marriedanaussie

Thanks for your replies- puts my mind at ease!! I am confident about finding work quite quickly... I have an NVQ3 in childcare and although not fully recgonised, my skills are in demand (sooo many childcare positions!) and I have spoke to a local college there and they have said that some employers would be willing to take me on as long as i do relevant gap training etc as they have a scheme called RPL (recognised prior learning) where they will basically identify any gaps in what I studied, get me to study them then give me a certificate for their equivalent. Either way- I dont really care what I do work wise! but it's nice to know the childcare thing is an option. Just gotta knuckle down with savings now! gulp!

hi all My aussie hubby of 7 years and I decided to start making plans to up sticks here in the UK and move back to Australia next year. We are currently clearing a few debts and plan to submit my 309 application in December/January. We have created a sort of financial plan for savings, and have calculated that we need around £10,000 to get us there (My visa etc and tickets) plus the cost of moving some of our possessions (MAJOR thinning out of those, taking some stuff rather than the contents of our entire home) with a little left over for the first few weeks/month or two. Hubby runs a design business and will be taking that with him (plus his clients as its all done online) so he will continue to earn as soon as we land (albeit a little less as things will be stripped back a bit) and I will look for work as soon as I get there. We will also be living with his family initially so we dont need money to cover rent etc while we settle in initially. My question is, are we expected to have a certain amount of money in the bank so the government/application peeps are satisfied we can support ourselves? I doubt this on one hand because my husband is Australian so surely he can swan in without a penny whenever he chooses, but on the other hand I am worried that this may crop up as on my Visa he has to sign his life away to say that he is my "sponsor" and will support me. Im concerned this means they will want to see a decent amount of money in the bank? Also, while i'm at it, am I allowed to work straight away on a 309 visa? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Wow- ok! I just found a link for a booklet detailing everything I need! That's quite a list! I did have a giggle at this bit: :The nature of the household: You will be asked to provide evidence that you and your partner share responsibilities within your household, including: • your living arrangements; • a statement outlining the basis on which responsibility for housework is distributed; ......." I literally laughed out loud at that one! That statement will be very short and sweet! The Hubby- Stacks the dishwasher and takes the bins out. Me- EVERYTHING else! :biglaugh:

What supporting evidence do I need? Is there a link somewhere with a list? I've been married almost 7 years- i'm guessing they need lots more than just our marriage cert though!

Wow- thanks for all the responses. So in effect, its not really about when the actual visa is officially granted, its about when your medicals and police checks are done. Those "set the timer" yeah? Ok so, if the Hubby and I are planning on a move in Feb 2015 (reason being we need to get our finances sorted and save save save! plus we have a business to wind down) when should I begin the application process?

Hi all- I have asked a similar question to this before, but am still a little confused about the answer! Hubby and I (hes an aussie) are planning on moving to Australia in early 2015. When I apply for my visa (which will be a 100/309 spouse visa and I already know it takes around 9 months to processed and granted) once it is granted, how soon do I have to move/act upon it? So for example- If i applied for a visa next month (march) and all went well and come November it was granted; would I then need to move pretty much straight away? would I be allowed a few months? or even longer? Sorry if I sound like thicko i'm just trying to understand fully simply so I can plan out when is best to go ahead and submit my application. In previous answers people have mentioned something about needing to move within 3 months of your medical/police checks being completed otherwise you loose the validity of the visa? I don't really get this. I was watching good old "Wanted Down Under Revisited" the other day and a couple on there had their visas granted a few months before they appeared on the show, and then didnt physically move for another 8 months after that. I'm so confused! Any help/clear explanations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks frogian- I think I would more than likely go the old shipping container route... We live in a 4 bed house, but there are only 2 of us so we dont have LOADS of stuff (our spare rooms are design studios for our business!). Some I would sell (such as white goods etc) but the rest i'd like to take with us. I think personally by the time you sell it all (and loose alot of money!) then have to re buy, i'd rather just pay for a container and it all be ready waiting to unpack. I am quite attached to alot of my furniture! Its mostly newish stuff we have bought over the last 3 years as we have been doing up our house big time! Plus I am not the biggest fan of aussie furniture stores... a little bit dated at times. Also looking into taking our car... we have a 3 yr old astra at the mo but plan to upgrade in the next year to a near enough new car and taking that... aussie cars are expensive! so wondering if this is a good idea too? With the sale of our UK home we will defo have a healthy deposit for a house out there. Having done research while we were last month in particular, we'd be looking at spending $250,000 - $300,000 on the sort of home we want (3 bed in need of a little updating) so i'm confident that aspect is already covered. It's just a case of saving all the rest!

