Shigella

Thanks all, that sounds encouraging. He has just sent his application for assessment of current qualifications of to the APS so will be applying for several as soon as he gets the results back. ​

Does anyone know when offers for post-grad places go out? Hubby is hoping to get on a post-grad course to begin in Feb 2014. We expect his Partner Visa to come through in Sept 2013. It sounds like there'll be a pretty small window of time between we when he might expect to receive a place offer and when he has to be over there ready to start. ​I haven't been able to find this info anywhere online so hoping someone here can comment.

Anyone know what channel it's on? I can't tell from the link.

It doesn't sound great to me. We are a family of 4 with kids aged 3 and 1 and we reckon we'll need $70,000 minimum to get by and around $85k to have a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. I'm sure someone who already lives over there will be along soon with more accurate info to answer your question, though.

I do empathise. That is why I was willing to go out in the cold hallway with the baby while the dogs lolled on the sofa instead of helping them to put their choices in perspective. Of course, being the Australian partner they also have the example of my Mum to put them to shame. Both her children are overseas (one in the US, one in the UK) but she has never resorted to such pettiness and has shown nothing but generosity to both our family and our in-laws. She has always emphasised that we must do the best we can for our families and that the children should be the priority. She would be appalled that they would prioritise the dogs over their grand daughter, and that they would treat her daughter so shabbily as a guest in their home. I won't tell her because of the pain it would cause her (as it did me). (Apologies to the OP - not intending to hijack your thread).

Sorry you got such a startling response. I've just had a weird one, too. I'm Australian and we have just submitted the visa application for hubby so we can all move to Oz together. Last night I had to take our 1yo and play with her on the floor in the hallway because the in law's decided they wanted the dogs (who are not safe with kids) in the lounge. I was very hurt and upset but at least I now know where their priorities lie. I suspect they're 'punishing' me for taking their son and grandchildren away. Perverse, because all it does is reinforce our decision.

Well we didn't receive any written acknowledgement but payment was taken sharpish (2 days after posting) so I guess that's a clear acknowledgement in it's way. No communication yet but I don't expect any now until after the Christmas break. The main thing is that we squeaked in before the price hike. Good luck everyone and congrats to those recent grants. Happy Christmas and best of luck for speedy visa grants in the new year!

We decided to put our faith in Royal Mail and posted it off Special Delivery today. Eeep!! Hope we haven't forgotten anything!

We're concerned we're running close to the Christmas shutdown for the Australian consulate and really want to be sure to get hubby's application in this year. Is it possible, or advisable, to submit the application in person? If so, what address should be used? Postal or courier address? Anyone done this?

Urgent help please: Hubby is going to take his visa application to the Consulate in person because of the short amount of time until Christmas shutdown. If you lodged your 309/100 partner visa in person, what address did you take it to? Many thanks!

We are in the process of completing the partner 309/100 visa form for my husband. It says that the other parent must give consent for our children to migrate and needs to do a statutory declaration to that effect. I am the Australian partner, sponsor and the mother of our children. The children are Australian citizens and are, of course, going with us. Do I still need to do a stat dec granting permission for them to migrate? They are not really migrating, as they are Australian citizens and they are accompanying us. Confused. Hubby ticked the box to say that they are migrating with him because he said 'Well, I'm not leaving them behind, so they are migrating with me.' Can anyone clarify?

When providing evidence of combined finances; Joint bank accounts Mortgage Shared utilities Shared council tax Do you need to include every single utility bill, bank statement, mortgage statement etc for the period (in our case 6 years), or is it enough to provide original mortgage agreement and bank statements and utilities bills at intervals? I can find no info on this and the guide is pretty vague.

Sounds like we are at about the same stage and just starting on our Stat decs and gathering our evidence. Very useful to read comments on here. Good luck with your applications!

If we have stat decs from two Australian citizens - my (sponsor's) Mum and brother - is there much value in getting one from a British friend as well? We have a fairly substantial body of evidence, having been together for 7 years and with two children, so I don't really want to go to the trouble of getting someone to do this if the CO will barely glance at it. Thoughts?

I'm hoping DH will have one by the time we start looking for a rental. We're prepared to go where the work is so won't even start looking until he has a job. He'll be on a partner visa (PR hopefully) so we can be flexible.

Yes, that would be a great idea but we'll be staying with my Mum until DH finds a job and then looking for a permanent rental nearby. After that I'll see if I can also get work nearby though this might be a long shot.

Oops, not off to a good start then, got two kids (no pets) and one income initially. Still, sounds like there are other ways around it. We should be able to pay 6mo up front and come up with some character references.

Agree with scrumpy. We have a dog but would never allow her to run offlead on farmland where there are stock about. It's well known that farmers, both in the UK and Oz, are quite within their rights to shoot dogs harassing stock. Certainly the kennel owners should have had a secure exercise yard, but at the same time, after the dog owners were advised that the dogs could jump the fence and on-lead exercise was offered the owners should have accepted this. Hopefully the kennel owners also advised them of the risks should they jump the fence and stray onto farmland.

What do people do about a lack of references when renting? We have owned our own home/s for the last 10 years or so and therefore have no references. :confused:

$/£ 1M isn't really that much. Not enough to retire comfortably in either place on current interest rates. Certainly not enough to get you a house in both countries - $700k for a house in Oz and there's most of your $1M gone. Now if you were a multi-millionaire....

Quick and probably silly question: Do we need to include our dependent children, who are Australian citizens, in the section for dependents on DH's 309/100 application? They are jointly dependent on us, but since I am the sponsor, would they be considered the sponsor's (my) dependents, not the applicant's (DH)?

I don't dispute what you say for one moment but the credentialism treadmill is not limited to Australia. My DH is in mental health and has been for some 15 years. 5 years ago he had to completely retrain because he was rapidly becoming unemployable with his then-qualificaitons and constantly moving goalposts. 5 years of study, a BSc and a post-grad qualification later he is now on the same wage he was before he began training. He probably wouldn't have a job had he not done the retraining. It's part of the reason we want to leave. The time and money investment of constant retraining just to keep your job is becoming ridiculous here. Of course, credentialism is just another variation of protectionism.

I find it curious that people have asked you which place you prefer. I'm an Aussie, been here in the UK about 7 years and waiting for my British citizenship to come through but nobody has ever asked me which I prefer. A few have expressed incredulity about why I am here at all but that's a little different.

Two words "callow youth" spring to mind...:rolleyes: My advice: travel the world, not just Australia, for a year or two, do some volunteer work in a 3rd world country, get some perspective, and then if you still feel the same you'll be well equipped to take the long term view and work towards what you want.

We're currently gathering the documents for my hubby's 309/100 application. I was going through the checklist on his application form and one item was 'If you, your partner, fiancee or any of your dependents are or has been married, a copy of the marriage certificate'. I (the Australian sponsor) was married and divorced 7 years ago. I definitely don't have the marriage certificate any more and I'm quite sure my ex wouldn't have saved it for posterity (he probably burned it :tongue:). I have the divorce decree absolute. Do I seriously still need the marriage certificate for this ended marriage? Has anyone else with a previous divorce applied for this visa for their new partner? Did you include your old marriage certificate? What if you don't have it any more?