LostMyWay

Actually, what really made the fail for us back in 2011 was my hubby could only find work in Birmingham and I could only find work in my hometown. We married in the August in Aus and then by January he was living in Birmingham and I moved back in with my mum so I could get to work! Not a great start to our marriage! He lived there by himself just waiting for me to come back at the weekend! It was a culture shock going from the city to the country, but as I said before that was 3-4 years ago and we weren't ready for that. Now we are done with what the city has to offer us and are looking forward to a quiet life in the country with our family. We have both agreed that we don't want to live anywhere else in England, even though we are both certain there will be times when we think "what on earth...?"!! We live in a crappy, faceless suburb outside the city now so we may as well live in our crappy village where we at least have a connection to! I think ultimately for us, it was the wrong time in our lives to go back to the UK. In hindsight we should have waited longer to make the move!

Hi Endless Winter, looks like you've had plenty of response but thought I chip in with my experience! I'm trying not to waffle as I have a habit of doing that! My hubby and I returned to England winter 2011 and lasted 7 months! I think we regretted the decision before we got on the plane but by that point it was too late! Hubby hated it as soon as we landed and sunk into a depression! I wanted to be back in Aus too but was determined that we had to give it ago, that last 2-3 months until I gave into his relentless moaning and so we jumped straight back on a plane back to Aus! We are now in the process of trying to return to England again! From my experience I think there are certain things that contribute to the success of settling back home: 1) We were impulsive, we literally decided we were going home and 4 weeks later we were jobless, homeless and on a plane. I would advise anyone to really plan the trip back....like when we planned coming to Aus it took us a year! 2) Having said that we went home on an idea that England would suit us better in the future not for what our current situation was-We had decided to go home thinking it was where we wanted to raise are children. At the time of this decision we were childless and probably not quite ready to start a family. We were very social, going out 3-4 times a week and we returned to a sleepy town with no night life. That was hard for us. My advice to anyone thinking about the move would be to go for reasons that suit your situation now not next year etc. 3) We didn't give it time. We landed and straight away decided we wanted to be back in Aus. Flip the coin....I was homesick from the moment I landed in Australia and hubby put his foot down and said we had to give it 2 years. I don't know why we didn't apply that logic when we were in England?! I think because it's 'home' you assume that you will just slip back into life but home really has been Aus, so of course there is going to be an adjustment period! I really wish we'd given it more time because we would be settled by now I've no doubt. We are now, fast forward 3 years, in the situation we had pre-emptied when we decided to move home...we have a family and want to raise our family in England! I am confident that we will settle in England this time. I have no illusions that life will be better, just perhaps easier. I of course expect there will be times when I notice big differences between the countries, especially as we are moving from metropolitan Melbourne to a very backwards farming county! I also think we are cursed, I don't think I will ever feel like i belong completely In one country but I hope I can put my children first and forfeit my desires for my children's stability and security. Hope that helps a little?!

It's a funny thing with the public holidays because I'm sure if we were home and had to attend the obilgatory family dinners and stuff we'd soon get sick of it but there is just something missing from the holidays now we have a child! I mean we try hard to keep ourselves busy, which has been relatively easy with the weather (but winter in here and the rain puts a damper on most things!), but we find ourselves stuck between trying to keep really busy over a long weekend and feeling quite exhausted from it, and sitting in for 3+ days straight doing nothing! It's hard to stop yourself wondering what you would be doing if you were surrounded by family...probably just a roast at nan's and the Eastenders omnibus but that's enough to get my brain drooling! We're hoping to be home in November, this will largely depend on how successful HB is in finding work this end, but I dread the thought of being here for Christmas with 2 children!! My daughters first Christmas here (albeit, she was only 2 weeks old) was horrible, I know hormones and baby blues probably didn't help, but it was, it was just horrible. We took her home last Christmas and it was one of the loveliest Christmases I've had, they say Christmas is for the kids but you don't realise how true that is until you have them!! I vowed then to never spend another Christmas in Aus but this year we may be doing just that !

