jennyweaver

hi folks I really need your clever heads to help me here please. We have been here less than a year and have to head back to UK. I am not going into the reasons on this forum post cos it's a done deal and I am not here to be negative. My plea for help is about getting rid of our car before we go. I spent most of today on the phone trying to get a buyer for it. I got the smallest car around when we bought it last November in the hopes of avoiding any issues like this but alas... I cannot sell it privately since it is still financed. The finance company won't allow me to arrange a deal with them to pay off the difference if I coud sell it privately (the car is used as collateral by them..makes sense, sadly) and I cannot sell it through a company buying used cars cos I won't get the car's value from them. I would need to take a personal loan from the bank to finance the difference. Any suggestions/opinions on voluntary repossession? I figure -with the finance company's advice- I give them the car back. they sell it and THEN they will allow me to work out finance with them for the difference. They said I will be issued a credit default. Will this affect me getting a car or house in UK? I will be paying them back, I just am apprehensive about being stung for doing the right thing. I have to leave Aus and at least I am not leaving the vehicle somewhere in a gutter causing them a legal headache.. any help appreciated. Anyone wants to take over the payments for a cute little runaround 4 year old car, all welcome too!! x

hi folks we have Aus permanent residency and might need to go to NZ for hubby's work. do Immigration count the time we live there towards citizenship? (prob not)?

I had a solicitor sign my forms and the immigration team used it but AHPRA wouldn't accept them. I had to spend another £130 or so to get them signed at Australian House.

Hi Stuartw1303 How did the move go? We came from UK in Oct too although we settled n Gold Coast. It looks like we will maybe have to move to find elec work for hubby and we always liked Perth. I would love some feedback about how you settled with your young kids. Thanks

Hey there How has your search for ETA jobs panned out??I would value any info you can give us, my hubby has just done the exams here to confirm to Aus regs after arriving here in Oct lastyear,. We have been in the Gold Coast but find no help w ETA jobs and are thinking of moving to Perth in few months, Look fwdto hearing from you

hi there. forgive me for jumping on here but I read this interesting thread and want confirmation of something I have read. Can I apply for citizenship after having my PR for one year? We have just arrived here, however, and interested in seeing our options. do we have to have been in the country for 4 years overall before applying? many thanks

Thanks so much for that encouragement. My timeline is similar, after sending numerous documents a second time. I will ring and ring and....ring. And i will post WHEN it comes through

eek. harrowing wait for registration for all.. which minister for health are you thinking of contacting? i am a south Afican trained nurse and ANMAC passed me, i am just waiting for AHPRA to play the game too. i am moving to Aus next month and wonder if the reg will come through by then and if a minister/ Australian High Commisioner can help in any way. The final forms for internationally trained nurses were received in August..Suggestions? Does ANYone have good news from AHPRA this year?

To finish, silly phone! somewhere I read i can use that visa to visit if it is two years or less between visits

Thanks. It is as you say. I am researching now. I do need to be in UK. No sweat. Our lives will be in Aus and having a 'get out clause' like easy return to UK with ILR may just be hedging my bets. I need to focus on life in Aus. Now to research how long ILR lasts for me to get in for visits. Somewhere I saw it

thanks folks. uk citizenship has been too expensive to fork out for in the past, currently up past £800. there were always things to pay out for- wedding, baby, visa, medicals.. now it may turn out more expensive for us arranging visas for me when going back to holiday in UK. But you DID give me a good idea, thanks. Get settled in Australia and apply for UK passport from there. It is all a matter of time. I shall do more research. cheers

Hi to all we have 7 weeks til we fly to the Gold Coast. Excited, nervous...same as you all went through, i know. Now one more thing to check has popped into my head. To get to my question: how long is my ILR visa valid for once I leave the UK? I have a south African passport and guess once the ILR is no longer recognised after i move out the UK I will have to get a visa there to visit from Australia. How long does that holiday visa take to arrange? I think I might be Australia-bound for many years if travelling outside isn't easy- besides the cost- I know someone will point that out. cheers. i appreciate your help

Hey there. I had all my stuff certified by a solicitor and the visa people accepted it. It is crazy..visa was processed with those forms but the nursing registration AHPRA wouldn't accept them!

Hi folks It's late at night here(London) and my head is spinning with our imminent move to Gold Coast in Oct. One quick question about tax,please. Does everyone have to have an accountant and do own taxes annually or can i humbly count on PAYE to cover me? Just had this little nagging concern that i will have to manage this myself. I am a nurse and will not be self employed. Many thanks jen

Heya. If you ask ANMAC for advice on what your education level will be they will advise whether you can pass their accreditation.they are the aus nurse and midwifery accreditation council. This helps towards your visa for PR. I hope i got your facts correct.i got that, then visa and only applied for AHPRA after that-dammit.now i am jumping thru their hoops to get registered. Its crazy how i can get PR cos of my nursing and don't even HAVE work in that field when i arrive....

