NanaJan

34 minutes ago, Fisher1 said:

I wrote this the wrong way round. It should have said that I was staggered to note that it costs more to redirect post to Europe than to Australia, how weird is that?

I did wonder

We are having our post redirected to my brother in the UK and he then scans it to me. There isn't very much as I made sure all our banking stuff etc is sent electronically.

1 hour ago, AMP said:

Nearly there Nanajan!  Not long for you to wait now ?

My fingers, toes and just about everything else possible in between are well and truly crossed

29 minutes ago, BrendaM said:

Just had our request for AOS, medicals and police certificates! We're getting closer!!

Yay. Things are a-moving

28 minutes ago, Jellybean T said:

Hi Angela,  wow you really have it all under control!   I wish you the very best of luck with the completion of the house sale. Are you shipping your stuff out when you get you 600 visa? I was under the impression we could only ship once we had our 143 visa grant so I  was very pleased to read you could ship on a 600 visa. Don't really want to wait another 18 months before we can start enjoying life in Aus but it's all in the lap of the gods. Good luck with sorting your pictures not an easy job........but it will be all worth it in the end!

Shelagh 

The company we are using, PSS, won't ship without the permanent visa. All our stuff is in storage in the UK.

It will be like a massive Christmas when we actually get it and unpack

59 minutes ago, clerk85 said:

Just received VISA GRANT email. 

Congratulations

Fingers crossed we aren't too far behind.

3 hours ago, AJ_143 said:

Hi All,

Thank you all for the wishes.

As I mentioned earlier, we got 2nd VAC request on 10/07 and I made the payment and post it out on the same day itself.
Today we got the great news, for which we have been waiting for almost 3 years. We got the visa today! (13th July 2017)

We are heading to Melbourne. Cheers!

 

Congratulations

There are a few of us in Melbourne. I'm sure we can arrange something once you are here.

13 minutes ago, Catlady2014 said:

You lucky lucky devil!! Congratulations.  

Surely it can only be days for you now.

Fingers crossed you hear very soon

Medicals attended yesterday and documents handed in to our lovely new agent @Alan Collett

Signature amended and now a new waiting game begins

The medicals were quite painless and all looks OK. We just have to wait for the results of the x-rays and blood tests and no, we didn't have to touch our toes!!

1 hour ago, juliew1499 said:

Hi Susie

347.30 AUD per person. Hmm...... the building project.........we are still waiting for a design, they came up with one design it was lovely but just not right for us or the block of land. It's just like waiting for IMMI all over again. Frustrating, just sick of constantly waiting and waiting and waiting!

we are also in another waiting room but this one is very exciting - first grandchild due 2 Jan!

julie

 

Congratulations  That's a lovely waiting room to be in.

12 hours ago, gafuk said:

Next question ( theres a million more flashing through my mind)

" IF " we sell our house say October and are homeless, is it feasible for us to"holiday" in Australia awaiting payment of 2nd vac and eventual issuing of Visa? I know we might have to then suffer a short break in Bali or somewhere to activate the visa but that's life. Otherwise we have to move in with family here or commit to a 6 months rental.

What would you do ?

4 hours ago, SusieRoo said:

I hope you don’t mind me butting into your conversation.

We also keep considering our options for a ‘holiday’ in the final stages of this process, but we have a few concerns.

What if something goes wrong? Like failing the medical? Or some major change to the visa criteria or cost?  I’m not sure if we could sell-up and pack-up until we have our visa signed and sealed. (I am normally very optimistic, but it’s a big decision to get wrong)

I suppose we could still have six months holiday and keep the house until our visa is granted.

Not sure if this is helping to answer your question, I guess everyone is different and the holiday route seems to have worked well for many CPVers.

Looks like you will not have too long to wait now and I would expect you to have your visas by October. 

We are on holiday as we speak. Homeless, unemployed and reliant on public transport! I am normally a pessimistic sort but I don't think we have any medical issues.  But hey, if we fail them then there will be something seriously wrong so we will have a massive holiday, to hell with the cost, and go back to the UK if and when we absolutely have to!

Funnily enough I have tried to book our medicals today but the site seems to be playing up with dates. I'll try again later.

Yay, NanaJan has also received THE request for AoS, medicals, police clearance and forms 80.

Oh my word, it came as quite a shock after all this time. A glass of wine in hand at the moment and fully on the case tomorrow.

I won't forget the date either. It's our daughter's 40th today. She's out celebrating and we're babysitting

4 hours ago, Geoffandgill said:

Hi, either day would suit us.School holidays will be over by then and we will be  free to go into the city ?

Geoff & Gill

3 hours ago, juliew1499 said:

Hi Jan

Yes either day is good for us too, we will also come in on the train so can walk to South Bank area. Not sure of a venue so anything your kids can suggest would be great. Looking forward to meeting up.

Julie

OK. So let's say Wednesday 26th July.

I'll pm you both my mobile number and we'll arrange timings and venue in the next week or so.

Looking forward to it - almost Christmas in July

On 02/07/2017 at 12:50, Geoffandgill said:

Looking forward to meeting up whenever suits you, it's easy for us to get a train into Melbourne.

Regards Geoff & Gill

17 hours ago, juliew1499 said:

Let me know when you are thinking of a meet up, we are away from 17th July for 5 days and then will be available most days.

Julie

Hi all,

Does either Tuesday 25th or Wednesday 26th July suit? I'm sure our respective offspring will be able to advise us on a good place for lunch.

NanaJan

1 hour ago, SusieRoo said:

How cold was Melbourne this weekend?

Looking and the news from the UK, temps of 0.5 degrees and images of frost. Is it really that cold?

Had to scrape the windscreen this morning..........

44 minutes ago, Geoffandgill said:

Hi, we are taking our van with us. Will PM you with details

Geoff & Gill

Hi both,

How are you doing? We've been here exactly 2 weeks and wow, what a whirlwind! I thought we were busy getting ready to come out here but our feet haven't touched the ground since we landed. Our daughter agreed to look after her friend's 2 golden retrievers for 2.5 weeks (we've had them 3 days so far) as she knew we would be happy to walk them while she was at work. 2 dogs and a toddler in a buggy, I'd forgotten just how exhausting that can be. Would I swap it? I don't think so

We are sincerely hoping the processing dates speed up now that we are into July. Hubby can't cope with these "relaxing retirement" times and is looking forward to working for a rest!

Our daughter is off on holiday for a couple of weeks from the 22nd July so we will have the house to ourselves and time to relax and visit the city. Shall we arrange a lunch date by the river? Calling @juliew1499

Looking forward to meeting you and swapping stories.

Jan

1 hour ago, gafuk said:

Catlady, Sorry to bother you but looking at your lodgement details you lodged 2 months before me, you had meds and police checks in Feb this year etc etc. I have not had any communication from our agent or Immy?.  We can't get them done without authority ?. 

Do you have agent?, if so I presume Immy contact you via them and not direct,

 

Just trying to work out the small difference in our dates of lodgement and the vast difference in progression?

 

 

We are at a similar point to you and have heard nothing. 

We fly tomorrow...........

10 minutes ago, AMP said:

The thing that worries me is where I will stand on a 600 visa.  I will be technically a tourist in Oz with no rights of residence but not actually living in the uk either as I am selling my house here.  What address will I give to the "authorities", also banks in the UK? Also what  do I do about my driving licence address?  Plus, if and when I then have to apply for another 600 tourist visa then what will be my address then?   Any advice please from those who have already been down this route? 

 

 

 

Funnily enough, I've been thinking the same. We handed in the keys to our rental home on Friday and are staying with friends and family until we fly on Friday. We are technically homeless & unemployed!!

19 minutes ago, Geoffandgill said:

Hi Alan, presumably you have bought and insured a car since you moved out to Oz. Was your 'no claims bonus' from UK recognised?

Regards Geoff & Gill

Hi both,

Are you as stressed as I am...............?

1 hour ago, AlanSteel said:

Not been into the site for a while, so some will remember me, some wont.  I was surprised at the little progress made since we moved here last June!  I was going stir crazy waiting for our 143 to be granted, and thought 26 months from start to arrival here was frustrating enough!

Hang in there, it really is worth the wait, our first year has flown by, and looking back the wait to get our visas seems so long ago already!

 

I remember you. You used to make us chuckle with some of your photos. We applied 6 months after you.........

and here here we still are

6 hours ago, JesseyJ said:

Hi Is there anyone waiting out there that applied for 143 in November 2014 ? Would be nice to know 

who will be the next to be contacted by immigration?

look forward to hearing from you. 

From a purely selfish point of view it would be lovely if there were no applications at all in November.........

7 hours ago, nyorksgrannie said:

Good luck Nana Jan I hope it all goes well, we are already into the farewell lunches, dinners etc., and weeks to go yet, I think I will need to diet when we finally get there! 

 

I feel your pain. Lovely as they all are, I do feel I am turning into a bloater

54 minutes ago, AMP said:

Just worth looking at the "what would you do differently" element of this PIO forum.  There are numerous entries there from folks who have said the exact opposite - ie they wish they had taken more of their own things with them.  However, as others have also very rightly commented, "each to his/her own".  We are all different and what is right for one is not right for another.

 

We are taking pretty much everything other than white goods and a few other kitchen electricals.

As the removal men are starting tomorrow it's all pretty mental here

2 minutes ago, Suzyq said:

Wow rogeliz!!! What a stressful time you've had! I'm so pleased to hear that it all came good for you though and you're there! And your overall queue time looks to be 2 years? We're looking at at 3 years now o:(

I'm interested to hear that you can't ship your belongings on a 600, this could be a show stopper for us so I'll look into that first thing Monday - unless some kind Pom in Oz knows anything different?!!

Thanks for sharing your story!

We are putting our stuff into storage here as the company we are using (PSS) won't ship without the 143 visa. I think there are import implications if you try to ship without a permanent visa.

I do remember someone on here shipped before their visa. Alan Steel, Steely or some such name if you scroll back and search for him on this thread.

35 minutes ago, Paur said:

Hi all, my mother-in-law has been looking at joining us in Oz and at her age (79), it looks like coming over on a visitor visa and applying for an 804 whilst here might be the best option. Can anyone tell me if she will need to do a medical before being granted a bridging visa? 

I have no idea as to the answer, but wow, hat's off to her for planning to move at that grand old age

17 minutes ago, rogeliz said:

Reading through the threads, we thought some of you might be interested in our experiences. We have now been in Australia as permanent residents with a 143 visa for a little over 2 years. We initially used a migration agent based in Perth, having met their representative in London the previous year. We sent the forms to them in January 2013 but they took what seemed to us to be an excessive amount of time checking our forms. Finally after many prompts by us, they said the forms had now all been changed by Immigration and would have to be re-done. However they offered to do this for us on our behalf, and just use the signature page we had submitted. They then told us the forms had been sent to the Parent Visa Section in July 2013.

Meanwhile we put the house on the market. In December 2013, we had a concrete offer which we accepted. You can imagine how we felt when we learnt only a few days later on the internet that the Migration Agent we had used had gone bankrupt. We immediately sent off an email and got a reply from the liquidators confirming the bankruptcy and furthermore stating there was no record of our application ever having been lodged. What a Christmas present! We phoned Immigration in London and they were also unable to find any application and stated we would have to start over again!

We decided not to lose the sale of the house, so moved into rented accommodation in January 2014. We completed all the new forms, and sent them by courier. No Agent this time, in January 2014. We didn’t want to stay in the UK rental for another 2 years while the new application went through so we applied for and got a 600 Visa allowing us to visit Australia for a maximum of 12 months in any 18, for a period of 3 years. We also took a very big gamble and applied for permission (as foreigners) to buy a house in Australia. We were told it had to be new or off plan, we could not buy anything ‘second hand’. We paid the deposit on an off-plan house which was going to be ready about November 2014. Unfortunately we could not ship any furniture, on a 600 Visa, so everything went into storage in the UK.

We travelled to Australia on the 600 visa in October 2014 with a view to having to ‘come and go’ until the 143 was granted. With a 600 for 3 years, we had a fair amount of leeway. We moved into the house at the beginning of November 2014. Incidentally, we sent 3 large suitcases by ship containing clothes, shoes, sports items but they took 3 months to arrive so if you are reading this, we suggest you use air freight as it is quicker.

About a month later, at the suggestion of the family in Australia, we phoned up Immigration to see if they could give us an update on the new application we had sent in January 2014. Imagine our horror again when we were told they had no record of an application from us Somewhat distraught at this, we contacted the family and our son, our sponsor, he told us he had just the very same day received an email from Immigration asking him to make the sponsorship payment etc for our application which was nearing completion!!

Wondering now what on earth was going on, it turned out that the Migration Agent HAD in fact sent off the application but when copying out our details on the new forms, had inadvertently put our email address --.com instead of --.co.uk , an address that happened to exist!  So, all the Immigration information that should have come to us had gone astray.  All this now meant we had 2 weeks to get the Health Checks done (which we did in Australia) and the UK Police Checks which we did via a courier. Just before Christmas 2014 we had confirmation that we would be given the visas once we had left Australia and they would be issued on our return. So in January 2015 we left the warmth of NSW for the freezing cold & snow of the UK to ship the stored possessions.

Our visa was confirmed when we came back in February 2015 and we have been here enjoying Australia ever since.

In conclusion, yes it was extremely stressful at the time but we don’t regret it. However we would not recommend using an Agent as all the forms are easily downloaded and if you are a native English speaker they are not difficult, just tedious to fill them all in.

Oh my good grief. That is one dreadful experience. Thank you for sharing it with us and at least you are now with your family enjoying the Australian way of life in the sunshine.

The one thing that stands out is that the application was lodged in June 2013 and the visa was ready to be granted in December 2014.

It's a bit different now