lucerad

Hey, I used to live in Perth (and going back there soon), while the cost of living can be high, it is lower than other states (e.g. Sydney), and the wages are typically higher. There is just me and my partner, our rent was $480 for a 3 bedroom house, electricity about $80 per month, internet and foxtel (sky equivalent) was also about $80. Petrol is cheaper than England from what I remember, and cars are also pretty reasonable. A salary of 90k will be more than sufficient to cover you all in my opinion! Check out gumtree.com.au it has everything you could ever need, we furnished our whole house for under $1000 (and nice stuff too), just be prepared to bargain! Enjoy Perth, its amazing!

The more information provided, the less chance there is of the CO requesting more.

The next step would be to apply (and pay). When you apply you are given a list off all the documents you need to upload, I recommend getting them all together now, and then uploading as soon as you apply. From then you will be assigned a case officer (that usually takes between 4 and 8 weeks). If they require any further info from you they will email and request it and you have 28 days from their request to provide it, otherwise they'll just request medicals and police clearances when they're happy that everything else has been provided. I got CO after 3 weeks, and they requested a couple of extra documents for skilled employment proof (tax docs and references) which we're waiting for now. Have pre loaded medical and police clearances to speed things up. Good Luck

WOW... sounds a bit dodgy to me... from what you've said it sounds like she might just be with him for the visa... BE CAREFUL! DIAC are VERY strict on this and they can spot a 'fake' relationship a mile away. Even if they are married, they still have to prove A LOT. My advice is (and your son will not like it), perhaps maybe she asks her family? Or maybe she goes home for a while to work and gather the funds for herself. I can't imagine how difficult a situation it must be for you, but $5,000 is A LOT of money to spend on someone you hardly know. The fact she had a visa cancelled doesn't bode well.

RE documents, I would upload all you have, better to give them too much than not enough! They will only ask you for more anyway, so you might as well be one step ahead! RE blood tests, you have to have ALL parts of the medical done with a Panel Doctor. Your normal doctor won't have access to the online DIAC system so they won't accept it. RE application, yep your invitation expires after 60 days, so you have 60 days to submit a full application. RE extra bloods, I'm not 100% sure about this one. A friend of mine had to have the extra test for an NZ visa, she didn't 'fail' or anything, she just had to go back after fasting and have some extra tests done. They did cost another $180 though.

I got some great books from the library! Didn't want the expense of buying them, so borrowed and they were really great! Most came with interactive CD's as well. I literally took all their IELTS books, so I can't remember the names of them all, but you should go take a look!

Lana Hotimsky is my agent, she's in Sydney and she's wonderful. I definitely recommend. lanah @ mgcaus . com