Marisawright

I was going to ask the same thing as Quoll. If you need to get a spouse visa for your oh, then you'll either need a job arranged in the UK before you go (earning at least £18,200), or you'll need to show proof of savings (currently £62,500). You need to have that money in a bank account for at least 12 months so you should start looking into that now - unless you're relying on the sale of your house to provide the money.

If you are going to rely on the proceeds of selling your house, then you'll need to sell your house before he submits his application and move into rented accommodation for the two or three months it takes to process.

Some people would say you're mad to turn it down if it would give you an entry to Australia! You could always hand in your notice if it didn't turn out well.

However, if it was for a 457 visa, then you did the right thing: if you'd taken the job, then got to Australia, started work and then found out it was awful, you'd be stuck: if you left that employer you'd have only 90 days to find another sponsor, otherwise you'd be forced to leave the country.

hea northshorepom, we both lived in Perth for a year and loved the laid back feel, been close to cafes and restaurants would be important too. A nightlife wouldn't been really important to us, boring I know!!

 

I've visited Sydney before and have stayed in the Surry Hills area which I really liked but I'm afraid that we wont be able to afford anything there. I will take a look at the that website and get a feel for some of the suburbs! I know its hard to decide or get a feel until you actually get there and explore a little.

You could afford a 1 bedroom flat in some nice trendy areas, but for a couple renting long-term, you'd be more comfortable in a two-bedder. You'll get more for your money on the inner West suburbs than in the Eastern suburbs - look at Leichhardt, Lilyfield, Annandale, Chiswick. Stanmore, Enmore and Newtown are all even cheaper but watch out for aircraft noise. Summer Hill is a gorgeous suburb with a village feel, great pub and lots of restaurants. If you really want a lot for your money, then look at up-and-coming hipster areas like Dulwich Hill, Lewisham, Marrickville.

Thank you for the recommendation. I was wondering whether it was worth selling all the furniture and buying again in the UK or do you think it ended up costing more/less or maybe evened out in the long run? We plan to move back to the UK next year and sell all the furniture as you did, overall do you think you did the right thing? Thanks in advance.

Firstly, I'd suggest checking out furniture prices online. Because it's been years since I had to buy big furniture like lounge suites, I was horrified at the prices when I arrived in the UK and regretted not shipping more stuff. So make sure you're up to date with what replacing everything is likely to cost you. To give you a rough idea, get on IKEA's UK website and "buy" (add to basket) all the furniture you'd need to set up home - then see what your basket totals.That will give you an idea what it's going to cost at the cheaper end of the market - if you want more designer stuff then double it.

There are other considerations of course, like whether your furniture will fit in your UK home. That depends where you're coming from and going to - if you've been living in a big Queenslander then your furniture may not fit in a Cotswolds cottage, for instance. For us (coming from Sydney where flats are small), it would've been no problem.

Others have said their furniture doesn't look right in their UK home because Aussie furniture tends to be more contemporary. That wouldn't bother me, or at least not enough to throw away perfectly good furniture, but it does bother some people.

You'll need to give us a lot more information than that. Which part of Australia are you visiting? How long do you plan to stay there? What size of house are you looking for?

Thanks for your replies.

 

jmo, you applied and were granted your WHV in just 3-4 days? I figured I would have to stay off shore for a few weeks at least....

The grant of a WHV is usually very fast, a few days at most.

Regarding the LHC, we are in our forties and arrived here 6 months ago (medicare registration 5 months ago), so that is why I wanted us to get in the private health system as to avoid the LHC and we have to do it soon.

 

Other reasons for getting private is that I need a cataract operation, and am prepared to wait out the 1 year. I have tried to go public with this, but it appears that it will definitely more than a year to get this publically. And we want ambulance cover. I was told (by iSelect) that it costs $1000-9000 for an ambulance call - although I do find that hard to believe..

Ah that makes sense. You have a year's grace before you have to take out cover, but I can understand you wanting to join so you can get the cataract op. Just double-check that it's only a year's wait for a pre-existing condition - some funds make you wait two years.

Ambulance cover - this is an interesting one. It keeps getting trotted out as a reason to have insurance. My oh and his family have never had private health insurance. We've had to call out an ambulance only twice over the last twenty years: both times no one even asked about insurance, and we were never charged. We lived in NSW, it may be different in other states. And as NickyNook says, it's available as a separate cover anyway.

