Tanner76

Great, thanks for the feedback. Very helpful.

By the time we get to Oz in November, the visa would have been validated 18-19 months ago (May 2013).

Ah, I've been out of the country for six years now. I guess that would be too long. Worth a try anyway

Hi, I read somewhere this morning that to gain citizenship you nee dto have 3 years living in Austrlia and one year on PR. Can anyone tell me if you have to be continuously living in Oz for those four years? The reason I ask is that I lived in Oz for six years on a 457 visa. I am now moving back with my family with PR. Can I take those six years into account or am I effectively starting the clock again? Thanks, Jamie

We are due to move to Sydney in November and we have been blessed with the news that we are expecting another baby. As we won't be able to be covered by Private Insurance when the baby arrives (March) I was wondering if there were any charges involved using the Public Health system. I can't really find too much about it on the government websites so I was hoping someone here may have "hands-on" knowledge. Thanks!

Hi, I recently submitted a Child Visa 101 application for my daughter. Does anybody know roughly how long it takes before you hear that your application has been assigned to a CO? Thanks, Jamie

I have the 176 visa.

Thanks for your reply. Further investigation of posts on this site indicates that the CO gives you a windows of opportunity to leave the country while the visa is granted. Still waiting to find out if this is gospel.

Hi Nerak, How did you know when to leave the country?

What would happen if we were in the country at the time?

We are applying for out babies visa as she was born after the visa was granted. I'm thinking of applying for the Offshore visa but I was wondering this: If the visa isn't granted by the time we leave can we take the baby over on a tourist visa? Do we have to be out of the country when the visa is granted or can the visa be granted when we are there and then arrange a trip to NZ to leave the country and return to activate the visa? Thanks for your help!

Hi, I'm still looking at Child Visa options. DIAC says that this can take up to three months but it looks like it can take up to 8 months which isn't feasible. How does the onshore application work? Would we be able to take the baby over on an visitor visa an dthen apply when we are there? Would DIAC give us a bridging visa until the visa is approved? Thanks!

Thanks all.

Its for a child visa and as far as I can see there is no way to submit it online which is a pain. I think I may have answered my own question though. On the DIAC site it says the following: Any person or agency recognised by the law of the country in which you live can certify documents. All our offices outside Australia have a person who can certify or witness documents. You might have to pay for this service. As the Post Office seem to be recognised by the law in this country it shoudl be accepted by DIAC.

I have no idea but the Post Office charge for the service so I'm assuming it would be someone who would be qualified to do it.

I need to get some documents certified. The Post Office in the UK provides this service so I'm wondering if the Australian Government would accept them for a visa application. Any ideas? Thanks!

Hi, My wife and I were grabnted our visa in August 2012. Soon after we were granted the visa we had a baby (my wife fell pregnant befroe we were granted the visa). I have been looking at the requirements to get a child visa and it says that I need to complete the 40CHform - Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia. The form seems to imply that we are already in Australia and we are trying to bring the baby over to be with uis. Do I still need to complete this form? We activated our visas last year. On another note, does anybody know if the baby needs a health check? Thanks, T76

We were lucky enough to be granted our visa last year and intend to move to Australia next year. After our application was processed we had a baby. I've read that we need to go through the application process again, which is fine (although costly!), but I was wondering would we encounter any issues and how long does it take? Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned that we were going to validate our visas in May. Does a child visa (101) need to be validated or can we validate our visas and then migrate with the baby on the child visa whenever we need to (we are thinking migrating end of 2014 about 18 months after our validation)?

Hi, We recently got our visa granted but have since discovered that we are going to have a baby. We were planning to go in May just before the entry date expiry but the baby will only be three months old. Do you think that we will be able to push the deadline back? Thanks!

Thanks. Do the docs need to be signed in front of the solictor before they will sign them or can I sign mine before I go and get my wife to take the to the solicitor?

Hi, I have to write a stuatory declaration. Once I've finished I need to get it signed by a notary. As I'm unsure what a notary is am I able to get it signed by a "professional" such as an accountant or does it always have to be a solicitor? Thanks for your help!

Hi, I lodged my 176 application on the 16th May and still haven't had a CO assigned. Would there be any reason for the delay? Thanks!

Hi, I received VIC SS at the bginning of May and sent my 176 application off on th 16th May. I've just checked the Allocation Dates for General Skilled Migration Applications page on the DIAC website but its not clear to me which priority I fall under. I would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction. Cheers!

I managed to get a 457 visa based on more than 5 years experience in my field (IT) back in 2004. I was already working for the company in Sydney through an agency at the time and the company then offered to sponsor me directly. It was all done in a few weeks.