budeman

Phew thanks - yeah I just keep plugging away at it a few pages at a time! Thanks for the confirmation..

Many thanks for the replies - I hope I am using the correct application as I haven't had to upload anything yet but I am only up to page 11 of 34. I am completing the "Australian citizenship by conferral" as shown below (I already have PR)

Hi, I am applying for citizenship and wading my way through the 34 pages of the application... I am up to the "Details of Parents" section and although I have the details of one parent my mum passed away a number of years ago (she was an Australian permanent resident at the time) so I don't have her passport details. Do I just put a no in the part where is says "Does this parent have the details of the last passport used to enter or depart Australia?" Also I have tried looking for a checklist of the documents and details of things that are needed to complete the application but cannot find them - I looked on the immi website "how to" section of becoming a citizen but the information is very generic - is there a checklist that anyone has that would stop me having to save and come back to it later? Thanks, Mark.

Its not surprising really if you can't afford to stay then you need to up sticks and go...People have and always will go where there is work.

Have you been advised you need the exam syllabi? I am just surprised as I would think the exam transcript would be fine. I did not get them certified, i just scanned them colour copies and that was fine (I went through ICAA so not sure if CPA would be different)

Many thanks for the quick reply regarding this. It does look like the one year of ownership before going would make it unfeasible. I will have a further read into it but I'm sure you are correct. And I can well believe as you say that they are really strict on this. When my friend emailed me the figures he quoted it did look to good to be true and to be fair it does look that way even if I did own it for a year! Thanks again for the reply - if anything changes I'll be sure you let you know. Mark.

Which accountancy body are you with? For my ACCA I was required to send in the exam transcript, a letter of good standing and my membership certificate. I did need to call them but they provided these pretty quicker by email (I already had the membership certificate) at no cost.

Hi Savitar, I don't have a specific car at the moment but I am due to move out in Sep of this year and was wondering if it was worth buying a car now to ship over later with the main aim of making a profit. A friend of mine has said to buy something that is rare over there (he suggests a Porsche Cayenne or a Maserati Quattroporte) and you can make a tidy profit. I have had a look at both cars on Ebay here and there and doubt whether this is true though. From reading your posts I can see that some are worth taking over and some probably not. What is your take on this especially given the continuing weakening of the AUD against the pound? From what I understand you do need to have owned the car for one year and get is shipped within six months of arriving - is this correct? Given I am coming out in 7 ish months could I keep the car in the UK until one year had passed and ship it over then as it should then fall within the time limit of shipping it over within six months (cutting it fine though) of arriving? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mark.

My personal opinion would be to get a day flight - I have flown both night and day with little ones and although they do sleep a bit more on the night flight because you are knackered it makes for an arduous journey. Your tired, the kids are tired and everyone around you is trying to sleep - day flight your more awake so can cope with them better and going up and down the aisles the other passengers (most of them!) are generally pleased to see the kids. We went with Singapore and I couldn't recommend them enough - staff were really attentive and flying to Singapore you get the longest flight out of the way first. We flew to Perth so it was 12 hours to Singapore and then 5 to Perth. Plus Singapore airport is really nice - they have a butterfly garden, kids play area, big Koi carp pond so the kids are more than happy there - heck of a lot better than T3 at Heathrow! We didn’t have a stop over and it worked fine for us - we had a 2 hour break and a 4 hour break the second time. For us we just wanted to get there asap I'm not sure how much rest you or the kids would get - I imagine it depends on how well they (and you more importantly) would sleep in the break.

Ok well some good news for the New Year - we have been granted our Visas! No mention on the grant notification of the previous correspondence, just looks like the persistence paid off. Many thanks for all the replies on here, am happy to return the favour so if anyone is in the same situation and needs help I am happy to oblige - just send me a PM.

Many thanks for your replies – it certainly has opened my eyes a bit more as to how the process works. I will update here once I get a reply either way. Thanks to all that have replied - wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Fingers crossed for a Visa in 2015!

Ok in my mind that sounds positive - Am I right in thinking that if one can’t be found that went to review this was because in the end the Visa was granted? Or am I just reading this as an optimist?? :smile:

Sorry with regards to the 'gone to review' what does that involve?