Yes if they are legitimate marriages.

Many are shams though just to get the person into the country.

True and I'm all for having tough financial hurdles to make that kind of thing difficult. What I don't understand is why a couple who've been married over 10 years and have children, are faced with exactly the same financial hurdles.

Hi thanks for the info, I was under the impression that you had to have a job offer before you where actually given the 457 visa is that the case, or did you just go out on a visitors visa first and find work then apply for the 457?, we are still in the UK and trying to find the best option for coming over as we don't meet the points requirements.

You must have an employer to sponsor you for a 457 visa. I have seen people here planning to come out on a visitor visa and look for a 457 job offer - but it's not an easy road by any means, you'll find the time flies by on the visitor visa and you may not find a sponsor in that time.

Also consider that a 457 is only a temp job. It's a good option if you fancy coming out to Australia for a short-term adventure - but if you're hoping to stay permanently, it's a tough path. You're stuck with that employer - if you don't like the job you'll have to go home. If the employer goes bust, you've got 90 days to find another sponsor - or go home. The employer may promise to sponsor you for a permanent visa in two years BUT the promise has no legal value, and if business isn't good, he may change his mind - and you'll have to go home. So it's all a bit risky. Provided you understand the risks it's all doable but you do need to go in with your eyes open.

As others have said, I really think you need to speak to a MARA registered migration agent to find out what your chances are realistically. No matter how much you dream of moving to Oz, throwing money at a dream that can't be realised is never a good idea - nor is throwing money at trying to achieve an achievable dream the wrong way.

Thank you. Who chooses the tennant though, the agent or the landlord?

Theoretically the landlord gets final say - but the landlord won't see you, so they will rely on the agent's recommendation more than anything.

If you are a UK citizen I question that you might not be allowed access to non-emergency medical care...

I honestly have no idea what the restrictions would be on a bridging visa, just saying they should check to make sure if there are any and if so, what.

In my experience, the only white goods you'll get in a rental is the tumble dryer. The lack of a job won't be that important as agents will appreciate you've only just arrived. If you were renting in the UK then make sure you get a reference from your landlord/agent as that will carry a lot of weight.

We are 60 years old and are therefore subject to age discrimination so we are searching for an affordable way in to be with my daughter.

I know the age discrimination seems harsh, but the fact is that if you arrive at 60, the Australian public health system will have to support you through your eventual old age and death - a very expensive time of life medically. Unlike Australians who've paid 40+ years of tax in their working lives to pay for that, you'll contribute only 5 or 10. So can you see how that's a burden on the taxpayer and that's why the Australian government won't allow it?

That's why the contributory parent visas are so expensive, because those fees are to make up for that missing tax.

Having said all that, there was someone on these forums recently who was planning to try a workaround. She was planning to come to Australia on a visitor's visa then apply for a parent visa (not the contributory one) after she arrived. The theory was that she would then be put on a bridging visa, which would allow her to stay until the parent visa was granted (which can take up to 30 years).

There are several catches with this scenario. First, if your tourist visa has a "no further stay" condition then you will have to leave anyway. Second, if immigration guesses your intention when you arrive, they'll put you straight back on the next plane. Thirdly, there may be restrictions on what you can do on the bridging visa and you would need to check what they would be (e.g. you may not be able to work, or you may not be able to access benefits or non-emergency medical care).

How soon can i reply if we are refused

Don't panic - my oh got his visa approved in a couple of weeks, his letter also didn't say yay or nay but it was an acceptance.

I can understand how frustrated you are,but the fact is that countries are allowed to be fussy about whom they accept. As Sammy says, if you think Australia makes it hard, just try getting into America or Canada - they are much harder. Or try getting into Britain as an Australian (you'd be surprised).

Unfortunately if you're not eligible, you're not eligible, and I doubt there is anything you can do about it.

Don't start a career in marriage guidance Marissa!!

Believe me it's not advice I've been good at following - like most women I'm always trying to find a solution that works for everyone (or even works for everyone except me!) - but in this case, it sounds as though the OP is clear about what she wants and what makes sense for the family - it may not be his fault that he can't get work and she's having to carry the can, but he's got to face facts IMO.

Ouch. It's a good example of what we were talking about on some other threads, warning people not to bank on being able to sponsor a spouse or parent in the future (whether to come to Australia or to the UK). Everywhere seems to be making it more expensive and more difficult to get visas, it will be out of a lot of people's reach soon.

