2bpepperrogers

Hi all, My civil partner and I are moving out to QLD in September 2015 on a PR 189 visa. I've been wondering how recognised our CP will be? I've tried to do a bit of research but the information is a bit vague about partnerships/de facto relationships etc in general. Also trying to decide whether to change our CP to a marriage now that this is legal in the UK (well, I want to get to wear my dress again wifey is less bothered about converting!) We got married/civily partnered after our visa was granted, but we changed our visa details when we changed our passports as we double-barrelled our names. Obviously it's important for things like pensions/benefits but I'm also curious as I'd like to know if we will be recognised as a legal couple for things like rental paperwork/mortgage applications etc etc. I know the laws are different in different states so if anyone has any experience/knowledge for QLD that'd be great! thanks Claire

Hi! We're (that's myself, wife and cat) are migrating in September as well! Flights booked, cat's had her rabies and we're saving saving saving. Plan is northern suburbs of Brisbane but a bit depends on jobs (teachers). Claire x

it's an obscene amount of money but we're going to pay; can't leave our 2 cats behind they're part of the family. There should be some sort of law that makes them have to justify the fees they charge.

Hi, My wife and I are both teachers and are moving to Australia in September 2015 (hopefully permanently and getting citizenship as soon as we qualify). I've been teaching for 9 years but she is younger and only in her 3rd year of teaching, some of which has been supply work. We haven't got a clue about how our pensions will work and don't want to end up age 65 with nothing! a. What will happen to our UK pensions? Can we still get these if we are not living in the UK anymore? Is this likely to even be worth it if only been in the job 9 years before leaving? b. How does the Australia pension system work re. state vs private? Trying not to let myself get in a flap about this but everything I read just confuses me even more thanks!!

Hi everyone, thanks for the useful tips - we're moving out next September, hopefully to northern suburbs of Brisbane and have 2 cats - quite worried about them trying to catch spiders/other critters as they love that here. Concerned they're going to get bitten or stung! Also, the wife is not good with spiders so any tips on keeping them away are great. Any other ideas on preventing the ants getting inside? When we were out in April they managed to get into sealed tuppawares! thanks Claire

I pretty much had to do the same with IOE in London. Delayed my skills assessment by about 3 months in the end but you will need it again when you register with the state (yes - have to go through ALL the same details even though you have proven it to get the skills assessment in the first place!). Persevere, will be worth it in the end :smile:

Hi all, Might sound a bit random but am I ok to ship my bamboo steamer? Occurred to me it might not be allowed under the untreated wooden material section. thanks! Claire

If they're still available we'd love one! The wife's been talking about getting one for ages here in the UK. Don't go until Sept 2015 but happy to stash it in the attic until then. my email is pepperclaire@hotmail.com thanks!

Have a look at movecube. They have different size 'cubes'; they come to your house with the cube in a little trailer that you then fill. We looked at them but had too much furniture so are probably going to get a section of a containerbut if it's just personal items etc should fit and be a cheaper alternative.

no, didn't seem to be an issue, presume as 11-18 covers 13-18 its ok.

Ok that's useful to know!

I needed to get a letter from my teacher training institute that listed how many days teaching practice I'd done and what age ranges. Took a few weeks of badgering the university but got there eventually! They included the names and addresses if both schools, the age of the students and how many days there on placement, it also include the start and end date as well as the title of the course. This was enough for AITSL when I applied 18 months ago. All approved, got our 189 visa last May, validated visa this April and were off next January! Good luck

Thanks for all your help everyone. We've got meetings with 2 different banks here in the UK today, will see what they can offer us in terms of interest rates and international banking in 18 months time. HSBC look pretty good as they can set us up with credit ratings etc in Australia.

ah ok, so we might be best getting a fixed rate for 18 months instead, and then taking everything with us in one go?

