Kezza37

We submitted our visas applications on the 10th March and I've received a letter this morning informing me that our visas have been GRANTED!!!!

 

Super excited! Now to start planning the move!! Fingers crossed for July!!

Congratulations thats fantastic and very quick , ours was granted two weeks ago and had been lodged beg of feb , we booked our flights yesterday , we fly to Singapore 18th July , stopover a few days then head to Brisbane !

Congratulations- is it just you or are you taking a family too??

Thank you. No it's Hubby , myself and two kids , hubby was working in perth WA , then he headed to Brisbane, he's staying with friends , checking things out as Brisbane is where we are going . Our plan is to be out there by July/August .

Congrats.....

Thank you

@Kezza37 when did you submit your application??

Submitted around 2nd feb , medicals and police checks were about 17th feb , super quick

Visa Granted!!!

Hi if you contact the place you attended or the examining board who assessed you, they should be able to provide copies of your qualifications.

If it's brisbane specific info you need, you might be best starting a thread on the Queensland sub forum, you might get more state specific information xx

thats great thank you

Thank you

So I don't need a licence?

Hey there, I'm a fully qualified hairdresser with 20 years experience , planning on coming to Brisbane (waiting for visa to be granted) .i have been self employed in Scotland for over 10 years , I rent a chair in a salon and Its very handy whilst raising my family , I love my job and plan to do the same in Brisbane or go mobile . Can anyone give me some info about mobile in Brisbane ? Do people rent chairs in salons like here ? I've heard you need a licence ?! It's been 22 years since I've been to college and after 4 house moves over those years I have lost my qualifications ! What do I need to get my licence ?

You have the remember that for those you are leaving behind its kind of like a bereavement, for whilst your life changes so does there's, they have to adapt to the void you leave, it's a difficult one, there are no right and wrong answers, you will find those friends who keep in touch and those that just cut you out, it's their coping mechanism. I will give a warning about those that come and visit ha ha, this is your day to day life, but when friends / family arrive, it's their holiday! It can get complicated, I know friends here who save up their holidays to take it off and spend it with visitors, that's great for some, for us, we treasure our 'immediate' family holidays, that's when we get a proper rest. I love visitors but it quickly can get tedious when clearly they are arriving for an all inclusive holiday with full maid and chef service and you're trying to go to work and keep things normal, it's your normal life, particularly when you have lots of visitors at different times and you've only got your 4 weeks holidays! You become an accomplished host, tour guide, recreational planner, bus timetable expert, you're everything ha ha!!

Lol, I will keep that in mind . Probably introduce them all to Airbnb instead, hahah

 

I've applied for a 457. My employer nomination was approved 3rd Feb, we were assigned a CO and then submitted our documentation 16th Feb so we are looking at another 2-4 weeks (if its straightforward). It does seem like forever though. My eldest (aged 13) had a school leaving party on Friday because we plan to leave during the Easter half term - but until the visa is granted there's nothing left to do except keep thinning out our belongings ready for shipping. I'm finding it difficult to focus on anything at all during this limbo stage!

Fantastic!! Good luck with the move

Yes. My in laws said at the weekend it was unacceptable to not have a date for them. Like we're not desperate to have our visa granted!

 

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I know , the waiting is just terrible , it's not been that long since we lodged so probably a long wait yet. We lodged round about 2nd February , assigned a CO a couple of weeks later then had our medicals and police checks sorted, I just tell everyone it could be 6 weeks , 6 months or even longer . How long you been waiting?

I still find it incredible that people feel they have the right to even say anything negative. When I tell people and they react badly I think that says more about them than my decision. Also when you've got children (we have 2, UK to Brisbane) it's a little offensive to suggest you haven't considered the move properly. You're going on an amazing adventure, enjoy it!!

 

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Thank you , just wish this visa would hurry up so we can get on with our plans .

