Laura2406

I haven't posted in this forum for so long as this part year has been absolutely crazy for us but Ive still enjoyed reading posts and browsing etc. One year on, we've finally found our feet and settled in so wanted to update and post a 'Positive Emigration story' As my timeline shows, we (Myself, Hubby and 2 children) were granted our PR Visa some time ago, after much grafting with ANMAC (I'm a Midwife) and AHPRA. After finally selling up and tying up loose ends, we decided to have one last Xmas in the UK and decided to fly out NYE 2014. I had applied for jobs in Brisbane from the UK and was very lucky to have had a telephone interview at 4am one night and secured a job in the city. On Jan 2nd 2015, we landed at Brisbane airport after the most horrendous goodbyes to family and friends! The flight was ok but the fact it was one way, was very daunting. However, we picked up our rental car and made our way in 40degree heat to our temp accommodation for 3wks. The first few days were getting over jet lag and exploring the area etc (we had already researched potential areas on our trip over in 2013 to activate our visas so we knew where we wanted to secure a rental and get the kids into school) The first 2 weeks were horrendous!!! Trying to sort out TFNs, Centrelink, Medicare, Bank accounts, points for rental - (we'd got references prepared) securing a rental, buying a car, school interviews- it was full on and everything is linked, so we couldn't secure a rental without this, we couldn't apply for schools without permanent address, bank accounts without an address etc but after a roller coaster 4 weeks, we were finally in our rental, we had bought a car and kids were about to start school. The plan was hubby was going to stay at home for abit and settle the kids in, whilst I worked, as my job was sorted and hubby (a thatcher in the UK) was going to have a career change. However,.........as AHPRA decided due to some continuity of care business with UK mws, they wanted us to be supervised for 3 months. Whilst my new employers negotiated what this meant and weren't sure they had the resources to deal with this, my start date got delayed by a month. Not a hugely worrying thing but when you start to dip into savings as now neither of us were working, it was a pretty scary time. Furniture had started to be delivered and our stuff arrived from the UK - the house was starting to feel like home and the kids had settled in to school perfectly Finally I started work and things were starting to feel 'normal' and 'settled'. One year on, and things could not be better. The kids are loving school - have made some wonderful friends and joined 'soccer' and cheerleading clubs. They have thrived on this lifestyle - they eat better (bbqs and salads!!), they play outside more and they love the beaches. We have made some fantastic friends through the kids and also off our own merit by putting ourselves out there and socialising and attending events in our area. I love our neighbourhood- we walk to school, we have everything we need nearby and we are only half hour from the Sunshine Coast. I love my job I've made some fabulous new work colleagues and I've already been offered a promotion. Hubby has retrained as a Carpenter/Cabinet Maker and is about to start an apprenticeship. We have just renewed our lease for another year but plan on buying next year. We miss family and friends immensely, but we FaceTime a lot!!! Days off and time together is precious but we spend so much more of it as a family, often up at Bribie Island, or at the beach. We've just come back from an amazing time away together as a family up at Bundaberg seeing the baby turtles hatch and then over at Tangalooma feeding Dolphins and spotting Dugongs, which is just amazing and the kids thought was fantastic. I miss some parts of England especially family and friends, but then I look at what we've got here and my children and know we've done the right thing. The best piece of advice i can give anyone emigrating anywhere is......embrace it, work hard and accept the differences. Yes, there's no 24hr Tescos or Sainburys, yes TV in Oz is pretty dire and yes the cockroaches can be annoying but I wouldn't be in Australia if these things mattered and I'm loving the life we've come to

Hi-myself, hubby and 2 children (6&8) will be moving to Brisbane at the end of December!!! I am a Midwife and have just started the gruelling process that is AHPRA!!! Have been to Oz three times and love it!! Had a reccie to Brisbane last year, and are undecided on whether to head towards upper coomera or north lakes!!! Anyway, would love to keep in touch and maybe meet up with some of you next year!!:biggrin:

Thank you all for your advice! Guess what I'll be doing next week :wink: Xxxx

Love love love this thread!!!! Theres so many 'negative' stories around, especially from my family and friends, whenever we discuss our big move. Definitely puts a smile back on my face when I read this and Im feeling a tad down - thank you!!!

Hi everyone - its been awhile since I last posted as things have been pretty manic!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, my family and I are now (kind of!!) in a position to make the final move over to Brisbane, so have finally booked one way flights on New Years Eve :biggrin: However, Ive just realised that mine and the kids passports are due to expire at the end of April 2015 and am not sure whether we have to renew them prior to going, or not bother, and if I do have to renew them - is it going to be a pain in the a**e, as our visas are obviously attached to them so will have to let immigration know and pay etc I know we can get British passports renewed once in Oz but as we are going one way, do they still have to have a certain amount of length on them (ie 6mths) prior to leaving the UK?? Any advice will be gratfully received - thanks in advance xx L xx

It's been a busy few months since our visa was granted in April but we have finally sold our house , booked flights to Brisbane for October and opened an Australian bank account!!!!:biggrin:

Visa Granted this morning!! Absoulutely made up!! Now the real hard work begins!! Eeeeekkkkkk...................!!!

OMG!!! Visa Granted today!!! I could actually cry!!!

