Weston clan

Hi, We are budgeting between £20 - £25k for the getting there and settling in bit (ie first 4- 8 weeks), but as others have said it will depend on your personal choices. we are looking at perth and probably NOR (although that is subject to change once we get there and explore!), so rentals will be different, we have budgeted to buy 2 cars (actually really hoping we can get away with just 1!) I have put in the very top end of our budget for a rental (really hope we can get it for less, but are prepared for if we cant!), it also includes a full 20 ft container, flights for a family of 5 (kids aged 7,5 and 3) and a 4 week fully furnished holiday rental in high season. Ask me in January and I will tell you if it was right! Hope that helps!

Hi, Interested to know people's opinions on this as well! We are currently planning on bringing a little tykes car and a TP climbing frame and swing (its a metal one so hopefully will be easy enough to clean!)

Yes, as I said on another thread, they will assess more than 1 employment as long as you provide them with all the necessary documents for each post and they assess it as being relevant. They assessed 2 different employers for me, no problems.

Hi, I agree that the points advisory letter may be a way forwards. They will look at more than 1 employment as long as it is still in a relevant field and you have supplied all the supporting documents for it. It will also all need to be post qualification I believe. I hope that helps and good luck with your assessment!

Hi, Could you tell me when it is available from and if it is furnished or unfurnished? Thanks

Hi, I front loaded our medicals and police checks (family of 5) and was one of those that never got allocated a case officer, the first I knew that I had one was to give us our grant! It was very unexpected, but wonderful none the less! my time line should come up below. good luck!

We took consultant reports for our daughter with us to the medical, the panel doctor said that he would upload them with our medical results. Ours stated that no further treatment was necessary so it was useful to have the evidence even though it was a relatively minor issue. Good luck!

Mine took 12 to 13 depending on whether you count the date submitted or the date the paper documents were received. It is a painful process! but you will have no choice but to practice your patience! good luck.

Congratulations on getting your visa! Good luck with the planning and moving, I know your feeling well and think we are still in a bit of a daze! although starting to go through some of the practicalities of getting shipping quotes etc. Enjoy the ride!

I used Ian Harrop, who was brilliant, however they teamed with OE for the skills assessment and I have to say I was not overly impressed with them. Each to their own though.

I never got a case officer, Rupert you may be right about not being referred, but I was told that all B grade medicals were automatically sent off, I have no idea! Gemma, my son (6 years old) has Asthma, I agree with Rupert that as it is a minor condition it shouldn't be referred (although he has been hospitalised a few times because of it when he was younger), but as I said my agent told me that the B grade triggered it being sent off regardless of the reason. Sorry, I don't have a clue what your outcome will be, I am lead to believe that they are pretty reasonable and it is all about the long term costs to the state, so if your daughter is only mildly affected and is doing well I am sure that will go in your favour. I really feel for you and will keep my fingers crossed for you, hang on in there its a bumpy ride but I am sure it will be worth it in the end.

Hi, My son had a B grade medical (so automatic referral) it was uploaded on the 22nd June, but we got our visa grant through on wednesday. I have no idea how, but I am not questioning it, we had been told the wait on referrals was 3 to 4 months, I guess we were just lucky, but you never know you might be too! (his was referred for Asthma). Will keep fingers crossed that you can skip through the system like we did.

Hi, I would give them a call, I put off calling them (hate calling people!) but really wish that I had done it earlier, they were really helpful and will give you as much information as they can, which is usually more than they will give you in an email. Good luck!

Waiting is so frustrating! hopefully my time line will come up below, I think I have managed to sort my signature out now! I was however expecting another couple of months wait, as my sons medical was B graded, so super surprised that the grant has come through! Fingers crossed for you all that you get COs and grants really soon.

Thanks Nic, not 100% sure yet, I havent even seen hubbie yet! (I did call him to tell him though!) I think (and hope) it will probably be around October time. I originally had grand ambitions of not sending the kids back to school in September, but I think to be honest we will need the extra month to tie up before we go. I am sure your grant will be along very soon now too!

woohooo! visa granted today! :-) (lodged 10th June, never got a case officer just a grant today!) very excited!

lodged on the 10th June with WA sponsorship, but still waiting for a CO :unsure:

wooohooo Congratulations Nic1171 great news! really glad to hear that someone is making progress, will keep fingers crossed that next week will be our week as we lodged on the 10th.

Hello I would like to join your gang please! lodged our visa on the 10th June, we did our medicals on the 22nd June and uploaded police checks today, now we just need a case officer and a visa grant please! Keeping our fingers crossed we hear something sooner rather than later!

Hi, We have uploaded passport, full birth certificates and a passport photo - which has been up loaded as identity other, we are using an agent and this is what they have said that they need! (our kids are 6,5 and 3 if that helps at all)

Hi, You should be able to see on your 'points test advisory letter' how many years you have been assessed as relevant. Mine shows the different posts that were assessed and the start and finish dates of them, mine add up to 4years 5 months so I could claim 3. I guess it depends on whether you need the extra points as to whether you need to re-do the assessment. I hope that helps a bit!

Sadly MeCe I am not sure it means a lot! It does mean that they have received the application and that they have started looking at it. People told me that once you got to 'processing' you should hear in a couple of weeks what your outcome was, sadly that wasnt the case for me and I still had to wait another 6 or so weeks to get my result back! So I think I would say it is positive in that you are in their system and someone is looking at it, there is a chance that you will get a result soon, but I wouldnt bank on it as it could still be a while (I think it just depends who you get working on your case!). hope that helps!

Just got my assessment result today - doc were received on the 24th Jan, so 13 weeks for me!

Think it depends on what type of assessment you are going for. I think the trade assessments seem to be quicker than the general professional ones, I submitted my docs on the 24th Jan and have still not heard back from them! Their website states 10-12 weeks for general, but I am told it is not unusual for it to take longer...

My documents were sent on the 24th Jan... and I am still waiting, anyone else going past the 12 week point? really frustrated now!