ItchyFeet76

My parents are visiting and I've asked them to bring some things that we either can't get and miss, or can get but pay a lot for. I've looked on the boarding card and it doesn't specifically mention any of the things they're bringing but some forums have suggested you have to declare ALL food, even if admissable (ie not on the prohibited list). What they're bringing (amongst other things) is:-

* Calpol

* Teetha granules (camomile teething powder)

* UK lollies (sweets)

* UK potato chips

* UK chocolate

* UK biscuits

When I came back from visiting I didn't declare anything and am now wondering if I should have done - and what might happen if you're stopped randomly and haven't declared something?? They say if unsure then tick 'yes' and go through the 'declaration' line, but what if you ARE sure but are just wrong in your assumption?! 

Thanks for reading, and please scroll past if you're just going to question why we want this :-)

Try Living Corporate - they do serviced apartments in the CBD. We had a 2-bed sub-penthouse apartment with them on the 46th floor on Collins St. it was spacious and all three kids fitted in one room (ok for a month but not ideal for longer!). Weekly cleaning was included, and you had access to the building's gymn and pool. We paid $1100 a week. 

16 hours ago, Yvi said:

Congrats! It's not even been one year since you arrived... got PR already with DE. May I ask what occupation you applied under?

Sure. My husband applied under 262112 - ICT Security Specialist. He's a penetration tester / security consultant (ethical hacker).

We got our visa grant today! I've been checking every day (sometimes several times a day ?) for the past couple weeks and then, today - the one day I've been too busy to check - I suddenly had 5 emails in my ((new, visa-related only!) inbox!! 

Our timeline is as follows:-

26/06/16 - Arrived in Australia

04/07/17 - Husband started job

02/12/16 - Employer application in

15/12/16 - Our application in (I did it myself to save money, it was quite straight forward but time-consuming and lots of docs to collate and scan)

25/05/17 - Employer nomination approved

25/05/17 - Sent for medicals

30/05/17 - Medical cleared (I wasn't notified about this, I just happened to notice when I logged on, and if I hadn't clicked the "confirm" button we might still be waiting!)

16/06/17 - visa granted!

Our UK police checks expired in March and I was worried they might ask us to do them again, but clearly not!

Good luck to everyone else with their visas ?Now I have the nightmare task of sorting Medicare / Centrelink / MLS / LHC exemption etc! ?

9 hours ago, wahid said:

you can try statutory declaration for the expired police clearance. my partner did it before and the immigration accepted it without any further questions. 

Hi there, thanks for your reply. What is a stat dec and how do I do one?

Thanks :-)

Hi guys,

Employer got approved a couple weeks back, we got sent for our medicals couple days later and had them cleared last week and am just wondering how long it takes for approval from here?

Cheers ?

Hi, my medicals were uploaded yesterday so I clicked on the "info provided" button and now it says "assessment in progress". What is the next stage - CO assigned or decision? They haven't asked us to redo our police checks (which expired in March) - presumably because we've not been back to the UK since doing them?

Thanks for your input, guys. The app would cover all of Australia - from city to beach to bush - and we know from searching that not all BB!s are listed on the internet, plus our app's data can be downloaded offline so you don't need the internet to search, whereas you do if you're driving around using Google.

Good to have your opinions, though. I think we'll release it for $2.99 as that's only £1.50 so a paltry sum really, and then we can always introduce a free version with ads later on if necessary.

Hi,

We applied for PR via the 186 Direct Entry route last December. My husband's employer nomination was approved the other day and, the next day, we were sent for our medicals (which we're doing on Tuesday). They didn't ask us to redo our UK police checks though and I'm wondering if they've forgotten and will ask at a later date (in which case should I redo them now, to save time, as they take around 4 weeks to come back?) or if they figure that, since we're now in Aus (on a 457) and haven't left the country since the police checks were done, there's no way we could have committed a crime in the UK since the checks were carried out....?

Also, roughly how long after the medicals do people tend to get a decision made on their visa...?

Thanks in advance :-)

Ah ok, no worries. Didn't want to clog up the forum as it's not really emigration-based, more a personal request for info. from fellow expats whom I believe to be our target market ;-)

How do I delete this topic now we've got the answers we need...?

Tried to delete topic as got the answers we need, but can't find any way of doing so (other than overwriting with something else)... perhaps it's just me!?!

Thanks for your input guys ?

Hi, I'd appreciate people's views on this please.

We're soon going to be launching an app that will list all known public BBQs across Australia. It would also feature facilities (pram-friendly, playground, coffee, toilets) and show photos and a brief description of the location and / or surrounding area. 

Data would be downloadable so you could use in areas with no WiFi, and if you had 3G you could use the 'directions' feature which plans your route to the location.

Would you be prepared to pay $4.99 as a one-off fee for this?

Thanks in advance.

I thought that, for Direct Entry, you need to have a decision made (i.e. Visa granted) by March? This just says you have to APPLY by March... ?