I'm 37 and my hubby is 36 and we have 2 kids aged 9 and 6 , we discussed emigrating a few years back but after the kids were born the idea took a back seat , only now have we felt it was the right time and actually financially this was probably the only time we could have managed to go . When we told our family , my Husbands side were fine , my Mum and brother were not great and still it's not a topic I discuss in front of them , even though we are now at the stage of just waiting for our visa to be granted !! My 2 best friends , one of them avoided me for a month she was so upset ,the other one is still in tears every time I see her but they are good now and talk about it more. I've only really had one negative reaction from a work friend who lived in Sydney 35 years ago ( we are going to Brisbane ) and gave me lots of negatives and pretty much patronised me by saying things like " you know it's not like on the tv , you won't be better off " we are well aware of this as my hubby is giving up being off shore and going back to his trade which will involve gap training and starting at the bottom. I'm a self employed hairdresser. It's gonna be a tough journey but we intend to grab the opportunity with both hands and run with it !!

Hi, we are from Fife as well, Dunfermline. Any reason apart from friends you picked Brisbane, we looked there to start with but ended up in Melbourne and now Perth

Hello there, funnily enough that's where we are too!! (Dunfermline)

We picked Brisbane as we felt as a family we would be more suited to this City , also As my hubby is a sparky His friend is quite high up in an electrical company so the advice from him would be useful. Our friends kids are also pretty much the same age and they have met and got on well so we felt that might help our kids a bit with the move !!

It was between Perth and Brisbane though as I have a good friend in Perth .

How about you? How long you been in Oz? How come you moved from Melbourne to Perth ?

He's currently working offshore in Perth, Scotland? If not, and you mean onshore in Perth WA (and he hasn't currently got visa with working rights) then he could get in trouble for working. I can see your current location is Scotland - just thought i'd mention it

 

Anyway... yes you can open an Aussie bank account. He'd need to show ID though. Not sure what visa (if any) your fella is currently on. I'm thinking if he hasn't got a non-visitor visa he may not be able to do it. Opening a bank account is quick enough once you get over here anyway. I'd recommend opening an account with a bank that does cardless cash (e.g. Commonwealth Bank, I think Westpac too?). That way you don't have to wait a week or two for your cards to be delivered before you can take money out. NAB do free banking, no cardless cash though.

 

You need to be onshore to get a Medicare card, or get Family Tax Benefit.

 

What other things did you want to organise before arriving?

Thanks for the info. Hubby working in Perth WA and has all the relevant visas and paperwork in place for being there. Probably won't be able to do very much when he gets to Brisbane but he can check out areas for living

So we have lodged our 189 visa, hubby currently working offshore in Perth so is going to take a 2nd trip to where we are heading (Brisbane )to stay with friends to check some more things out . Is he allowed to open an Australian bank account ? What other things can be organised in preparation for our move in hopefully July/ August time ? Or is it not possible until visa is granted?

He is a electrician to trade , so is also going to check out the college for his training etc

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hey srg73, our thoughts exactly, look at it like an adventure, going to do 2years then assess . Looked into renting near our friends , been checking out lots of properties, friends gave us a rough idea of our monthly expenditure and wrote all details down , we know we will have to start off in a smaller home than we have here etc. How are you settling in? Will you stay?

Hey there bronwen , congrats you have your visa approved!! When do you plan to go ?Which part of Oz are you off to?

Thank you for your reply Marisawright, we can only but try to see how it goes, I will give it my all , I am a very sociable person and a hairdresser so that will help my socialising along with having the kids

Hey there, currently at very early stages of the process , wanting to go to Brisbane as have friends there. Applying for 189 visa with hubby skill being an electrician , he is 36. He's just about to sit English test and skills assessment .

We would really like to hear some positive feedback regarding electricians or any tradesmen heading to Brisbane as everything we have read so far has not been a great read. We are aware of the fact my hubby will have to start back at the bottom as a trade assistant and study etc to convert his skills.

Also, I'm hoping its normal to have days you want to get to Oz tomorrow and days where you think what the heck are we doing ?!?!

Any families out there moved to Brisbane recently? Let me know how you are getting on .