Maggie2012

We have visited Bairnsdale a few times and we like the whole town and the area. If you like small towns (with English standards it would be a village size probably) it is great. If you are from a big city (London, Manchester, Glasgow etc.) and you like the big city lifestyle you'll be bored. As Petals said, if you into boating and fishing, the beaches etc. you'll be right at home. Lakes Entrance is close by as well and that is a Victorian holiday spot and commercial fishing town. Just south of Bairnsdale is Raymond Island which is lovely and a koala sanctuary :-) ..a very cozy spot indeed. Good luck and yeah, we are coming to visit ! LOL

Have you been to Gungahlin Community Centre? I think that could be a good idea to go by. Also, browse around the town center there are a few ethnic shops as well. Personally, we only know one person from Burma. Look out for the meet ups and we'll see you there one day!

what you need to know is here http://www.canberrayourfuture.com.au/portal/migrating/ you need to apply for it, I do not think you'll get an invitation otherwise.....

Look at seek.com.au and the local newspaper. Depending which town you live in, you can go into town and usually there is a community centre. Also, go to shops and see if they have any jobs available. Any jobs. May I ask where you from? We know one or two people from different part of the world so may be able to put you in touch with someone from your own country :-)

yes tailgating is bad here, to be honest I would welcome to see more cops on the street. Being a defensive driver is a must. In contrary, I find people speeding rather than lane hogging...

Well, we still would like to go to the George if anyone else is interested at 6:30 - 7:00 PM?

Oh, 3 is a bit too early for us, we are committed till 6 pm :-(

time and place?

don't start me on that. I swear it is more annoying than helpful most of the time.

That might work ( Saturday the week before Easter) no plans as of yet.

Hubby isn't Brit but hope that not an issue :-) We don't really care where people are from...so in case you do

We have not been to that one yet and we are here few months. Had not much time, still looking for that JOB we were promised to have, Lol. Saturday perhaps? How busy is that place?

Lol, bloody spell correct: Gungahlin

hi why not? We are in Gangling but don't let that stop you. Any meet up place you'd suggest?

Your best course of action would be to contact Alan Collett and let him help you with what you need. He has helped numerous people here and he knows what he is doing. In the mean time get your money back form people who are not really intend to assist you. We did everything ourselves. You can look up Skillselect and read about visa classes. Perhaps that could give you a better idea what your options are. Good luck and hope that your dreams come true.

yepp, your best bet is to check each state if they sponsor your occupation. If you find a state which does it, than you before you can get any nomination from them, you need to have the points. Count it, age, education etc. For an English test you can get a maximum of 20 points I believe. So, before you lodge anything, make certain you'll have enough points before you start paying for things. If you do, the skill evaluation will cost you some money as is everything else. Once that is done and you have all the points you go and ask for state nomination. If you secure that and you are accepted, they will tell you to apply for an EOI and will send you the invitation. You can open an EOI, but it is pointless unless you have one of the occupations on the SOL and you have enough points as is for subclass 189. Also, remember that a state/territory sponsorship accounts for 5 points. So if all in all with everything you can manage to scrape together 55 points and you have a state willing to sponsor you, you have a shot at a permanent visa. Hope this helps. Otherwise, you can really find everything you need on the Australian immigration website under Skillselect Subclass 190 and 189. Hope this helps a bit and hope you will get the visa

If you only consider the job market, hands down, go for Victoria. If we had a chance to choose again, ACT would be not on our list. 90-95% of jobs in Canberra are related to government, there is no industry, only services. And the major problem with government jobs is that you need security clearance and that requires citizenship. Now 4 months on in ACT and yet to find a job. If you just look at seek, you have 10x more jobs listed in Victoria and 90% of those are non government positions. Do the math and you may choose before you ask again. Good luck and hope your dreams will come through. :-)

Go for it, its a permanent visa, in the meantime get the release from your obligation. We are in the same boat in ACT. You got to make a living. But get that "release" sorted from VIC so you don't have issues if it comes to Citizenship and you do not want your visa cancelled for breaking any rules. Be on the safe side. Can't you work out of Victoria? If it's a contract and if you registered as a Self Employed in Victoria it should be OK.

Bad luck as 2 cars died on us and a reputable dealer on one of them answered our warranty claim as "sue me". Anyhow, distant friend of us has this X-Trail up for sale in NSW. Still doesn't add up. Stamp duty would be only $360 so where does that $1500 quote comes from? Looked at the sites for AXT rego still cannot figure it out.... Some hidden charges ? quiet hefty though...

wish that site admins would merge all the similar threads.....and that people took time to search the forums before asking the same questions all over again.....

Hold on. If you are on a 190 visa tied to ACT, better that you know that Queenbeyan is not ACT but NSW so you cannot work or live there as part of your obligation. Just saying. It looks that it easily could be. FYI

After having bad luck with cars in Canberra, we are looking to get another one in NSW. We looking at a car that is $12000 Nissan Xterra. A friend of ours said it would cost roughly $1500. Holy Cow even if it includes CTPI, is it true?

It is not just to have the statement submitted but also to have a real idea how much will he spend. So it is your best personal interest to spend time on this and make a BUDGET you will also use when you arrive in Canberra. Most people make the mistake of underestimating these costs.

in addition, for food check http://www.woolworths.com.au and http://www.coles.com.au, for clothing and household items http://www.target.com.au, http://www.bigw.com.au or http://www.kmart.com.au for utilities and such http://www.acewagl.com.au. Or if you can manage to get your hands on on a Sydney one, it is comparable. What we did is to we made a spreadsheet of our expenses in the UK and looked up the items on these websites. Plug it in. Oh and add flight/relocation costs. For shipping estimates try http://www.sevenseas.com. Good luck and have fun!

yes. so if you have done your medicals or Pc check in (let just say) May and get the visa granted in September, you'll probably have to enter by the next May anyway. So it is not a full 12 months from the grant date. Be ready and committed! :-) good luck