Huntersmummy

Good afternoon my beautiful pommies! Goodness me, if happiness was on a scale measured in weight, I'd be that fat vampire in Blade! Visa was actually granted yesterday morning! Shippings booked....so far everything is going well! We're not actually leaving till mid Oct but thought id throw a Q if anyone has a camper van, van that sleeps etc etc for sale or thinking of selling in the future? Cant afford accommodation until we find a rental so doing it van-style! Thanks! Much love!

Hiya! We used Immigration2Oz and they do seminars in London...erm can't remember where off the top of head but they are great. Reasonably priced fees, roughly £3500. Met the owner when he was doing a seminar along with his son and the girls that work in the office, Tiffany and Bianca. Been pain free thus far with sending documents. Could be a little bit more in touch with us (We always seem to email them first) but thats just me being fussy!! Be careful thou and plenty of research helps! Good luck! Sarah

Hiya!! The shipping company we went with (PSS) said you best not ship aerosols...deodorant, polish, that kinda stuff as they would get rid of it anyways for some silly reason......??? Best Of Luck! Sarah

You'd think £10,000 would get them to sort it out but obviously, its not quite enough money! xx

Hiya Cherries Same Boat!! Well almost, apparently my immigration officer said they start looking at the visa's again from June so when we applied, we missed out on the first check and have to wait another few days but I've just been shafted regarding my medical....(I hope you don't!!) So yes, anytime after june is when they start giving answers. If that makes sense!?? Best wishes, Sarah

Oh shi.....take mushrooms! I need help....someone out there MUST be in the same boat!?? I got an email from our immigration to say my medical has been deferred due to my $%&%&£$%@!:@ "deep breath" rheumatoid arthritis and they need a report to say "Im ok" "What dosage of meds I'm ok" "Am I going to need a hip replacement in 5-10 years" (I bloody hope not!!) Only thing is, the immigration company won't (Cant??!!) ask for the report and my consultant won't send the report to them! I don't know what to do? Who to call? Ghostbusters!? If anyone has had a letter from Bupa fro ma medical officer??? I feel as useless as a cat flap in a submarine!! Thank you

Hiya!! We WERE going with PSS. Someone from Pickfords and PSS come round and we would of gone with Pickfords but PSS was £500 cheaper. There is a charge which Pickfords didn't mention on arrival to OZ of $150 odd dollars....then $20 a day storage. BUT PSS have been a bit of a pain with the constant "follow up" calls. "Are you ready to move yet?" "Are you still going to use us?" Blah blah blah. But we might look into Anglo Pacific first before making a decision! Good luck in who you choose!

Afternoon everyone I was pondering, as one does when waiting for work to start... We're moving to Darwin, end of july (Has been put forward AGAIN!!) but the housing situation is a pain in the ar.......m! We were going to book 3 weeks holiday accommodation then see if we could find a modest, not too fussy place which I've gathered is no way near enough time but trying to keep costs down, I suggested living at a caravan park/camp site for longer until my husband secures work. Has anyone been that stupid/crazy/brave to do that??? Much love Sarah!

Hello everyone We're leaving for Darwin at the end of may and for months now, I've been working non stop to try and raise enough cash (After saving for holiday accommodation, flights etc etc) to take our pet cat, Clive along with us. We've had quotes ranging from £3000 to £5000 but the recent company said the prices were going up AGAIN and melbourne was going to be the only place for quarantine and they would cut the days done from 10 to 3 BUT the price is going up. We have enough money to sort ourselves out and get started but £3000 for the cat is going to kill our budget. (The cat costs more than our flights being a family of 4!!!) Its sooooo expensive and completely unfair that it looks like we have to leave him. My two little kids are totally in love with the cat, like most cat owners will agree, its not just a cat, he's OUR cat, he's part of the family. My husband and I just can't work enough hours in the day to pay for him!

We got our visa accepted this morning!!! *Do the truffle shuffle* Immigration2Oz sent it off on monday and we got confirmation today!!! We didn't get our 190 visa as planned for the NT as getting one is like pulling teeth! Apparently because a 190 a straight invite in and people were going for it and not staying in state so they end up giving you a 489 but you have to stay in the state for 2 years, work for 12 months doing over 35 hours, then you can move anywhere you want. (We went my husbands carpentry skills) Bonus is you still get the perks of a 190 visa (schools, healthcare etc) Hopefully a bit of useful information for people applying for the NT! So yeah, not sure what to do now, still in shock I think! Vengaboys sang ...."We're going to Ibiza" We sing "We're coming to Australia!!!"

