kmrg

I don't know the answer but I am also very interested in this, as may return to UK. Which state are you in? My son is only 2.5 years old but just found out he won't start school here in Melbourne until he is coming up to 6 yo as he is a May birthday.

Hi I am presuming that you will be doing shift work so may not have to worry to much about rush hour traffic. You will be going against the traffic out of town anyway so may not be too bad. I lived in Kensington which is just west of centre of Melbourne, some areas in the west which I think are nice are Williamstown, Yarraville, Newport, Seddon. It is depend on your budget.

Sorry just realised if one parent is Australian then you won't need the citizenship certificate.

I have just completed the process for both Australian and UK passport for a child. The UK one was very straight forward and all completed online, you can take your own photograph and upload which was very helpful when trying to take a photo of a baby! The only part which maybe tricky is finding a person in the UK to verify your ID as they need to be one of the occupations on the list eg teacher, doctor. The whole process only took about 3 weeks. Australian one is a bit more tricky as you need to request the citizenship certificate first before applying for the passport. On the website it says it can take up to 60 days for the application to be processed for the citizenship certificate but mine arrived within 2 weeks. Australian passport photos have stricter rules, and I had the photo taken professionally to ensure it was correct. The post office will check through the application and photos before sending off to check that it is all correct. Again once application sent off, the passport arrived within 2-3 weeks.

Thanks for your repky. Ok so does that mean on the form the justice of the peace writes they have known the applicant for 0 months?

Hi all, I have recently had a baby, who will be an Australian citizen as born in Australia to myself and my husband who are permanent residents. We will be travelling to the UK in September and I am about to apply for UK and Australian passports for him. The UK passport application looks fairly straightforward and allows the baby to have their eyes closed in the photograph which is great! However the Australian passport application appears a bit more complicated and I was wondering if their is anyone who has recently been through this process who could offer advice? My understanding is that in order to prove the baby's citizenship, I will need to apply for an Australian citizenship certificate before applying for the Australian passport? This is due to the fact that we are not Australian citizens ourselves. The application for the Australian Citizenship certificate requires form 1195 to be completed and identity confirmed through a photograph of the baby signed by someone who has known him for 12 months (or I presume from birth) However there is a list of people who can confirm the identity and I do not know anyone in Australia who has one of these occupations eg teacher, psychologist, justice of peace. I presume I can't just go to a Justice of the Peace and get them to sign the form and photo as they don't know me? Not sure what to do and I know if we just travel with UK passport for baby that this will cause problems when returning to Australia. Thanks in advance.

Hi triciamce8, Yes I had to redo the writing component of the IELTS as I got 7.5 on the first go. I just did all the online practice papers and did quite a lot of study in the few weeks before to make sure I was prepared. I also found the listening difficult at first as you really have to concentrate to hear what is being said, but got used to it after a few practice goes. Yes, I got the 189 visa. When I arrived in 2017 I already had 4 years post qualifying experience and also had relevant experience from before I qualified so haven't found it difficult to find work at all. However it depends what type of work you would like to do, and I have found that most work is for 12 month contracts rather than permanent positions. It would probably be best if you could get a years post qualifying work experience first in the UK before coming over. My experience is in adults social work, I have worked three temporary contracts since I arrived as both hospital social worker and also as an NDIS support coordinator. Some of the adults roles here in Australia don't require a social work degree, particularly in the disability sector. However I have found even for roles which don't require a social work degree I am being paid more than I was in the UK for qualified Social Worker roles.

Very interested in this, as we are planning on flying back to Uk in September with what will then be a 3 month old baby. We were not planning on travelling so soon but a wedding has come up which we don't want to miss. Friends have advised that it's better to fly when baby less than 6 months as they will sleep more. Hoping this is the reality!

I was just looking this up today. It stated if you are a permanent resident in Australia you have the right to live and work in New Zealand. What is not clear to me is if you move to NZ before you become an Australian citizen, could you return to Australia at a later date or would you need to apply for a resident return visa??

Hi sorry I have realised my information may be out of date as I have been here 18 months now, they must have changed the process. That is a very long wait, even with the 32 weeks it is still delayed. I have been living in Melbourne, but recently moved up to mid north NSW coast. I am a social worker for adults, the system here is very different. Let me know if you have any questions.