I am the first of my overseas friends to have a baby so in some respect it makes it hard for them to question our decision to return because they've no idea, and I don't think they will be having babies anytime soon! The sad fact is as well, since I had my daughter, I do not see they people anymore and rely heavily for support from my mums group, which as I said have been a godsend. But they are all Aussies and have their families and so really sympathise with my situation and understand why we want to go home, again making the decision easier! My HB and I didn't alway agree, when we first moved here I knew straight away I'd left my heart in UK but he simply said no and forget it! We'd come here forever! Once he'd shut that door my homesickness grew and grew! I think about 3 months in (after I clearly wasn't going to shut up) he said we'd go back in 2 years if I didn't feel better about it. Once he'd told me we could go I started to settle! It was actually him who one day just said I'm done with Australia lets go! I was just starting our PR applications and moving home although was something I wanted, I wasn't finished with Australia. After about 2 weeks of him going on about UK and bigging up Xmas I very quickly found myself homesick and yearning again and boom 4 weeks later we'd sold everything, quit our jobs and were on the plane! We regretted it I think in the taxi on the way to Melbourne airport but by then it was too late! We were home just in time for Xmas and it was depressing! HB just would not shut up about Australia! I could have killed him! I managed to put my foot down for about 2 months telling him "no" and suggesting we have a baby first and see how we feel after that. But again he wore me down and we found ourselves back on a plane! I was thankful at the end of this that we had ping ponged because I finally felt happy in Australia. You won't be surprised to hear that as soon as we landed in Aus my HB was pining for UK again!! After all we'd gone through I just ignored him and refused to even entertain him! We discussed moving to Perth or Brisbane but I think Melbourne spoils a person, and although I have never actually liked Vic I don't imagine I could live anywhere else in Aus-strangely it has been my home for 5 years and I know and love/hate the place! Anyway I managed to ignore HB for the next 2 years. He was awful through my pregnancy, all he talked about was moving home and I just couldn't understand why he wasn't more interested in our growing baby?! Then she was born and it hit me! And I've not wanted to be here since! Don't get me wrong, we manage being parents with minimal support, we have made good friends; in fact I'm probably more social now with a baby than before! But I don't want to just manage! For most of the part I don't really think about what I'm missing until times when she's ill (or we're all ill) or public holidays...at Easter I was trying to make plans to fill the 5 day week and asked my mums if they wanted to do something and they were all busy and again it reminded me "oh yeah, most regular people have plans with their families!" Before children I'djust spend the holidays in a drunken haze but that, surprisingly (!), doesn't happen so often now!! And now I am pregnant again it is a bigger reminder of what is missing, family not seeing my growing bump, not being there when he is born, even just having someone to help with my daughter when I am so so tired! I mean, I'm having to fly my sister out to be here for the birth so that I have someone to look after my daughter! This to me is just silly!! Do you think your hubby will change his mind or is he set on staying? Although we have not always agreed, I do feel very lucky that we agree now and can't begin to imagine how hard this torn feeling must be for you! They're right for calling it homesickness because it is a sickness, that unfortunately for some there is no cure! I envy my overseas friends who have moved over and have no interest in returning, how freeing that must be for them! I do like my life here and if for some reason I was told I could not return it wouldn't be the worst thing, but I just cannot picture myself growing old here, and I certainly want to do it before the children get too old which will make the sickness even harder! again sorry for the waffle!

I was just pointing out that the baby does not need a UK Passport to enter the country as another poster had stated. Though interestingly, as you had pointed out you get a 6 month stay stamp....when I had investigated it previously I was looking into only whether my daughter would need a visa to holiday in UK. We plan to move home this year also, once she enters the country, what would I need to do within those 6 months to, I guess, register her as a citizen?

Baby doesn't need a UK passport to enter UK, it can enter on an Aussie passport, children under 15 don't need a visa (unless things have changed in the last year, my daughter has entered UK twice on her Aussie passport. She is eligible for a UK passport as both my HB and I are British citizens. We were going to get her passport when we were back in May but forgot to get her photos signed and then just decided that we would wait to apply for it until we moved back. We felt her Aussie passport was more important to get as we do plan to move back to UK and believe that it is easier to get the passport in the country in which you are living in e.g. If we move back to UK and she doesn't get her Aussie passport and in 20 years time decides to apply for one it could be a challenge for her!?

