

We are using an agent for our PR application and have been asked to provide police checks for countries that we have lived in for more than 12 months in the last 10 years - Australia and the UK. She has just found out that DH is a dual citizen of the USA but hasn't lived there since 2001. She says due to being a citizen he needs a police check from there too. I can't find anything on the immigration website to back that up (only the 12 months in the last 10 years thing). Just to clarify - he has nothing to hide but the website says it takes up to 12 weeks to process plus he needs fingerprints (which I've heard are a nightmare to get accepted!) so it could delay our application by some months. Thanks