poochibabes

Hi Everyone God i never thought the day would arrive when I would be posting this, but today we received the best news after nearly three years that we have our PR. My next question is what do I need to do next? Do I need to pop into centrelink etc? My daughter goes to Kindy so I would like to start receiving the rebate as soon as I am able to - having paid full wack for three years (at a very high cost) the reduction in this will be very welcome. We also have BUPA etc so I am assuming I will need to let them know as well as getting a new Medicare card? If anyone knows if I am able to do the forms online and which ones they are that would be great. Thanks Poochibabes :smile:

We got the great news this morning that our PR has been approved. Timeline as follows: ENS route (457 to 186) Medicals done 12/01/2015 Employer Nomination lodged 12/2/2015 Application lodged 14/2/2015 (with recommended evidence) Visa approved 23/5/2015 processing centre NSW occupation. Recruitment consultant our location. Brisbane, family of 3 Thank you for this amazingly supportive thread and good luck to all waiting

Hi Everyone I'm a bit fed up with Woolworths/Coles and their extortionate prices for well pretty much everything, so I was wondering if anyone had some good suggestions of where to buy Meat of a good quality and decent price which is hopefully cheaper/better than the two main supermarkets. I've tried Aldi but half of the time they don't have the stuff that I need so I end up spending the whole morning sourcing the stuff I need. I thought I could go to a wholesaler and buy say a month's worth and stick it in the freezer.... Its been mentioned to me about Superbutchers in Eagle Farm but i've googled them and seen a few remarks that they aren't that much cheaper. Anyone with any experience of this? Thanks L XX

Thanks everyone. I'm hoping it will be relatively straight forward as the company I am moving to provide 457 regularly and i'm basically moving to do the same job/role. I really hope it doesn't take 8 weeks as i feel like i've been living a lie to my current employer and if i'm honest I'm going to do well to get through the next few weeks before christmas. Has anyone experienced any shorter timeframes i.e. 7 days etc?

Thanks for replying Rob - I am in a bit of dilemma really as to when to do it. Would you wait until it has transferred before handing in my notice? But what will happen if it transfers and my employer want me to work my notice? My partner is also on my 457 so would that mean he would need to not work too?

Hi Everyone I have a job offer to start with a new employer on 21st January. My current employer does not know that I am leaving them at this stage. I have decided to hand in my notice when I return to work on 7th January 2013. I was wondering, normally how long does it take to transfer a 457 to a new employer - am I looking at days or weeks here? My notice period with my current employer is only 1 week so I thought it was best to tell the migration lawyer to wait until the new year as I can't afford to not be paid anything over the christmas period if it transfers well before then (I was also concerned about the 28 day period in which I have to start with the new employer). Does anyone have any experiences they could share with me? Also I am assuming we won't need to do the medicals again? My daughter had to have a medical back in May as she has a hole in her heart - all was fine and she met the health requirements for immigration. I wondered if this too might delay the normal quick turnaround time to transfer a 457. Thanks xx

Hi I have just received a new job offer for a role to start at the end of January. I was just wondering if my daughter will be required to undergo her medical again or is it just simply a case of the new nominated employer taking over my 457visa? I have 3 years 8 months left on the visa... She was born with a hole in her heart so last time it took quite a while for everything to pass by immigration (we had to undergo a medical and also get a report from her cardiologist) Also I do not want my current employer to be aware until nearer the time I'm ready to leave (my new company don't want me until 21st January 2013). Any idea as to when they will need to find out? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the note blossom - would you be able to share any more information on what happened to your friend perhaps in a PM to settle my nerves?! It really is destroying our time here in australia and I wake up dreading going to work each day. Hopefully I will get through to the end of the year and then i'll have plenty of time to transfer the visa. I think the company who will be giving me new employment may even start me a week or so early to save us as my other half works there too and they would lose him if we had to go home. They are a big plc business so i'm sure they will do there best to help me. Sadly in the world of working in recruitment companies it is very much based on financial performance and if you're not hitting your financial targets they will happily chop you (I saw it plentful back in the UK!). I have started a new area for the business so i'm hoping they will give me more time to make a success of it. Besides they invested money in bringing me over, sponsoring me and paying for a migration agent in doing so. Will keep everyone posted but if anyone has any more success stories I would really appreciate it xx

