AlloVera

Hi all,

I know there is a separate section for banking on POI but it looked like it was pretty specific to NAB so I thought I would post here. I'm moving to Brisbane 2 weeks tomorrow and as far as banking is concerned I have the following information to make a decision:

• I've already opened up a free bank account with ANZ as the removal company put me in their direction. The cards will be available to collect from the branch when we get there. As far as I could see there are no hidden charges but very possible I could have overlooked as only skim read.
  
• I currently bank with First Direct in the UK so originally wanted to go to HSBC Australia however when I called they said the fee would be £100!? I thought this was extortionate but a friend of mine said it was worth paying although he couldn't really say why other than he can see all of his accounts, both UK and Oz, on one screen. I am wondering if I just walk into one of the their branches in Brisbane and open an account in person will it A. cost me less than £100 and B. still be able to see my UK accounts via the same internet log in?
  
• Don't know anything about NAB other than they seem to be the preferred bank on here - can anyone give me more info?
  

Any advice/comments welcome! Thanks

Have a look for the Hays.com.au Annual salary guide. It's broken down into state by role across a range of industries and should provide a guide of what to expect.

Thank you, that was very helpful

Maybe try and look for similar positions on seek.com.au or other job sites to see what salarys are on offer. I personally used 2.2-2.3 going to Aus and coming back here to the UK. It's worked out good both homes for my family and I.

 

saying that I would not have a clue what your role would pay.

Thanks, I have been surfing seek already, think I have an idea but always good to get thoughts from others if possible...

Just out of curiosity, I'm guessing by your PIO name that you wakeboard... My OH and I normally ride at either Grendon or Boxend park, don't suppose you have been there before? Not that many boat lakes or cables in the UK so thought I'd give it a shot as quite often it's a small world!

Hi All,

I know salary is a very subjective thing for different industries and occupations but I could do with a view on what a fully qualified management accountant/finance manager with 6+ years experience might be able to get... I am applying for a job in Brisbane, they haven't given the salary bracket and they want me to divulge what my current salary is and what salary I am seeking so I don't want to under or over value myself! I've read on here that using a ratio of 2.2 is good so was considering doing that and adding 9% for super? Any advice is very welcome.

Many thanks

Ok great, thank you both for your replies..

We plan to fly with Singapore airlines so we can take advantage of the double baggage allowance. If we needed to get the visa label I'm guessing the airline will still be able to see that it is our first entry into Australia on that that visa?

Hi,

175 was granted in Oct-12 and we are going to book our flights over the next few days for Apr-13... Handing in my notice at work tomorrow and I can hardly contain myself

Do I need to do anything to get the visa stamped into my passport before we get to the airport? I couldn't see anything from the grant notice letter but just in case I have missed anything I thought I'd better ask.

Many thanks

Hi summers1261,

Do you mean where can you study CPA in the UK or ACCA? If they've asked for 3 more core modules specifically from the CPA syllabus maybe you can ask them which ACCA modules are comparable? Sorry if I have read this all wrong!

hi allovera! im thinking of going next august- would love to go sooner but with work commitments & gotta save the pennies too! heading to sydney. ive now moved along to the shipping section to get ideas & advice!!!

melanie

Hey melanie79! Yeah I should get involved in that section as well... I tried to get some feedback within the jobs & careers section but all seems quiet in there! I know what you mean about saving. Luckily we had already been saving as it was either buy a house or move to Oz so now we have visas I guess we'll move to Oz

I notice you're a mental health nurse.. My other half works in mental health care but he's not registered. We're hoping he will find work ok tho as he's a 32 yr old big strong male with lots of C&R training and years of experience. Don't suppose you've come across any good websites that could give us an idea of what job options and salary he would be looking at?

Hey...

Now that our visas has been approved I want to get talking to all those making the move in the next 12 months... I know there are other threads already but don't really want to trawl through the lot of them! Can anyone post a link please?

Of course if anyone wants to chat on this one then I'd welcome it

Me and my boyfriend are heading to Brisbane next year on a 175, waiting for December bonus time to come and go before I hand in my notice. Been keeping up to date with jobs posted on SEEK, just found a winner based in Mooloolaba which looks amazing!

As scary as it is, I can't wait to start our next chapter!

Hey Iron Chef... Trying to work out if we should delay our plans by 4 months next year so I can bring my car over. Both of us want to leave our jobs and get going ASAP and had agreed on end of March next year but I will have owned my car for 12 months in mid July.. Got friends who moved out last year and they said it's def worth doing, but would like an expert opinion please Details are as follows:

- year of manufacture 2006

- make, model & variant BMW 1 Series 120D M Sport

- body type (coupe, convertible, etc) 5 Dr Hatchback

- engine size & fuel type 2 ltr Diesel

- transmission Manual

- drive type (4WD, front wheel drive, etc) Rear wheel drive

- mileage 60000 miles / 96560 km

- any special features, options or modifications full leather seats, M Sport pack (steering wheel, door handle lighting, stiffened suspension, tuning, door sill trim) auto wipers, auto lights, stop start ignition

- does it have aircon Yes

- realistic current UK market value £8000

- Australian RedBook value (www.redbook.com.au - click through to the page with 'Private Price Guide', 'Trade In Price Guide' and 'Price When New' listed, then tell us the 'Private Price Guide' range) $19,300 - $21,900

- Australian market value (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/search.aspx - search for the closest matching vehicle) $21,500 - $23,985

- which Australian state/city Brisbane

I didn't inform the SLC that I was moving to Australia (mainly because when I've informed them of anything else they promptly lose the information or ignore it i.e. me changing my name when I got married) but it only took them 4 months to cotton on to the fact I wasn't paying it anymore and try and find out where I was. Ok, so wasn't hard, all they did was send me an email saying they wanted to 'discuss my time at University' - Lol!

