sarens

I finally got the ceremony invite , this is my timeline: Application Date - 29 Jan 2021 Test Invite Received: 31 March 2022 Test Date - 9 April 2022 rescheduled to 5th April 2022 Approval Date-5th April 2022 Ceremony invite received- 20th September 2022 Ceremony Date 12th October 2022 @Stonnington Council, VIC Based on your approval date, I believe your invite should come soon too.

As at 27 May 2022, it appears that 329 people (https://www.pomsinoz.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=29877) were waiting for ceremony at Stonnington. In July 2022 there was a ceremony with probably 100 people or more. So the remaining 229 people remaining should potentially be invited at the September or October ceremony.

I am waiting for Stonnington and was approved on April 5th I found it ridiculous too, I called home affair to make sure the put me in the September one cause otherwise my whole timeline would be over two years (applied in Jan 21), longer than their advertised timeline....but they were hopeless they just said keep waiting.. It's just so unfair that some people's application take less than a year in total while other take two years just because they happen to be in the "wrong" council..

Finally received the Test Invite after 14 months wait: Application Date - 29 Jan 2021 Test Invite Received: 31 March 2022 Test Date - 9 April 2022 Approval Date TBD Ceremony Date TBD Melbourne, VIC

Thank you! That's very good to know..

So can you actually ask them to anticipate the date of the test?

That gives hope..thanks.

Thanks Marisawright. So I guess that means COVID vaccination seems be a final requirement to get citizenship in those councils without online ceremony. Interesting..

Does anyone know if there are vaccination requirements to attend the ceremony? If so, what would happen if a person is neither vaccinated nor has an exemption ? would an online ceremony be offered ? Please refrain to comment about vaccines. Thanks.

Well I do not have a car, so a return train ticket is 44$ and taxi from the train station to the working site is about 13$. So in one day it all adds to about 70$. In 48 weeks is about 3360$ which is equivalent to a gross salary of about 4730$. If I travel sometime more than once a week , I would easily get to 5000$.

Hi all, I have been recently offered a role in a manufacturing company but have some doubts about a travel expenses clause they have included in the contract. The role would be as an engineer manager and the main location would be the city however one day a week (or more) I would have to travel to another regional office which is about 100 Km from the city. One of the clause states : "For travel between sites in the State, it is expected that you will use your own vehicle and your base salary includes an amount for your travel expenses" Now just a once a week travel to the regional site would cost me about 5000$ gross per year, so make it bi-weekly and it would be 10.000$ add some other travels and it could go up. Now I am still on a good salary (140K) but it's like negotiating a number only to find that in reality it is 5-10K less or more, not considering that they have said no to a number of other lilttle things. What annoys me is that when we discussed salary they never mentioned there would be an allowance included , it was just a surpirse in the contract. I wonder if this is normal for a higher salary. I have not worked in Australia for some years and I am not sure about what is considered normal. Would you think this to be common practice for a manager salary in Australia ?? or are they just playing with numbers? Thanks, Sar

First of all thanks for all your answers with different point of views which have helped me seeing things from different perspectives. For those of you (The Pom Queen for sure..) who are curious about my decision...well, I have accepted the job in Melbourne. I was ready to leave some money behind and go to Spain but all in all the risk of regretting the choice was bigger than going to Melbourne. Thanks.

Hi All, tomorrow I have quite an important decision to make and would like to have your views. I am in my late thirties , not married , have been working in Berlin in the last three years (previously 4 in Melbourne) but I am now in the process of leaving the country cause I never got to terms with the depressing weather and the general coldness of the people. I have had some jobs interviews and have now two good job offers, one in Barcelona and one in Melbourne. The decision is quite difficult cause the positive and negative sides of each option are comparable. If I chose Melbourne offer, it would be going back to my previous employer , working on the same project but with a manager role and six figures salary $$$ so bringing my career forward. Melbourne is a city that I love , I have spend almost 4 years there and they were probably the best of my life. Moreover by going back to Australia I could renew my PR Visa for another five years otherwise I would soon not qualify for a RRV and probably would break any future possibility to work and live in australia. One downside is the fact that I could feel like going back to the past working for the same Project and another one is clearly the distance and soon or later I know I will feel the pull to come back to Europe and being closer to my family which considering my age and my wish to start a family could mess things up. Barcelona offer would be a completely new job (different industry) in a big american multinational, doing something completely new is exciting but the role would not be a real progression.However the company is very big and I think I could move up quickly given the chance. The salary would be much lower than Australia probably about half and even less than what I am earning now in germany. Barcelona is tempting as a city to live with sea (important for me) but I have only visited it for few days and never lived there before so not sure I would really like it. Good plus is closeness to europe and my family. I know it always comes down to personal values but I would like to hear your opinions especially if you were in a similar situation or if you have ever lived in Spain. Thanks, R.