Ah it's amazing how having children completely changes your priorities/outlook etc. My HB and I are also planning to move back, hopefully in Nov. We have a 17month old and I am expecting my second in September. We moved back to UK in 2011 and to be honest it was the wrong time in our lives and we instantly regretted it(we moved back to start a family but weren't actually ready to start a family!) so we moved back to Aus within 7 months and I have been happy since....until I gave birth and the pull back to the UK has just grown stronger everyday. We made 2 trips back to UK last year and it just opened our eyes to what our daughter, parents and family, and we were missing out on! We have a very nice life here, we are both in well paid jobs and I am in a great position where I am able to work part time in a job that should be full time. My mothers group have been an absolute godsend however they also just remind me what I miss by having no family here! I am scared poopless of moving back because we failed once before and I worry about what we could lose financially if my husband cannot find work but we both agree UK is where we want to raise our children (much like we did in 2011). I can't say I miss family support because I have no idea what that would actually be like - we might hate it after being independent for the last 5 years, but I want my children to have the same experiences both my hubby and I did and we both miss the country. Although financially we are very well off here, we will never afford to buy unless we move way out of the city which is just a geographical inconvenience, whereas our hometown house prices are much lower than the national average so we could be lucky enough to buy within a year or two of returning home. Anyway sorry for the waffle, I just wanted to share my story to let you know you are not alone in your reasons for wanting to go back. I can't begin to imagine how you feel that your HB disagrees though. Can you take a trip home and maybe that will help to convince him? I think when he sees the support you will have there it might make him think about the bigger picture? Have you spoken to family about it back home?

Sorry I think my last question was answered....but what is a DIBP office?

oh my god this is exactly my problem, the visa grant letter even says on it a stamp is not needed! I attempted to lodge the passport app yesterday but she refused to after she rang the passport office! I thought I had just been given the wrong information (as centreline took my letter as proof and are paying dads and maternity leave!) so HB went to a different post office today and lodged it! They we're resistant to take the letter but eventually did but I just wondered if it'll get rejected? It seems ridiculous that the government will pay me money on the basis of my letter but not a passport! The most frustrating thing is I just want to take my daughter out the country I'm not that arsed about bringing her back!!! anyway just wondered if you had any luck? And I have searched the immigration website it tells you everything about visa labels but not how to get one!!! Any clue in how I get my passport stamped and if I've wasted $122 on a passport app that is likely to be rejected??

I just want to add that in no way am I trying to discourage you from making the move! I think if you've got the itch and you can scratch it then you should! Everyone's experience is different and nobody should be denied the chance to try it. I know plenty of people who have come out as singles/couples/young families who have all settled into it and love it! So I wish you and your family all the luck in the world and genuinely hope that your itch can be scratched unlike mine-it's like sitting in God's waiting room! As for other places...we have discussed QLD and WA, I love north QLD but I think I would quickly regret the heat and we both agreed we are not overly enamoured with Brisbane/Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast. The plan was to take a few trips to Perth next year but we have 2 trips planned to UK (wanting to bring baby home to grandparents etc) so all of our money will be tied up in that! Plus as I said before I don't think I have a 'brand new start' in me again! I have a life here and I have a life in UK so really we have agreed it needs to be one or the other! We are certainly not going to rush into any decision and if we do go it will be 2015 at the earliest which I hope by then this itch goes and it turns out to just be 'first time mum jitters'!? (Though my HB has pretty much packed his bags......!)

Oh my, I'm sorry to say this and mean no offence but reading this had me and my husband in fits of laughter...not at your poor mother but because we both fear that is our fate!!!! I do not want that for my family, but the more I think about it the more I realise that our moving tendencies are are not new to Australia but something we have always done! Thankfully we only rent but we've only ever stayed in property over a year once and that was back in 2008! We have broken 2 lease's to move early! I shouldn't laugh as this is a serious matter but I do pray that we will have settled by the time my little baby starts school! We will have to, I'd love to just live in one place and be happy! I hate when I move into a new house and I do everything to put our stamp on it but it's always int he back of my mind that in our next place.......!

We are definitely not going to go on impulse this time (hopefully we've learnt one lesson?!) we have 2 trips planned home next year and have decided to wait until after then to make a decision. As for citizenship I have no interest in that. We have PR but as I said before, and I am usually the first to say never say never, if we move home THAT IS IT! Tough titties we will lie in our bed! My daughter is Australian so that at least will leave a door open for her if she ever wants to travel (as much as even at this very young age that thought breaks my heart!!!)