Wattsy: please could you recommend a site to check for jobs for the tradies/labourerd working on Commonwealth games structures. I am a nurse and will go with a job in place (please God) but husband-man is an electriian and will likely benefit from this type of work while planning to get his restricted licence.. I think he could do some of this work initially but a heads up to more site names would be much appreciated. many thanks

hi to all I hope you don't mind me adding in a post here. I think it will help the original poster too, if someone can allay my fears. We are set to fly on Oct 12 this year and plan to go to the Gold Coast. My little one is 5 in Jan so will start school there. I contacted a few schools in the area we plan to go and no one will enrol on line. There were answers to my emails though, and I rang a few up. I was told they could enrol my son when we arrive there end of this year. Is this true? It is too good to be true, surely. The people/administrators were friendly enough and i want to believe it is that easy. I would value any replies.

I will jump in here too. if you don't mind. Vijay, and ask how long the authorities give you to move over to Australia once the 190 is issued?many thanks

hi folks I am hoping one of you can give me a time frame, on average, that the authorities in immigration can enforce that we move over once this visa is given. I have an option to redo the IELTS and get more points so I can have the 189 visa but don't see any pitfalls with the 190. Have you any negatives, 189 vs 190? If I have up to a year to move over from the time a 190 is issued I would gladly take that one. many thanks Jen

@ Rupert: I have read your answers on this forum a lot and appreciate you could answer a few things for me please: ''I also would not bother with the 190 unless you cannot make 60 points, there is no other particular advantage at the moment. So start in the assumption you are going with 189.'' you mentioned 60 points pass mark. Why am I remembering a pass mark of 65? Does 60 mean the new 65 after the 'pool' of people receiving 60 points was scrapped? I am a South African nurse with a diploma in Nursing which has stood me in great stead over the last 20 years and I wanted to know if the Australian assessors will give me 10 or 15 points for this? this counts towards whether I make 60 or 65 points...many thanks

I sent my ANMAC forms off in feb and they emailed me on 26/2 saying the had my forms. I am anxious to know how long others have recently taken. My advice to you, Bouncy, is be patient. Do the IELTS asap and get anmac off then get your head around the rest of the process. good luck. I am going to find out now how to post my query. best wishes for your

p.s. if you haven't already seen this site: http://www.ielts.org/ for all advice on english test and centres to do it. I got a book from internet which allayed my fears a little and then i did a bit of work (one week of reading it all only) online. I got 8.5 overall which is easier than you think.

Hi Sarah and Family we decided not to go with an agent because it is money needed elsewhere and the 3 agents I rang initially were quite pushy about getting it all going RIGHT NOW. We had just started looking at moving (Oct 2012) and wanted some advice. Many MANY friends of mine have done it themselves and reading and rereading the Aus Immigration site consolidates the info in your head and you will find your feet. The agents were very anxious to stress to me that the Aus Immigration quotas and rules change all the time and, as long as you are aware of that(the next anticipated update on numbers required on the Special Skills list is around June) you will relax and go at a pace that suits you. The country won't suddenly go from needing 1million nurses or HR managers to needing nil. There may be a few extra hoops to jump through after each June/July when new changes come but one step at a time will keep you sane and feeling in charge. Every day there will be more anxiety about something but at the same time peace over reaching another milestone elsewhere. The Aus Immigration site has a fab visa select tab that you fill out. The end result shows which visa youare eligible for and what you are required to do for each. see http://www.immi.gov.au/ We have also decided not to do a reccie trip. I would go locally, or enjoying the European access before you travel so far away to live. People who go on working holiday visa don't go for a 'look, see, decide' trip fisrt and if you have invested all the time and energy to going, once you get there you can sort out schools very quickly. This coming from someone who's never been to Oz, either, and doing research online a LOT..Oh well. About 5 couples I know, with or without kids, have gone over only the one time, rented a holiday apartment for 2 weeks and sorted long term rental properties, schools, kindergarten et all within that short period. I am in the same boat as yourself and scouring all sites for info so I wish you luck. I just hope you know where you want to go to as that has been a tuffie for us take care

ah yes. have realised he won't need skills assessment since we are going on my visa. I was geting mixed up with him getting his skill accredited in Australia i shall be looking for advice on that soon too. thanks for the interest and comments on the thread

so many helpful comments, thanks. I am a registered nurse with loads of experience and plan to go over with a job arranged.the husband man is an electrician and although we are going on my visa, he will be arranging his skill to be assessed too, for obv reasons. i think sponsorship visa sounds good although it speeds things up and we don't necessarily need to 'get out of here' fast. it is still very early days and we are working through the options cos we are doing it ourselves, like many of our friends, without an agent. call me silly or stingy, but friends have successfully done it themselves, so can we. with Poms In Oz's help, clearly!