Hi All, tomorrow I have quite an important decision to make and would like to have your views. I am in my late thirties , not married , have been working in Berlin in the last three years (previously 4 in Melbourne) but I am now in the process of leaving the country cause I never got to terms with the depressing weather and the general coldness of the people. I have had some jobs interviews and have now two good job offers, one in Barcelona and one in Melbourne. The decision is quite difficult cause the positive and negative sides of each option are comparable. If I chose Melbourne offer, it would be going back to my previous employer , working on the same project but with a manager role and six figures salary $$$ so bringing my career forward. Melbourne is a city that I love , I have spend almost 4 years there and they were probably the best of my life. Moreover by going back to Australia I could renew my PR Visa for another five years otherwise I would soon not qualify for a RRV and probably would break any future possibility to work and live in australia. One downside is the fact that I could feel like going back to the past working for the same Project and another one is clearly the distance and soon or later I know I will feel the pull to come back to Europe and being closer to my family which considering my age and my wish to start a family could mess things up. Barcelona offer would be a completely new job (different industry) in a big american multinational, doing something completely new is exciting but the role would not be a real progression.However the company is very big and I think I could move up quickly given the chance. The salary would be much lower than Australia probably about half and even less than what I am earning now in germany. Barcelona is tempting as a city to live with sea (important for me) but I have only visited it for few days and never lived there before so not sure I would really like it. Good plus is closeness to europe and my family. I know it always comes down to personal values but I would like to hear your opinions especially if you were in a similar situation or if you have ever lived in Spain. Thanks, R.

The job they have offered, seems very interesting on paper but I am not too sure I will like the place (Birmingham area).. I actually agree with you that having a job in a place I do not like much, might suck after the initial excitement. I am an engineer and in Sydney at the moment.

In 7 months time I will be just eligible to apply but didn't think it could take that long for the ceremony. Thank you for letting me know.

Thanks for all the replies. I am in my mid 30's to answer some of your questions, not married and no kids. I could also support myself financially but being unemployed makes me feel miserable even if it's a short wait and I fear it won't be easy to find a job soon. All recruiters I have been contacting so far , have not even replied and this would not happen before. I might be wrong but I feel that things are going to get worse here job wise.

I think I do want the possibility to come back in the future, especially because when you know you can't have something , you want it more. My idea is that once I have citizenship and eventually go back, I would be more relaxed about coming back to Australia cause I know I can do it whenever I want in the future. The problem is that waiting to get it now might cost me a lot without a job. I have applied for jobs where I am overqualified but still nothing. And it's not just the money that scares me but the fact than having a one year gap on my CV might affect my future possibilities to find something in my field. And no, I have no kids.

Hi all, I have a quite important decision to make and would like to have your opinion, whatever that will be. I have been working in Australia for a number of years, then last year after I got my PR I decided to go back to Europe. I have actually enjoyed a lot my life in Australia but I felt I wanted to settle down close to my family as long term plan. In order to do that, I quit my job with the hope I could find another one in Europe in a reasonable time. What happened though, was that after 6 months I could not find a job and at the same time I missed Australia and I found out that if I had returned I could apply for Citizenship after only 9 months which mistakenly I did not realise before leaving! So I decided to return to Australia and I have been here now for about two months. I have applied for tens of jobs but did not get a single interview so far and I get the impression it will not be easy to find something as unemployment is increasing also here. Now the other day unexpectedly, I got a very good job offer but from the UK , which made me very confused about what to do. If I leave, I would miss the opportunity to get citizenship, but I would have a job! If I stay here other 7 months , I can get my citizenship but I might still be jobless and end up being out of work for a long time which will make it more difficult to find something in the future. What are your thoughts? Thanks, S.