peterc1983

I'm surprised that you're surprised.

I never completed a form 80 at all, and was never asked to.

I guess your two main concerns are where your children will continue to be educated, and where you can live that will allow you both to continue working. I suppose the work aspect has to take priority as without jobs to keep everything ticking over you won't be doing much of anything else. If you've never been to Oz it's tricky to say where exactly would be best; you may find clues on this forums as to where may best support your careers. I tend to think that any of the major cities will have something in your field; but since I work in IT I perhaps have more scope than others in this regard. This is all a moot point, however, unless you qualify for visas. Maybe it's best to start looking at whether you're likely to get your visa granted; then let that move you on to other things?

Highest interest rate for a cash deposit in WA I could see was with an online bank called Rabobank: https://www.rabodirect.com.au/personal-savings/notice-saver/ .. (admittedly a quick check, though) There are probably comparable accounts in the UK too, fixed term deposits or FTSE kick out plans etc. Since you have a property in the UK you said you are keeping, the rental income will have to declared but if you pay tax on it in the UK it can be offset in Oz. As far how much to deposit; if it were me I'd really want to know how much tax I'd be paying overall, and wether it'd be cheaper for me to move it all to Australia. If you're not intending on returning to the UK then you'd only need to keep a minimal amount there (if anything at all), to cover incidental costs in maintaining your property. Presumably though, the rental income should do this job for you in the main. I'm not an accountant/tax adviser though

I'm based in Glasgow (but will be moving to Perth in the Spring). I'm currently recruiting for IT and the market is very much in the candidates favour just now. I think it might be difficult for you to get back into development unless you've been keeping up on recent tech and the like. Your skill-set might mean breaking back into IT is fine -- but developers tend not to be so great if they take long breaks from it, in my experience. According to the recruiters we had in today and on Friday, it's not only IT where there is a labour shortage just now so you may not find it as difficult as you suppose to get a job. Saying that; being offshore just now might make it very difficult for you to get offers: we certainly have great difficulty with offshore applicants when it comes to any kind of meaningful checking/validation. Also, depending on visa status, it can be quite a financial risk for us if the future visa status is uncertain. (in your case though, I'm presuming this won't hold true).

If the EU referendum that Cameron has already promised (if re-elected) goes ahead, the UK could withdraw from the Treaty of Lisbon and do what they want anyway. They still could ignore the EU immigration stuff, as they have certain powers that they reserve as sovereign; but free trade/movement is one of the formative principles of the EU, so I'm not sure that they could just take out that 'bit' and stay in the EU.

Knee-jerk politics appears to be the way the UK is run now. Another example of how the parties in power are not representative of public sentiment.

I only claimed exactly what the ACS told me they considered skilled. Since I was going to be sending the ACS assessment as evidence at some stage, I presumed it would be cross-referenced to verify.

I guess the general problem with software tester vs engineer, in my experience, is that one does not equal the other in development aptitude. This will be why they have different codes and presumably have different 'duties' the ACS outline in their documentation. In short, I'd say no. Unless you get reassessed and can meet the requirements for the other skill code.

It depends on how many hours and whether it can truly be said to relate to your chosen skill.

Agree with respect to the car. I won't be buying one until I assess there is a need for one. I'll only be with my sis for 3 weeks, so need to get a job fast. To be fair, your experience with applying for a job are kind of what I'd expect so I'm just waiting until I arrive (even though I have my 189 now).

It sounds as though you're saying you lodged the Expression of Interest, not the full visa application? In which case the wait is an indeterminate amount of time. This part seems not to have a measured timeframe you can rely on. Mines took 24hrs to be invited to apply for the visa, others have been much much longer. For the 189 visa application itself (after the EOI is accepted) the timeframe that is given on the IMMI site is 3 months. Of course, it could be longer if a case officer needs more details etc, or they are particularly busy. As for the medicals; I personally went ahead and arranged for them to be done before a CO asked anything. There could be case for waiting, as your final visa entry date is relative to the medical checks or police checks (whichever came first), as you only have 12 months from their dates to enter the country once the visa is granted.

I find myself thinking this a lot when I'm going through my flat just now and clearing stuff out .. I'd rather have extra space for clothes than kitchenware.

Personally I'm aiming for far more than 3 months salary. Whilst I'm even going to be staying with my sister initially and therefore have almost no cost in that respect, I'm very cautious about having some capital to allow me to buy things straight away. A car for example, or the bond for a new apartment, furnishings etc etc. Depends what you bring with you, and what you plan to leave behind I suppose. And also where you plan to stay initially, whether you have a job lined up. Still, I'd rather be stuck indoors just now saving than out of pocket when I hit Oz

I use MoneyCorp to do exactly this. Every month I send at a minimum £1k to my MoneyCorp account, and then when the exchange rate is good I buy the dollars, and send it onward to my Australian account (NAB). If you're a member of this website, transactions are free at MoneyCorp due to a special offer. Even if you were paying the charge, I think it's fairly reasonable (flat rate of £7 I think it was) - obviously better if you send in bulk rather than so frequently in this case. The MoneyCorp/NAB forums on here will help you. They have a 'sticky' post outlining how to do this.

NAB don't charge fees.. only trouble was with the security code to activate online banking. It doesn't arrive to your phone if with certain UK mobile operators .. on the other hand, since it's 'read-only', you can only check your balance anyway until you arrive in Oz.

Have you asked her how she feels about moving back?

If you do the RPL, will you not have enough points (with a 20 from IELTS)?

The only ones you should need to attach are ones that say either "Required" or "Requested". The list is quite exhaustive, and I didn't think left any scope for ambiguity.. Generally speaking; qualifications, passport, birth certificate, skills assessment, police check, references. Others if requested. Some Form 80.. this will all depend on whichever visa you actually have (as stated the one you quote doesn't exist).

Since your education is not related to the skill you are claiming for visa purposes, you would be relying solely on your work experience. On the suitability criteria front; you will be required to complete a Recognition of Prior Learning in order to be achieve a positive assessment. The details for which are https://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/12659/Recognition-of-Prior-Learning-RPL.pdf That document seems to indicate that if, and only if, your ANZSCO code ties up with your work experience you might be OK. 6 years are required, you say you have 7. Bottom line is I don't think anyone could say 100% either way. My opinion is that it appears very tight; you'd need to provide two project reports that demonstrate your knowledge for the ANZSCO code chosen. If you feel you have points elsewhere you can claim, then perhaps it's not so much of a gamble.

I'd say you need to get onto them ASAP to ensure they know the score. On the other hand, one would hope they'd spot this and query it with you first when the CO is assigned. Obviously though, if it's granted incorrectly it may prove problematic when the passport says something differently. It may not be as bad as you think though -- it's not like it's a totally different name altogether. Still, it took about 10 days before I got any response from my CO when I emailed documents.

You get the results of parts of the medical on the day. The hospital I went to told me you would only be contacted about the blood and/or x-ray if something was wrong. I was never contacted. Start to finish the 189 visa process was 3 months for (almost t to the day). Unsure if it's much different for 190.

Do you really need to claim the points for employment? I mean, they're going to assess your skills-set from your education as relevant. It just seems like a lot of hurt for points that you possibly don't need if your job title(s) are proving to be troublesome. If you do need the points; will it not be easier to get 20pts from the IELTS?

Save it as a smaller PDF.

When you leave the UK you are supposed to inform HMRC/Inland Revenue before you go. http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/forms/view.page?record=5Ay4eloD0nw&formid=766 There may be tax implications.