CiderDrinkingCoder

I certainly find my memory goes during periods of prolonged stress (right now is a damned good example). I always get this cue, slightly beforehand, as my vision takes a bit of a tumble in bad light as well. Funny thing these old human bodies.

I've flown China Southern a few times, and have booked them for a flight out to Melbourne in June. If you're happy with KLM, you'll be happy with China Southern. They're not the swishest in the world, but they're comfortable and painless enough. I haven't been through Guangzhou, but a friend has recently and he said it is the sort of place that's not too bad for a quick switch; however, he did suggest it wasn't the sort of place you'd want to have a ten hour wait at.

Can I join the fray, guys? IELTS won't be a necessity; however, if you decide to go down the independent route and need some extra points for language, I'd really recommend taking PTE-A or TOEFL over IELTS. They're both more rounded, in my experience, and you won't need to spend the whole damned day going between sessions for IELTS. Personally, I'd recommend PTE-A: in and out in less than two hours if you're a native.

You should be fine in terms of legitimacy (but I don't know about role specifics). Most degrees in the UK are rated against the QCF for the sake of determining level of study, and I've not heard of a case of a UK degree not being recognised. Your assessing body will be able to help you out on this one. Not sure if you go through VETASSESS in your case, but pretty sure whoever it is would be happy to reply to a wee email if they haven't got specific details up on their website.

DIBP (and the ACS) will accept certified copies done at the Post Office (yes, here in the UK!). If they don't... I really don't want them reading this thread and reviewing my 189 grant :wink: Post Office will do 3 documents for about a tenner.

First of all, why did you feel the need to post two separate threads on the same subject? Secondly, if the passport information is on the certificate and your passport number has changed, do you really need us to tell you what you ought to do?

Thanks, Rosie Budget wise, we just dont want to tie ourselves to a huge mortgage; but if the right place came along we would be tempted. We already have estimates on what the bank are willing to lend based on the worst estimates of salaries for ourselves - so willing to potentially look at inner suburbs (especially if the cider is good). Hypothetically, if we were to take out a mortgage, where would we get most bang for a million in the city?

Thanks for the heads up, guys. We will be doing a good hunt around! Already started looking at a few of these places this morning - I don't mind anything up to a two hour commute, so some attractive options opening up. (Especially if train tickets are that cheap!) Cheers

Pretty damn stupid to believe you've fallen in love with someone whom you've never met, fella...

Hell, if I was the mother, I'd be encouraging the son to make sure he says he's entering Australia to get married when he gets to passport control. That'll put paid to the whole sorry affair. Call me a complete cynic, but you only ever meet someone when you meet someone: better he be forcibly returned than end up potentially in an extremely dire situation (all the more so with Aspergers, I have a cousin with it - and cannot say she'd react well if things went south in any situation).

Christ alive, that would be good for giggles.

She'll be disappointed when she finds out how UK visa regulations work...

Guys, if he's travelling on a tourist visa with the intent to marry, might that not throw up a potential raft of issues? My understanding was that's a big, red line "no no" to the DIBP?

Well, you don't need to do it, but it's points for nothing.

IELTS wasn't too bad; however, I didn't quite get what I needed in one section (Writing: 7.5, even though the other three sections were 9s... Go figure), so took the PTE-A test a week later (which was far more rounded, and gave me a nice perfect 90/90). Fingers crossed, IELTS gives you what you need. If it doesn't, rather than resit, I would suggest looking at PTE-A. Good luck!

I quite believe you, Marisa. Having driven around London, I've no desire to drive around another large city as long as I live. We've been looking out toward the Melton / Kurunjang area in terms of places far enough from the city for a quiet life, but close enough to commute in. Are there other areas folks could recommend taking a peek at? In terms of budget, we don't want to get tied to anything massive mortgage-wise. We could probably put down about $200,000 as a deposit (but ideally, a relatively large percentage deposit [50%ish]). Any suggestions from any quarters?

Thanks Guys That puts my mind much at ease. Nice to know that renting is more straightforward out there. If you think they'll be happy enough with the savings balance and six months' up-front, that takes a fair bit of the stress out of the situation. I think longer term, we'll definitely look at buying something out in regional Victoria: from what I see, there are lovely houses in reasonable areas for the same price as pokey flats near the CBD in Melbourne. If I were still in my 20s, I'd take the CBD... But I'm getting on a bit now :-\ Now all I need to do is find a bloody job... Alas. Someone's bound to be mental enough to hire me. Thanks Again

Thanks for the swift response I'll try Little Creatures soon as I wake up with mental jatlag in June! Yeah, I know six months is going to be a fair whack; problem is, last flat we had to hunt for here, it took us two months before we were able to seal the deal on a place :-\ Just concerned about job hunting and house hunting in such a short frame of time. Perhaps I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill based on a bad experience here in Old Smoke(?). Thanks again

Hi Guys I've been an avid viewer of the forum for some time, but only just braved up enough to create an account and post for the first time. (So, hello! :smile:) The wife and I have recently been granted 189 visas, and we're going to hop over to Melbourne in June to activate them (I know, great time of year for it, right!?). We're looking to move over permanently at some point during 2017. My questions are really rooted around that, and I would be really, really grateful for thoughts / advice / shouting down for being a muppet by those who have gone before. A little background, first of all - as I appreciate that, without context, it's hell to give any kind of response. I've been working as a software engineer / project manager / risk manager for a major (unpopular) Scottish bank for the past ten years. That said, I'm happy to turn my hand to any of those three aspects of my work in any industry. The wife's an actuary (I know, I know... more fool me). We're a little bit angsty about moving to Sydney, as we've spent the past decade enjoying the costs attached to living in London. So our eyes have turned to looking at somewhere maybe an hour / two hour commute from Melbourne. Specific Questions: 1. We have thought about renting a serviced apartment in the CBD of Melbourne for at least the first six months' stay in Australia. Our bank accounts will, by that point, have been active for at least six months. Hopefully that will help develop some kind of credit profile, as I fully appreciate we'll be starting from scratch. Does this seem a reasonable time frame to those who have made similar moves to Aus? Perhaps we should consider serviced apt for a longer / shorter period? 2. Can anyone provide any insight into 'best' seasons for job hunting in our respective fields? Here in the UK, we're used to jobs coming up en masse once bonuses have been paid in March. Anything similar to be aware of, that might help the timing of our move? 3. Where can I get a decent pint of cider in Melbourne??? Many thanks for any and all responses. I look forward to becoming an active member of what seems to be a lively community. Cheers CDC