richev

In the end I didn't get any stamp at all in my passport, as I used the electronic gates at Sydney airport. My wife got rejected by them so did get a stamp though.

Our 189 visas came through a few weeks ago, so we're taking our initial trip to Aus to "activate" them next week. Last time we were in Australia we received stamps like this in our passports... This may seem like a silly question, but will we (or can we, on request) receive different stamps in our passports when we come through immigration this time?

For those who have moved to Aus, are there any things that you wish you'd bought new in the UK and shipped out (and that would have been financially worth it even after paying import duty on them)? I started thinking about this after comparing Dyson vacuum prices between the UK and Aus, where one model is selling in the UK at less than half price than a similar variant in Aus DC 40 multi-floor - £189.98 vs DC 40 allergy - $849.00 Granted that this is a bit of an unusual example as that UK Dyson is last year's model and hence on sale. But it's often said that things tend to be more expensive in Aus than the UK, which got me thinking...

We'll be shipping household things like beds and other furniture, so living at home will be tricky once we've shipped stuff.

Wow, thanks for all of the answers! Looks like I may well be ok...fingers crossed.

Just got my 189 visa granted, and hope to move to Sydney later this year. When applying for jobs (both from the UK and after I'm in Australia) how and when am I likely to be expected to tell the potential employer my visa status?

We're planning to move to Australia this September and will be shipping a container of furniture and belongings. Since this can take three months, plus customs time, I'm concerned that we might not get our stuff before Christmas (with additional delays due to seasonal holidays). What do people think about shipping/customs times at this time of year? (Apologies for mentioning Christmas when it's only April by the way! ;-) )

To those who suffered hay fever in the UK - have you also had it in Australia? Mine is (according to a doctor when I was a child) mostly related to tree pollen, and in the UK it kicks off in late spring. It's worse in the Midlands (where I grew up), not so bad in the South East (where I live now), and non-existent in Scotland (where I lived for a few years). I was in NSW in December/January about nine years ago and don't _think_ I had it then... (hoping to move to Sydney this September...)

Our timescale was: - Lodged 27/11/2015 - DIBP request for additional information 8/12/2015 (Form 80, police checks, medicals) - Granted 24/3/2016 Hope that helps!

My wife and I just got our 189s granted...we both work full-time and felt that it was going to take an awful lot of our limited spare time to learn about and manage the application process ourselves (let alone ensure that we put in a "good" application). So we went down the route of using a migration agent. Not cheap, but we really felt it was worth it. After talking with a few we went with Go Matilda, mainly because they allowed us to pay their fee in monthly instalments. That said, in answer to your specific question - yes, the first step is the skills assessment. All the best with your application!

My car details below....thanks! - year of manufacture 2006 - make, model & variant Audi A4, FSI S Line - body type (coupe, convertible, etc) Avant / estate / wagon - engine size & fuel type 2.0l petrol - transmission Automatic - drive type (4WD, front wheel drive, etc) Front wheel - mileage 43,000 - any special features, options or modification None - does it have aircon Yes - realistic current UK market value £3950 - Australian RedBook value $9,800 - $12,000 - Australian market value $13,000 - which Australian state/city Sydney

We recently had our 189 visas granted, for us the timeline was: EOI submitted 12/11/2015 (65 points, nominated occupation Developer Programmer) Invitation to apply received 23/11/2015 Lodged visa application 27/11/2015 DIBP requested additional information 8/12/2015 (Form 80) Additional information submitted 17/12/2015 Medicals, police certs all finalised 5/1/2016 Visas granted 24/3/2016 (bit of a wait but we got there...) Good luck with your application!