Hi Christine - I applied for my police checks at the end of Dec 2012, just after my EOI had been accepted. Im only now doing my medicals now, now my CO has requested them. Id be abit wary about doing them too much in advance as they only have 12months validity on them, so once your visa is finally granted, you only have 12months from either your police checks or medicals (I think??) whichever has the earliest date, to activate your visa. Hope that makes sense? (From my timeline below, I think we have to enter Oz by Dec this year, to activate our visa, which hasnt been granted yet!!) Good luck xx

I would hang tight VANESSA1974 - I lodged mine after you (Registered Midwife) and my CO only got in touch on the 11th March to request my medicals. As you have already done those, you may find your visa will get granted with no contact from a CO, as Ive seen that happen to a few people that lodged around the same time as you, on some other threads. Will keep fingers crossed for you and good luck xx

Huuuuugggeee congratulations!!:biggrin: I am also wondering what the VAC2 payment is? I know its a Visa Application Charge but I thought the fee of $3060 that I paid when I lodged my application would be one of the last payments too! Hmmmmm.....xx Congrats again though xx

Thank you!! You too

You can start the process as soon as you qualify but I would wait a couple of months. You cant lodge your EOI with less than 12 months work, but you can sit your IELTS when you feel ready. Although just be careful because your IELTS results are only valid for a year for your ANMAC skills assessment. So say you qualify and start working in Sept, I would sit IELTS in maybe March, then when youve got results for that (2weeks, I think), apply for skills assessment, (that varies on processing times) but say 4-6weeks, (May/June), then come September, you can put in your EOI with 12 months working and then take it from there. Hope this makes sense. Good luck and anytime you need advice or help just PM me xx

Hi Vikkey - Just wanted to let you know that Im a qualified Midwife (2 years in Sept 13) and Ive applied for a 189. Once youve sat your IELTS and completed the skills assessment by ANMAC, its pretty straightforward and Ive had no problem claiming points etc. Good luck xx

Hi - You obviously bring me luck Dushanthan Raman!! Got an email from my agent this morning informing me my CO has been assigned and they are requesting my medicals!! Patience paid off!!! x

Hi - I applied for my 189 visa back in Jan. Still waiting for CO allocation....*yawn*....patience is definitely not one of my strong points!! *sigh*

Thank you everyone for your replies. I spent a year out in Oz in 2001-2002, and me and hubby spent a month out there, just after we got married (Jan 2005), so a reccie isnt necessarily important for us. We are hoping to go to NSW or QLD, both where Ive had positive news regarding jobs (a midwife), although we stated NSW on visa application as I hadnt researched jobs in QLD at that point. We were aiming at heading out in hopefully December this year, but now its only 11 months away it just seems incredibly close and I feel we still have quite abit to arrange and minimal credit card debt we wanted to clear to. Im glad that some people seem to arrange it quite quickly, this gives me some hope that we will be ready. Thanks again x

OK - so we've got abit of a financial/ reccie dilemma!! Not been granted our visa yet, but keeping everything crossed. However, I understand that once(if) granted, we then have a year for all of us (2 x adults, 2x kids) to validate our visa. I dont think we will be totally ready in a year to go, what with house still to sell, schools, accommodation, jobs, etc to sort out, so I know some people have a 'reccie' to validate their visas, then enter Australia permanently at a later date. I just dont think we will have the money to afford a reccie, as this amount of money could be really helpful to take to Oz when we go permanently. Hence, Im not sure what to do?? How do other people get around this, and do most people find a year to get everything sorted once visa granted, enough and dont bother with a reccie?? *big sigh* any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you in advance xxx

Started painting the house, got rid of junk and contacted estate agents about putting our house on the market!!

Haha - yeah I suppose a rough location would help - sorry!! One is near Randwick, the other is near Wollongong - although I can/maybe will approach other hospitals nearer the time, so these arent definites or set in stone yet. Lots of further research needed as yet! - thank you xx

Hi Claire - this is the order I have done my visa process in. Good luck xx

Happy New Year everyone and heres to 2013!! Now that the festivities etc are all out the way, me and hubby have been putting our heads together and researching, researching researching everything Australia. However, we've met a kind of stumbling block and was just after abit of advice from you all. Basically, hoping to be finally in Sydney (fingers crossed..) mid to end of 2013. Im a Midwife and have been approached by a few hospitals regarding employment:biggrin: and hubby seems to think he will be ok regarding the job front,however we're abit stuck as to where to live temp and then permanently? We have 2 small children (5 & 7yrs), so obviously safe, family neighbourhoods, schools, expats (to help us find our feet etc are all something we need to consider, and have no idea where to look at. I dont mind commuting roughly 45mins to work, and these hospitals are near Sydney, however Im still open-minded. Any advice would be gratefully received - thanks in advance xx

I have used MyVisaManager who have been absolutely amazing xx

Hi - Just wanted to say hello and to let you all know that I received my ITA for 189 this morning!!! :biggrin: Absolutely made up but actually a little nervous now. Cracking on with sorting out final documentation, then going to go ahead and apply shortly - eeeeekkkkk!! xxx Congrats to all the other December invites!! xxx

:biggrin:Congratulations!!! Thats fab news!! Well done :biggrin: xxx