Shigella

Thanks. We're not bothered where we go (within reason!). We'll go where the work is - which is why I thought it might be worth going to the Expo. Sounds like it could be. We are pretty confident DH will get a PR upfront (he qualifies).

Any more comments on the Down Under live? I'm an Aussie planning a move home with my British hubby and our family. I wondered if it would be worth going to give DH an opportunity to scope out some job opportunities etc (he's in mental health). Not looking for sponsorship or anything like that though. What do you think? Worth going?

Thanks for your comment. Many people expect Oz to be just like here with respect to dogs but it's far different. I've been trying to convince my OH to rehome our dog before we move but he will not hear of it. He has at least agreed to leave her here with his parents until we own our own house (which will be several years). I just don't think putting her through this ordeal is in her best interests.

I have a toddler and a baby. Sleep? :biglaugh:

We have a 2.5yo and a 10mo and we use slings for both. The toddler will usually walk most of the time but even when he gets tired he goes in a sling. Remember that many cities in the world are not buggy-friendly. Some don't have safe or well defined footpaths, some are so crowded you can't easily manoeuvre a buggy and some are so uneven underfoot that your buggy will either be uncomfortable or rattle to bits (or maybe it's just the places we frequent ). Even in London just before last Christmas we had DS in a sling but saw kids in buggies literally being hit in the face with shopping bags as people went past. More info here.

Tesco accepted my Oz no claims. Memory is a bit hazy because it was 7 years ago but I think I sent them a copy of the policy showing the no claims. I think I had to send them an original, not a copy (not sure whether I got it back or not).

How can they afford to return home then? But yes, quite right - I should have read the thread. Just trying to be helpful.

I haven't read all the suggestions in this thread but I think you need to look outside your area and consider moving to another locale within Australia. Apply for jobs all over and settle where you get work. Also, I can't over-emphasise the value of temp work. Sign up with an agency as a temp worker and take anything they offer you. Even if you're sitting on reception you might get your foot in the door with a company. I did this once - got a job doing temp holiday cover, it evolved into another temp holiday role with the same company and then to a permanent role. I'm sure you've had plenty of other excellent suggestions so good luck in whatever you decide.

Good luck! Hope you come back with some happy news for us soon!

Not exactly a comprehensive study, is it? I think this can be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt as it doesn't really prove anything either way. I do agree that a real investigation of how many people have left Australia or Britain for the other and returned over the years and their reasons would be quite interesting.

I'm interested in this too. When I moved to the UK from Oz I brought my NCB certificate from Oz and it was accepted no questions by my UK insurance company so it would be interesting to know if any Australian companies will work the same way reciprocally.

It makes a big difference to have a place to live with family when you get back. We're going to stay with Mum while we find jobs and a permanent rental, though sadly the area where she lives is not somewhere we'll find work. Like you, I've never been homesick but having made the decision I just want to get on with it now. It is frustrating that it should take so long for straightforward cases like ours.

Wow, I had to check I wasn't about to answer my own post. We are in almost exactly the same situation except we've been together 6 years and our kids are 2.5 and 10mo. We're not as organised as you and I'm still doing the kids Australian Citizenship by descent. As soon as possible we will get DH's Visa application in but can't see it being before November. I am due to go back to work in December but, like you, the cost of childcare makes this pointless (and I'm on a good wage). On the other hand, we can't afford to live on one wage and are eating into savings every month we are here so the only option is to get out of here as fast as we can. I've considered the possibility of going to Oz on my own to start working and DH to follow when his Visa is through and house is sold. My situation is probably a little different in that most of the jobs that come up for me are in expensive areas of Sydney. This makes it uncertain whether it is economically worthwhile because I'd have to pay long day care for two children under three, plus rent accommodation on my own for the three of us. At this stage we are going to just live on savings for up to a year. There's also a lot of organising as far as shipping, selling house, applying for citizenships, passports etc for myself and kids so I'm planning to take charge of all this while DH is working. Current processing time on the London Consulate website is 8-9mo for partner visas, which is why we're allowing a year. I also wish I'd got off my b*m and applied sooner as I was remembering that last time I looked it was showing 5mo processing time. Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Interesting. I'm not sure if I dare not include this stuff though....

Thanks Katy. It's pretty much what I thought and expected. I think I will get the citizenships first to avoid complications or delay. I guess the only other thing I'm feeling uncertain about is what to include as evidence under each category. Do you know if there's a thread where people have listed their documents? Maybe I'm being paranoid. We've been married 6 years so it should be straightforward. I just need to make sure our CO can see it. We are also hoping to go straight to subclass 100.

I'm going to get Australian citizenship by descent for our two children, and a partner visa for English husband (the kids Dad). I'm guessing I need to finalise the children's citizenship before lodging hubby's visa application. Am I right? Given that it takes much longer for the partner visa it would be handy if I could do the partner visa first and then sort out the citizenships while it's in the works.

Absolutely! We both have fairly specialised skills and are prepared to live wherever we must to find work - be it Sydney or Katherine or anywhere else.

I'm an Aussie returning home with my British family so maybe it's a little different in our situation. However, money is a large part of our reason for leaving - we cannot afford to live here in the UK anymore (and we don't have an extravagant lifestyle) and are eating into our savings now every month so we must change our situation. There are other reasons of course, or we could change our situation here without moving to another country, but we are now moving to Oz as soon as we can as we think it's the best solution when all alternatives are considered. We will make it work in Australia because we must. There's no going back because it won't help. What about all the people who are born in Australia and have no choice? Or the people born in the UK? Or in any other country? Most people don't have the option of leaving, or don't want to. So if it's just down to finances, you make it because you must. Surely there's more to these stories?

Congrats! I'm just watching this thread with interest as I hope we can put our application in soon. Please post your timelines people

We're starting to gather supporting documents for my hubby's 309 (or hopefully 100) application but I read on another thread that previous partners or children make an application more complicated (and hence take longer). Hubby and I have been married 6 years and now have two children together. Both should hopefully be Australian citizens by descent by the time we put in hubby's partner visa application. However, I had a previous marriage and divorce in Australia (no kids). Do you think we are a complicated case? We don't have a whole lot of evidence of social recognition of our relationship. We were both studying for 4 years and didn't have much social life during that time. We don't have joint invitations or memberships (maybe one or two). We can get stat-decs from friends about our relationship and we have various photos together in different parts of the world from our time together. We are independent travellers so our passports show matching travel dates but I don't know that we have joint tickets or package tours or anything like that). Do we need to try to find more?

We are in a similar situation. That's the processing time listed on the Consulate website too. There is supposed to be a Timelines thread somewhere on here but I can't find one specific to the London consulate.

We were wondering this too. I made a spreadsheet listing all the good quality items we really do want to take and then googled new prices for these items in Oz. I then searched PIO for average shipping costs. It worked out cheaper to ship.

I bought an iPhone in the US and bought the Applecare warranty with it. It's supposed to be valid in all the countries I'm concerned with including Europe, USA, UK and Australia. Even with the extra warranty it was still worth the effort and cheaper all in.

Seriously? That was her name? I literally laughed out loud when I read that. My DH is looking at me very strangely!

Yes, when I did my degree I specialised in infectious diseases. I am particularly fond of Shigella. She is so pretty but can give you a real pain in the .... I thought it was apt. :biglaugh: