Grecia

AFAIK that would be a credit balance, not a credit increase. Better to just get a prepaid credit card and whack the cash on that.

No offence Alan, but I don't see this as a genuine review site. I wanted to leave a review warning about the joker we wasted our money on, but I can't because he is not on their list. Seeing as he used to advertise in a national UK newspaper and has been at at least one "Down Under" expo - so we're hardly the only people to use him - can I assume the reason his name is not coming up is because he has not paid for advertising on this website...?

Hopefully someone PM'd you who has personal experience of this process but, if not, I used to do mediation for one of the London councils. Unfortunately I did precious little family mediation - it was mainly neighbour disputes - but the main principles are similar. The goal of mediation is for each party to find out where the other party is coming from and what outcome they want, establish what commmon ground there is, and get the parties working together to try to come up with a solution that works for them. The way we did it, we mediators couldn't dictate or suggest anything. So sometimes the perfect solution was blindingly obvious to us but the parties would come up with some convoluted, off-the-wall wall plan of action. But hey, it was their lives... It's not like court where you have to present evidence to the judge, so I wouldn't imagine you have to bring any documents unless there is something you'd like your ex to see. Good luck!

No, you'll be fine - we got ours with waaaaaay less evidence :biggrin: EDIT: also, the reduction button on the photocopier is a godsend, as it allows you to put 4 or more bills, etc, on one page!

Blimey! How about looking at your own spelling before criticising anyone else...:tongue:

They certainly should in banks that have bailed out by the UK taxpayer. Our tax £££s should not be going to pay workers who live in another country (and spend in another economy) while we are also having to pay for the benefits of those made redundant. Well done to Lady Rainicorn though :smile: I was jobhunting in London in March and got a new (and much better) job in 3 1/2 weeks - 2 of those weeks I was out of the country and virtually incommunicado.

I imagine they'd take a banker's draft, if it's drawn on a UK bank. Shame you haven't got anyone to go in for you, as if you know within 3 years when you got divorced, they'd be able to get the document for you on the spot and email/fax it to your case officer...

When I was in your situation a few years back, I went into the family courts on High Holborn, gave them my details - such as I had, although I guess it helped that I had a very unusual married surname - waited a bit, and was given a very official-looking document that said I was divorced. The search fee I paid included them contacting the relevant local courts and asking them to send me the decree absolute, which came in the post a week or two later. I've no idea if they still offer this service, but if they do it might be an option if you have a friend/relative who can go into London for you.

It's very misleading... I would have agreed with you, but then on the DIAC website it says:- Initial entry date to Australia The department will advise you of the date you are required to enter Australia (your initial entry date) at the time of visa grant. Your initial entry date is usually the same as the expiry date for the validity of either your health or character checks, whichever is the earlier. Go Matilda's website also says: "The applicant must... Marry the Australian sponsor within 9 months of entering Australia", rather than 9 months from visa grant date.:confused:

Even better! I didn't realise the PMV applicants also got the extra 8 or 9 months leeway to enter Australia EDIT: No, apparently I was right first time, and they don't... Well I've heard of people who've done it - not people I've known personally but on forums like this - so it seems it is doable. Plus, they didn't have the excuse of being in the Armed Forces. As I recall, it involved the non-Aussie partner spending all their annual leave in Australia, having some sort of joint property (either house or car) and (I think) registering their relationship. Worth having a bit of a surf round the Internet to see what you can find, or maybe someone on here has done it?

Well, we went down the partner visa route but I believe the processing times are about the same: officially 8-9 months, but we got ours within 7 1/2 months and others report getting theirs within 7 months or less. You then have to get married within nine months, so that would fit in with your one year timescale. The visa costs went up today, so check on the DIAC website. The medical costs about £250 (my OH can't remember exactly what he paid!). You can't lodge your application in Edinburgh; it has to be London, but you can get the medical done in Scotland: http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/overseas/u/united-kingdom/panel-doctors.htm Hope that helps a bit!

8-9 months is for offshore applications; I believe the onshore ones can take quite a bit longer...

Yes, secondary education is high school, tertiary education is uni.

Err... maybe enjoy their retirement and twilight years surrounded by their beloved children and grandchildren..? Which I imagine is what this visa was designed for. :nah:

My OH included his entire employment history - and got the visa - so it can't hurt. If you do a search on Google there is a Word version knocking about somewhere on the internet which makes things much easier if you make a mistake/forget something...

Yes, I agree that the Contributory Aged Parent Visa applicants pay an enormous fee, but as far as I can see from the DIAC website, the cost of the normal Aged Parent Visa is little more than my OH paid for his partner visa. And, unless I am misunderstanding this thread, for that money they get 10-15 years working rights, medicare, etc. on a bridging visa before their application is even approved (or otherwise). That's quite a good deal!

Me either - and the Daily Mail were apparently predicting this scenario back in February:http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/79175-why-has-this-massive-story-of-global-importance-been-removed-from-the-daily-mail-website

Well if I could claim my pension at 50, I'd be a happy woman!:tongue::wink:

It seems a bit strange if they will grant work rights to oldies past retirement age, but won't accept skilled migrants who are over 50 :confused:

Yep... Ours gave us wrong information (processing time for partner visa is "4-5 months" - yeah, right!), offered no help or advice whatsoever on the supporting documentation, lost documents because either he or his secretary was too useless to check a DHL envelope was empty before throwing it away, and went completely incommunicado for weeks as soon as we'd paid him the final instalment which delayed the lodging of our application.

We just got an email - nothing in the post.

Isn't that the one with the 14 year processing time..? :eek:

Sorry if you think docboat and I are "scaremongering"... As far as I am concerned we are just relaying personal experiences of what happened to us. My mother was born in Australia to Australian parents, and she lost her Australian citizenship. It wasn't "stripped" from her as such - she had to choose between one nationality or the other and as she was living in the UK, she chose British. If Australia can change its laws regarding dual nationality, what makes you think that the UK would never do this? And if they did, who would object - dual nationals? I'm sure we're very much in the minority... :cute:

Well as someone who has had dual Aus/UK nationality since birth, I would strongly recommend that you don't let your UK passport lapse. Countries move the goalposts on dual nationality all the time. My brother and I lost our Aus citizenship for 20 years before they changed the rules back. My Mother (Aussie by birth married to UK citizen) lost hers for even longer - about 30 years I believe. At least they can't take the passport away once it's been issued, so with a current passport you'll have up to 10 years more freedom to travel/live where you want if either country changes the rules at some point...

Sorry, Bob - I didn't know how often you came on here... :embarrassed: Thanks for your reply. Time is of the essence, so we got her RNATT done yesterday. If she passes, we'll give you a call and get a quote. You seem way more clued up than the other pet shippers I dealt with. If not, she'll have to be shipped over from my parents' place in France, which is a whole other story...