Dear all, We have our 189 PR visa and are planning to move January 2016. We are spending the next 18 months living with family and saving saving saving! We have a small inheritance currently which we are thinking of putting in an ISA fixed for 3 years, and may well inherit some more in the next year or so. My question is: Is it OK to have ISAs in the UK for the inheritance money to earn the best interest or will we have to declare this/close it when we leave/get massacred on moving the saved money across to Aus when we are ready to buy a house in 3-4 years time? Can we leave this ticking away earning interest in the UK after we have moved? We are hoping to save enough from our wages while living with the parents to cover the move, so can leave this inheritance money untouched in a fixed term. Hope this makes sense! I'm very clear on everything apart from the finances side of migrating, any help will be greatly appreciated Claire

We stayed at the Punthill Apartments in Spring Hill for 3 nights on our validation trip - good price and have little kitchenette which is handy - proper coffee and cafetiere provided There's a nice café/restaurant downstairs too (Jack and Hill's) which does lovely breakfasts etc. Only a 10 min stroll into the CBD and 5 min from Central station

We flew out for our validation trip earlier this month with Malaysian and were impressed but no footrest, sounds a tiny thing but I have a bad back and found it really made a difference - been trying to find out which airlines do have footrests - anyone know about Singapore? For our searching only Quantas seem to. thanks!

I did the academic one- same cost but covers more bases than the general training one, then if somewhere down the line I need it for work (teacher) then I have the higher level one. I got 8s and 9s (5 a levels - 2:1 - masters - pgce - teaching for 6 yrs) and it gave us the extra points we needed for our visa. My wife didn't do hers as she is on my visa so no need to do separate skills assessment.

Hi go to http://www.immi.gov.au/Pages/Welcome.aspx and see what type of visa you want/would qualify for. Before you start talking to agents etc check you have enough points to qualify for the visa you want e.g. if you want a permanent visa you will need at least 60 points and one of you to be on the recognised skills list.

Hi Not entirely sure how you can apply without a skills select invitation? In order to get the 189 visa you need to submit an occupation of the approved list and have a completed skills assessment from the organisation responsible for this. It might be different as you have enough points but the skills part was the key component for mine (teacher). How did you tick all the boxes for the initial skills select without the skills assessment? - what occupation are you citing? I would suggest that you email the immigration dept about this. sorry can't be more help

Hi My partner and I are flying nto Brisbane in April for 2 weeks. We need to come to validate our visa but only a fleeting visit as not got everything sorted to leave UK yet. Any tips and advice on where to go? We are slightly limited on money so can't do everything. It will also be our honeymoon so we don't want to be rushing about too much! Ideally we'd like to do some snorkelling on the reef, sunbathing and enjoying our honeymoon on a lovely beach, spend a couple of days in Brisbane too. Idea 1 was to fly up to Rockhampton and go out to Gt Keppel Island from Yeppoon for a couple of days, then travel by land back south along the sunshine coast, Idea 2 was to fly all the way up to Townsville and spend a week there then fly directly back to Brisbane and then drive up to Noosa etc and around there. Any suggestions on what to do/weather/where to go etc would be greatly appreciated!! C

There's actually a disclaimer and section of info about if you live in a country where it's not safe to be open. We've just got out 189 visa as a same-sex couple and we only had to provide evidence that lived at the same address for at least a year and had joint names on things like gas/electric bills. We're getting a civil partnership in February but they didn't request documentation to support that.

when it all comes through you've got 12 months to make 'first entry' to aus but the visa is valid for 5 years in total. As long as we go, even just for a short holiday before our 1 yr deadline of 6th June we've actually got until June 2018 to get ourselves organised and out there. You should be ok, but if worried there's not really any reason to rush. Get all the paperwork ready to go first, then lodge your skills. It took me ages (nearly 6 months) so get all transcripts etc together and certified.

depends how many points you have without it. I only did it as needed more points. you will need it before submit EOI but not before send off skills assessment.

Roughly: Skills posted - Nov 13 (requested extra info about teaching course so took bit longer than standard 10 weeks) IELTS test - mid Jan Skills approved- 8th March Lodged EOI - 15th March Visa Invite - within about 36 hours! Lodged visa within 6 week timeframe (this is why need to be dead organised re paperwork) Visa approved - 12th June. We're now in a pickle as it all happened ALOT quicker than expected and have to enter Aus by 12th June '14 and nowhere near ready! getting civily partnered in February so going on honeymoon at Easter then back to save up and hunt for jobs! The new EOI then invite for visa systems seems alot quicker than the old process.