shiveringpom

hidden costs i think of..... iam northside brisbane if no family then daycare/babysitting costs buying a car and settling that up always is more than we budgeted for transport for partner at home/availability to public transport and those costs to allow partner to get out and about have to pay for all dental care and all medicines and if no bulk billing/free GP nearby then you pay for every visit to doctor , there is very little mental health provision for free and waiting times at local hospitals vary and can be longer than NHS so please consider any long term health issues or dental problems do you have to have private health insurance on that visa? furniture/settling up home or surviving until that arrives from UK - usually a few months warmer weather does mean less clothes lol but in heat u will pay for aircon if you use it and running a pool costs aswell can stack up flying back to uk if a problem or needed back home in emergency - keeping a stash or card avail can be useful if that is potentially an future issue paying for school clothes that you can only get in the schools uniform shop and stationary packs for kids ( u pay for paper/pens/books here ) and all day trips and extra stuff can add up to hundreds or dollars a term in state schools.... we pay way more for state school stuff here than in north east of england .... personally u need to know your suburb /place of work first to enable you to look at rental costs to be realistic as rent takes a big chunk out of earnings i would gather more job info first and check your visa carefully for what you can/cannot do/have to pay out for etc xxx

still waiting from 3/1/18 for anything .... brisbane , which city are u?

january 3rd application 'received' Brisbane still nothing ..... straight forward application from UK family ....

i rang them yesterday- brisbane office - only 3 people in queue ??!! they said same again - dont ring until a year at least from acknowledgement ...... total processing time up to 18m now ...cant comment on individual cases adviced not to panic just a large backlog and they have had a surge in applications and no news is good news they say ..... they said if problems with application or missing stuff etc then they will contact you early on..... we are now 9 months in from simple acknowledgement i must just sit back and relax and pay for the RRV incase goes all the way to 18m and more

my application is ordinary and straight forward..... into our 9 month of waiting in Brisbane now with no dates for test just the acknowledgement ...... i think the backlog is bigger than we think sadly ...... x

13 months to press a button to say go and sit the test.... crazy...we are now 8 months in and nothing .....i rang them and got told ring back if get to 12 months and still nothing .... but they said wait is probably going to be longer......

brisbane seems to be a nightmare for many i know waiting .....ours was submitted 3/1/18........acknowledgement only....... we are straight forward applicants...... intrigued if the perosn who go thro very quickly had any special issues ? insider knowledge ? lol mates i know waiting from 10/17 still for brisbane ........

Omg very quick for Brisbane ! We are still waiting from first week January 2018 - nothing still ........ why are some quick and others just going into a black hole at Brisbane ...... anyone know how they manage applications ???? Is it just luck ? We are regular UK applicants .....?

its rubbish as all they have to do is push a key to say do the test as they have every detail about me now.... lol.... yep iam now thinking whole thing until get passport going to be 14-16 months from start..... got to pay for RRV visas now .....7 months in now from application ....

i rang at 6/12 mark as was worried as nothing other than the acknowledgement - Brisbane - they just said still within time frame of 12-18 months to total completion and cant give any feedback at all on individual applications ... they said call back if still no test date at a year tho ..... sooooooooo slow

intrigued to know if anyone else waiting for Brisbane city application to get going? we applied early January - all in system but no email as yet for test dates...now 6 months in....wondering if anyone else waiting or any tips on how long wait is with Brisbane .... just feel like spent years waiting for visas and tests and doing applications ..... lol. Will now need to get RRV sorted as PR 'expires' 1/8/18 incase of any overseas trips etc ......

can ask which state/city? we applied Brisbane early januray and just waiting for test dates........

just put in citizenship application- hurrah ! family of 4 application grateful for any ideas about timings ie response to application/ waiting time for test/ wait time for ceremony/ how long until passport in your hand...... we got lost in the PR system for months until I managed to finally speak with someone in Aus then we were fast tracked thro due to there error and just want to be more aware this time with rough timescale in case we get lost again lol X.......

Yep - have PR . An agent told me to apply from date visa granted and others say from when you enter country .....simple question but I am getting mixed messages lol . Just wondering if anyone else in process of application ..... . I did PR myself for family and the whole process was sooooo labour intensive just wonder if citizenship as long winded ? My brain aches just thinking about it !

