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Thanks for all the replies. That pretty much confirms what I was thinking.

Has anyone booked flights to UK for Christmas in the last couple of years? I know it will be a lot more expensive than other times of the year, but wondering when the best time to book is? Are they at their cheapest now and just likely to continue to increase in price from now? Any advice would be welcome.

I am living in Melbourne and was looking at apartment options for a family of 3. You will find a 2 bed apartment within that price range the issue for me is that the living areas are usually very small, especially in the newer apartments. I have been looking around Kensington, Ascot Vale, Moonee Ponds, Brunswick, Carlton, Abbotsford basically all around the inner north. I am now looking at townhouses which you will get for around $900k, which once your wife is working should be achievable for you. I was shocked at how much money the bank was prepared to lend us, when I spoke to them a couple of months ago. If you are prepared to live in an apartment then I don't think there will be any issue with you managing on one salary for 6 months. Depending on your wife's profession it could take a while to find a job so best to start look early once you arrive.

I was just emailed this today : Child Protection Worker or Field Worker. job with Government of Western Australia | 1401720765 (communitycare.co.uk)

Based on your description of your experience I would expect it to be fairly easy for you to find a job, but maybe not specifically in adoption. Social worker Child Welfare, Youth & Family Services, Psychology, Counselling & Social Work Jobs in All Perth WA - SEEK https://search.jobs.wa.gov.au/page.php?pageID=215&windowUID=0#report

Yes that is what I thought. However when you go through to submit the visa it asks you to attach documents and then a drop down menu had options to attach as I mention above. It said you can submit with no documents but you are at risk of it not being accepted? Bit confused but think we will do a Stat dec stating has committed no further offences, then submit and hope for the best.

Just to update for those interested in a timeline, my husbands UK passport has now been posted to us and due to arrive 21st June. Hopefully it will keep close to that timeline if so then will have taken under 2 months as originally applied and post from Australia on 30th April.

Hi Hoping someone can assist with this query. I am just in the process of applying for RRV for myself and husband as we are travelling outside of Australia for a holiday in August. We have been in Australia for 5 years, and have only left once for a 2 week holiday in 2019. I completed the application for myself and it just requested proof of change of name - marriage certificate. For my husbands application it is asking for documents to be attached related to "character" options are court documents, Police check overseas, Police check Australia, Statement of Events, Statutory declaration. Does anyone have experience of this and how many of these documents are needed? The advice / information is just general for any visa application nothing specific to RRV. Obviously when we applied for our original visa we provided all details of my husbands only criminal offence which is over 25 years old and there have been no further offences committed since then. Do we need to request a new Police check from UK and Australia to submit, hoping not? Many Thanks

Thanks for the replies. We applied at end April, passport arrived at Durham office on 12th May but still only showing as passport received. So they will have had it a month next week, hopefully there will be some action then.

Just wondering did you apply for the emergency travel document, and was this an easy process? We may be in the same position soon as husband's passport is with office in Durham. Still have 8 weeks but getting nervous.

Which area of Social Work do you currently work in? I can point you in the right direction if you let me know. I am a Social Worker currently in Melbourne but I was working in NSW for nearly 3 years. You need to get a certificate to say you eligible for membership of AASW but don't actually need to have membership for some jobs. It is fairly straight forward to get your skills assessed if you completed the degree in UK or Ireland. NSW Health are a large employer, they have jobs not just in hospital SW but also some Child Protection related jobs, family violence and also drug and alcohol. I worked for them for 18 months and found them to be a good employer, conditions are good compared to UK despite the complaints of some if my Australian colleagues. NSW Health Careers - Jobs I think if you have 2 years experience then generally it is easier to find a job. I found I had to go in at a slightly lower level initially but once I got some Australian experience quickly moved up.

I was planning on applying soon, so also interested on realistic timeline.

Kensington 3031. Close to CBD 2 train lines, tram and bus, nice cafes and a couple of restaurants, but pretty quiet.

BeachBabe2022 I lived in Bathurst and worked in Orange for nearly 2 years, just moved back to Melbourne at the end of 2021. Everyone I worked with in Orange loved it there and never wanted to leave, it is a nice community and for a small town there is a lot to do lots of nice cafes, bars and festivals. (When no Covid lockdowns!) I would say there are no more issues with drugs than in any other town, and having worked at the health service I should know. If you like small town country living then it's a good choice. If you work in health there are a lot of job opportunities in the Western NSW region, also mining and some education jobs. Personally for me I hated being so far from the coast, very little breeze during the summer, so many flies, although we were there during one of the hottest summers 2019/2020. I didn't find the winters too bad, it does get down to minus temperatures over night but usually warmed up during the day. Just make sure your house has heating! After a while I found the distance to any larger town with more things to do annoying, driving to Sydney for weekends seems like a good idea initially but I found we went a lot less than we thought we would. Also it made me realise that I am a city person, which is why we have now moved back to Melbourne and won't be moving again!

You don't have to get a buy to let mortgage in order to rent the property out in the UK. When we moved to Australia we weren't able to sell our house, so just requested permission to rent it out from our mortgage provider. When the fixed term rate was coming to an end I was able to just start a new fixed term option through my online banking. We are still renting it out and on the same mortgage 4.5 years later. Completing the UK tax return and then being taxed in Australia on the income is a bit of a pain, but you get used to doing and is rarely easy as the income is usually the same each year. We don't actually pay any tax on it in the UK as the income is under the threshold. Good option if you are not 100% sure on buying in Australia or if you can't sell your house.