 

Anyway, they sent me out an overseas assessment form where I had to fill in details of my job and what I was doing and send evidence of my contract and payslips. They then sent back a schedule of payments for the next 12 months. They only wanted £41 a month from me (which seems insane considering they were taking £220 a month when I was in the UK!) so instead of setting up a direct debit monthly from my UK account I paid the whole year in full.

 

I'm due another assessment in November, but it's at around £2,000 now so I'll probably just pay it off this year, save me the hassle!

Hi nicolac34,

I also pay £220 a month over here in the UK but can't fathom how they calculated your £41 a month in Oz? From what I've read on their site the earnings threshold is still £15,795 and then 9% on anything over that is what you pay back so I would have thought the monthly amount is more as you earn more GBP in Oz than you do in the UK? Did they give you a breakdown of how it was calculated at all?

Be nice if it was only £41 per month!!!

Hi All,

The day that we get our visas granted is in sight and now I feel like the real planning starts! The thing that plays on my mind the most is finding employment once I get out to Brisbane next year and I wondered if people would share their experiences on here so I can get a feel of what to expect.

I am a qualified accountant with around 6 years experience working for two very large corporates and so far have progressed every 1-2 yrs within my profession. I've never been out of work so the idea of handing in my notice and taking that leap is terrifying, but as I have no children yet I feel like this is the time to do it.

What do you think?

Big thanks

Morning all, I was assigned my case officer this morning, they've asked for meds & PCs. Please add me to the spreadsheet

Hi, I did but I already had 65 points via age, English & degree so doesn't matter if they don't recognise it. Not the same for Skills Select so would be v careful & maybe seek professional advice first before claiming in your EOI...

I had my work history assessed by CPA and they validated it from starting my first job in finance - so I have 6 years instead of 2 since qualifying. I have a degree in Maths & Comp. Sci so was not expecting this at all, I wonder if the degree counts as a basic entry requirement to work as a 'skilled' person... However I have heard that regardless of what the assessor says you can't take it as gospel as the DIAC will not necessarily agree with the outcome anyway.

I have created my EOI even if I have already lodged my application before the 1st of July, today I received a message, just 100 invitations for the first round through skill select.

 

It means that these new applicants, even if they will have priority in CAT 4 against us, probably they are too few to actually impact on the CO allocation process.

 

Maybe I'm too optimistic, but they shouldn't delay, at least in August, the CO allocation for 175ers.

 

Crossing fingers to have a CO soon for us all!

That's def positive news! I haven't heard anything, check my phone for emails everyday with blurry eyes at 6am. I'm in no rush but the anticipation is taking over me!

Leomburu, congratulations on submitting your 175 in time & good luck for the next few months. Our milestones are very similar in this process except you've gone with Management Accountant and I with Accountant (General) so will be interesting to see how far apart we are in the next stages of our applications. Been reading some of the new SkillSelect threads and EOI threads and two things spring to mind - 1. a lot of people are quite stressed about the unknown and 2. there are a few accountant haters out there! Don't know what the deal is to be honest, I know loads of accountants and we're all lovely

Name: AlloVera

Date of Visa application: 28/06/2012

Nationality: British

High/Low Risk: LO

Trade/profession: Accountant (General)

Visa type: 175

Onshore/offshore: offshore

Pre-14th July 2010 Category (If applicable): NA

Post-14th July Category: 3 (new priority group 4)

Medicals submitted: no

Police check submitted: no

Date CO assigned:

Date of employment verification (If applicable): NA

Date visa granted:

I was going to fill in the spreadsheet in Google Docs but I can't seem to edit it?

One other thing - am I able to bring more than one car over? Just thinking it might be worthwhile my partner buying a new car too and bringing that over too?

Hi Iron Chef, I need to buy a new car now as the one that I have currently is getting a bit past it. We plan to move to Brisbane in about a year so thinking of upgrading and then importing over, either to make a profit or to keep and avoid paying through the roof for a nice car out there. I'm looking at a diesel TT Quattro 2.0, 2009 selling in the UK for between £15-17k with mod cons such as air con, ipod connector, electric/heated seats (not that heated seats are needed out in Oz I'd imagine!) etc and by the time I biring it over it will have around betweeb 55-60k miles on the clock. I had a look in the redbook guide you talked about but couldn't find a diesel TT, only petrol? Is it cheaper to drive a diesel in Oz similar to here? I need to buy a diesel as I do an 80 mile round trip daily.

Understand the FX rate has a big influence over the attractiveness of bringing a car over and who knows what it will be in 12 months time but if you can give a steer as what category it would fall into that would be uber cool of you