Whites

found this on another forum hope it helps i did a simular thing myself .........................................................

 

A list of things you need to do before you emigrate

---

PART 1

 

Before we moved over, I spent months getting the below list together. It's really a work in progress as it changes and can be added to on a daily basis!

 

FLIGHTS Get quotes for flights

 

Make sure you get increased baggage allowance in Writing (usually 40kg Eastbound, 64k Westbound). Singapore Airlines & Emirates give the extra allowance and it's for one-time only.

 

Cheap Worldwide Flights and cars, Discount Hotels, Bargain Holidays to Dubai, America, Australia and Thailand

ASDA Travel - find cheap holidays, flights, hotels and travel

Travel to Australia & New Zealand with Austravel, the holiday and flight specialist - AUSTRAVEL.COM

CheapTickets: Cheap Flights, Event Tickets, Hotels, Rental Cars, Vacations, Cruises, Concert Tickets, Sports Tickets

Expedia.co.uk Travel > Book cheap flights, travel, hotels and package holidays

ebookers - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Car Hire & Holiday Packages

Flight Centre UK | Cheap flights, holiday packages, hotels, car hire, touring and travel insurance

www.leestravel.com

Choose from over 90,000 hotels ranging from cheap to luxury including top chains

Book cheap flights, hotels, car rental, city breaks and package holidays with Opodo

Quest Travel long haul tailor made holidays

Trailfinders - The Travel Experts

TRAVELBAG: Deals on Cheap Flights, Hotels, Holidays and Tours

Holidays and flights to Australia, cheap flights to New Zealand, Hotels, Holidays and Tours Worldwide

Cheap flights & hotels | car hire | package holidays - TravelSupermarket UK

 

Prepare your belongings to be shipped. Get at least 3 quotes

 

(see bottom of page for a list of questions to ask your shipper)

 

Doree Bonner Doree Bonner | UK and International Home Removals and Secure Storage

Crown Relocations Crown Relocations U.K.

PSS International Removal Company

Robinsons The Business and Home Removal Company - Robinsons International

Britannia International Removals | UK Removals | Office Removals | Storage | Britannia Movers International

Pickfords http://www.pickfords.co.uk/

 

EMPLOYERS

Give formal notice to employer and make sure you get P45 and work references

 

BANKS/BUILDING SOCIETY

 

Request credit references from bank, building society or any other lending agent

 

Once you’ve arrived in Australia your credit profile will in effect start from scratch. Make sure you source as many credit references as possible before leaving the UK so that you can use them as evidence that we are creditworthy. Your bank, building society and any other lending agency should be able to provide a reference. You may find a reference from your mortgage company will also be helpful.

 

You won’t be able to get a credit card in Australia until you get employment

 

Request up to date statements on any endowments, pensions and investments

 

Ask your doctor, dentist, optician, schools to prepare hand-over files

 

IMMUNISATION RECORDS FOR CHILDREN

 

Obtain a letter from your doctor confirming your child(ren) immunisations are up-to-date and give dates as they may be required for school and can also be requested for family assistance.

 

 

MOVING YOUR PET:

Pet travel services and pet boarding - Airpets Oceanic London UK

Airpets, Willowslea Farm Kennels (Heathrow), Spout Lane North, Stanwell Moor, Staines, Middx TW19 6BW (01753) 685571)

 

Golden Arrow,

01588 680240 (they don’t have a website)

 

Ruislip Kennels

Tel: 01344 424144

Fax: 01344 861460

e-mail: info@ryslip.com

The Ryslip Group Ltd | Welcome

 

Organise temporary accommodation in Australia for a couple of weeks.

 

Organise all birthday cards and presents for the next 3 months

 

UPDATE CV

 

There is not a huge amount of difference between a UK CV and an Australian Résumé. The content is by and large the same but the Australian version often tends to be a bit longer.

