Brummy

I'm not able to access the Pet Carriers website! Is anyone else having the same trouble? Not very reassuring.

Where are you flying from? I can recommend a Perth company

 

it cost about $2500 if I remember rightly. You could book yourself on the same flight as your kitty but we chose not to - it can be several hours for your cat to clear quarantine - about 14 for ours but that was due to the animal reception centre losing her paperwork.

Thanks Lady Rainicorn.

We're flying from Melbourne.

How well did your kitty cope with the journey? I'm a bit worried for our girl going through the journey. She's a timid dainty girl.

Hey. We cant book a flight from Australia to UK, but if you decide to go back we can help:)

 

Have a chat with Dogtainers, Pet Carriers or Jetpets, they seem to be the main three out of Australia.

 

From your point of view, your cat needs a microchip and rabies vaccine at least 21 days before she flies and then some final docs which your shipper will help you with.

 

Safe journey

Hi Bob,

Thank you for your help.

Oh, so we definitely have to do the rabies vaccination ourselves then? It doesn't come part and parcel of the whole pet travel company?

Does it matter if it's been more than 21 days since she's had her rabies vaccination?

I'll have a chat with the ones you've mentioned and see what they can do.

Thanks again!

Oh no! Although I was aware they're UK based, I was hoping they had a branch here!

It's really hard to find one with good reviews and a good track record. I'm really starting to worry now.

Hi,

We're hoping to return to the UK soon with our sweety Kitty, and I'm totally lost as to what's required- apart from everything I've already read up on, on the UK Gov website.

Do we need to go and get the rabies vaccination done ourselves, or is this part and parcel of what Pet Air does?

Does pet Air arrange for the passport and everything that's required?

What sort of costs can we expect?

Will our kitty be on the same plane as us?

Please help!

Thank you.

We had a similar situation to you in 2013. My company originally agreed to sponsor (i.e. fully fund) our PR application when I signed a full time Australian contract in 2012 (I was still on my UK contract prior to this. Due to a management change and cost cutting, when we became eligible, HR reneged on the offer and claimed they had in fact said they would only nominate me for PR, and not fund it. They were totally clueless and were not even aware that they even if they nominated me, they still had to pay for the nomination, which was something like $500 in addition to the cost of the visa.

 

To cut a long story short, we decided that HR were not going to be either helpful or proactive, so I told them I would take care of everything, then completed (and paid) the nomination on their behalf. Therefore, all they had to do was rubber stamp a couple of forms and confirm that I worked there and was in a permanent role.

 

I also completed my own 186 application, which was relatively straight forward, and we got our PR granted about 10 weeks later, which was pretty quick.

 

My advice would be:

 

1. Ask your HR department to clarify what "nominate" vs "sponsorship" means. I'm guessing it's the same as me, i.e. they will sign the nomination form, but not pay for it.

2. You can certainly ask to see the HR policy on this as it shouldn't be sensitive or confidential. If they won't provide a copy it's most likely because they don't actually have one, or it's out of date. I'd escalate that to your manager, head of department etc if possible.

3. In the meantime, you can start to research a PR application outside your employer.

 

All in all our PR cost us in excess of $12K, which was an absolute rip off. The most ridiculous part was we didn't submit an IELTS language test for my wife as we thought given she wasn't even the applicant, had lived and worked in the UK for 11 years and was employed in Australia that it was pretty obvious her English was at the required level (which is not exactly very high). 10 weeks later we had a call from IMMI telling us that the PR was approved, pending the IELTS test. Fine we said, she can go and do one next week, but oh no, Australian bureaucracy kicked in with a vengeance. You cannot sit the IELTS once your application has been submitted, therefore our options were either take the test, then resubmit the whole application and go to the back of the queue, or pay $4200 to IMMI to exempt her from taking the test! What a complete scam! So basically, you need to be able to speak English to get PR, unless you cough up $4200 and then it doesn't matter! We paid as the thoughts of going to the back to the queue were too much to contend with.

What you went through was totally shocking!

I was totally dumbfounded reading your post, and how after paying up $4200, the IELTS didn't even matter anymore!

Sorry you had to go through such a horrible and emotionally stressful experience.

I actually read your post out to a friend last night, who is going through something similar, and I wondered whether you could perhaps shed some light on some of the questions he had.

These are his questions:

1- Regarding the bold part, what sort of documents did you have to provide from your end and your employer's end?

2- How did you manage to complete the nomination on their behalf? Isn't the employer obliged to log in on the ENS website to fill their part in?

3- How did you pay for the employer's $500 fee? Did you use your own bank card to do this, and was this not an issue?

4- My manager has stated that he can issue a letter stating that I've been working with them etc, is this all that's required from the employer's side?

Thank you

Thank you for the link, Snifter.

I'm reading up now.

I'd really appreciate if anybody with experience can provide an insight and a breakdown of costs and what to expect, etc.

Hi,

Has anybody gone back to the UK and taken their cat(s) with them?

Our Kitty is spayed and micro-chipped. Does anybody know if the Australian microchips are acceptable and whether they'd be readable using the UK scanners?

Am I right in saying that our cat wouldn't have to be quarantined upon arrival?

Which pet agency did you use? And what was included?

Appreciate any help and advice on this!

I think your questions are a bit too technical for members of a forum. I would recommend your friend sees a migration agent that can go through everything in the detail it requires.

Yes, I thought so too.

Thanks.

I have several questions on behalf of a friend:

Degree = B.COM + MBA International Business

Advance Diploma from NIIT 1.5 years.

 

Overall Experience related to ICT Business Analyst - 6.9 years (last 3 years in Australia, 1.1 year in Philippines and 2.8 years in Thailand)

 

If I apply for ACS, will ACS consider my NIIT Computer Diploma? If not, will I require the RPL route? If so, will the above 6.9 years experience be sufficient to get a positive assessment from ACS, after the number of years they deduct?

 

If ACS do not recognise my Advanced diploma in computers, then during the assessment do they consider my education qualifications (B.COM + MBA) when assessing my ICT experience? Or do they just assess my ICT related experience and if they just assess ICT related experience and not my educational qualifications (BCOM and MBA) then in such a case do I need to get my qualifications assessed by another body like VETASSESS and unless I do this I will not be able to claim 15 points for education?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

Does anybody here work in a childcare profession using a UK qualification?

If so, would you be able to shed some light on how things work here, and which qualifications are recognised and accepted here?

Thank you.

You'll go for an interview locally and hand in your application there, they send it on to Manila.

Thanks Marisa. :smile:

I found the answer. It still goes to Manila!

Can individuals now apply for UK visas from within Australia? Or does it still go to the hub in Manila- Philippines?

Ah yes, looking forward to that first cuppa with my Mum!

Good luck also with your plans to return Brummy. People who have never done it can't appreciate the emotional upheaval involved in living so far away from 'home'. A doctor friend of mine likened it to grief in that we mourn all the friends, family and places we have left behind. It's not a reflection on Australia or Australians. I've had some wonderful times here.

I hope you get to see that gorgeous green countryside beneath you soon...or once we arrived to a blanket of thick white snow which was also magical to fly in over. Best wishes it all works out.

There's no one better to have that first cuppa with than mum. <3

I agree with you, I think people can really underestimate how much is involved- it's such a huge emotional upheaval.

You can't help think and dwell on everything you're missing out on by being so far away from family, and friends.

Wow, that would be so lovely to see a thick blanket of snow beneath us! I miss the snow, and the cold too!

Thanks Rosie, I'll be thinking of you as your return time approaches. :smile:

Best wishes to you too. Let us know how it goes.

i agree. I am four weeks away from leaving Australia after 19 years and the jitters are setting in. I am finding it harder than I thought to say goodbye to friends here. Now that I'm leaving suddenly people I don't hear from for ages want to catch up to say goodbye. The enormity of it all can be overwhelming at times. Having said that I'm re-assured by posts on here that I'm doing the right thing. I have never felt Australia was 'home' and I'm looking forward to things just feeling 'right' and 'normal' again instead of feeling slightly foreign. I'm not expressing it very well (its 4am - sleepless nights!) but there's a comfort in feeling you belong somewhere that I've failed to find in Australia.

Bad luck meeting someone like that as soon as you arrived! Do agree with you though - there is no life without happiness, peace and contentment.

 

Best wishes for your return to the UK :smile:

Yes, I was taken aback upon arrival!

Thank you! :smile:

I saw something on FB the other day which summed it up for me, in the UK we tend to think we are worse than we are and in Australia they tend to think they are better than they are.

Yes, I think the general mentality in the UK is that the "grass is greener" elsewhere. I remember when we first landed in Brisbane, and we were staying at a furnished apartment, one of the first people I came across that worked there happened to be from New Zealand. He said that he moved to AU with his wife thinking the grass was greener here, but ended up regretting it, but felt he couldn't go back because he'd left everything to come here and he was already the "black sheep " of the family. He went into a lot more detail , which had me immediately dreading our stay here!

For me, I couldn't live with that feeling, and I'd do whatever I could to return home.

There is no life without happiness, peace and contentment.

I think this is the biggest problem with migration to Australia. Because it's English speaking, people don't realise how different it is. We see so many people posting that they're moving to Oz for better weather, a better life for the kids, or a better future - but I get the feeling they expect everything else about Australia will be pretty much the same as the UK, and it isn't.

 

Leaving aside the language difficulties, I think moving to Australia is just as different as moving to Germany or Italy, and many of the people who cheerfully embark on Australian migration would hesitate to move to a "foreign country".