PS- remember I am not looking to this NVQ as a means of getting into aus being married to an Aussie sees to that, I simply want to know if its of any use to me there/will get me a decent job

Hi Everyone I am a newbie around here, so forgive my lack of knowledge! A brief background- I'm married to an Aussie (who is thankfully a citizen here in the UK as well as Aus as his dad was born here). We got married 6.5 years ago and have lived here in the UK for that time. We got back last week from one of our many Aussie family visits and for various reasons, now feel it's time to start making plans to move to Australia. (Wagga in NSW to be exact :eek:). And so we find ourselves looking at all the various facets of such a big move. Thankfully visa wise I am looking at a 309 spouse visa which should be simple enough to get hold of, so getting to Aus wont be a problem. However, I am wondering what options I will have work wise. Currently I work from home alongside my hubby as we run our own graphic design/web design business, but I also have an NVQ level 3 in Child care which I got about 2 years ago as a bit of a "back up" plan. I worked in a school for a while, and still technically use it as I volunteer at a church and run the creche and sunday school department there. So my question is- will my qualification be recognised? I have read somewhere not all states recognise it, but NSW does. Is that true? Childcare jobs seem to be abundant in the area we would move to and the pay is much better than what you get here in that position, so if it was recognised it would make my life alot easier! I also read somewhere that if your NVQ is recognised (some are, some arent?!) you need to "switch" it to the Aus equvialent? Anyone know anything about that?! Any info on the net seems to be super sketchy so any help/experience shared would be really appreciated! ta!

Wow- Thanks for all the answers everyone! Really helpful. I think the hubby and I are gonna wait/mull things over for the next 3 months or so to see if we still feel as strongly and then begin the application process... Plus we need time to scrape the money together! post hols=skint!:laugh: msoks27- Can i pick your brains seeing as you are in a very similar situation to me? The other major thing I am trying to work out is how much money we realistically need behind us to move so I can begin to put some sort of savings plan together. I have been reading various forums where people are stating all sorts of different figures, but unlike you and I they are moving over there without the benefit of being married to an Australian, thus having family ready and waiting in Australia as a support network. (which is a huge plus!) We would move to my hubby's hometown and stay with family initially while we get ourselves sorted. I am assuming you and your wife and child would be doing the same? This obviously saves lots of rent money in those early months and I think greatly effects the sort of money needed behind you to get by... We will be selling our house which fingers crossed we will get some decent profit on... we bought it 3.5 yrs ago and have spent all that time doing it up, However I don't want to rely on that profit to support us/get us to aus. I want to put it aside for a deposit on a house out there! I doubt we will have jobs in place from the get go... I am quietly confident I would be able to get work quite quickly thanks to having an NVQ in childcare which NSW apparently recognizes (making sure of this is another "to-do" on my list!) . Childcare jobs are abundant thankfully (i spent lots of time looking in local newspapers while I was there last month to confirm!) Hubby however runs his own graphic/web design business here which he could continue out there but would need some other form of employment initially as a back up support while he grows a new client base... So I have a giant question mark as to how much we are gonna need! argh! Any budget advice greatly appreciated! What a logistical nightmare moving overseas is! It's a miracle that anyone manages to dovetail all the details and do it sucessfully! lol!

Hi Everyone I am a newbie around here, so forgive my lack of knowledge! A brief background- I'm married to an aussie (who is thankfully a citizen here in the UK as well as Aus as his dad was born here). We got married 6.5 years ago and have lived here in the UK for that time. We got back last week from one of our many aussie family visits and for various reasons, now feel it's time to start making plans to move to australia. (Wagga in NSW to be exact :eek:). So, for the first time, i find myself looking at visas. From what I can tell, I am after a 309 spouse visa, and I have a few questions. Any help/tips/advice on the subject would be greatly appreciated! 1. How much all up will the application cost me? (including any extras such as health checks etc) 2. How long roughly does it take to be granted? (I know thats a "how long is a piece of string"? type question- but based on the fact we have been married for a good while and in theory should be fairly straightforward on an application, what time frame are we looking at?) 3. How long does a 309 last for? Does it start to "tick down" from the day its granted, OR when you enter australia? 4. Once granted, how soon do you have to move to australia to hold onto that validity? Is there a "Grace period" sufficient enough to get life in general sorted before moving over? Right now, we have early 2015 in mind for the big move- so 2 years. I am wondering if i should get the ball rolling now visa wise just so its sorted, but i am aware that it may be way too early also and depends totally on the answers to the above questions. Thanks in advance for any replies!