 

Most CV's will not need to be changed much to make them suitable for the market. Read through your existing CV and look for anything which is likely to cause confusion, internationalise your CV, and think of any negatives an employer may see in your CV and offer an immediate explanation to counter them.

 

Change the word CV to Résumé (and make sure it’s spelt correctly with the accents on the e)

 

Check for any commonly used UK acronyms, are they used in Australia?

 

Add a one line description of the companies in your employment history

 

Explain any gaps.

 

Give reference to your Permanent Residence

 

Set spell checker to Australian/English and make sure you run a check before sending the final document.

 

REFERENCES

 

It is standard in Australia to attach relevant references to your CV. Before leaving the UK it is a good idea to contact any potential referees and ask them to write a generic reference for this purpose. In the main body list referees with contact details, and attach any references to the back of the CV using a paper clip. As well as showing that you have nothing to hide, time differences may often mean that it is difficult to contact your referees during normal working hours so attaching your references offers a solution.

 

 

Inform employer and get P45 and references

 

Inland Revenue P85

Take these with you (for each adult), then complete and send them back to the UK within a couple of weeks of being in Oz to ensure that Revenue and Customs are aware we have left the UK and now Tax Resident in Australia. The form is designed to help you claim back any tax when we have left or about to leave the UK. This can be downloaded here:

 

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/p85.pdf

 

Order a phone card from: MelbourneConnect.com.au -- Prepaid Phone Cards to call from Australia

Works out at 1 cent per minute. Go Beyond card is the better choice.

 

 

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Give your change of address to:

 

Banks

Passport office

Pension company

Inland revenue

Insurance brokers and accountants

Shares

 

DVLA

The DVLA require that you have a UK address on your driving license, so it may be advisable to change the address to that of a friend or relative who could forward any necessary communications to you, before you go.

 

RE-DIRECT POST

Arrange all post to be redirected

 

Royal Mail offer national and international redirection services for your mail for a variety of time periods. You can either apply in person at a Post Office or online and allow a few days for the service to be activated . You can renew online if you find that you wish to continue the service longer after the initial period ends. We signed up for a year and it cost around £70. The redirection service is for a maximum of 2 years.

 

 

For more information visit www.royalmail.com and select redirection services.

 

It is cheaper to get mail redirected to another UK address, so if we are confident that we will need very little of our mail we could see if we have a trustworthy friend or relative who is willing to have it redirected to them and will forward on the odd piece of relevant mail.

 

If you get the mail redirected internationally make sure that you have one address that you can access for the entire period of the forward, as you cannot change it. If you expect to be transient during this time it may be better to have the mail forwarded to an Australian friend or relative, or to set up a PO Box. The only difficulty with a PO Box is that you will need to open it once you are in Australia.

 

For more information on a PO Box with Australia Post visit:

 

Welcome To Australia Post

 

Ship your goods

 

Whichever option you have chosen for shipping make sure everything is clean before the shippers arrive, as customs in Australia will not accept foreign dirt. Use a product like Jeyes Fluid.

 

The timing that shipments leave varies with each individual case. Some choose to ship early and stay with relatives/friends/make do with things they will then dispose of, whereas others will choose to ship at the last minute and wait for their possessions to arrive at the other end.

 

Don't forget to look into marine insurance, which is essential. Getting this insurance with your shipper may be more expensive than using an independent company like Letton Percival ( Letton Percival - Welcome To Letton Percival ) so do research on both.

 

Re Christmas decorations: on box write ‘tinsel, tree ornaments or fairy lights’ NOT ‘christmas decorations’ – and mark ‘No Pine Cones’. The customs guys will be on the box like greased lightening otherwise.

 

Make sure all the files on your computer are backed up

 

Make a copy of everything on your computer and keep it withy our important documents, preferably in a separate bag to your computer.

 

If you are leaving your computer behind and using a new one when you arrive it is worth making two back ups of your files and keeping them in separate places just to be sure they are safe.

 

Start packing non essential items.

