Sapphire

Unfortunately a very common story. I feel for you, I really do.

Another one in for a big, big shock!!!!!! He needs to live here, before he makes comments like that really, and see the alcohol and drug problems .You just cant research the drug and alcohol levels , as its so often brushed under the carpet and gets convieniently forgotton in so many of the released stats. You have to live here and see it first hand

I knew I did not like what I saw, when we arrived, I pretty much wanted to get the first flight home. Hubby was adament that we had to stay and give it a go, but how it did not end our marraige I dont know.We fought like cat and dog,for a long while. I was so close to just boarding a plane and leaving him, on so many occassions. It took me being rushed into hospital seriously ill, thanks to the incompetance and neglet, of the so called health service here,and being given 48 hours to "turn it around", as the Drs, so nicely put it.Thankfully I did,but it was only just. I cried like a baby , I just wanted to be home,and I think it finally hit him that if anything happened to either of us, we had no-one here,to turn to. I think he realised that the way I was feeling was very real.He agreed to start planning to go home. We are still in Aus, but hopefully not for much longer now.Its taken a long time, to recover our finances to be able to get back, but we are nearly there, and hope to be going very soon. Its a tough road for so many of us,and I think it can be so hard,when you both want different things. Hope it all works out for you. x

Hi Ruthwin Im rubbish at posting links, they never work,,sorry:) I just had a look at the link you posted and yes, Im pretty sure its the same one.I went to the application form and it seems the same. I asked for my account to be opened at Yorkshire bank, and chose one in my home town, so as its easy to activate on arrival. Clydesdale only now has branches in Scotland, so unless you are heading to Scotland, make sure you get a Yorkshire Bank account.Yorkshire bank is in nearly all main towns,just Google the address closest to where you are heading It is so easy to open the account,just remember you will only have 1 year to activate it,in the UK.

Oh they would not do that,,,,,they still want to take our money:):biggrin:

If you go into NAB branch they are hopeless and dont know anything about it.They dont open an account with NAB in London, they open you an account with one of thier partner banks, either Clydesdale or Yorkshire in the UK. Go onto the NAB mIgrant banking website (www.migrant.nabgroup.com), and you will see half way down the page,on the right United Kingdom Click on the UK, and it takes you to the next page, where it says Set up a UK account It does work, as we have done it, and got our account opened in the UK, no problem

You only get a year to activate the account,in the UK, so dont open it too early, or they will close it, and you will have to go through it all over again:)

NAB migrant banking Go onto the website and you can open an account from Aus, in the UK Its free and really easy to do Your account will be ready and waiting when you get back to the UK You can open an account with Yorkshire bank or Clydesdale(only Scotland) Just let them know which town you are returning to and they will set it up at the nearest branch to you The last time I enquired HSBC, would do it, but you had to have an account with them in Aus and then they would open an International account for you, in the UK, but it was either $200 or $300 to do it,,,,NAB migrant banking is definatly your best bet

Cant wait to hear all your news Its going to be fab being home I hope its everything you want and more

We have found it so boring, there really is nothing to do . We were always going somewhere back in the UK, whether it be a London show, or to a concert, or just having a day out at the coast or a day out shopping somewhere. Here there is absolutley nothing to do The days out and the places we used to go in the UK, seem like such a distant memory now We never dreamt that it could be so boring here Most Aussies we have spoken to about the availablity of places to visit in the UK, can not envisage what it is like to have so much History, Culture and Entertainment on hand,unless they have been to the UK, and then they usually agree that Aus is really boring.

