permutation

Thanks for your reply Alan, In fact I have already a NAB account but due to my wrong planning some complications arouse and I never received PIN codes for my cards. Long story short - it is hard now while abroad to receive my PINs and I consider the easiest move to change the bank and apply for a new account. I saw a rating yesterday that consumers in Oz favour Suncorp the most and this is why I am asking if I could use their service for migration. I also sent similar message to their website earlier today but no reply so far. Best Regards

Hi, Has anybody used Suncorp for opening account from overseas and then identifying himself at branch office and collecting cards on arrival in Oz? Thanks

I did the activation trip earlier this month - no problem in KL and in Oz itself, don't know for Dubai but you should not be leaving the transit sone, do you? We are family of 4.

Ali, how did you choose where to go in Oz?

I decided to ask you further for an advice. We have recently visited Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to decide where to live in Oz. We have troubles deciding where to go - they all have pros and cons - as if for new migrants availability of job opportunities, good schools and affordable housing shall be the leading criteria to select. We have a budget of $350 pw for renting until I find a job (I am in IT, my wife is in continental european law and needs to re-qualify) but not many opportunities for this level of budget in Sydney, more so in Melbourne and Brisbane. Can you suggest decent neighborhoods with descents schools that fit our budget? We also consider that we may also live outside the city limits if time to commute is within 1 hour to CBD.

Really informative, thank you all. As my older son born in May 2007 has to be in school year 1 in Australia next February, my concern is that he would not be able to score high on ESL, hence he would need to take supportive classes. Does that mean he would be delayed by a year compared to his peers?

Thanks! There is one other complication that forgot to mention: children are not native in English and would have some difficulties in the beginning. Can they still be enrolled anytime?

Can we enroll them to school anytime during the year? Can we go there next month or in march and have them enrolled with no worries?

Hi, with my family we already came to Oz earlier this month to validate our PR visas and had our initial plans to move permanently in February-March 2014. Yet, we started to realize that even thou job prospects are low before march, our 2 boys - currently 6y4m and 4y9m - should start school in the beginning of February to better accommodate the change. We read on other threads that it is much advisable to seek a move during early December so that we have time to rent, visit schools in proximity, satisfy formalities, etc. What was your experience - when did you move with children at school age? What strategy did you choose? Greetings

Thank you all, you have really been helpful. We ended up getting amaysim and had great time in Oz.

We fly in Oz next week to activate our PR visas. Which prepaid mobile cards we should go for so that is easy to activate them on spot? I would personally go for Aldimobile but their activation process is online and requires type of documents that a newcomer may not have in Oz like driving license, medicare card, etc. We would only have our passports and grant printouts. I read that for many people this is piece of cake, but I am worried by reading online that the process may not be straightforward. Help is appreciated!