GoldcoastMAD

oooo thanks Cal...I like the houseboat

Anyone ?

Hello, I'm planning on taking a trip to the sunshine coast in August for a few days on a reccie from the Gold coast, I'm going to look around buderim,Yaroomba,Alexandra Headland and Noosa as potential places to live...if a job was to come up . Any recommendations for a really nice B&B or hotel to stop at ( 2 adults & 2 children). Its a bit of a treat ,So i don't mind splashing out for a really really nice place. Also if you had a 2 day visit planned to the sunshine coast what would you do, where would you visit and where would you eat?:daydreaming:

Sorry , your first post mentioned them..Visa Bureau. Cant be to careful, as I've seen plenty of posts on here about peeps been ripped off by agents. But Visa Bureau , are all good

out of interest which agent are you using?

Yeah that post confused me , once your visa is granted you you will have one year from the date (which ever was first ) that the PCC or medical was done, to visit OZ and activate your PR visa ( presuming your going for a PR visa) . You must visit or move to OZ within a year of the Medical or PCC ( which ever was first) . The PCC or medicals are valid for a year ( i think), but this is only relevant to the date the visa is granted ...its relevant after.

I'd wait until July if i where you, at least then you will have a year to move, before your visa expires. Are you sure about 14 months...that seems a very long time, ours took 4 - 5 months to grant the visa after applying...and i submitted the medials and PCC after applying when requested by the case officer.

you can get them done at any time, just bare in mind that the first one you do... starts the clock ticking for the year you have to activate your visa. For example if your PCC was done tomorrow, then you would have one year from tomorrow to first visit OZ and activate your visa. Police check can be done online, and doesn't cost much https://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx medicals ; can be done at most private hospitals, check you local ones personally I'd wait until you submit your visa ...unless your in a rush.

IIRC the rabies tests are valid for two years

Pretty cheap I thought , for collection from PEQ, transport to Melbourne airport and flights to Gold coast total cost, for two dogs $473

Hi Whizzer, We're flying our Jack Russell and chihuahua over in august. Including all the vets fees, quarantine fees, Kennels, transport, 2 flights ( International and Internal ) its cost us about £4500

do you know anyone in Australia, who's address and phone number you can use temporary . I used a friends, and will update PEQ when i land with my address and OZ phone number

I know, its about the same for us! I'm sure the reason is something like "the trip must start and end in the UK" for standard Insurance..I'm sure someone will confirm this. Go walkabouts seems to be the cheapest for us

This has kinda got me thinking ( sorry to hijack the thread) - What's the actually difference between one way travel insurance and normal travel insurance and can we just purchase normal insurance and be covered? Its seems adding the word "Emigration" to insurance policy increases the costs by 4 to 10 times more than normal travel Insurance and the polices seem to cover less. And Looking at the policy for Go walkoutbouts here http://www.go-walkabout.co.uk/wordings/GWEmigration2015KeyFacts.pdf - it still states that you must be a UK Resident: "Are a resident* of the United Kingdom or Channel Islands" *We define a resident as being someone who has their main home in the United Kingdom or the Channel Islands and has not spent more than six months abroad in the year beforebuying this policy.

my bad, should have been DUinsure a few others as well : go-walkabout insureandgo essentialtravel I'd try travelsupermarket as well for more options

Hi Marie, Were moving in August and this is something I need to sort out as well. I was going to get one way travel insurance, via Dinsure or STA travel as recommended by a few on here. But i didn't see the point in getting any cover in Oz as we have a PR visa....and should be OK to register for Medicare immediately.

I have found this website very useful when looking at primary schools, you can compare academic performance http://bettereducation.com.au/CompareSchools/primary/qld/compare_qld_primary_schools.aspx

Hello, Depends were you live for state schools, as they have catchment areas and most of the school enrolments are managed... see here http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/maps/edmap/

this helped me pass http://ielts-simon.com/

I found the the IELTS simon website better that he official book ielts-simon.com moving to Gold coast this august

No , not for a native English speaker .Study , and understand the test format ...it's not that difficult . My English , especially spelling isn't great

7s = 10 points 8s ( and above) = 20 points but be aware that you must score the minimum in each Reading , writing, listing and Speaking. its not the average combined. for example if you got 8 in speaking 8 in listening, 8 in reading and a 7 in writing then you overall score would be classified as a 7 .

Good thread here on DIY shipping....to be honest if you were to compare DIY with golden arrow, I'm not sure you would save a great deal. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/pets/214692-emigrating-pets-d-i-y.html

If you work in IT and live in the Gold Coast , Brisbane or Tweed Heads areas, I would like to connect with you on LinkedIn as I'm relocating to Australia soon. Please connect with me https://au.linkedin.com/in/mtdmitchell

No issue, I wish you all the best...just trying to make my point and not put the Op off migration