1 hour ago, ScottieGirl said:

At $2.50 it would look attractive to me as well but for that to happen there would need to be weakness in the Australian economy surely?

I'd be happy if it went back up to $2! It was 2.2 when we sold our house, 2 when we completed (22 June) and then 1.8 when we moved over here (24 June), so we waited for it pick up and now the best we've got is 1.7! ?

We live here and it's our favourite place in Oz so far...just a shame it's so darn expensive bough! Prices went up 15.5% since last year - the second-highest growth in the whole of Victoria! ?

Houses go for 10-15% above asking price, auctions for around $100k+ above asking price... rental inspections have 10-20 sets of people turning up and you'll struggle to get a big 3-bed for under $500-550...I know because we're looking to downsize from our current rental! ?

Mount Eliza Regional Park was the setting for Frog Dreaming, Canadian Bay beach was the setting for On the Beach and we've seen Hugh Jackman out jogging Andy in the local IGA ?

if anyone has any questions about moving here, I'd be happy to help out with local info. ?

21 minutes ago, Alan Collett said:

What's the odds that this change has no identifiable downward impact on the unemployment rate?

Pretty good, I reckon.

We shall see!

Best regards.

Certainly not from the IT security industry as there aren't many Aussies qualified to do the job my husband does!

Am curious as to whether the new PR rules (job on MLTSSL from 01.01.18) will affect the 186 TRT stream as well (as the DE stream)? Don't think I saw this mentioned...? ?

On 19/04/2017 at 9:08 PM, ItchyFeet76 said:

that!

It's going to really affect the IT Security industry because, as of next March, they'll only be able to hire people on the short-term visa because it's on the STSOL and not the MLTSSL. Very few people will be willing to move over here temporarily with no hope of PR and won't be prepared to move their lives over for just a couple of years (or 4 at the most, if they renew once). The 457 may be a temporary visa but you're not telling me that most of us don't come over here with the hope or expectation of getting PR and staying; we simply wouldn't do it if we thought there was no chance of making it permanent!

There aren't enough Aussies to do this job so it may push up wages (not complaining there!) and it'll definitely leave a sour taste in the mouths of leading cyber security companies, that's for damn sure... ?

On 22/04/2017 at 5:16 PM, Vic154 said:

Think as long as you apply before March 2018 you should be ok, but this hasn't been confirmed. My MA isn't even 100% sure.

I'm on my second 457, haven't managed to get PR due to changing jobs and the 2 yr rule. I'm hoping to get my TRT app in before March, if something goes wrong and I can't get PR and have to leave after 457 expires, that would mean I've been in the country for 8 years, working constantly in a good job, paying taxes, settled down and still not allowed to stay. If I then do the short stay work visa twice (4yrs) then it's 12 years total been here and no right to stay! Then add to that the 4yrs to get citizenship if/when get PR. This is seriously messed up but am optimistic it will work for me and majority of us surely.


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Could you not apply via the Direct Entry route, like us? We applied after three months and hope to have it by December ?

Really? That's surprising as three different travel agents told us this, as otherwise how could we prove that we we were going to leave afterwards (without a valid reason to stay).

maybe they're just covering themselves then??

1 hour ago, Gills1987 said:

Hi all,

Not posted on here in over a year, but been following this thread all this week.

Im currently on 457 with my family, this was granted July 2016. We love it here and were on course to apply for transition next July. 

I've been speaking with my company's migration lawyer today and have been advised that in order for us to secure PR we need to apply through the direct entry stream by March 2018. Reason being that the transition stream will not be open to us after March 2018, when the changes are brought in and obviously we will not have completed our 2 years by then.

so it's all hands on deck to get my vetassess completed and application in as soon as possible.

hope everyone finds a solution to their predicament!

cheers,

tom

Sounds like a good plan. Plus, by the time you've done 2 years the new rules will mean that you actually have to do 3 years!

We submitted our DE application last December. I did it myself but was lucky to have Emergico on hand for any questions, as they were employed by my husband's company to do the employer nominee part of the application. 

Good luck!

4 hours ago, Vic154 said:

Yeah I think if your applications already in you'll be fine. Just thinking of people like me who are still waiting for their 2 year mark to be eligible to apply. 

Why are you waiting two years? Just go down the Direct Entry route!

8 hours ago, Vic154 said:

Sounds like they're gonna have an influx of 186 applications in the coming weeks. Wonder if that will prompt them to issue further comms and/or make more amendments....

Well I assume it shouldn't affect those of us already in the queue as they'll be behind us...?? Unless they process them in order of priority industry, eg IT trumps hospitality??

1 minute ago, Marianne Smith said:

Can you do that for profession on the short term list that haven't completed the 2 years of work with the employer yet ? 

Yes, until March 2017. It's the direct entry route (the same one we applied for (5 months in) in December....still waiting though!)