Maussie

Screenshot of the relevant page of the e-ticket below. Also states: Dimensions: International Flights (excluding North and South America): Total dimensions for each piece must not exceed 158cm (62in). Dimensions for checked baggage are calculated by adding together the width, height and depth of the piece of baggage. International Flights to and from North & South America: Total dimensions of the 3 pieces must not exceed 405cm (159in) and total dimensions of the 2 pieces must not exceed 270cm (106in) with no single piece exceeding 158cm (62in). Dimensions for checked baggage are calculated by adding together the width, height and depth of the piece of baggage. Domestic Flights: Total dimensions of each piece must not exceed 140cm (55in). Dimensions for checked baggage are calculated by adding together the width, height and depth of the piece of baggage. +Adults travelling with an infant (under 2 years) on Qantas operated services may check-in up to three infant items free of charge. See here for more details. (Links goes to https://www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/baggage.html?ext_cam=au:acc:etr:carry_on) If in Howard Springs you can receive deliveries from Coles/IGA so nappies shouldn't be an issue. Re: food on the flight. We were given a hot lunch and a bag of snacks. Was reasonable. Can ask for more water as needed. You can take packed snacks onto the plane like usual. No liquids in cabin over ?100ml through security (as usual). Once through security you can buy whatever you want from the available shops - WHSmiths, Pret, etc. We tooks some snacks and sandwiches on board. It's a long flight and there's a delay disembarking too (an hour or two depending on where you're sitting). In flight entertainment seemed as usual so kids were occupied. Adult fare £1,165; child £846. Required Covid tests included in price.

I remember seeing 105cm too (I think on an early email but not sure where). Got the tape measure out and was feeling pretty miffed but then noticed the e-ticket pdf states 115cm. We took >105cm cabin cases and didn't have any issues.

Look...it was just an observation, not a criticism.

Noticed many interviewees on TV in Australia start their replies with "Look..." Always thought it was impolite to start a reply with that in the UK, unless chastising a child.

Couldn't tell you about premium. We travelled bog standard economy and were allowed 30kg checked and 7kg carry on + '1 personal item'. There's no family rooms at Howard Springs afaik. As a family we all have separate adjoining rooms. Units of 4 so if >4pax either in adjacent blocks or opposite, and are allowed to venture to each others' rooms/verandahs. There's a bunch of YouTube videos on the place which helped us understand the set-up.

We booked SIA flights ~£1600pp single, flying end of July. Managed to book DFAT flights ~£1200pp afterwards and arrived without issue yesterday. Cancelled the Singapore flights for a fee of £72pp. The covid tests are included in the DFAT booking. New schedule was RT-PCR swabs 96h prior and RT-LAMP 24h prior to departure, all easily arranged. Info was emailed via Qantas and DFAT. In flight entertainment was as normal. One hot meal and a few snacks/water provided - was adequate. Can take extra snacks on board as required, esp for kids as has been mentioned. Flight was full, maybe a dozen or so empty seats in total. Few hours delay on board the plane after landing to process then warmly welcomed at Howard Springs. Rooms are decent and can sit on the verandah as long as you keep your mask on. Can remove it for feeding. Internet is rural ~8/9MBs DL&UL. TV is fine. Fridge with freezer, and kettle in the room. Can't fault the process and booking through DFAT pretty much takes the possibility of the airline cancelling out of the equation.

Thanks, so it's not an automatic exemption then. I've seen the below letter too but anything that involves interpretation of rules is a risk. Travel for first entry for us is difficult and certainly pricey but not impossible, so we're planning on going over to meet that particular requirement (condition 8504), quarantining and spending a few weeks there to make it worthwhile but then flying back to the UK where we are ordinarily domiciled which, as odd as it all is, is apparently allowed. We do intend to move obviously but finer details are a little up in the air with everything going on. If they could provide certainty it would assuage concerns but the impression I get is that is deliberately left vague.

They didn't say that anywhere on our 189s granted 3 months ago and applications were made well into Covid lockdowns. Would've thought it makes sense to do this but I couldn't find anything official on it though may not have looked in the right place. Is there a website or correspondence that explicitly states this for all PR holders or case by case? The worry is if it's all a bit vague and at their discretion they may not honour anything implied when the time comes.

'Ping pongers' - the thread is aptly named!

Thanks all, very useful info. Completely forgot about the presidential proclamation effectively banning entry and didn't know about having to enter the US to transit. Managed to find flights with Singapore in a few weeks time and hoping not to get bumped, and not test positive pre-flight of course.

