EJMac

Yep agreed, which is why also suggested looking around Warrandyte which is a lovely rural area which would be around an hour on peak to drive, or perhaps Hurstbridge which is around an hour to drive on peak and also on the trainline for a similar time.

Woodend/Gisborne/Macedon is rural and an hour into city on train, similar time to drive but longer in peak hour. Really nice area with Mount Macedon/Hanging Rock etc, definitely not 'Melbourne Suburbs' although a lot of development in the area. On the East side Warrandyte/Kangaroo grounds are rural and about an hour drive into city on peak, not as well linked with trains but Eastlink is not far so quick to drive. Also Ringwood is close and has regular trains into city which take about 30 mins for express service.

Hi AliG, It can be a bit tricky from a UK Building Surveying background, i'm a RICS QS but my brother in law is RICS Building Surveyor who also specialized in dilaps for big firms in London like yourself and he struggled a bit at the start as there was no directly comparable job in Aus (this was a few years ago so may have changed.) He went to a small firm here that got bought out by KPMG with the view to getting more involved in Dilaps but it didn't take off as you are right, this is generally dealt with in house. Also, where back in the UK a chartered building surveyor is a solid route into PM over here they seem to prefer PM's coming from an engineering background. It's all good now and he's working as a PM for a regional local council, but it was quite frustrating at the start for him not having his experience and qualifications recognized for a while. Luckily QS' are more transferable and they recognize the RICS as a good background (although prefer AIQS) but it's a much more traditional role here than in the UK. Anyway good luck with it all it will all work out well I'm the end (i don't want to be another negative contributor to this forum - there are enough already!) just perhaps be prepared to pivot a little at the start with your job. Cheers EJMac

Thanks popdude, I assumed the same so have previous passport that I landed with and my original temp Visa, heading down for the interview this afternoon so will let anyone on here know what they are after. Thanks again for your response

Hi, i've got my citizenship interview tomorrow and just pulling together the documents I need to bring with me (I appreciate seems last minute, but I got an email advising of earlier slots so decided to take one, half regretting it now!) I'm fine with most of the stuff but not sure on: Evidence of first arrival in Australia and your present country of citizenship ● Passport or travel document with visa such as a Document for Travel to Australia, PLO56 (M56), Titre de Voyage What do I need to show for this one? My passport that I arrived with and my Visa that I had? My Visa was temporary work sponsored one at the time, I assume this will be fine? Apologies if this is a really obvious question - any help would be appreciated! Thanks

Thanks for this I had already looked at Homely, unfortunately I find it generally a bit out of date or taken over by estate agents. Was hoping someone on here may live in the area and have some insights.

Hi all, hoping someone here may have some insights on Croydon as an area? We are currently in Moonee Ponds and looking to move out of the city to buy a bigger house, we were looking around Eltham as nice area good schools etc but haven't found much yet despite many long Saturday's doing open houses.. We started to look a little further afield and have found a beautiful property in Croydon, we thought it would be too expensive but the price has just been reduced so we are super keen to make an offer but we're not sure at all about the area - does anyone on here live around there? If so what is it like an an area? The schools are not quite as highly rated as Eltham, are there any ones to avoid/apply for? The commute is fine, post covid I only have to come into the office 2 days a week and my wife works part time in the city. Any insights would be appreciated! Thanks.

Thanks everyone for your responses, really appreciate it! I thought by July would be ambitious but 2 years is a bit of a blow! I was hoping to get the citizenship then maybe go and work in America for a year or so, we'll have to see now. I will get my application in and see how it goes, thanks again for your help.

Hi, I was hoping for some advice from anyone who may have converted PR to citizen recently. I am eligible to apply for citizenship in March this year after I have had PR for a year, been here over 4 years etc. My query is that I am planning on visiting the UK this July for a month or so, do I have to stay in the country until my application has been approved? If so is it likely to be completed by July (seems ambitious..) If I have to wait I will just apply when I get back but would rather get my application in ASAP. If anyone has been through this process recently I would appreciate any insight, thanks!

Just to give another perspective, I had the same choice but due to wife being pregnant time was an issue so I went for the work sponsored visa as it took literally a couple of weeks to sort out, and my employer paid and provided migration agents so saved money. I then had the choice of getting PR here in Aus through partner visa or work sponsored, to get the partner visa would have took 18 months from Aus and the work visa (i think 481) took 2 months from start to finish,. As we were keen to get a mortgage I took the employer sponsored route. I am tied in to my employer for 2 years or I have to pay it back, but it saved $15k or so and was much quicker. In your circumstance with time on your hands the partner visa seems the right choice as will afford you more flexibility, however due to time constraints the employer route worked well for me, was really straightforward and saved a lot of money.

I can't comment on the e-sim but I have kept my UK phone and number here now for nearly 4 years, I am also with EE. I didn't go on Pay as you go but reduced it to their cheapest package as you got free calls to UK from Aus as part of the package so was quite useful at the start for calling family who weren't on whatsapp etc, barely use it now though.

Hi, no I didn’t do a Labour market test. Not 100% what that is but I had a 457 sponsored with relocation from the Uk in August 2017. I had to wait 3 years and the same company sponsored my PR. I think the whole process probably took 3 months ish, after my medical was passed the confirmation came through the day after. hope this is useful, let me know if I could help in anyway.

Ah I just looked, it is 'temporary residence transition' stream.

Hi, apologies I'm not sure what DE or TRT stands for? The Visa just says 186. My medical cleared on Friday last week, 23/04/21 so it only took one day after that for my Visa which was granted on 24/04/21. I thought this was really quick as my agent said it could take 1-3 months. I am based in VIC and am a quantity surveyor. I was on a 457 which was sponsored by my employer and they sponsored the PR.

Hi, I've just had my 186 Visa granted, if of any use my timeline is as follows: The application was lodged on 23/02/21 I sent across my police clearance on 04/03/21, had my medical 15/04/21 and my Visa was granted 24/04/21.