We are Australian citizens already. Am not sure whether job opportunities would be better back home in England.

If your husband is already having trouble getting work, then I don't think it will be any worse in the UK.

If your husband was in work and doing well, I could understand why he doesn't want to move. As it stands, it sounds very much like he's just stuck in a rut. I think you are absolutely right that if you leave it too long, you'll risk the kids getting too settled, so I would say - dig in your heels, tell him you're moving back with or without him and see what he says!

as for 'taking' from taxpayers, what a laugh. He had to have tons of dosh to even stand a chance of getting in here plus a very, very expensive health insurance. This country is very hard nosed about things like that.

But that's exactly the point everyone was making. He isn't taking from taxpayers because the Australian govt only accepts people who can afford to support themselves and not be a burden on the health system. If Australia allowed elderly migrants to come without those high fees and insurance, then there would be people arriving who would be a burden on the taxpayer.

Thanks for the advice. After looking at Frank we have decided to go for their most basic to get us into the private system, so that we can benefit from the LHC and the ambulance insurance. This is $100 a month, so I am going to put $200 in a separate savings account purely for medical costs. The thinking is that if we use it all up then we come out even compared with paying for health insurance. Or hopefully, we don't spend it all and the money is ours rather than gone towards insurance. Worst case scenario: we spend more than we would have done on health insurance and we have learnt a lesson. All insurance is a gamble either way in my view.

What do you mean, "get you into the private system"? Do you need to worry about the LHC yet - there's absolutely no advantage to taking it out before you have to?

One problem with having the most basic insurance is that if you have private health insurance, your doctor and hospitals will automatically treat you as a private patient unless you make a fuss and insist on public treatment. With only basic cover, you will be paying big excesses on every treatment you receive.

Whereas if you don't have private health insurance and need treatment, everything is free, exactly like the NHS.

Australians have been frightened into taking out private health insurance by health fund advertising for years, and then the government introduced a penalty for high earners who didn't take out private cover. Those two reasons are the only reasons Australians have cover. My husband is Australian and none of his family has ever had private health cover in their lives.

What kind of work do you do? To get a visa to live permanently in Australia, you need to have an occupation that's on one of the lists of jobs accepted by Australia - called the SOL or CSOL. If your occupation is on one of those lists, then you need to check and see if you've got the minimum qualifications and experience specified. If you do, then you can apply to come to Australia.

Unfortunately if you don't have an occupation that's on one of the lists, you can't emigrate.

So nice to see I'm not the only IKEA fan! So many people are dismissive of it, but I think it's great. Living in Sydney, IKEA furniture certainly doesn't look lost - flats and houses are tiny in the inner suburbs, so the space-saving designs are really useful.

The exchange rate may have changed things but when I lived there, IKEA was often the cheapest furniture unless you really wanted to go downmarket.

On a WHV, you can only work for each employer for 6 months max. If you're qualified and experienced and can walk straight into the job, then some employers will take you on: I've had receptionists, secretaries and clerical staff on WHV's - mainly through temp agencies. My niece got a great job in events organising on her WHV (again, through a temp agency).

However I think you're talking about getting a job in real estate, in which you've got no experience, I can't see real estate agents being willing to take you on - they would have to train you up, and by the time you've learned the ropes you'd have to leave. That said, you might get a job as a general dogsbody or a clerical job in the property management area, which would at least get you exposure.

It would help if you at least had your real estate certificate before you apply - the courses are not hard (though they are expensive!) and there are several providers, here's one:

https://www.reisa.com.au/real-estate-courses/real-estate-courses

I posted some Paw Paw ointment to my sister in the UK and didn't have a problem. I marked it as a gift.

I think you've done well to keep it at that. I pack so light when I travel that my sisters laugh at me - I used to come home for a visit every two years, and I only brought one medium-sized case and a carry-on bag. The case usually weighed around 11 kg and that was enough clothes to last me 6-8 weeks.

The best thing to do is put the pack on and try walking around with it. If it feels OK then it's OK.

If it doesn't, then I'd say you need to review whether it's the right bag rather than leave stuff behind. After all, if you leave stuff out, then you'll only have to buy replacements when you're in Australia, and you'll have to pack the replacement things in your backpack - so you'll be back to the same weight again.