Hiya guys! Just a quick Q... I'm a healthcare assistant. No qualifications, just bog standard, day to day looking after the oldies. Whilst on a general browse of jobs in the Darwin area, I can't find a single job equivalent! (I would like to work in a care home setting type of thing) There are care homes out there BUT thats all I can find out??? Any help on job title's, qualifications they look for etc would be a massive help! Thanks!

Thanks for your replies guys! Another bonus of being psoriasis free when moving abroad! Cant wait! x

Hello my lovely lot.Whilst we're waiting for our visa to come through....... Just a quick question regarding a common problem. My husband and I have suffered from skin problems, I have severe psoriasis and arthritis and husband has it to and keloids. (Scarring of the skin, bit like stretch marks) Now its better in summer due to the warm weather (well for about the 2 weeks of summer you get in the uk) So technically moving to a hot country, would make you feel tip top? Has anyone ever noticed their health get better due to emigrating to oz? Is OZ actually good for you? Many kind regards Sarah

Hi Ros. Thanks for replying! Can I ask, how much is the air freight costing you to ship the tools over? Sarah

Hiya guys I would love to just know how people actually moved to OZ? My husband and I are waiting for our visa to come through and are looking at shipping our stuff over... BUTTTTTTT...... I'm confused as to when to ship and when to fly over? (after visa has been granted of course) Husband needs his tools so being the breadwinner, he can't be out of work for long but if we move to get a permanent address THEN ship our stuff, the minimum its going to take, is 7 weeks. We can't wait 7 weeks for his tools Has anyone shipped their stuff over, then flew over and found a house OR flew over, found a house THEN shipped stuff over? God, I've even confused myself. If anyone can make sense or get what I mean??? Thank you! xxx

Thanks girls! That will put my old man at ease. He does worry because we're going on his visa, its pressure and he wants to do well. Bless him. Thanks again for your help! xxx

Evening to all Just a little thread to throw out there to any carpenters who have emigrated on a 189 skilled sponsorship visa. My dear old husband has his technical assessment soon as part of his skills test and is pooing enough bricks to build a house! Has anyone done this before? Just a little heads up to know if the assessor will be sneaky and try to catch him out kinda thing or is it "looks hard but is easy" type of thing?? Many thanks and high 5's! Sarah x

I cant believe how nice everyone is! I know I seem to go round in circles, do I, dont I... Ive told husband that on the conditions of: A: an agreement in written in order to bring kids back if it doesnt work after a fair amount of time, ie a year. B: he goes over first for 6 weeks to sort everything out before I drag the kids out. C: I agree to give it a shot and go in full hearted instead of being a moany old fart. I feel better knowing that I can take the kids over to somewhere with all their toys/fimiliarities. I wish I could hug everyone! Again your advice has been invaluable. I guess ill know if I give it a shot.....reminds me of the time I tried beansprouts for the first time. Turned out ok! Xx

To answer a question thats been asked before. The reason Oz is on the cards as husband travelled/worked there a few years ago in Berri?? (Where ever that is in Oz) and he sang its praises watching his friends with kids have an awesome life. Now this is fast forward a few years with a wife, 2 small kiddies and a cat in tow. I keep trying to explain life is different, places change etc but again he's adamant it will be fine. And 1 reason that don't need to be gone into, we want to be as far away from a certain family member and the "thing" he's married too. Although don't get me wrong, being away from them is purely a bonus of getting to leave the uk! As for other family, scattered in scotland and essex so rarely get to see them but I talk every other day so thats 1 reason I don't want to go! But he couldn't care less about his family. "Always on the other end of the phone" As for kids....he's said we'll work as a family. If it doesn't work for them, we'll come back. If it doesn't work for me thou and kids do ok, we stay. If i love it and kids love it and he doesn't, he'll make it work. How that works I don't know! Is Oz REALLY all that......Ha.......*sad face* Someone must be on here who's moved and loves it??!!