 

hi, can I ask how you went about the extra baggage allowance ? Our tickets are booked for march with Singapore airlines

And I'm wondering wether I should contact them before we fly about baggage allowance?

Ok so WE GOT OUR GRANT !!! Yeah baby!!!! Can I please say to everyone who is still waiting from the early sept lodgers, please re send info that you sent because a lot of things got lost during system maintenance. Our email never got to our CO hence the weeks and weeks we waited. Thanks to a very lovely private message with great info we are now sorted! I guess we have to start a new thread -- MAKING THE MOVE, WHERE TO START!

Why move then....?

Because at least it's hot and sunny.... A LOT OF THE TIME YAY!

So stupid agent finally resent email to CO explaining that stupid agent has uploaded PCC in the wrong place. It only took stupid agent 3 weeks!!! And stupid agent probly wouldn't have done anything if I wasn't on the case!!

keeps telling me the timeline is 3 months..... We'll no one is getting their grants at 3 months so check what's wrong!!!!!?!!!! Arghhhh...

Ok so please bare with me on this one..... When checking the immi account yet again I noticed that under my husbands bit where it says Character Reference it still says "requested" instead of received as with everything else. My husbands PCC is uploaded , but under my bit. So I straight got onto my agent and she reckons that there was no space left on my husbands bit so she uploaded it to my bit.

I'm thinking that the CO is not responding or doing anything because she probably thinks that we still have to supply one PCC !!!! I mean why would the CO search the whole account for the PCC , when there is A PLACE to uploaded!!?!! Am I right ???

I wouldn't worry too much.........the grant will come. I can't imagine why they would ask for PCC unless everything else was Ok.

 

I even had a clock set on Adelaide time for a while (removed to help maintain sanity :eek:)

Can I just ask what CO team you were?

PWA200 the clock thing is funny--- it does get really insane! I mean I don't even wanna say how often I check immi account, even knowing it's like 3am over there and there won't be anyone working!!!! Lol

I have also noticed how this thread has got really quiet..,,, I think we are the only early September lodgers that haven't been granted yet....,

Still nothing here , I really don't know what's going on with our case officer! Congratulations PWA200!!! Great news!! We lodged on 6th September so even earlier...... Now have the wait the WHOLE weekend... It's gonna be a long one

So I found out , that we are team Adelaide 7 ??? Anyone?? Are they slow or what? Lol

We'll I don't know what case officer we have, but I know that the CO is SLOW! Our CO requested PCC on the 10th. We uploaded on the 17th and have been waiting since !!! Most ppl who have front uploaded everything get a straight grant once CO allocation.... So I really don't know what's going on.

Hi Whites

We were looking in the southern suburbs and Gold Coast region?! Which is huge I know. But we haven't pinned down jobs yet so that will certainly influence our decision. I'm using an agent so Im not sure if I habe CO, I have asked them to let me know when we are allocated one. We only had out medicals yesterday and mine is going to be referred anyway, so think we are in for a long wait.

Nice down there too! If you haven't uploaded everything yet, your agent should get in contact with you as soon as you have CO as they will request all remaining forms! My agent contacted me same day about CO allocation as they requested our PCC's , that was the last we needed to upload! Now we've been waiting for over a week with no news and no grant! Killing me!!!

Hi , need some help! So we are trying to get parents out. But I'm confused about the payments of the visa. The second instalment for CPV would be like $43.600 per person! So this second instalment , is that just a huge lump sum you pay the government ?? Or does it go towards you living over there??? How does it work?? Any help would be appreciated!!

Hi, yes an agent would be a great path as they do everything for you and know everything there is to know. But they charge of course! We r using an agent. But before we got the agent I had everything ready to go, researched everything. You will not get around having a skills assessment. Everyone has to have one. It's a way for them to see that you can actually do what you say you can and that you meet Australian work standards in your occupation! So I would book your skills assessment. Hope this helps

Hi Becky

Congratulations on CO

I had to get some more as our house was broken into and they took the safe. So I googled copy's of birth certificate and went into the gov.co.uk website. You can order as many as you need, think they were around £9 each. Plus they are full certificates with parent names etc.... A very straight forward process and think you can opt to get them on next day delivery.

