Dan1357

Hi Carla, Yes my partner is the visa holder and I am on the visa as his de facto. I will have a read of the visa and see if it mentions super. Thanks!

Hi Its Katie, I have just been offered a job with superannuation. I am on a 457 visa to my partner as a defacto and I was wondering if I am entitled to this super fund. In addition what happens to the pension if we decide to go back to the UK Thanks

Hi Mark and Cez, Living in Newtown sounds like it has everything. I guess yes the issue would be the commuting to Penrith and Campbelltown from here. Would you think the commute would be any better if living in the Enmore or Stanmore area? I guess Stanmore sounds better for leaving our second car for on street parking. IS the on street parking situation pretty good in Enmore too? Thanks for your help guys Katie (Dans GF)

Hi Gerry, Thanks for the reply. We might have a go at sending in the EOI and see how we go from there without the migration agent help. We can always ask for that if we are struggling. The skills section should be pretty straight forward for us. Using the CO sounds like a good idea, we appreciate your help. Thanks

I'm not sure if I trust myself on a motorbike lol Thanks Naomi, I will give them a call tomorrow to see what they have to say. Do you prefer living in Newtown compared to Camperdown? What are the benefits/ negatives of both besides more bars/ diners etc in Newtown

Yes we have the required for the lodgement. Was mainly just worried about the police check request as we applied for these before we left the UK incase they wanted them for the 457 visa and they did take about three weeks to come through and this would be longer if they had to be sent to Au. We have already proved our de facto relationship for the 457 visa so we would not be worried about this. Yes it would probably be best to maybe go for the $700 help to be on the safe side. The $2000 help seems a bit much considering all the other fees we have to pay

Thanks FP215- we have been offered 2 options, migration agent on hand to help which is $700 or full handling of application for $2200. We were thinking of going for the $700 so we would have some assistance. Did you apply for the police certs before you sent through your EOI?

I would say it is difficult to compare the £ for the $. The higher costs of living in Australia are refelected in the wages that they pay you. Here as a microbiologist I would be earning $70,000 for a Monday- Friday for a 32 hour week. Yet in the UK I was earning £35,000 for 4 4 on 4 off shift pattern. Which is equivalent to almost $42,000. However this goes in line with the increased prices of living costs in Australia and outgoings to take into account like health insurance. I have paid £1000/month rent for a nice 2 bed apartment in Manchester CBD which converts to $1692/month in Aus, yet we are paying $2120 for a 2 bed apartment 1.5 hours from the Sydney CBD, which is equivalent to £1,262. It is difficult to compare the $ to the £, especially since the change in the conversion rates. There are so many differences in the cost of living and I think it would really come down to where you would be happier as both countries have different things to offer. Katie (Dans Parnter)

Thanks MRX, looks like we should try the commute out so we get an idea of travel times and traffic. Thanks Naomi- That's not good news about the parking in Camperdown. Ideally we would both cars to be in a lock up under the apartment or in a garage or drive. We need two cars really as if I get this job in Penrith the site where I would be working is a 23 minute walk from the train station. Maybe it would be possible to rent a second space within the apartment block. Which would be ideal if it was affordable. Wouldn't like to have to rely on street parking if its going to be difficult. We do like the vibe of Newtown, there just seems to be a lot more very very nice apartments in Camperdown. I do understand they are very different areas. I guess I just want it all, the straight forward parking seems to be an issue for us with 2 cars, I would imagine it to be less hassle getting to work from the Hills and also getting more for your money like a garden which I would appreciate as we would no longer be able to see the beach from our apartment. Then on the other hand Newtown has all the city has to offer and a much closer commute to the CBD at weekends. How about car spaces in Stanmore... is this any better for on street parking for the second car?

Hi, Me and my partner are just beginning the application for the 189 visa. Looks like I have to do the IELTS test before anything else to get the required points. We know after you send in your EOI that they may invite you if successful to apply for the visa but you only have 60 days to lodge this. Just thinking is there anything people would suggest to do before applying for the EOI taking into account this time limitation after you are invited. We are in Australia already on a 457 so looks like we need to send police checks in for the visa application. Has anybody sent these through with their application and how long did the request for the police checks from the UK take to arrive in Aus? Also my partner is going on the visa as a de facto so should we just get both police checks requested before the EOI is lodged? Thinking of using a migration agent for partial assistance bout thought we could see what help we could get from on here first. Thanks

Hi David, I see you have applied for the 189 visa. How did you find the application? Me and my partner are just looking into it now and thinking of processing the visa without a migration agent. I see you used and agent...would you recommend using one? Thanks

Hi, This is Katie Dans girlfriend... thanks for the responses. Lorna: there are some places with one secure parking spot but not two and we didn't want to have to worry about the other car We do love Newtown but thinking the parking for the other car would be easier if Camperdown is less busy on the streets. Cez- How did you find the on street parking in Stanmore? We were thik=nking we needed another car as the commute on the train is an hour which is good for Penrith however when I get off at the other end its going to be a 23 minute walk. Would also mean me needing to get to the train station for 6:30am so looking at a 5:45-6am get up which I wasn't really keep on. Thanks Mary Rose and Cez- Will have a look at those areas. Franki- We are not looking to buy at this moment in time just renting for now. MXH- Do you know of the traffic being bad out of these areas on weekedays? We were hoping it would be ok as we were going against Sydney traffic. We are looking close to the Sydney region as we have been to Newtown and Stanmore lots and love the vibe there and selection of things to see and do and eat etc etc. We were thinking of living in the Hills, infact we are going to set this weekend aside to study the hills but the next weekend to study Newtown/ Stanmore/ Camperdown etc. Just thought if we are going to move from Wollongong to Sydney we might as well move close to the CBD so we are nearer to the beach/and nightlife etc. If we were to go to Sydney during a weekend night though and have to return to the Hills we would be looking at a long train ride and then a 10 minute taxi ride from the train station in Blacktown which put us off. On the upside we woudnt have to worry about parking and we could have a garden. Still trying to decide to be honest... we want the best of both worlds I guess, we will just have to make a sacrifice somewhere in what we want. Trying to make that decision and really appreciate everyone help. Thanks guys

Hi, Me and my partner are currently living in Wollongong and will probably be moving to Inner West Sydney once my job offer is complete. My partner will be commuting to Campbelltown and I Penrith. We are just wondering where to live and need some advice on areas. We will have 2 cars and this is an issue we are struggling with in regards to parking. Ideally we would like a place with 2 car spaces or maybe just one car space but some road parking available where we wouldn't have to struggle finding a space. We like Newtown and Stanmore. Newtown has a lot to offer but we are a bit worried we would struggle with parking the other car on the road as it gets busy here, is this the general consensus? Wehave seen a lot of accommodation available in Camperdown which looks really nice but we have never been. Does anybody have any advice to give in regards to what parking would be like in Camperdown and also if the area is as good as Newtown. If anybody can help us with any information or other nearby areas that would be good to move to we would be most grateful. Thanks

I had to provide a letter from my secondary school stating I had completed my education in the UK and was 'highly proficient in the english language' although I was the main applicant

I used DHL, although ahpra quoted up to 8 weeks processing time it actually only took about 4.