Jordan01

On 11/06/2017 at 20:27, DukeNinja said:

Hi Jordan01, what an inspiring move! We've got a similar path-visa granted in April, baby born in May, moving to Brisbane in August. Still gotta sort the house out. Whereabouts in Brisbane did you guys move to? Were still confused about what to do regarding accommodation.

Cheers,

DN

Hi guys

We moved to Manly.  Its the best spot ever.  On the bay with so much to do.  We sail with the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron and take our boat out from there as well.  Its 20 minutes on the train into the city and 15 minutes to the airport.  All the connecting motorways are 5 minutes away and a large shopping centre on our door step.

We have everything we need here and more!

Good luck!

Hi everyone

Just thought we would update you all as we have now been in Brisbane for 6 months.

We applied for our visas in May 2016 and visas were granted in September 2016.  We moved to Brisbane on 25th December 2016.

We sold everything and just bought our suitcases and a small Move Cube of personal belongings.  Rented a furnished house before we landed and had personal items delivered to that address in time for our arrival. Hadn't been to Brisbane before so weren't really sure if we had picked the right location?  We struck lucky!  Not only have we picked the perfect house its in the perfect location!  Sorted out electric, broadband and phone before we left the UK.  Saw the car we wanted on Gumtree and bought it the day after we arrived in Oz!  Bank accounts sorted also before we left the UK  Just turned up at the bank the first working day to collect our cards.

My wife landed a teaching job as soon as we arrived.  She is, however, still sorting out her accreditation 6 months down the track.  It will eventually be back dated.  Just one of those fiddly things to have to deal with. I got a job as a maintenance officer 2 months after we arrived.  Plumber by trade.  Qualifications not recognised here so didn't go down that route.  Dream job only 11 minutes from home.  Our son (15) was accepted into school before we arrived so just had to get his uniform.  Our daughter (16) stayed in the UK to finish her GSCE's and  arrives next week.

Went to a boat show in the city two months ago and bought a boat (cabin cruiser) which we have named Wine Down!  Out every weekend discovering the beautiful scenery.  Sleep in it most weekends.

This is truly the best decision we have ever made, the country and the people are amazing.

Good morning Cara

We were lucky enough to secure a furnished rental before we left the UK. We needed to submit bank statements, references, utility bills (to prove we were good with our payments) and so forth. I would suggest you have this ready for when you are here and looking for a rental. As we had this organised before we arrived it made life a lot easier for us and telephone, internet, electrics etc were set up before we arrived. This also meant we could have any deliveries sent to the house. We ordered all new bedding so that we didn't have to worry when we arrived. We even had our bank accounts set up and our cards ready for us the day after we arrived at our local branch. Drivers license took an hour or so and Medicare took 20 minutes. You just need to make sure you take all the relevant paperwork.

As soon as we landed we bought a new sim card at the airport - great deal - and started using this straight away. (make sure your phone is unlocked) I have since bought a new phone with a new contract but my wife still uses the other phone. This was so easy.

We found a car on Gumtree before we left and bought it the day after we arrived - a lovely SAAB convertible.

With regard to employment. We had telephone interviews whilst in the UK but contacted prospective employers after we arrived here. Busy negotiating jobs at the moment but nothing finalised yet. Much easier when you arrive but still worth initiating contact before you leave.

Our advice - do as much homework and research before you arrive.

We have only been here 2 weeks tomorrow but the transition was so smooth we feel as if we have been here forever!

Wishing you best of luck!

Barry :smile:

Hi Cara

By personal approach I mean that we emailed companies directly and waited for an email response, then called them directly. Another way is on SEEK, quite often you will see the companies HR persons details, directly approach them is a great idea.

Definitely start applying from the UK.....hopefully with your new address in Australia if you have one? Once you arrive, get back in contact with the same companies and remind them that you have landed!

Best of luck for the future.

Barry & Debbie

Thanks for the update, glad you're all settling in so well. Great news on the job interviews - may I ask how you went about getting them?

 

Glad you're enjoying the experience, how exciting! :smile:

Hi there

We did our homework and spent time contacting people independently along with applying through agencies. The personal approach was the best as very little response from anyone before we arrived in the country.

Barry :smile:

Hi Everyone

Just a quick update, been here (Manly QLD) a week now, already bought a car, a motorcycle, loads of bits n bobs from local shops, done drivers licence change, bank accounts, medicare and are attending interviews tomorrow! Been to surfers paradise for the day (Amazing) Been a really busy week :jiggy: Our son starts school on the 23rd of January however our 16yr old daughter decided to stay in the UK with friends to finish her GCSE's..........she will join us in June 2017.