...and you are totally right and that scares the crap out of me...that we are just massive gypsies! Even in England we lived in 3 different counties! The longest we have ever lived in a house is about 18 months. We have been together for 7 and half years and we are living in our...9th house! We've been in Vic for a total of 3 1/2 years and are in our 4th house-it's a running joke with friends here as to where we might live next year! In fact Victoria is actually the one place we have consistently lived in! Hahahaha! So yeah, I totally worry that we will always have the mentality to move and I worry that even if we move back to UK we will want to move again!!! And I totally do not want that for my children!

Thank you to all of your replies and I know that I do sound utterly ridiculous and like I'm chasing a 'dream' that prehaps doesn't exist but thought I would just extend my story and start with Kellie23's question about what has changed! When we went home the first time it was completely the wrong time in our lives and as I previously said we did it on impulse! At the time we lived on the outskirts of the city, we were out drinking 3-4 nights a week, we were both doing well in our careers and because of that we had a lot of disposable income and I was at a very ambitious point in my life and had just landed my first management role. When we landed in UK I could not find work at the same level and had to start back at the bottom of the ladder; my Australian experience didn't seem to count for anything! My HB couldn't find work in our hometown and so we moved to another area where is found a very well paid job, I unfortunately could only find work in my hometown (I'll just add I could have found work in the area my HB worked but I was being picky and did not want to work weekends!) so I moved back in with my mum and commuted to my HB on the weekend. My HB therefore spent the week nights sat in by himself just waiting for me to come home on the weekend! We had no social life because of this and at a point in our lives where we had been used to going out very regularly. That lead us to yearn for our life back in Aus. So I disagree a little with your statement that the UK is fine for a single couple- if we were a single couple still then Australia has a lot to offer us; good jobs, good wages and a social life! The problem was when we returned to Aus we brought back with us the life we had grown accustomed to in UK(!)...we all of a sudden didn't want to go out drinking every night! I was determined to start a family and 6 months after landing back in the country I stopped drinking and I fell pregnant pretty much straight away! The things we longed for about Australia we do not do...the social scene, the drinking, the beaches, the outdoor life...I can't rememebr the last time I went to the beach (mostly because the weather here is actually crap) and now I have a baby I can't see the next time I'm going to go out and get bladdered, nor do I have any want to do that right now! What I do feel is the need to be home with family and share my beautiful little girl with people who really really want to be apart of her life. So in response to your statement about bringing your children here for a better life, like other replies, there are good and bad here just like in UK. In my opinion the education system is not as good, plus you have the debate of whether to go public or private and which is better, the healthcare system is not up to scratch either, you still have long wait times, you still have wrong diagnosis, poor customer care and unanswered questions - people still drop the ball just as much as they do back home! The weather, particularly here (not sure where you're heading but I'm in Victoria) is actually worse than UK. This year we had 7 months of bleak, cold, miserable weather. There was no Christmas in the middle to break that up it was just a long boring stint that makes you long for summer. Summer hasn't actually even turned up yet except the odd 40 degree day which is just absurd and too hot to do anything in! Not to mention the heating bills! My last house had no heating and I swear it was colder inside than outside, but the Aussies don;t seem to think this is an issue! My first electricity bill for 10 days was $110! We have moved into a house with heating and that has not helped! The problem is the houses are built to keep heat in (unless it's summer and then you can't actually cool the house!) so you have to have the heating on around the clock! Sorry just realised I have gone in a bit of a rant!! In response to a previous comment about needing to scratch an 'adult itch for adventure' I can assure that there is no adventure for us in England! I am quite positive that going home would be nothing but boring and mundane and the real adventure is here is Aus! I think that would be the risk we take by going home, the risk that we may want to scratch our Australia itch again...which we absolutely cannot do! If we go back we will have to accept our fate, I cannot do this move again! We have talked about trying another state but to be honest as risdiculous as this sounds, I don't think I have another big move in me to start all over again! As for what I want for my children....well, like I said before there are pro's and con's in both countries and it's hard to imagine which choice is best?! The one thing I can offer my children here is financial security, however this seems pointless if we are regularly spending $10,000 in flights back to UK, plus school fees if we choose to go private. I also don't want to wish my life away waiting to go home all the time! As mentioned before we have recently moved, into a more family friendly house, this has meant moving out to the 'burbs' and if we ever stand a chance of buying out here we will have to move even further out, makes me think I should move back to my own crappy village rather than a crappy suburb that I have no connection to!? If only England was as far as NZ........!!!!!!