That seems unusual, mine took 12 weeks. Have you tried to call and check up on why there is a delay?

Hi Tricky, out of interest what is your profession?

Hi I am a Social Worker working in hospital SW in Victoria, but about to move to NSW. I would say that the majority of jobs are advertised on SEEK and you can also look directly on the local health authority / hospital websites. I just set up alerts to email me when jobs came up. In my experience there are quite a lot of jobs out there you just may need to go in on a lower level job to get experience, eg. if you are currently supervising staff in UK it maybe easier to just go for a standard SW role here whilst you build up your local knowledge. The only issue I am aware of is that as well as having the AASW assessment for migration purposes I also needed another assessment by AASW stating I was eligible for membership before I could start in my role. Good luck

Sorry I meant 12 months from Police check!

Hi You have 12 months from the date of the visa grant. I went over for a holiday to activate the visa at end of 2016 and then moved over here fully in July 2017. 70 points is a high score so hopefully you won't need to wait too long for an invitation to apply.

Hi wahid, Yes it took the full 6 weeks that they stated it might take. So if you are on a tight time frame it might be worth booking another test as well.

I had my writing increased from 7.5 to 8 on appeal so worth a try.

Where is the rental you have found for £2000 per month? I have booked a two bed apartment in Kensington, Melbourne for £1300 per month through airbnb.

Thanks for replies. I will check FIDI website.

Hi all We are finally moving to Melbourne in July and just trying to arrange removals. We are currently living in the Netherlands for my husbands work, and have all our things with us as his company paid for it to be moved over here from the UK. I did want to use a medium movecube as we are not really taking any furniture so won't need a container. I got a quote from Sevenseas but it appears that half of the cost is due to the fact that a driver will be coming over from the UK to deliver the crate. It seems a bit crazy to pay 600 Euro for someone to drive over from the UK, I am now wondering if I should get it all in a van and drive it back to UK myself and pack the crate there. Does anyone have any experience of other companies which are based in mainland Europe which can help? Many Thanks, kmrg

Hi jackt, I would email AASW to check with them. You don't actually have to be registered with AASW to work as a social worker in Australia, unlike in UK where you must be registered with HCPC. My understanding was that the 4 year requirement was in relation to applying for a skills assessment as social worker for a permanent residence visa. Most jobs I have looked at just say requirement that you are eligible to register with AASW, not that you are registered. It also depends which area of social work you are planning to work in. If you are wishing to work with adults then you will just need to look for positions advertised as case manager / case worker. Hopefully a social worker / case manager with specific experience of SA will be able to advise further.

Hey Andyvrs, I appealed mine last year for same reason and got my writing upgraded from 7.5 to 8 so it is possible! Good luck

Great post, good to hear a well balanced review of your experience.

Hi Kayleighplummer, I have an under active thyroid and had a medical back in April 2016 and passed with no issues. I took along my Levothryroxine tablets to show the doctor but they didn't even ask to look at them. Obviously each case is individual but my understanding is that as long as you have been prescribed medication which is controlling the condition and their are no other further complicating medical conditions that it is not a concern. As another poster mentioned the medication required to correct the thyroid is low cost. kmrg

Hi Jayben, I am not yet in Australia but I am a qualified adults social worker who will be migrating in 2017, I have had a permanent visa 189 granted recently. The rules around eligibility can be a bit complicated but there are circumstances when post qualification experience is not required. I have added a link to AASW page which might be of use, I would also suggest emailing them direct with any questions regarding your specific circumstances. https://www.aasw.asn.au/careers-study/faqs If you are under 31 then a working holiday visa is a good option to visit for a year and try it out. I was recently in Melbourne speaking to some employment agencies there and they said they regularly employ qualified social workers on WHV's for temporary contracts. As far as where the best work opportunities are this will depend on what field you are looking to work in. My understanding is that if you have at least one years experience in child protection work then there are many opportunities in all the major towns and cities. The research I have done on roles for adult social workers appears that as in UK the most jobs are in the areas with the largest populations so Melbourne and Sydney appears to have the most vacancies. The best thing to do is to search on seek.com.au, but be aware that not all roles are under the title social worker, case manager, care manager etc are used more frequently. Hope that helps