Have we made the right decision.............ABSOLUTELY !!!!!!

Best of luck to everyone, and look forward to seeing you "Down Under"

Congrats!!!

We are heading for Brisbane, Wynuum West to be exact. We secured a fully furnished townhouse rental there right opposite our kids school so we are very pleased. We fly on Xmas day and land in Brisbane on the morning of the 27th December 2016. When are you guys going and where will you be based?

Hi Everyone

Just a quick couple of questions......I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner that I would love to take along but I am not sure about whether or not it needs to be specially cleaned against transferring any bugs with it?

Second question, I have an inflatable Jacuzzi/Spa bath and wonder if as above I can take this in my crate and again .....would it require special treatment or cleaning before entering Australian borders?

Thanks for your help in advance.

@Jordan01

Ah! Thats an idea! I know people say not to rent from just looking at the photos but a lot of the houses we are looking at are fairly new builds (homes are about 10 years old or less) so I'm guessing they can't be too far off the photos perhaps..?!

 

Did you sign a 6 month lease or 12 if you don't mind me asking?

Hi Alycat

We signed a 12 month lease but with payment of the first 6 months upfront.

Good luck to all

Wow so great you secured a rental already! How did you organise that? Was it privately via Gumtree? I heard that its not easy to secure a rental from abroad.

Hi Alycat

We saw the property on a reputable real estate website, emailed them and offered 6 months rent upfront......The landlord jumped at the offer!

Received the documents via email, signed everything and returned by email.

Hi Everyone.

Just a quick update. Our daughter is staying behind in the UK to finish her schooling and joining us at the end of June.

We handed in our resignations, booked our flights for Christmas Day and have managed to secure a fully furnished rental property right across the road from our sons school.....all within 5 days :jiggy:now just left with the mammoth task of selling all of our furniture.

We will keep you updated.

Many thanks to all who have shared our journey so far and given us great advice.

Thank you Quoll. :wink:

My daughter will finish her GCSE's in June at which point the plan was to enrol her into college for a year to then go to Queensland University to study languages.

My ex has not paid maintenance for years nor contributed to her private school fees (of 5 years) nor has he taken her on holiday - this year she has been to Gran Canaria, China to study Mandarin, Corfu and Paris with us. There is contact but little and irregular.

Have tried to reach a compromise but ex doesn't want to.

Hi Westley

Thanks for the reply. We are seeing a solicitor this week so hopefully they can advise if it would be necessary to use the C100 route.

Hi B

Thank you for your reply. By us I mean my husband myself and my stepson. x

Hi Everyone.

My ex is being difficult and will not allow my 16yr old daughter to migrate with us. Has anyone here been down the route of court regarding a similar case using the C100?

Any advice and time frames would be greatly appreciated as we were due to move around xmas time.

Hi Nikki

My visa was for a 309.

Hi everyone

A fantastic day for us today - we received an email from our visa agent at 4pm today saying CONGRATULATIONS! Your visa has been granted after just 5 months!

Celebrating over a jeroboam of champagne! We wish everyone who is waiting for their visa the best of luck!

Thanks Racmac and all others, any suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks for all the advice :wink:

Thanks for the reply.

Just to clarify..........Yes the daughter is currently 15 but will be 16 in 4 weeks time so she will be 16 when we go.

Hi All

Thank you so much for all the replies, I think i need to get onto my visa agent tomorrow and ask them the best way forward.

Hi All

Thank you so much for all the replies, I think i need to get onto my visa agent tomorrow and ask them the best way forward.

Hi Everyone

We are in the last stages of our 309/100 and i was just wondering......

My wife and her daughter (16yrs old) both have Australian citizenship. My son and I are both awaiting completion of our visas at this stage and then we are all off to Brisbane.

Does my wives ex husband have to give permission for his daughter to leave U.K to move to Australia with us or can we just go to the airport and leave? He does not give any regular contributions towards her upbringing and rarely sees her.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Moderator comment: I've merged your two threads together since they are getting some related responses.

Hi Everyone

We are in the final stages of our 309/100 and have come across a problem, was wondering if anyone can advise please?

My wife is due to go to London with her daughters Australian passport application on the 18th October ready for when we go but at the last minute, her father will not sign the passport application form!!! (Her daughter has Australian citizenship)

Is there a way that her daughter can arrive in Australia with her British passport or is there a way we can apply to the local court to make him sign?

My wife's daughter will be 16 when we go, and her father has pretty much nothing to do with her and certainly does not make much financial contribution towards the upbringing of her (£20 here and there but no regular payments)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks