Emma83

Does anyone know if you can use foam sheeting? I'm thinking of using that to protect furniture/mattress etc? Thanks

Yay Really happy for you Candygirl Xx

It will depend on if your medicals are referred or not. Ours was all done online (including the medical results) OH took about 4 days (after having medical) with no referred medicals. My medical was referred and I was advised it is a 3-4 month wait currently for referred medicals. I asked if mine could be prioritised as I'm a nurse, going on a 457 visa and had to start by a certain date and it was. Got my 457 granted about 6 days after medicals were submitted. Like I said our results were submitted online though and not posted so was quicker. We were also advised that you had to submit and pay for your visa before having and sending off your medical as you need your TRN number? Don't know if this might delay things a bit for you? Where are you moving to anyway? I'm assuming your a nurse also as you've registered with AHPRA, haha. As for what I have done... today not so much but yesterday I got a start date, booked the flights, got a quote for shipping and booked accommodation 7 weeks and a day to go! whoop!

There is another thread for someone (agency I think) recruiting nurses. I've put the link below. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/job-vacancies/176512-nurses-all-disciplines-sponsorship-available.html

Its related to the day its granted on my 457, so my visa is valid from 19/03/2013 to 19/03/2017 even though I won't be entering Australia until May (ish)

Yeh they said the same to us at the interviews about the potential to convert to PR. As people have said I guess this gives the employer time to 'trial' us but thats kind of a 2 way street as it gives us a chance to 'try before we buy' too. Keep in touch Robertsclan and let me know how you guys get on x

Thanks for the replies guys Rupert- I think we have a pretty good understanding of the visa and its implications, I just sometimes feel I must be missing something when so many people are so negative about it as anyone that even considers applying for the visa must know these facts too. NSP- We 'think' we would like to stay but we don't know and have already said if Oz doesn't suit in a couple of years we will try New Zealand or Canada so certainly no definite plans, and I have seen your comments on the 457 debate but I do tend to find yours posts on the subject to be fair and objective, where a lot of others are doom and gloom or just very anti immigration. Cheryl- We should be there end of May and I can't wait. We will be Northern Beaches end Freesia- Thanks for keeping it impartial. That's what I was hoping for and Verystormy, congrats. Its good to see some positive cases!

Hi Cheryl. My employer nominated my visa around the 20/02/13 and we applied for the visa on 24/03/2013 when we got our TRN numbers. Has our medicals on 12/02/13 but mine was referred (no reason given). Luckily I managed to get my case prioritised though as I have a start date for my job and mt medical was finalised on the 18/02/13 and my visa was granted on 20/02/13. Do you have to have a medical? as that can delay things? Where is Sydney are you headed?

Thanks Freesia

Good luck with your move Simon. Where about are you going. We are just negotiating our start dates then we are off to Sydney. I wasn't really letting it worry me too much but I just keep hearing so much negativity about it at the moment I'd like to hear some of the flip side views. lol. 'trying it on for size' is the perfect description I think. We do 'think' we will want to stay over there and get PR eventually but we don't 'know' that and can't until we have tried it. Hope it all works well for you, and you enjoy the experience

I think Candygirl is right. Mine was prioritised and classed as an 'Urgent' case. The reasons my C/O cited to HOC was that I was a registered nurse and that my employer had listed my start date as end of this month when they nominated the visa; although my employer gave me 6 months from offer letter (January) to start. I really hope you all hear soon. My visa has been granted now so I'm just negotioating my official start date.

So I know 457 visa's are a 'hot topic' at the moment and I have been reading lots of negative comments about them but having just got ours granted I was hoping there are some people out there that have a more positive view of them. I am aware of the restrictions of the 457 visa's and the risks associated with these and we were well aware of them before we applied. We know that we can only work for 1 employer, that we are not entitled to any benefits and that if we were to lose or leave our jobs we would only have 28 days from my last day of work to leave. I have a skilled profession (a mental health nurse) as does my partner (the same) and we would have had enough points for skilled migration (PR) and we are considering the employer sponsored PR route in the future (if we enjoy the life Australia offers and we can settle) but we chose a 457 for the following reasons. -My partner has only ever been on holiday to Australia once for a couple of weeks and wants to experience living and working there before he decides if it is for him. -We have also considered living and working in other countries so a 457 gives us a chance to see if Oz really is the place for us before we apply for PR. -Finance- I'm not going to deny a 457 visa was financially better for us at this time as we did not qualify for a defacto visa and 2x A$450 was a lot more appealing that 2x A$3000 (especially when you may want to move on again in a few years) , plus we were also both offered jobs within the public health system that offered us 457 visas. -We don't have children/dependants so we don't have to worry about paying school fee's etc. I guess it would just be nice to hear from a few people that have been in similar situations to us and have had positive experiences. I'm not trying to put on any rose tinted glasses but there has just been so much doom and gloom related to the 457 visa recently (both politically and peoples personal experience posts) it would be nice to hear some alternative perspectives/experiences Emma

Oh and I forgot to add that not all A graded medicals are automatically passed. They also do random referrals. I think to check that the panel doctors are doing their jobs properly. Its rubbish though x

If you have a job offer and your worried it might be revoked because of time waiting for medicals then ask you C/O to prioritise your case. That's what I did. Asked C/O on Thursday/Friday, he emailed HOC and my medicals were finalised this morning. I think it helped that I am a nurse but its still worth asking. The worst they can do is say no and you might get lucky . I'd say the same to everyone who has to activate their visa's by a certain date. If you don't ask you don't get. Good luck x

a bit of an update and good news it seems (I daren't get excited though as everything I do something else seems to come up) but it is possible to get referrals prioritised in certain circumstances and you C/O emails HOC and requests it. In my case i'm a nurse and have to start my job within so many months. I know not everyone is going to be in this situation but if anyone has a job offer it might be worth asking (or even if you can think of any reason 2bh). My C/O sent the email Friday and forwarded a response from HOC dated 18/03 (Australia time) which said that my case would be reviewed in 48hours. I logged on to my e-visa application about 1/2 an hour ago and... 'health requirement finalised'. They have not requested any further information or contacted me at all about why it was referred but it 'seems' as though it is now ok (like I said I daren't get too excited as I don't think I can handle the disappointment again if something else is wrong). I hope someone else will benefit from this information, and I hope you all hear from HOC soon. Candygirl I'm sorry to hear that they are now saying they have not received you HIV tests but it does mean someone must be looking at your case That might give hope to some others too as yours was referred much later than the date C/O's have been telling people HOC are currently reviewing. I will keep you posted if that is the end of my medical journey or if I have any more hurdles to jump. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! Don't give up xx

Candygirl- Thanks for the response. I did contact the medical centre that did my meds and they said everything was ok and that some medicals just get referred anyway. I guess I will only find out why when I hear from MOC. I don't think my C/O is being difficult either its just frustrating. In fact I have to say he has responded to each email I have sent on the same day (and I've seen lots of people complaining that they can never get a response from theirs so I think I'm pretty lucky). He has also now sent and email to HOC asking them to prioritise my case as I'm a nurse and supposed to be starting work in a public hospital by a set date etc. I don't know if it will make any difference as the backlog seems really bad at the moment but it can't hurt right. I will contact my recruitment officer on Monday too. My partners meds have been finalised so am expecting his visa to come through any day so might have to go without me for a while as his job is also time limited and as we don't live together in england we have had 2 get 2 separate visas. Soooty- Thanks for replying I am going to see if my employer can do anything. I know in reality I’m in for a long wait but I will do anything I can think of to try and speed things up. Lol. As for switching off, I’m a no for that 1. I seem to have been none stop worrying about things since we decided to make the move. Every time one stress is over another begins. The time difference doesn’t help me as I end up waiting up ‘just in case’ I hear anything or I wake up at stupid o’clock in the morning and have to check my emails, grrrr! It will all be worth it when we all have our visa’s through though. Just think of sunshine are relaxing on the beach J just keep focusing on the end goal guys! FlytoAus- Were you asking for my visa? I’ve applied for a 457 sponsored visa. I hope the upcoming week brings good news for everyone. x

Hi Guys I was just wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me. Mainly is there anyway to find out why my medical has been referred? I asked my C/O but he said he was "not in a position to comment about your health outcome as this is solely in the hands of our Medical Doctors." but he has also said that no further documents have been requested at this time. I rang the medical centre that did the medical and they said nothing abnormal was detected or they would have contacted me directly. It's just really frustrating. I do have a past medical condition but it was not serious and is completly resolved. I declared it at my medical and also took a letter from my GP but he said the letter was not needed as the issue was resolved. When I asked my C/O when I might hear from MOC he stated that "There is no timeline on referred cases" which doesn't comfort me at all. Aside from the obvious frustration at being referred my concern is more to do to do with having a time limit on my job offer. I have applied for a 457 visa and have a job with NSW Health but my job offer is conditional of starting work within 6months of the offer does anyone know if they can take things like that into consideration? I know I have only just started this waiting process and I realise that a lot of you have been waiting a long time. I am just trying to get an understanding of why my medical has been referred and try to figure out what the chances of still being able to get there in time to start my job. I really hope everyone who is waiting gets their visa's soon. Thanks Emma

Just found out my medical has been referred but they have not told me why yet. gutted after reading how long people have been waiting. My job offer has a time limit on it so i'm just stressing myself out now. I hope lots of people get good news and are on their way soon.

Good luck all you folks out there and Emma look forward to hearing how you are doing soon. x Hi Robertsclan Just sent you a PM before I read this. I hope all is going well with you and the family. x

Hi Anita Nice to hear from you. I hope your husband got there safe and is starting to settle in and I hope everything with your visa has or is in the process of being sorted. Please let us know how you get on. Collaroy is one of the area's we have been considering as it seems to offer the costal life but at more affordable prices and is still commutable from Manly. Maybe we'll end up neighbours. Good luck and keep in touch Emma x

Hi guys Sorry for the late response been a busy couple of weeks and not been on here for a while. Hopefully we will still be heading over April time although not booking flights until our visa’s are through so no definite date yet. Matt- it would be great to meet up once we get over there if the offer still stand by April. You can show us around Francisco- we are looking to live in the Northern Beaches also. We both have jobs in Manly but will prob live in a nearby suburb as it seems a bit too expensive to live in Manly itself. Where are you from originally? Keep me posted on your progress and maybe we can meet up when we are both there! Rachell- Good luck to you and your family. If you decide to head up North give me a shout (once I get there of course haha). Sydney Raider- Great to see you have arrived and things seem to be easy to get sorted. Good luck with everything and hopefully we’ll be joining you for a beer over there in the not to distant future. MaryRose- Amazing to see someone loving it so much even when things go wrong. Can’t wait to get there myself :biggrin: Emma Chee- Congratulations on the wedding and the move to Oz. Hope you got there ok and are enjoying it. We will hopefully be close to Manly so if you keep in touch we would be up for meeting up when we get there. :biggrin: Crees- Hi, good to see even more peeps heading over this year. Looks like there are a good few of us looking to live in or around Manly so maybe we can arrange a pio meet once we all get though. I hope you find a job soon, we are lucky as we have both been offered jobs at Manly Hospital. I’m sure there must be jobs for social workers around though. Good luck with the saving I feel like I have had no life for months as all my money has been put away for Oz. Surfy Brit- Hello from a not very sunny Manchester (in fact it was snowing this morning). We are thinking that we may end up in Dee Why due to cost of property in Manly and I like the look of Dee Why from what I have seen online. I know it is still a while until we get there but would be great to hear how things are going for you over there and poss meet once we finally land. Thanks for the info Perth Boy :biggrin: Good luck to everyone who is already there and preparing to go. Hopefully it won’t be too long for any of us. If anyone would like to keep in touch via facebook please add me Emma Barr and my profile pic is a kangaroo (I just find it a bit easier to keep up with people on fb). Also if anyone still in the Uk is around Manchester and fancy meeting for a beer before we head over give us a shout. Take care guys x

If you keep in touch we will def come and meet you for a pint or 2 once we get there

Hi Apimmental I have been looking into rentals but as we don't know exactly when we are going yet I can't do much more than look. We will be looking around the Northern beaches as thats where we will be working and there seems to be a lot of places available. Having more difficulty finding affordable short term accommodation but I will keep doing the research and as soon as we get dates I will look to book something short term whilst we look at properties. Good luck with your move. Do you know many people in Sydney or just your gf?

I think its completely down to the individual. I actually find it useful to read both. I am planning on moving to oz in 2013 and have wanted to do so for a long time. For me it is good to know/understand the difficulties people have so that i'm not going over with 'rose tinted glasses' and I can try and prepare myself in the best way possible. Yes I am heading to Oz because I think it can offer me a better quality of life and I want the better weather etc but i'm realistic about the con's. I do sometimes find peoples stories worrying but it gives me a chance to put safeguards in our plan if you like. For example my partner and I have agreed to 3 main safeguards. 1 That we will give it at least 2 years (we plan to go for PR but on the chance one or both of us can't settle then we have agreed 2 years is long enough to say we really tried), 2 that we put enough money in a saving account for emergency flights home just in case anything unexpected should happen and we need to get back and 3 that we find a house/flat with at least 1 spare room so that visiting us is more affordable to our friends and family as they will not have to pay for accommodation as well as flights. I know it is going to be hard leaving friends and family especially as some of them will never be able to visit me but to me i'd rather be prepared for the homesickness and through reading the forums I have realised just how high the cost of living is so it means I am more realistic about where I can afford to live etc. It is awful to read that people have had bad experiences of course and if you are the kind of person who will just ruminate on the negatives then don't read them but if others can learn something from it and maybe stop/reduce their own negative experiences surly that is a good thing.

I'm pretty sure you have to get your own medical if you want to work as a nurse. When I went to Oz on a working holiday visa 7 years ago I had to have chest xray, evidence of certain vaccinations etc because I wanted to work as an N/A and a friend from work is going on a working holiday visa in April has to have a full medical in order to work as a nurse whilst she is there. You might get your visa granted without it but I don't think you would be able to work as a nurse if you did.