That's very true, I couldn't have put it better myself.

I thought with the common Queen and the Commonwealth etc, we'd have more in common, but this certainly wasn't the case!

Ah yes it's always grey and miserable here didn't you know Sometime back someone also stated that for 9 months of the year everyone had to stay indoors because of the weather lol.

I love Australia but my heart isn't there and my wife's never has been.

9 months of the year?! People need to get out more and see the World! Or see the UK in this case.

I've had to correct the "dark and gloomy" misconception on numerous occasions!

Yes, loving a place is different- I love Thailand, but my heart isn't there either. Would I leave Australia for Thailand? Without a doubt, but ultimately my goal is to go home.

To hear people calling crisps "crisps" and to be asked if I want some tea rather than coffee!

a quick update. I've been back 7 weeks and am very happy. I did 10 years in Australia, in that time, I pinged twice kind of, and it has taken this long to finally feel like i'm home and am happy, and i've not given oz a second thought. I think, out of it all i have learned so many valuable lessons. Namely, i actually need to feel like i belong, culturally, spiritually- whatever- connected to the land, to 'my own people' who i get, where it is no hassle to participate in conversation etc. When you have been out your own country for a long time, the very things you leave it for, can turn out to be what you crave and wish to return to. The smallest things delight me now- a walk in the woods, a cup of tea with my dad, interesting and stimulating conversations, soooo much to do on one's doorstep- i cannot do it all and my UK bucket list is just so enormous....., when I lived in oz i always had this nagging feeling, wherever i was, whatever i was doing of 'i'm in Australia'. It NEVER left me, not once. I came to realise that being constantly conscious of one's location was draining, and would never change. Here, i do not live with that any more. Rather, i just LIVE. Sure, it's not a bed of roses, where is? We live in crazy times. I am just so relieved that i feel at peace. Isn't that what we all want? Even the weather has not got me down. It hasn't stopped anything at all- nor will it. It has been very emotional reconnecting with old friends too- i am lucky that i have been welcomed back despite the long absence and i will never let them go again. I absolutely gave it my all in Australia but the feelings i have here, are real. I have closure. It is awesome x

You've hit the nail on the head and I can totally relate to those feelings. I'm really longing to go back home, and we're currently working towards that. I totally understand the "I'm in Australia feeling." I had no idea it would be so different here.

Reading your post echoed my feelings and thoughts exactly- I miss everything, and I love the rain, and yes, we get heatwaves too for all those that think England is always grey.

Just being on this forum- having so many people relate is amazing.

So happy for you, treasure every moment. Home is where the heart is.

Thank you i had no idea. Looks like you'll be ok then. I have heard from some that they got the visa through in six weeks but i'd be more inclined to allow at least a few months just to be sure it's through in time for your moving date but then i'm a risk adverse person. lol

You're welcome!

Yes, that's my worry too! Our AU visas expire on the 31st of Jan, and I'm worried about timing too! :eek:

I'm sorry i'm not sure if you could apply from her given you only on a temporary visa. I have a strange feeling you would need to apply from you husbands country of birth or country he holds a passport for but i could be wrong. Hopefully someone more knowlegdable than me will be long to advise. Otherwise you my need to call the Uk immigration and ask.

As long as you're in a country legally- for work purposes or otherwise, you can apply based on the evidence in my last post.

I just found this. So it looks like the only requirement is that the visa for the country you're applying from is valid at the time of application?

P.S does your husband have a uk born grandparent? If yes he can get an ancestry visa, If no does he have an eu born grand parent? If yes he could get an eu passport via that. If no to both then your only option is the spouse visa. Hope that helps.

Unfortunately not.

Can you meet the financial requirement to secure a spouse visa? Are you aware that you need to show you have 62,000 pounds in savings or you as the Uk born spouse have a job offer earning at least 18,500 pounds a year ( it's more if you have children) this must be provided in writing confiming job offer with a starting date within three months of settlement in the UK. You also need to provide details of where you will live which needs to include all details about housing eg what it is house/flat how many bedrooms etc. if you are planning on staying with family at first they will need written consent from them. ( they will also need to provide details about their housing). They immigration need to be sure there is no overcrowding in the housing situation. I believe a police check and medical is also required. Good luck.

Thank you for your reply Chicken66.

Yes, we're able to show we meet the financial requirement. Although the drastic drop in the AU dollar is not helping our case at all. The more it drops, the longer we're having to wait! I believe they use the OANDA closing exchange rate at the time of application to determine the GBP equivalent, but I'm yet to get confirmation as to how they determine whether the GBP equivalent has been held in the account for a period of six months, and whether they use the six month old exchange rate or use the closing rate at the time of application for that too. Any ideas at all?