Thanks everyone. I don't want to come across all jeremy kyle guest but I feel like my marriage is riding on this. Hence the pressure! I want to be positive and less old farty but its so damn hard! If kids weren't involved, then no way would I go. Theres positive and negatives on both sides to wanting to leave but right at this very moment, negatives outweigh the positives. Cue another heart to heart...and 3 bottles of wine!

I know the case of "If it doesn't work..." is going to be a financial nightmare, complete pain and an avenue I want to stay away from BUT... Husband wants to go, husband wants to take the kids, husband thinks we'll survive and have a better life, husband is the adventurer. Me being 27 am quite an old fart. I like routine, a little job on the side, a holiday once a year kinda thing. I know I'm doing a 360 on what I recently put but more heart to heart convo's and me TRYING to be positive about such a massive upheaval but in honesty, I'm broken. Husband has said he'll resent me if I backed out. (Btw, he's not a bad person, he just wants this soooo bad) I want to give my kids a better life, Im trying to be a good parent. I don't want to take this opportunity away from them because Im settled in my ways. I'm full of doubt. Hopefully things will work out and its not as bad as I think or ppl here have written. Sorry for the winge but today is a down day and constantly fighting with myself to do the right thing even though I risk MY happiness.....as long as my kids and husband are happy. You give that right up when you have kids don't you?

Hello again all. i thought you might like an update since I started this thread. We took on board everyone's comments and advice and "drum roll" we've decided to do it! I know it'll be hard, we'll fight, I'll win but the bottom line for us has always been "if we don't do it and years later regret it..." Not sure where we're going yet (Perths off the menu now) but wherever we end up, I'm sure it'll be the right choice. As as for the spiders, I've never met a spider who has won a scrap against my wedge shoe I'll be back asking more questions and begging for help I'm sure at some point but thanks again to everyone Means a lot to us sarah + Wayne xx

Well again thank you all for your opinions and advice. Its opened up a lot of questions especially regarding the kiddies that I didnt really think about. I mean id like to think my husband wouldnt be an arse and try to keep the kids there if we did go and it didnt work out but.... I know im gonna get shot down for this but I did say if we did move, I wanted to be in a city/big town near a hospital incase we get eaten by spiders....yes I know its a stupid reason.....google fills you with dread! Hence the reason we said perth....also seemed like the "it" place to go....again, google's fault! Well see....if we did stay here we would move to cornwall but we still have to content with chavs/bad weather/expensive petrol! Although im cautious, oz does tickle me in a way that id like to experience. Either that or I have a rash Bad joke, but thank u all again! Time to chat with the husband i guess.

Well firstly thanks to everyone who commented Secondly, yes I know I'm not 100% on going only because I'm scared of it going ****/arse up and struggling with two small children a million miles from family. All I want out of this is to think my husband gets to spend more time at home. Our "Aussie dream" (if life goes the way we want) was to come over, buy a bit of land eventually and open up a cattery for myself to run and husband to have his own carpentry business for our sons to take over...and me to be a size 10 Husband tells my stories of employment there of £80 an hour jobs for trades and living "cheap but not caravan/tent" we could survive on £1000 a month. I just see it as unrealistic, it costs us £1300 a month here and we only rent a small 2 bed bungalow! We'd love to give our sons a better life, an Aussie lifestyle of surfing, bbq-ing and to have a business so we CAN live comfortably. I know we can come back if all else fails but it's really a case of do we do it and see if we can "one wage live" until I can find work or regret it??

Just looking for advice from folks who have a reluctant partner... Long story short, husband worked in OZ few years ago and said to me about emigrating.....mmmmm.....ok Fast forward 3 years, 2 kids later and 1 marriage, we just put in our application for the visa. I have my doubts that we wont be able to survive on his wages alone (i dont have a "proper job" as such, im a sales assistant) Husband is a carpenter. Were going to perth hopefully. I see OZ as stupidly expensive from what ive read online about day to day living. Im terrified our 30 grand savings wont go far and he'll work longer just to keep us afloat until we can put both kids into kindergarden. Has anyone moved and done ok on one wage? I think my husbands looking through rose tinted glasses.