itegoa

As Nearlythere1 says, you'll have 65 points if you get over 8's on the IELTS. Your points will drop once the age of 33 is reached, but 60 points is still a pass. You have many years to get it all sorted (hope your skill doesn't go off the list in the meantime).

How the hell are you supposed to make a decent living with such a low rate?

We're planning to move over to Oz late-2015. I run my own contracting business currently in the UK, developing web software with Perl, also learning Node.js. We're hoping to move in or around Perth, but I don't see many jobs for Perl in those parts - the odd 1 or 2 pop up every now and again, which doesn't give me much confidence. There seems to be more requirement around Sydney and Melbourne fo that skill. Currently earning £385 per day (around $700 per day), so it looks like i'll definately have to take a pay cut when we move over. Who knows, I might get lucky when the time comes. It's possible that we could decide to move to Sydney just because of jobs, but then the cost of living seems to be higher. Arrgghhhhh!!

Whether or not it's worth it, all depends on how much money you have to spare. I'd imagine that it's worth it for David Beckham who earns millions per year. For me, an extra couple of grand for a 24 hour trip, earning no where near what DB earns, it just isn't worth it.

If you're a sole trader, you need to increase your rate to account for (UK speak) pensions, taxes, sick pay, redundancy, training, holiday pay (most or all of which your "client" will not be paying, so you will have to instead.

Just a quick question, going off topic a little... if you have 70 points, why are you bothering with a 190 visa? Why not just go for a 189 visa? You will have no restrictions like having to live in a particular state, proving you have $x0,000 in the bank, and maybe others.

You can answer that question yourself by asking yourself, "What have I been doing (working as) for the last 2 or 3 years?"

Currently preparing my documents for hopeful invite very soon! May I ask, how many P60'a and payslips did they ask for? And did you get them all certified copies?

Did you ask the bank what your options were? Do you have any proof whatosever that they said they'd look aftet them in the first place?

http://www.immi.gov.au/FAQs/Pages/will-i-get-a-refund-if-i-withdraw-my-visa-application.aspx

I read something a while back that it's possible to open a HSBC account here in the UK in GBP, also AUD, and you can transfer between the two using HSBC's Global Transfer thing. The AUD account costs £5 per month to run, and the transfer is meant to be free - but not sure if the rates are good. I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this to see if that's worthwhile.

Can't offer advice on whether to exchange over here or there, but you can keep your eye on the exchange rate with Google Finance. https://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=gbpaud GBP has dropped recently, who knows where it will go...? I firmly believe once UK interest rates start rising then we'll see a better exchange rate (i.e. more AUD for when we change our GBP)

She obviously doesn't want the business. I got my docs certified by a solicitor for ACS, paid £2.50 per copy.

IMO, your degree would be classed as "Non-ICT Diploma or higher". This means you would have to do an RPL application, and the first 6 years would be counted as relevant towards gaining a successful skills assessment. The remaining 2.5 years are not worth any SkillSelect points. If you wait another 0.5 years, you could get 5 points. EDIT: Don't wait another 0.5 years - gather all your docs and proceed with the ACS skills assessment. By the time that's all done, you'll have 3 years skilled work experience anyway and can submit your EOI.

See: https://acs.org.au/migration-skills-assessment Click the "Summary of Criteria" link. I'm not sure what "my engineering in Electronics and Communication" is. Is it a bachelor degree or higher? Diploma? Other. Due to the qualification, you're looking at getting either 4 or 6 years "deducted" (for want of a better expression). Let's say for arguments sake that 4 years will be deducted... what you consider 8.5 year of experience will equate to 4.5 years skilled work experience.

Get citizenship, then worry about moving home afterwards. You will all have dual citizenship, then can come and go between the 2 countries whenever you please. This might put your other half's mind at ease, i.e. he knows the children won't have a problem in the future if/when they want to return to Australia (whether that be temporary or permanent). Just my thoughts...

http://www.immi.gov.au/about/charters/client-services-charter/visas/8.0.htm

I'm sick of reading all of the "xxx costs this much £££" in the media. Why don't we just get rid of everything! Everyone can be given a bottle of water and a tin of Heinz baked beans to live off each day, that would be a lot cheaper! We could then start buying Aldi beans to save a few more pence. Someone would still complain that it costs too much.

I thought you just had to give DIBP the ACS reference, and they can look it up themselves anyway? (might be worth checking this for yourself)

Ah right, sorry, my certified copies were for a skills assessment, not for the visa.

Yep, defo go to a solicitor. I made the mistake of using a notary the first time. They charged roughly £10 per copy of A4, and I had approx 18! I had to get some more done and found a solicitor who would do it for £2.50 per copy (but first one was £5). Make sure you shop around!! One solicitor I spoke to wanted £25 per copy!

You are free to get any job you please on a 189 visa - it doesn't have to be the occupation you're skilled in.

I think you're missing the point of this forum. Poms "in Oz" !! It's full of people either wanting to move to Oz, or people who have already moved to Oz. Ok, there's some people that talk about/do move back to the UK, but that's got to be a pretty low number. IMO, people will look to buy a house by looking through the usual channels such as estate agent's windows, Rightmove, or Zoopla -- not via some text messages from some random stranger on an internet forum (no offence meant!!)

I received the same email from DIBP, shortly after my post

Source?