Bungo

So you are only looking to spend a few years in Australia? Because if you want to stay permanently, you will one day have to pay the higher permanent visa fees. How old are you? If age is getting to be an issue, it will only become more of an issue if you leave this longer?

I have never lived in Melbourne, but visited a few times and don't think it is anything like London, where I did live for a long time. London is London. Melbourne is Melbourne. Do you have any pull factors for Melbourne, other than you think it might be a bit like London? In all honesty, you are not displaying a lot of enthusiasm for Melbourne in this one post anyway. Unless you do have some strong pull factors that you have just not mentioned here, I would have to think your mind and heart are not in this move at all .. in which case there is your answer.

No it is quite a complex process for visitors from high risk countries. They probably need sponsorship and have to come up with all kinds of evidence to prove it is a genuine visit. I have, as a manager/employer in Australia had to give references for some of my team members to bring their parents over for a short break.

As I said the student visa is not an option unless your OH is willing to give up PR and pay international student fees.

I do not know that there are any regular posters from Pakistan, but somebody might come along with a similar experience. Most of the regular posters are from the UK and do not follow the same process, it is relatively straight forward for a visiting British parent. I didn't think there were really that many tourist visa options though? Surely it is easy to ascertain which is the correct visa and then you can use http://www.border.gov.au to ascertain what is required for that visa.

You are really going to have to be more specific with your question. How qualifications and experience are assessed varies by every occupation.

The child visa is the correct visa for your situation. To get a dependent student visa, your husband would have to apply for a student visa which would be extremely foolish as he already has PR and would be giving it up! Hopefully the wait won't be as long as you think as per the post above. There are no other legitimate options that I can think of, we all have to join a processing queue.

They will take your money as many times as you want to send off an application.

Over the years I have seen some but relatively few people just go out on a tourist visa and hope for the best. This is likely to be an unsuccessful strategy for the majority. This is a forum for people moving to Australia so it will naturally attract 457 visa holders, that should not be interpreted as a 457 sponsorship is easy to find, because it isn't. Most people will have little chance, but some occupations, like medical ones, will probably always be more in demand than others.

And are you sure a name change is possible? This is usually a complete no unless you have a premium, fully flexible ticket - which few people buy.

Applying for membership of a professional body or seeking licensing or whatever is very very rarely the same as skills assessment. You need to very specifically look up "skills assessment" on the appropriate website. Skills assessment is something very specific to migration and it is essential for a skilled migration visa.

Well it isn't for me to say you *need* to, it was you that said you are very stressed out about it, so I was suggesting this as one option to counter your stress. And I do think maybe practicing your English language in real life scenarioss rather than practicing for a exam might be good for you,

Your test will have already been reviewed by a second person because of the disparity in sections as you say. - so no point going for a retest. I take it English is not your first language? As my IELTS tester said all native speakers should expect to get full marks. But your written English is pretty good to be honest, better than some native speakers. :wink: I think perhaps, assuming this is a second language, that you should take a break from taking tests and rather than focus upon passing a test, look for opportunities to put your English into practice. Watch TV programs in English, read books, read the Internet in English, converse in English as much as you possibly can. Then maybe come back to the test in a few months because it sounds like it is getting you down and you need a break.

Yup. Panicking for nothing. They don't send people offshore so they can decline a visa. They want you offshore so they can grant it. Congratulations on your visa.

Indeed we lived in Collaroy from 2010 to 2015 in a three bedrooms house, no pool, but a nice house. We started out thinking $800 a week would be sufficient but we soon learned and we paid $1,300 per week in the end. It is utterly absurd to suggest that $500 or even $800 is going to secure a decent house in Sydney.

Well if they have more money then they don't need to worry about what I said do they, I am sure they are perfectly capable of making that decision for themselves and don't need your interjection. Presumablay the OP is perfectly capable of reading a range of responses and drawing from them what they require. I would stand by my statement that £15k is not a lot of moemy for a family or a couple (they say we) to move on without jobs to go to. What is the harm in taking sensible precautions.

That is truly extraordinary and I think to suggest that it is easy to find a nice house in a nice area for $500 in Sydney is doing a great disservice to people that are looking to move as they are not going to find that to be the case. They simply are not.

Is your agent a registers migration agent? Or are they an education agent? Well you can get a different agent, any of the ones that post on here have good reputations. Or you can read it in black and white for yourself, not sure why you wouldn't just do that. This is not hidden information a quick Google should reveal the requirements.

I can't imagine that prices are going to vary much more than £100 in total.

Just look it up! This is readily available information.

It does. Find an agent ththat knows what they are talking about. This is a skill level 1 occupation which requires a degree or higher or at the very least it requires five years experience to compensate for the qualification.

There are no visa issues with getting a mortgage. But £15k is barely going to cover stamp duty, it is not going to scratch the surface of being a house deposit. I would honestly have to question the wisdom of moving with such a low sum and no job to go to, make sure you buy a return ticket anyway as you might just need it. Of course you will not get a mortgage with no job and £15k.

Childcare centre manager requires a degree not a diploma.

Well of course there are vacancies, even in a deep recession you normally get some vacancies. This is not the right question. You need to think about YOUR prospects, your ability to secure roles because for every vacancy there will be many people competing fr the job.

Spot on. I agree with all the comments that this is not fair on a 16 year old. To be living in a below par part of Sydney in a flat, well it is just not worth it.