Everywhere in the UK, has the nice reuseable bags Ive just got My Son to get me some lovely ones from Tesco, hessian material, with cute little ladybirds all over them

Alan, you have had some great offers of help and some really good advice off of members on here. It is extremely hard when you feel in a state of total and utter despair, but I feel you really do need to try and help yourself here Theres no logical way you can stay in Aus, in this mess You are going to get your bond back, and my advice to you would be book your ticket home with that money I know you have your dog, and you want to keep him with you, but you may only be able to afford a ticket for yourself Are there any friends or relatives back home, who could lend you the money to fly your dog home? Even if you can leave your Dog with RSPCA, until you get home and get the money together to fly him back.I think someone previously posted that the RSPCA will look after him free of charge, for you, because of your situation

I wouldent wish a recession on any country, and I really do not think Aus will go into recession like the UK did. However I do agree with you in regards to the country being so expensive, and also I disagree with the Government luring people here, for non-exsistent jobs I do think many branches of immigration are a mass money making exercise, and so many people are misled by the false promises.

You could be right there about China, they do seem to always "pull the bunny out of the hat", when things look bad QE if and when it stops will cause a major reaction to the worlds economy .Mind the US has to produce strong jobs data for a very long time, yet, to enable that to happen The business channel was saying, that they will need to generate at least 185,000 jobs a month, for the next 8 years to be in the position that would really be viable for QE to stop. Some interesting times ahead.

Oh I missed the bit about the credit card:) Best the OP contacts the relevant dept and arranges some sort of payment plan, if they have used it to pay off thier credit card.:frown:

I agree with you there, it is madness. I just think people presume they get all of the same entitlements they can claim in the UK, and do not realise that on a 457, they are not entitled to anything. I think alot of people rely heavily on the tax credits /family allowance payments etc they receive in the UK, and are shocked when they find they cant get them in Aus.

Yes that is right, they can and do, enforce UK Government debt,in Aus. If the money is in your UK, bank account, just pay it back,before it becomes a serious matter.

Good thinking I used to love my range cooker back in the UK, I just would not spend the money they charge here though Sounds like you have saved a fortune doing it yourself.

I really think China is having a slow down, before it goes full steam ahead, and that can only be good for Aus, if it happens. But China is a strange creature, and you just do not know what is going to happen next It is hard to predict, but I do think theres been a lot of panicking on the share markets in the last couple of weeks, and now the investors are calming down a bit, they are returning to Australian stocks and shares and this can only be good for our economy

Too true Some sections of the Muslim community want Sharia law introduced in the UK, but I bet they wouldent want Sharia law, when they are on the receiving end

Lets hope some "do -gooder" doesant get involved and get them early release.I think there should be a "special", way of dealing with these sorts of lowlifes, none of them too pleasant either.

Watching Sky business news last night, they are saying there is a lot of scaremongering coming out of Australia about the Chinese economy They say, we had a blip this week, as the Aussie dollar always suffers when there is bad news anywhere in the world. The Financial experts are saying that this is just a slight slowdown, before the Aus and Chinese economys go at full speed again They also said that they are sure the Aussie dollar will rocket again They say the statement by Bernanke in the US, was taken too literally, and now they are realising that the US, will not be able to stop QE, in the immediate future,so that will affect the stocks and Aussie dollar, and everything will climb again, as we are seeing over the last couple of days. It will be a very interesting time ahead , to see if the predictions are right or not.

It sickens me, so much when I hear the stories about these Grooming gangs I have read a few articles, whre the girls and the parents have "told thier stories" and it is absolutely awful , what the familes go through, and what the girls involved go through defies belief. I hope these scumbags are made to serve thier whole sentence,but knowing the justice system, they will get the sentence shortened on appeal.

Found a facebook page last night, which was pretty shocking The animosity towards 457 visa holders is massive. The page is called lets spread it around Here are a couple of the posts ,copied exactly as they read on the facebook page.I have excluded the posters names; (A foreign sounding name writes) F..k foreign workers, because of thier slavick asses on cheap as f..k labour I aint getting a job anytime soon So neither should they (Another guy writes) F..k the 457 visa ,Aus jobs for Australians Lots of comments in defence as well, but the animosity towards the "foreigners taking Aussie jobs" is pretty full on

I did as well