Hi everyone sorry i have not been on here for such a long time. I have been here now two months and we have enjoyed Brisbane a great deal apart from the fact that the company I work for are total w***ers!!!! I work for a small recruitment company who are finding times very tough and i'm worried that as i'm currently on my 3 month probationary period that they could let me go with only 1 weeks notice (they have chopped two other people in the last week). I have been pro-active about this and have actually secured myself a new role (an offer is currently being put together in the next week) with a large, stable company however my dilemma is that the new company do not want me to start until mid/late January. If I get let go before mid/late december this will cause me lots of problems with my 457 visa as i've read you only have 28 days to transfer the visa. I am devastated to say the least, particularly as we have signed up for a 12 month lease and my other half is doing well in his new company. Any ideas folks? Would you suggest I contact the DIAC and chat things through? Would they take consideration if I have a job offer but cannot start until after the 28 days. Thanks in advance XX:arghh:

hi everyone just wanted to give you an update. Well my mum finally came around a few days before we were leaving. Since then we have been in contact a heck of a lot since our arrival in Brisbane (mainly by email but also a couple of phonecalls). I've been sending her lots of pictures so she can see how lovely it is here and she was really positive about things. So finally she did come round before me leaving. She is also buying a webcam and is going to get herself set up on skype very soon. Funny how things change - thank you so much for the advice everyone. I did keep my cool with her and didn't lose my temper (even though i really wanted to at times!) and it certainly helped keep the situation calm. Will keep you all posted on how our journey in brisbane goes xxx

Thanks so much guy's that is really helpful - looking forward to checking these out :-)

Hi there we have been in brissy now for four days and loving it. We have already done a shop at Aldi (trying to keep costs down) but I wondered if anyone knows of any good fresh food markets around that could save us even more $ or if they think the quality is better buying fresh from the markets compared to the supermarket? Thanks in advance Lou

I'm glad your mother is coming around - sadly mine isn't! I waited 5 days for her to get in touch and nothing, so I rang her at work on Wednesday and again she was very frosty with me :-( I asked her if I would be seeing her before I went and she started telling me how busy she was and that my step dad isn't well blah blah blah. I got a bit annoyed as i've been trying and trying for the past few weeks and she just doesn't seem to want to see us or her grandaughter before we go. The call ended by her saying in quite a catty manner - happy packing! So I just calmly replied by saying well i'll see you if I see you. I'm devistated - my dad died years ago so this strange behavior from her is not making the trip any easier. But its funny because this isn't the first time she has acted in a ridiculous way - last year my daughter was seriously ill in hospital when they discovered she had 3 holes in her heart and she wasn't very supportive. It then transpired that she felt peeved as I hadn't formally invited her to the hospital! Clearly I had alot going on in my head at the time and to be honest I didn't think she needed formally inviting - family from my partner's side just turned up to support us but I had to chase her!! She seems to get her cheque book out no problems but when it comes to emotional support or something she doesn't agree with/or that doesn't suit her style she is nowhere to be seen. I'm just glad I didn't organise a massive leaving do as she probably wouldn't of turned up! X

Thanks for the wonderful replies everyone! I know you all understand on this forum. I went on my leaving do with all my girly mates last night and most of theM said if they had the opportunity they would go in a heartbeat. I guess as its the last couple of weeks that i'm starting to grieve myself and its being made twice as bad as my mum doesn't appear to want to see me but I'll maybe try again in a couple of days, we'll see. Its such biazzare behavior as she actually paid for our plane tickets a few weeks ago?! Its like I don't agree with you going but i'll pay for you to get on the plane! Strange! Anyway I'm keeping myself busy and maybe I should just wait for her to get in touch? I've tried a few times now and she has snubbed me so really the ball is in her court. I understand she is hurt but its not easy for me to leave all my friends and loved ones either and I need to think about my own family now as we have a young daughter. Despite all this upset I know deep down I still want to go. Like people have said if I don't go and try it I will be forever kicking myself and thinking what if and if I base that decision on how people are upset I will resent them. I'm quite apprehensive now but when I look on the web about brisbane related things it goes away and I look forward to it again! Thanks for all the support everyone its nice to know I can speak to others who have lived through it - my other half is alot stronger than me emotionally and I think he is getting a bit tired of me going over and over the situation lol! XX

hi everyone thank you for the replies. Well its two weeks today before we leave and after many attempts to arrange to meet up with my mum i've still not managed anything. I called her today (she still works 5 days a week) and said that i'd like to pop up with something for her but her reply was by text: no not today, I don't want people at work knowing as i'm upset about it enough without having to talk about it. I've also suggested another few dates but she is "busy" either looking after my sisters little boy or they are going round to her house. I know I shouldn't but I feel like she is trying to make me feel pushed out as I am leaving and avoiding me like the plague. Its really hard as my dad died years ago (my mother remarried) so I don't have another parent. To make matters worse my sister and I really don't get on and she is loving the fact that I am moving to the other side of the world - she is constantly stiring up trouble between me and my mum and is revelling in all the upset i've caused. Sorry for the rant - I am feeling quite low about it all. x

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think i'll probably skip the pill on the plane and just use on my first night in the new destination(s). I'd feel like a bad mother if I was zonked out whilst zara was screaming her head off on the plane with ant trying to calm her down - don't think i'd be too popular with the other passengers either lol! As i'm on the contraceptive pill I think that is more of a concern with DVT too. Thanks again peeps

Hi everyone Well we fly out on 30th August at 9:10am from Manchester to Singapore for our four night stopover before heading to Brisbane. The first leg of the journey to singapore is 15 hours approximately. I was wondering if anyone had taken a sleeping tablet on the plane before or when they arrive in their new destination to help get them in the local time zone? I should explain that I used to suffer from terrible insomnia and the slightest disturbance to my sleep pattern can set if off again - last time I had a bad spell (after flying back from Mexico which was only about a 10 hour flight!) I didn't sleep for more than 1-2 hours a night for over a month! I have also gone 3 months with pretty much no sleep in a similar pattern when I was suffering with anxiety after a relationship break up and it nearly sent me over the edge! I'm particularly worried this time with the sleep pattern thing because when we land in brisbane I start work shortly after and I want to be fresh for my first day. I've been to my GP today who knows about my sleeping history and he has prescribed me 14 days worth of sleeping tablets. He said that when he went to OZ he used the tablets to sleep on the plane and also help him get into the local time zone. I did think about perhaps not having them on the plane but using them if I found I struggled with the time zones after a couple of days. In particular I have a 14 month old little girl and I want to make sure I'm not totally zonked out where my other half has to deal with her as i'm completed out of it! Having said that though he is having 8 weeks off when we first get there to get everyone settled in so he will be dealing with any getting up in the night etc! Any thoughts anyone? :SLEEP:

Hi we are taking some items over (not a full container). I have a matching bedroom set with two wardrobes however when i've been looking at houses to rent (we are going to brisbane) alot of places seem to have fitted robes. Any thoughts guys? Louise

Hi Everyone Well we finally got our Visa approved yesterday and we have been on cloud nine since we thought we may have been knocked back due to my daughters previous heart condition (hole in the heart). Anyway to cut a long story short i'm really struggling with how my own mother is blowing hot and cold with me. She is constantly sniping about how we aren't thinking of our one year old daughter (i.e. she will be put into a new childcare place, taken away from her family etc). My mum even tried to play the card that we will be giving her a longer day in childcare but when I sat down and did the sums she will be in approximately 5 hours a week less in Brisbane than here in Manchester! She is obviously upset that we are going but is making me feel that we are being selfish and not thinking of my daugther. Err hello have you seen the economic climate in the UK? What about her future? What about the better outdoor weather (my daughter constantly catches cough's and cold's in the UK so SURELY the weather will be of benefit to her? I realise we are taking her away from people she knows but my OH is going to have the first 2 months off to slowly integrate her into the new childcare place without shoving her in full time. Plus she is 1 year's old and to be quite honest she does not give a monkey's about where she is as long as she can toddle off and play. She is absolutely not a clingy child and she can't wait for me to go when I drop her off at the childminder's here! Its really stressing me out and its almost making me want to get on the plane without saying goodbye to her! Anyone else in this situation? Louise xx

Hi Everyone Just to let you know that we were accepted yesterday for our visa's! We are hoping to arrive early September. So excited but in a mad rush/shock at the moment! Louise

Hi Trasi - quite often people's results go to referred for a good few days before being approved. I'm sure it will just be the DIAC being slow at their end and you have nothing to worry about. If you can wait another few days I'd then send an email to your case officer for an update. Also have you tried contacting the medical centre that performed your medicals? Our's was very helpful along the way. Sadly i've still not heard anything else but our case is alot more complex I suspect with my daughters heart condition. xx

Hi Everyone just an update - I contacted the clinic in Manchester and the Panel Doctor there wrote to Zara's specialist and has now emailed the Health Officer in Sydney. Not sure if anyone has any experience of this but any idea why nothing on the system has changed and also how long is a piece of string question - how long is it sat with a Health officer before we hear anything? I'm slowly but surely going mad with all the waiting around. If I checked the immigration system one more time I think it will keel over! xx

Just to update - I have now checked the immigration website (exactly 1 week after the medical) and it has asked me to complete another health questionnaire that has led to a page saying - In order to complete your visa application, you are required to undertake the following: 125 - Report - from a Specialist Has anyone any experience of what this involves? It gave me the option of doing it at the bridgewater hopsital again in Manchester. I rang them but they had shut for the day so will call in the morning. Louise

Hi Yes I took a letter from her pedetrician stating what her condition is, the medication she is on and how well she has been getting on etc and that fact she does not need to be seen by a cardiologist for at least 12 months. The doctor at the medical didn't seem entirely happy with it though and thought we might get asked for more information. I then spoke to my daughters cardiologist and he isn't sure what else we could of provided in terms of information though? Such a minefield! Very frustrating!