Hope this helps )

Hi, just noticed you're looking to go Brisbane too. You know where yet? We'll be going to the Sunshine Coast , around alexandra headland- buderim area. I see you submitted you visa on the 30th, have you got a case officer yet?

Oh i mean is your CO from Adelaide too?

 

Yeah, I totally understand that frustration, its like I jump for joy every time i receive an email thinking its from DIBP only to get disappointed all over again...

Oh sorry, I have no idea??? I didn't know people know where their CO is from??? How do you know ?? We have an agent maybe that's why I don't know ... The agent kinda deals with everything.

...but you were getting equally nasty about the UK ! (when the issue could lie with the unhappy person)

I was pointing out issues with the UK, as they want to come back to the uk, when all the issues about Australia is the same here if not worse! Thus is pointless .... All you lot wanna go back home , see ya. Hope you don't regret it haha

possibly like a lot of us they left because they could/had the balls/wanted to know what was out there.

 

UK is still a great place to live, trust me.

No one in there right mind would leave the UK if they thought it was perfect for them here. Certainly not if it's gonna cost a few grand! Europe maybe, ain't gonna cost much no harm done... But paying all that money to move to Australia one would only do for a reason! However I'm not saying the UK is bad, but when one slags off Australia with points that are just as bad here if not worse, then you just have to remind people that there was a reason they left in the first place..... To me I would never judge about their choices , uk is not for me I need hot hot weather otherwise I don't survive well!! But that's just me! It's just a bit much getting nasty about Australia and it's people , when the issue lies with the unhappy person...

And when I log into account it says last update 10 nov, that's when CO requested PCC , it's still at that! I mean don't the COZ even look at anything for 2 weeks???!!

I have the same co contact date and pcc submission date as you. Nothing at all! Are you by chance team Adelaide too?

We're going Brisbane ... It's so frustrating , it's like what's taking you do long co!!

...and now your trying Australia. You might not find what your looking for here either.

Ok so you might not wanna drop your opinions if you don't know people's story !!! Germany because I am german born there! NOT TRIED! America because I am american went to school there for a little while! NOT TRIED!! India because I moved there when I was a minor with my mother!!! Not tried!!! Love India actually, but work out there makes it impossible to live there full time!!!! Spain because we had money to spend and we travelled all over!!! Not tried!!! England (9 years) because my husband is English and hated it here all nine years! So basically tried England , don't like it neither does my husband so now Australia! Anyway I don't have to justify myself, I'm not the one saying uk is crap , move and then decide that the UK is actually not crap...

Question to the happy poster called the Whites.. Have you ever been to Australia before....?

Actually not , no!! Can't wait tho! And yes you might say I don't know what you lot are on about.... But it ain't better here, the whole reason why people leave here! Or you telling me people pay thousands to leave the uk because they just love it here so much? Or is it because they are silly and think Australia is perfect? No crime anywhere!! No taxes to pay???!!! No car accidents coz everyone is an amazing driver??!!! Free everything so you don't have to work???!! I mean maybe people are just not realistic ....

Yeh ...OMG ! ur gonna get a shock when you come over here cos a lot of what the OP says is actually true. Just be happy where you are.

I'm not saying it ain't true, what I'm saying is , that all that is here too if not worse and bad weather!!!! Come one there is a reason why he/she left the uk in the first place....

Out of interest, where else in the world have you lived?

Funny you ask, lots of places actually! Germany, America , Spain only 6 months though, India and England .....

Still nothing here, I'm getting really frustrated! I just don't know what that case officer is doing . We supplied the PCC ( last documents to supply) over a week ago now, and nothing! Hurry up CASE OFFICER!!! Do your thing!! Lol