CaptainC

To bring the subject back to the question asked by the OP. This is my personal experience. This is old information and may no longer be valid but when I applied for a visa and took my son to Australia to live in 2008 I had to go to court and obtain a Special Issue Order. I dug out the email from DIAC (as it was then) and they stated; "In order to apply for an Australian visa for your son to migrate to Australia, you must obtain a court order giving you the full rights to remove your son from the UK and determine where he lives." I had to get permission from 'all persons with parental responsibility for the child' and convince a judge in the family court that although this decision was made by a parent and consent was granted by the other parent, that a move to Australia would not be detrimental to the child's welfare. That all being said this was 5+ years ago and policies do change so I would recommend contacting DIBP via email or telephone or reading some of the fact sheets/booklets that they have on their website. Good luck

That's a relief. I don't want to even imagine how long it would take to get a subject access from the MOD what with that official secrets act and suchlike, but I suspect 'an eternity' would be a good guess!

Great! Thanks Baz

Ok that should be fine. I have those. I was thinking more about whether they asked for conduct reports (all honourable I must say....just!) or any other kind of personnel records.

13 years away at sea preceded by 6 years in the British Army. I missed countless Christmases, birthdays, anniversaries, and even my sisters wedding. I was lucky I was home for the birth of my son. It's become a way of life for me as I have spend more time away from home in my adult years than at home. My wife still finds it difficult when I leave but my son takes it in his stride as it's all he's ever known. It's quite a sad situation but it pays the bills and then some. The advantage is that I get to spend good quality time at home and I appreciate every minute I get with family.

As a former member of the armed forces I was wondering if anybody has faced additional questions or requests for military service records from DIAC following a declaration of service in the forces on form 80. I have found that the MOD offer a subject access disclosure of personnel records which I intend to apply for if necessary. I'd like to be prepared for any eventuality when applying for a visa. Thanks

If you PM with your email. I will pass on what I have got from other candidates along with some study materials.

Not all applicants get requested to complete form 80. Some just do it anyway. I imagine that both applicants will need to complete one each, but someone with more expertise here would be able to answer that part of the question. By the way I like your profile pic, JFT96

I agree. So people, honestly is always the best policy.

Brilliant idea. I completely forgot about those!

Same situation, I met my wife on the cruise ships too. But luckily she's a kiwi so can apply for a 444 visa (which is free) so I save a few pennies there! I don't have any freeboard notices or OLB because I spent the majority of my career on cruise ships and was NT tax code so I never had to prove my overseas travel to HMRC. I reckon if I delved deep enough into the internet if be able to pull out some itineraries that passengers have posted on cruisecritic.com or something like that....cruise passengers are pretty keen on letting others know where they've been and when! Also might have some old brochures at my parents house and they generally have the itinerary on the back. I have heaps of visa stamps in my old passport so that will help no end I imagine. I'll just do what I can for that and add a note saying how difficult it is to be completely accurate with dates, but as you know, we hardly spend more than a day in any one place. Overnights in port are a luxury! I wonder if our mutual friend has itineraries from when we sailed on the same ship albeit only for a few weeks. I'll email him.

I guess it is (almost) the most satisfying feeling ever when you get to the last page!

How did you manage to detail all the countries you visited for just a day? It's almost impossible for me to remember where I've been, let alone when. I asked this question before and somebody advised to write a note attached to the form 80 saying that to the best of my knowledge etc. but I think there's between 150-180 countries that I've been to....possibly up to 200. Just wondering what advice you have for this?

Yep I agree, it was not funny in any way shape or form! Swerved a bit and stopped....abruptly! I'd been scuba diving so I got one of my fins out of the boot and coaxed it onto it before chucking it into the verge. Laughed about it afterwards though. Either that or cry I suppose!

I have never been scared of the majority of insects, arachnids, reptiles etc. but whilst driving from Airlie beach down the coast to Sydney a few years ago I felt like a terrified Dr Doolittle. First incident was a harmless turtle in the road, so I stopped and gave it a lift to the other side of the road, it snapped at me and I dropped it...thankfully on the grass. Second incident, noticed something out if the corner of my eye while driving, then realised a mahoooosive huntsman crawling out of the vents inside my car. Third incident (about 20 mins after huntsmangate) stopped for a pee at the side of the road and three feet away from my foot sat a brown snake.....looking at me. Fourth and thankfully final incident was a Kamakaze kangaroo. Only just stopped before hitting it. Needless to say road trips are no fun for me!

Spincsuraj, I notice you haven't heard anything since Jan 2013, in my opinion if the agent is not forthcoming with any information after one year then you are quite within your rights to contact the CO directly. Also if it was me I'd be having serious words with the agent over the lack of information and probably dispensing of his/her services. I hope you haven't paid this 'agent' too much money. Remember the agent is your 'employee' working on your behalf. Ultimately it's your application......contact the CO yourself. Good luck

I heard rumours that Yate's in Blackpool had a big fire. Not sure on the validity of this info as I overheard it in Starbucks maybe as long as a year or more ago. I also went there whilst I was studying at Fleetwood Nautical College. Good times.

There is an element of nostalgia, most definitely. It's all relative to your own experiences of life though I suppose. I thought the 80's were brilliant, but I had a different outlook then, and I don't think if have relished being an adult in that era. I'm sure my parents would love to back in the 60's because they never stop talking about it! Ironically though they almost made a move to Oz in the mid 70's because they thought the same about the UK as I do now!

We've gone completely off topic now. I never had the pleasure of seeing him at Liverpool sadly, Sammy lee had already taken his place! Anyway I think we'll start annoying other posters with football talk. I'll stop now, Take care.

Yeah those were the days.....hopefully coming around again. You'll have seen my dad's cousin play......Jimmy Case.

I hope it's not too late, the OP was a month ago. :-s

Collecting and swapping panini stickers and sitting on my dad's shoulders in the Kop. Sigh.......

Oh I didn't mean the UK as a whole, I meant Blackpool and other places in the UK especially seaside towns. There's loads of growth elsewhere.... Liverpool being one of them ;-)

I see your point, but I was 6 then. No bills, no worries!! I'll rephrase....I wish I was a kid again!

I completely agree with that. British seaside towns don't get the kind of investment needed to survive. The only industry they have in general is tourism. No investment = no tourists = no income = no investment......and repeat. I remember being sick with excitement in the car on the way to Blackpool when I was young. I took my son a few months ago and hoped he'd have the same feelings as I did but I don't think he did, it seems so run down and bare. It's very sad. Much like the rest of the UK it's dying, but I suppose this is why we are here on this forum....because we all want to/already live in Australia. If the UK was like it was 20-30 years ago I think i'd be happy to stay.