About to start process from PR , can I check you can apply from date PR visa granted ? How long roughly is it taking in QLD ? Any tips gratefully received ! X

thanku, yep trying this approach aswell now saying that lots of friends use state system and very happy so i mustnt get caught up in the hype which i know i do at times , lol , first world problem and all that , x

thanks my husband and son went to open day and didnt gel with it- i wasnt there tho' - however it is the furthest one from us so travel was an issue altho they run a bus, i think i will forward all our reports that they have now asked for as iam keen to visit again at next open day ... going to look at kelvin grove as altho out of catchment it says if you work at rbwh they can consider you ????, wavell and craigslea are also near, everton park is our catchment...... son this year then have to do it all again with daughter next year .....are girls schools just as tricky here ? x

many thanks yep heard hillbrook prob not a hope in hell and BGS same ..... The frustrating thing is they now have my enrollment list payment and all i want to know is how far off getting in are we - if they tell me iam at bottom of list so no hope then i would be much happier as could then move on and look at other schools but they keep you dangling on and give nothing away when i suspect they have a good idea of your chances. I understand kids move/drop out of places etc etc but even just a glimmer of chances would be better than none! Iam stressed as our local state school for us is not great people say and no idea how easy it is to access state schools out of catchment either.............. Do other parents make donations or make lots of appointments with the head teacher? iam slowly losing will to live as ozzie friends also now getting rejected from private schools .....

Ok so am i wasting my time trying to get into private high school year 7 north Brisbane when i only put name down 1 year ago and selections now started.....??? lots of rumours.... Child in year 4 now, name down a year ago when we arrived but worried far too late and as no connections to schools/not catholic/at state school now is there any point or are they all over subscribed????? Opted for boys grammar, hillbrook and nudgee so far but should i look at any others....looked at BBC but open day wasnt a hit with us or son..... any tips or advice please? any schools to avoid? back in uk school was sooooo easy but here high school choice seems huge but unless you put there name down at birth/ went to school yourself iam hearing its a waste of time even trying ..???? going to look at kelvin grove as hear good things wrt this..... getting frustrated as sooo much choice but on other hand seems impossible to get in anywhere....????x

Hi looking for a maths/english tutor for my yr 3 boy who needs a bit of help northern brisbane suburbs region can anyone recommend someone/tips on finding a good one? prefer 1-1 if possible ......?retired teacher or student teacher ???agency best to go thro many thanks x

We land Brisbane 12/2/14 and very interested in north suburbs-lakes BBQ! Kids going to Mcdowall School as last time we used it we were very happy. Not thought about high schools yet as depends on cash flow and how our kids are doing obviously . The choice tho is almost overwhelming for high school! We arrive from Newcastle , holiday rental house booked and will be looking for rental as I said before in Bridgeman-mcdowall-Albany areas - ish . We lived in Bridgeman last trip and love it there. Be great to try and get to a BBQ. We are in healthcare with 2 kiddies, any healthcare workers in northern suburbs? X

Trying to compare swimming clubs..... albany creek vs aspley vs everton park sharks ..... looking for club but unsure at what level they take kids ..... my kids are 6 and 8 and members of Tynemouth asc . Do 2 sessions a week incl time trials but obv still a lot of strike technique teaching going on . Our club start with non swimmers and have a structure to feed them up and into the squads . Is this how they work in oz? Anyone in a club or who can advice ? Ta x

We are Moving back to McDowell- bridgeman downs area soon which is a good area, Albany creek also good altho we only used the swimming pool there and parks! Good luck ! I am due to return to work in strathpine but prefer to live a little nearer the city rather than further out .

Many thanks , do we have to keep close records of time in-out of oz over this 4 years? We will only be taking holidays so should b ok to get citizenship before 5 yrs..... Any tips on sort of stuff we have to provide when going for citizenship? Flight details/rental agreements etc? Should have stayed when we first went to oz in 1999! Thanks for any tips x

Ok so got the 189 visa and understand have to activate by date given and stay for 4 years then can apply for citizenship.... What is a resident return visa RRV ? What happens if i want to holiday for a few weeks in uk in the first 4 years and or then say i dont apply for citizenship at the 4 year mark and i then pop back to uk for holidays after last date on PR visa ????? Do they mean u only need this RRV if planning on staying and working in uk for a certain time on a 189 visa or do u need this even if just having a holiday..... Stupidly confused here but cant seem to find the exact details/time allowed out of country before u need a RRV??? Say i want to pop to bali for a week or new zealand do i need this RRV for every trip outside of oz????? .....iam sure it must only mean if u r resident for tax purposes/working back in uk but can someone clarify..........feeling very :wacko: x