It's been a whole since i've posted on here and the last time I did was because I was desperate to return to Australia from the UK and get PR! To quickly recap-my HB and I first moved to Aus in Jan 2010 and returned to UK in Nov 2011 after I never really settled in the country. As soon as we landed we both regretted the impulsive move (we decided in the Oct that we'd had enough and 4 weeks later we were jobless, homeless and on a flight to London!) I tried to stay grounded and insist we give UK a go but after a couple of months I couldn't resist my HB's constant goings on and agreed to come back! We did it quickly because I was desperate to start a family and didn't want to delay it anymore than I had to. We were extremely lucky and both were offered our jobs back in Australia! Since returning I have been very happy and have maintained that the move back to UK got rid of any homesickness I had! Unfortunately my HB has talked about wanting to go home since we landed back on Aussie soil! He believes we went home too soon and now we've grown up and our priorities have changed we would be much happier in UK if we moved now! He has irritated me for last year and half and I have urged him to stop talking about the UK and reminding him of how miserable he was! I have now just given birth to our first child! I know it's all new and likely to change but I now have this growing want to go home! I believe my HB is right that now our priorities have changed we could be happy in UK? But because we've already done it once we have to be 100% sure it's for us! It broke my mums heart last time but to dangle a grandchild in front of her I honestly think she'd disown me! I can see other pingpongers who have done it once but has anyone done it twice? Are we destined to be eternally unhappy wherever we are? Or is it ok to just pack up and move again-we're lucky that we can do it so should we do it rather than just making do? Things are so much different for us this time. I know my new baby fears will go but we discuss moving home again at least once a month and we've been back in Aus since July 2012! Any input is appreciated and generally just looking to voice my fears and insanity!!!

WE GOT IT!!!!! Nomination applied 28th Aug 2012 Non DCR Direct Entry Visa applied 21st Jan 2013 Nomination approved March 2013 VISA GRANTED 6th APRIL 2013!!!!!! We're on holiday currently - just thought I'd check my emails and what a lovely surprise!!!! Good luck to everyone else still waiting!!

Finally got my Visa Nomination - only 7 months later!!! The $3000 spent on applying for the visa before nomination approval has not been a gamble after all! Time line so far... Nomination application 27th August 2012 Visa Application 21st January 2013 Nomincation Approval 15th March 2013 Still waiting......

I received my acknowledgment letter for my visa application on Friday (15th Feb - Applied 21st Jan) which was great news! I was emailed a 2nd letter yesterday (18th) also an acknowledgement letter! It was the same letter however the 2nd one was from an actual person (GSM Support Officer) rather than just 'DIAC' and it also had a position number. Has anyone else had this or know if this means anything?

Well I'm so impatient I waited in the phone queue for an hour to talk to someone! He told me the letters are taking 8 weeks to process and confirmed that the whole process is taking 6-9 months and that would be the nomination and application combined-which is good news as means I've hopefully only another 1-4months to wait!! He also said that they are still experiencing a back log! Unfortunately I've/we've just got to wait!!!!!

Hope you are all right!!!! I'm now into my 5th month of waiting for nomination and have submitted the application (not with the application but have not yet had approval) so I hope the same applies to me! God the waiting game is unbearable!!!! Still waiting on my acknowledgement letter for the visa so fingers crossed that comes in the nxt few days as it has now been over the '10 working days'!!!

A migrant agent cost thousands of dollars so I guess that is why they're a priority over us few who decided to go alone!! From my experience of electronically applying for 457 only the certificates needed to verified including:qualifications, ID's etc but I didn't have my AHPRA and letters including police certs verified and no questions were asked? Im a mental health nurse in Melbourne so we've been lucky this end! Just hope it all comes through quick so bored of waiting now its the new year!!!!

