sandym

From the UK

I haven’t posted here since we initially applied for our PR, but have been reading so thought I would update our timeline. I applied (inc children) on 10th may 2017 and my husband 11th May. Brisbane Office (Moreton Bay Council). Skilled 175pr visa. Invitation for Test email received : 22nd November Test: 28th November Checked immi account this morning, 30th November: APPROVED Waiting for approval letter and ceromony now.

Hi Leah, We are also flying to Brisbane on 28th feb flying with Singapore Airlines, we might be on the same flight. We have 2 boys aged 2 and nearly 4. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by at the moment. We got our pr visa in September and have decided to go as soon as we can. We are renting our house out as the housing market is so bad at the moment and have the shippers coming in on 15 jan so our furniture gets a head start. We will be moving in with family until we fly. My husband is panicking about work to. He is in IT but has done so much research about getting a job and that is is pretty pointless to apply while still in the UK so he will be taking a huge leap of faith but that's part of the journey I guess. We were also planning on staying at the Brisbane holiday village for a month when we arrived, it looks really nice and I have heard some good reviews about it. We have been lucky and my life long friend who lives on the north of the Gold Coast (Ormeau) has told us we are staying with her and her family. We can't wait. Anyway, I hope your registration comes through soon, enjoy your last few weeks in the UK and Happy Christmas. sandy

72 days until we fly to Brisbane (28 feb) but only 29 days until the shippers come in so our furniture gets a head start. So so exciting :jiggy:

Where do you live Nicky, you didn't say

Hi Nicky its sad having to rehome your cats isn't it. I am in the same situation. We have a healthy 15 year old cat and are emigrating to Brisbane at the end of February. I tried so many places and the only one that were willing to actually help me was the Blue Cross. They have been wonderful and understanding and have found a new home for our cat. She is still with us at the moment and will be going there in january. The blue cross even said if they didnt find new owners for her they would take her into their cattery. Even though their branches are between a 45 minute to an hours drive away they were still willing to help us. Have you got a Blue Cross centre you could contact if you havnt already done so. Fingers crossed you find a new home soon for them.

Hi, looks like there are a few of us heading to Brisbane. Me my husband and 2 boys, aged 2 and 3.5, will be making the big move in March. We are currently considering Springfield lakes or Ormeau. These are the areas we have done most research But there are so many i am open to ideas. I am so excited but just want it all to be organised ow and to be sitting I. Our new house sipping a co,d tinny with a prawn or 3 grilling on the barby

Wow, thanks for that link. We are flying out in march and just checked prices with these and they are the cheapest I have seen so far. :biggrin:

We are going to stay at the brisbane gateway resort when we arrive, they have holiday cabins and you can book a short term let (28 days or more) for a reduced price. A 2 bedroom is $595 per week and 3 bedroom one is $735 per week. I have heard some good reviews about it and its just south of brisbane near the m1 motorway. They look really nice and clean and have good facilities. Definitely worth taking a look at. Here is the link. http://www.brisbanegateway.com.au/short-term-accommodation.html

That sounds fab and what a lovely way to finish your working day and what lucky children. These are the things I am looking for when we make the big move and in only 5 months :-)

Thanks for sharing that, we are making the move early march next year and Springfield lakes is top of our list. We have 2 boys who will be just 4 and 2 1/2. The more I hear about it the more it seems to be the place for us :cute: sandy

Woo hoo, we have our visa labels in our passports :cool: I only posted them off on Friday, it only took a couple of days :biggrin: It's definitely more real and exciting now...........

I think everyone can get one, I just googled it. Google the Australian high commission in your country then click on the visa, migration & citizenship tab and scroll own to visa evidencing (visa label) and it will tell you.

It is electronic, but apparently it helps having a label when you are in oz as rental agencies, employers etc etc like to see your proof of visa and they can't access the electronic version associated with your passports so it makes things a lot easier when you are setting up over there. It's free, you just pay postage. Here's the link http://www.uk.embassy.gov.au/lhlh/immi_visa_evid.html

I sent our passports away today to get visa labels put in and for some strange reason I am really excited about seeing them, I think it just makes it much more real seeing a label. It all still seems a bit to surreal and unreal at the mo, exciting but I can't stop thinking I am dreaming it all. 175 days and counting now as we have set a provisional date of 2nd march :cool:

Wow, thanks for that, I have also looked into it further and realised we DON'T have to pay it, it feels like we have just won the lottery, this weeks just gets better, we have just saved approx £3k :ssign19:

Silly question time........... We haven't used an agent and everything has gone really smoothly and had our visa granted this week. We were expecting to have to pay a 2nd installment just prior to the visa being granted, the diac say this is $4110. Our CO hasnt requested this and our credit card hasn't been charged. I have just read the terms on their Webb site and it isn't very clear as we have to pay this or not. Does anone have any information or knowledge on this?

Woo hoo, congratulations, so exciting isn't it, now the fun really starts planning the big move. I love Brisbane

Woo hoo......My hubby has to give 3 months notice too, March seems like the perfect time to make the move........ Who's next?

Visa granted today, 5th september...... Brisbane here we come :biggrin:

:ssign19:Visa granted this morning :laugh: 14 weeks 2 days, pretty amazing. Now the fun really starts. Looking to move over to Brisbane in March next year :cool: Who is going to be next........I would definitely recommend emailing your CO to make them aware you have uploaded everything they have requested, it seems to prompt them and wave their magic wand Good luck everyone, not long now

Yeap, back to waiting again, a few weeks ago it was for a CO and now for the CO to wave their magic wand and grant us all our dreams........ The final pieces have been placed and so we shall wait, impatiently again. We are nearly there now everybody, and in record time (even if it has felt like snails pace at times :biglaugh:)

We have our police certificates :ssign19: We will upload them tonight and email our CO and wait for the exciting news............

I hope not, it might be taking longer as I was in the forces many moons ago. They had better arrive soon, this is the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle. We had our medicals in Plymouth last week, the staff there are all very nice, it took us 2 hours (me, my husband and 2 toddlers) so give yourself time. The dr we saw turned out to be my GP's husband, small world hey. Good luck, it took a week for all our results to be uploaded, the bloods taking the longest but they then got finalised straight away.

It is getting close now, medicals finalised:ssign19: just waiting for the postie to bring our police certificates, they are taking ages, they received them on 20th August :arghh: