Theevans

I'm currently in the process of trying to find the best price for shipping items from our home in the UK to Newcastle, NSW. We have a 3 bedroom home, and will be taking some furniture, but not all. One double bed and mattress, one single bed (no mattress), 2 dressers, one sofa, 2 bikes, books, pictures, toys and a few kitchen bits (stand mixer and food processor, nothing bulky) We've been quoted over £4k for sole use of a 20ft container, which is quite a lot more than I'd expected. (I personally don't think we we need sole use of container, we'd be happy to share, and certainly unlikely to fill a 20ft) I'm wondering what other people's experiences have been - who did you use, and what size were you quoted. Any recommendations much appreciated. We're looking to have our items shipped the last week in September, so time is pretty tight, although do-able!

So, we received our grant this morning - completely out of the blue! So completely relieved! Now, the fun begins..... ?

Thanks @lothar - just out of interest, did you hear anything at all before you got a decision?

Thanks for replying... It's kind of a relief to know that others have experienced a long wait too... I've tried to get a handle of some sort of pattern re timescales, but can't find anything at all. It's absolutely draining hoping every week that goes by that we'll hear something whilst trying to pretend to our older kids that we're totally relaxed about the whole thing so we don't freak them out! I'm also very aware that were far from the only family in this boat, and are really lucky to be able to apply at all.

Ours took 31 weeks, and we received an ita a few weeks after we lodged our eoi, so that but didn't take long at all. However, we're still waiting on final outcome, and that's been 28 weeks and counting....

Thanks @VERYSTORMY, we had our invite at the beginning of January, so it's just the actual decision we're waiting for... I don't think that points make a difference at this stage? We had 75 points though...

Just wondering if anyone knows of the current actual processing times for 189 visas... We lodged on the 5th of January 2018, front loaded police checks, medicals and F80's... Our agent thought processing times would be around 12-16 weeks, but the government site has jumped to 8-11 months. I'm wondering if anyone else lodged late December/early January and has heard anything at all? We're getting so anxious with the wait, not knowing when to let our kids schools know they'll be leaving, plan to sell the house etc and think a genuine rough timescale from anyone currently 'in the system' would be so helpful!

Thanks everyone, I thought that might be the case - I think we're going to go with the voluntary termination option when we're 50% of the way through the contract and write off any deposit we put down on it. It's not ideal, but I can't think of any other way and best just put it down to a bad decision at the time. Any information on second hand cars/where to buy/ approximate cost when we get over there would be most welcome. We'll need something that comfortably seats 5 plus a dog, but aren't in the slightest bit bothered about what it looks like - it's got to be reliable though, and we'd probably prefer to get something a few years old. Has anyone got any information on where to go to get good advice, what makes have good history and easy/cheap to repair etc, just general recommendations? We're hoping to move to Newcastle area ideally.

Hi, I'm wondering if someone can help - we're trying to work out if it's worth taking our VW Touran over to Australia next year, and need to get a red book guide price, but I can't find a VW Touran anywhere, so I'm wondering how to get a valuation? Long story, but we're half way through a PCI payment plan, and will either have to stump up approx £4k in a years time to pay off half the deal and take voluntary termination, or if the figures work, bring it with us and continue with payments. Has anyone else been in this situation, and can you offer advice? We're hoping to move over to Newcastle area May/June 2017 with our 3 children if everything goes to plan - very excited, but a little (lot) bit daunted too!