I am also the 2nd stream - Direct entry, I have more than 2 years work experience in Australia but have only been with my current employer 6 months so was not eligible for the transition stream. So unfortunately I also had to get a skills assessment which in my opinion was utter b******s! It took them 14 weeks and a fee that Ican't remember now just to get a certificae from my regulatory body to tell them I was ok to work!!!!! Anyway that was the last thing to get so once we recieved that we put in for the visa! I am not sure if it speeds things up to apply before nimincation approval? I have read on here people who's nomination is approved then days/weeks later the visa is approved, alternatively I am sure there are people who put both in and are waiting months between? I think the system is so new it really is luck of the draw?! Mine was not decision ready, decision ready is when you pay a migrant agent to pretty much go through the whole process and they deem it complete and I think all the case officer has to do is check and grant - the migrant agent takes the work out of it I guess? But only a migrant agent can deem it decision ready, so even if you are sure you have everything you can't claim it to be decision ready?! I didn't get my acknowledgement letter, my HR manager has just forwarded me everything she got - I pester her a lot!!! She told me this week that she would email immigration to see if there was any progress on the nomination so I will keep you posted! I guess it is a personal choice as to whether you apply without nomination and weigh up the risks! I am pretty sure I'll be ok but there is always that niggle that it might get rejected and we've just blown $3000! I just want it all in so all I have to do it wait! When you do apply upload all your documents, if you do it electronically there is an option straight away to upload your supporting evidence. You will be given a transaction reference number (TRN) and you can then log on anytime and check the progress and add anything you might later get or have forgotten to include! If you do all this then when you are allocated a CO they have all the eveidence and can make a decision. Otherwise they email you and ask for anything that they want to see - which obviously delays the decision. Also once you get your TRN you can book your medicals - that will be the last piece of the jigsaw and then it really is a waiting game! Which office did you apply through? I went through Melbourne and what I can gather they are a little behind the other offices?! What profession are you in? Anyway best wishes....

Hi have just discovered this thread. My employer who also sponsored me for 457 lodged their nomination on August 27th. They received an acknowledgement letter about a month later and I have heard nothing since :-( anyone else in the same boat? Am waiting for approval before submitting my part of the application incase i loose $3000 but am wondering whether its worth taking a gamble on this? my 457 runs out nov 2014 so would is be a reason for waiting so long? I am not a priority? Also does anyone have any info on bridging visas (just incase it takes years) I'm the same my nomination was submitted August 27th. Not heard anything yet and I have taken a gamble and submitted the application! As far as I am aware they don't look to see how long your current visa has as a priority?! They have a timeline that they hope to get visa's processed - 6 months I think? In the meantime you are given a bridging visa which will allow you to stay in the country until the decision is made. The aknowledgement letter I got for the nomination said that nomination approval can take 5-7 months so like you I'm heading for my 5th month so am expecting some word soon! I think the risk of not gettign approval falls on the employer and whether they meet training needs and labour agreements? So if you have an employer that has never done it before there might be a risk? I have gambled it as my employer has sponsored previously so fingers crossed shouldn't have any problems?....fingers crosssed!!!!! Good luck!

I applied for direct entry non DRC on Monday 21st! Nomination was applied for on 27th August 2012, acknowledgement letter followed a week or so after. Not heard anything back about the nomination approval so have taken a gamble and put the visa app in! Medicals are booked for Wednesday and then it will just be a continued waiting game - a long slow painful waiting game, that isn't actually fun at all!!!!!!

Hi, Not sure if these questions have been asked but I don't know what to do for the best! Now I know I can lodge my application before I get nomination approval but is there a big risk that my employer won't get the approval? My employer is already sponsoring me on 457 and the HR manager has told me she has not recieved anything asking for further info or evidence; so I assume we are just in queue and there should be no problem with approval. However I don't want to pay $3060 for a visa and get refused as that is a large amount of money to lose, but I am wondering what reasons might stop the nomination approval? My second question is I have received an email to say the nomination will take 5 -7 months to be approved and I have been told that my visa app will take 5-7 months to approve; if I wait for my nomination to be approved before I submit the application will I then have to wait a further 5-7 months or will it then be a case of immigration just processing the app? Alternatively if I submit my application before nomination approval will this speed up the process or will it not make a difference and I'll still be waiting a further 5-7 months after approval - in which case I may as well wait for approval!? Hope this makes sense to you any suggestions will be a massive help! Thanks in advance LMW