It's a bit disappointing (and frustrating) that there isn't more consistency based around satisfying criteria for a Visa especially considering the amount of money that is paid. Regarding the CO's, the emails that I have had back have been from different people, so I didn't think that my case was just being handled by just the one person?

Phew, thanks for the reply - good to hear advice from someone who has been in the exact same position. Out of interest, did you put down Bachelors as your level of education or something else? If so did you have any issues with them? Thanks,

Ok I can see where you are coming from there it makes sense as to why they keep asking. The only reason I put it down as Bachelors (Other) was because I would not have had enough points on the EOI if I had put it down as a trade qualification. Putting it down as Bachelors (Other) gave me the 15 points I needed. Based on the info I put down for the EOI I got my invite so I thought I needed to put the same info down so as to be consistent. Any advice on what to do? Thanks.

I don't think you understand - I do not have a Bachelors Certificate. I am a full member of the ACCA which was assessed and decreed equivalent to a Bachelors. Because of this on my EOI my level of education was deemed to be Bachelors (Other) and so awarded 15 points rather than 10 points for a tertiary skill. Obviously as I put Bachelors (indicating all the while that my qualification was an ACCA membership) on my EOI, I replicated this on my Visa application. Because of this when they asked for my Bachelors I thought that providing all my documents relating to my ACCA qualification would be sufficient. I was just wondering if anyone else here had been in a similar situation who could offer advice....

Yes to date I have sent my ACCA membership certificate, a letter of good standing, my exam transcript and my assessment for from the ICAA. Not sure what else I can give them?

Hello, Am hoping someone could offer some advice. My wife and I applied for a 189 visa using my ACCA qualification (full member) to apply as an accountant. My assessment form from the ICAA states that the ACCA qualification is equivalent to a Bachelors degree and when I inquired with a migration agent previously they also stated this was correct. So on my visa application I was advised to put down my level of education as that of Bachelors (Other) We are not going through an agent but all the information we are required to provide has been sent off, we are just waiting the results of the medical and police checks to come through. However I received an email asking for my Bachelors certificate. I replied advising that my ACCA is a Bachelors equivalent but again they responded saying that skills assessment is not evidence of education taken. I am not sure what do to as it does clearly state on the ICAA assessment that my skills are Bachelors equivalent - I could re-send the documents and highlight areas but reading other posts I feel this is not beneficial. Any advice would be greatly appreciated? Thanks, Mark.

Hi , I was wondering if someone could clear up something for me regarding the validation of the Visa. I think it is the case that once the visa is granted you have one year to travel to Australia to validate it – what are the conditions after that? Eg. If you are unable to make the full move then, you go for a holiday to validate and leave, what time frame do you then have to make the full move over. Thanks, Mark.

Thanks will do the same - think I need to pull my finger out a bit and get a move on!

Many thanks for the reply – so regarding things like passport, birth and marriage cert, these don’t need to be loaded with the initial application?

Hi Everyone, Thought I would join the thread as my wife and I submitted our application 18th July …haven’t front loaded meds and PCC as we can’t move until next year so am happy to wait until a CO is assigned. One thing I that was a surprise to me was the form 80. Don’t know how but I hadn’t even come across it until looking at this thread. Looking online I can see it is quite detailed, but it is a compulsory form? I see a couple of posts that say they are waiting to see if they get asked for it. Also is it just the meds, PCC and form 80 that can be front loaded? Do they ask for certified copies of birth certs, passports etc? Thanks, Mark.

Many thanks for the reply, application has now been submitted so will add the baby to the change of circumstance form when he arrives!

Hello, My wife and I are in the process of filling out our application for a 189 visa and she is due to give birth 10th August. Obviously until the baby is born we would not know the DOB (and we have not decided on a name yet, let alone thought about a passport!) so we cannot provide the baby’s details. However I cannot see anywhere on the Visa form to advise that my wife is pregnant. I would like to inform them that my wife is due to give birth now rather than wait until we have a case officer assigned as I would like to avoid any complications further down the line. Everything else for the application has been filled in so I would like to submit it asap rather than wait until the baby is born as we only have until the 22nd August to submit. I just can’t see anywhere on the application to insert a couple of lines providing an explanation of this. Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mark.