Wondering if anyone has any insight on booking flights from the UK via airlines other than those that fly from the UK to Australia, namely Singapore, Qatar, Etihad and Emirates (https://uk.embassy.gov.au/lhlh/CAOTA.html) The prices are quite high for the above airlines and there are other routes on Skyscanner or Kayak via the US or Malaysia for example. Some posts here mention people getting bumped and when rebooking having to wait in transit for a lot longer than the initial booking. Instead of that I was thinking about booking something transiting via the US with United, Delta, AA (https://usa.embassy.gov.au/news/covid19-stay-informed) or transiting via KL, Malaysia (https://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/covid19.html#transit_malaysia) The prices are a fair bit less than the carriers from the UK, with some journeys of under 30 hours which we're willing to do, and there's probably a similar chance of being bumped, but presumably as long as we start the journey in the UK, they can't bump us mid-travel and strand us in an airport like Tom Hanks in The Terminal? Am thinking through different scenarios to cover bases.

Radiologist. Doesn't cost anything to submit an EOI. Give it a go and best of luck.

Thanks. Went for the 189. Medical job so should be OK travel now but don't intend to migrate immediately. Seems a waste of seats for those in a genuine need to get back. I also need to read around to clarify whether if we came over to meet the date of first entry condition, would we then need special permission to fly back to the UK to resume life until we're ready to move properly. Don't fancy get stuck there atm tbh and neither could we afford to now with work and educational commitments here, plus the financial costs of tickets for 6 and potential two-way quarantine. Will likely just leave it a few months and see what happens with the vaccination programmes and travel restrictions later this year. Have until April 2022 for first entry so no real rush, then 2026 for must not arrive after.

Offshore medical practitioner 70 points for 189, 6 applicants 4/9/20 EOI submitted 2/10/20 EOI amended 21/10/20 Invitation received 25/10/20 Application submitted 23/12/20 Medicals and police checks submitted 5/3/21 s56 more info request to be provided within 28 days 31/3/21 Info submitted 6/4/21 Granted Well aware we got lucky to some extent due to occupation and present pandemic. Good luck to everyone

Success....now the hard part begins I guess. 4/9/20 EOI submitted 2/10/20 EOI amended 21/10/20 Invitation received 25/10/20 Application submitted 23/12/20 Medicals and police checks submitted 5/3/21 s56 more info request to be provided within 28 days 31/3/21 Info submitted 6/4/21 Granted

Thanks both @Marisawright and @ali Wasn't as painful as imagined, just loads of scanning. Have more than one evidence of each job and uploaded everything, hoping it's satisfactory. Only waiting on the AFP check to come in the post. Part of me can't wait for a (hopefully) positive response but I'd also like it delayed due to current travel limitations. Reading it back it may come across ungrateful but it's not meant that way. Just thinking of the costs and quarantine hassle for validating visas currently is eye-watering!

*Not literally hundreds, but well over a hundred!

Just an update. Received an s56 request for more info today. Bit of a pain but very glad to have some acknowledgement of movement. Asked to provide: ● employment references ● contracts ● pay slips ● tax returns ● group certificates/payment summaries ● superannuation information. For a load of NHS jobs going back 10 years. Going to be a real pain as that's probably a dozen different NHS Trusts. Fortunately I keep most of my contracts and payslips. Question if anyone has been through similar: Do they really want me to upload literally hundreds of payslips, last 10 years of tax returns, contracts and pensions statements, and seek employment references that far back or is there a simpler way of providing a satisfactory answer. I suppose the tax returns would list the employments so hopefully two birds... I've been asked to do an Aussie police check even though I haven't had 12 months there in total. Will see what the website says and send the screenshots back. I've also got to provide a translation of the wedding certificate but I was half expected that. Was hoping having the same details on birth certificates going back 20 years would suffice as proof of relationship but that's easily sorted anyway. Application submitted 25/10/2020 Medicals and UK Police check took us to before Christmas.

We applied for visas recently and one of us had a similar scenario, having had accessed mental health services and been prescribed medication. It didn't affect the visa medicals as they were approved promptly. Waiting on the visa outcome is a separate issue but I don't see it affecting the outcome. If she needs to see a psychiatrist she really should do so without delay. She also needs to mention it to the dermatology team in case it is a known adverse effect of medication and there may be alternatives or modifications to be made. Hope it works out for the best.

It's difficult all round but living under lockdown part III and working in the NHS, I know I'd happily trade a strict limited lockdown and next to no Covid cases for what we currently have in the UK. I don't think you can be over the top of you're currently getting away with it. You should carry on doing all you can to avoid the situation we have in Europe. Especially being so close to vaccine roll out, however useful they out to be. It's no conspiracy but certainly lots of continuous cock-ups which fuel speculation.

As above - go for it, nothing to lose. There's far too much off-putting heresay to pay too much attention to. Proportionally you might be in luck. https://gettingdownunder.com/australian-skillselect-invitation-rounds-october-2020/ Best of luck

There are 8 Panel physicians / Visa Medical Centres listed for the UK here https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/contact-us/offices-and-locations/list

Great news. Congratulations DrDougster! I'm hoping to finalise our paperwork this week (waiting on ACROs, applied for last week) and then play the waiting game.

It was about £170 for the PTE Academic 3h PC based exam. Can book about a week ahead. There's a good sticky about IELTS Vs PTE on PIO. Decent YouTube resources and an app on the phone for PTE examples. Could do the English language test and see where it takes you points-wise.