JoannaAch

There is a special pass for tourists in NSW that you can buy for a week or so. I would imagine it would be hard for tourists to call each time they go through toll considering that they probably don't have local phones...

I guess it's not essential, but makes life a lot easier. I can't imagine driving and at the same time looking for these signs for the number to call and than talking on the phone at the same time... Also, can you get back what you paid for M5 if you don't use an e-tag?

So how do you pay for toll roads? There are no cash booths anymore and the only way to pay is through the e-toll tag or pass. I think you need one if you live in Sydney, as you need to pay toll on quite a few roads and tunnels. Also, you can claim back what you paid for traveling on M5.

Right, I forgot bout the CTP as I haven't bought it yet myself. The etoll thing is that tag that beeps when you go on toll roads?

Hi, We recently bought a car ( 6months ago) from a Toyota dealer in Parramatta. I would say that it's a most popular region for car sale companies - there are so many of them there... The costs you mentioned look okay, the only thing is that the car history check is usually done by the dealer and you can check it when buying. I am not sure about the motor vehicle tax, I can't remember paying anything like that? And if you want a comprehensive car insurance and you don't have a history of driving in Aus without a collision - you might have to pay a bit more, we pay 150$ per month, but our car is/was worth around 20k. Have you considered paying extra 6-8k and getting a car with still a bit of warranty? Also, remember to get the e-toll thing - you can get it either at RMA when registering a car or order online (you will have to wait 1-2 weeks for it, but you can start driving on the highways just after you registered).

It's a good salary, however I am not sure if it's gonna be enough to support 3 people... Does your wife plans to find work in the future? And also, if your mother is not covered by Medicare it might be very expensive for her to live here.

We know the "implication", because nowhere in the requirements for citizenship/rrv it states that 190 visa holders have to fulfill the 2year commitment to qualify.

As far as I remember someone did confirm that in that thread. I signed the agreement that I am committed to living in Victoria if I receive the state nomination and at the time I intended to fulfill it. I haven't asked for "release" as it is not a real obligation, but I have informed them that I am not living in Victoria via the every-6months-survey. I have just moved 6 months ago and as I pointed out - in 3.5 years most probably I won't be checking this forum:)

I also can't really understand what are you asking about... But if you wish that more people that got citizenship w/o living in the sponsoring state would share their experience here, you have to consider that most people won't be checking the forum after they got their visas/move. Also - there is no single case when someone was refused citizenship based on that. P.S. I have a 190 visa for Vic and I live in Sydney (never been to Victoria yet).

I remember that in the forms for shipping our belongings there was a question if anything was bought less than 12 months ago. I just marked "no"

We were able to chose when signing the contract in Sydney how we want to pay and we chose monthly (just after the pay day, so that it is easier to manage the monthly budget).

The salaries we received went to the German bank account (not that we even used that money - went straight to pay back the credit card:/) and anyway it's to late - I already received my tax return. It's weird though that the tax agent didn't even ask for income from overseas... I had all the documents with me but he was not interested.

I would say it applies, as the UK income was still earned before you arrived in Australia (even though it was transferred to your account later). After we arrived in Aus, we were still getting some payments from previous (German) employers, but as it was for a month before we came, I didn't mention it in my tax return.

I also arrived mid-tax year and have just done my tax return. Don't you only declare the income that you earned while being a tax resident in Australia? I have done my taxes through a tax agent and he didn't ask me for any income from outside Australia (and from before we moved here)?

Hi, The first day doesn't count and you will be able to pick him up on the 10th day. For you it should be Sunday 31 (check the opening hours, they are slightly different on weekends). I can't help with the onwards transfer, as we are from Sydney so just picked our cat ourselves.

Thanks! That's a relief as his passport is actually from Poland and it takes 6+ months to get a new one through the embassy plus at least 2 days wasted as you need to do everything in person...

Might be a stupid question, but: Do you need a valid passport to live in Australia? My partner's current passport expires 6months before we will be eligible for Aus citizenship. If he doesn't leave the country, would we need to apply for a new passport at the embassy (long and complicated process) or can he just wait until he can get his Australian passport? Generally I would think that you always need a passport, but is the visa valid if the passport is expired?

We arrived a week before I started at my job. Within that week we managed to find an apartment, get everything sorted out (even buy some furniture) and enjoy a day at the beach;)

That is not correct - if you received invitation with 65points, your visa will be refused straight away if you can't prove these 65 points. It does not matter if you still have 60 points or not (esp for 189 visas, as you received an invite based on highest points and someone with 60points might be still waiting). But regarding your experience that you claimed points for - if EA stated that it is skilled, you should be able to claim points for it. However DIBP considers only post-qualification experience (does EA has the same requirement?), so that's where you might get in trouble. Most probably you are right in claiming points for your full experience, but I will still check with a migration agent. Better safe than sorry:)

I believe RA position is skilled employment (at least in Australia), but you were doing a Masters degree at the same time? Was it full-time work? Were you paid a normal salary, paid tax and had full responsibilities etc? If that experience was a part of your Master degree than it's not work, but if you were studying on weekends or online and working during the week, it should be ok... In general, all employment at the appropriate level after getting an appropriate qualification (Bachelor in your case) counts as skilled employment... I am not sure how they will look at it and it will be very costly if it was a mistake to claim points, so I would also recommend a migration agent to have a look at it. You don't have to pay for a whole visa application, some agents will agree on a 1-2 hour consultation.

That's (more or less) the same letter I received from Vic, when I informed them that I moved to another state.

I wouldn't pay to much attention to these statuses. The health examination status will probably change to 'requested" when CO is assigned and if he chooses to update it. Anyways, you definitely need a health check, better do it now if you want your visa asap.

I am no expert, but if you don't have an invitation right now, wouldn't you have to wait until the next invitation round which will be mid-July? The fees are based on the time you apply for a visa/get an invite, not when you submit the EOI. I don't think you can do much in the next few hours to be honest...

You will have a credit file on Veda just because of your bank account, utility bills (AGL does checks), phone contract, maybe even the real estate agency etc. Your credit score should be average or good (depending how old is the file). As long as you don't forget to pay any bills on time, don't apply for credit and so on your credit "score" will only get better. And as other mentioned - you don't need a "solid" history of paying back debts. Banks look at income/savings and if you don't have any defaults on your file.

I heard that only credit history in Australia counts and you can't transfer it from overseas? But your credit history starts the moment you arrive in Aus, so after a few months you should have enough to get mortgage. You can check it on Veda.