Joji

I suggest you go to specsavers they are always more than willing to help . ?

I'm so sorry Johndoe I thought I hit the quote for Newjez , I'm rubbish at paragraphs and also rubbish at sending quotes to the right person . As they say 'everyday is a school day ' I think I've worked it out now , the quote button that is , I'm never going to master paragraphs lol

Sentence structure has always been a weakness for me . I haven't got a phobia of paragraphs , I actually like paragraphs, I simply struggle to know where to put full stops , commas and start new paragraphs. I managed to get by though and gain a degree at uni , but looking back at my last post it does scream paragraph phobia and I do wonder how I managed it ?

I don't have private healthcare and have benefited immensely through Medicare here in Australia , I've had numerous tests and procedures I.e ultrasounds , CT scans , X-rays , screening , biopsies , operations and haven't paid any expenses whatsoever . I have a GP practice 5 minutes down the road where I can see a doctor the same day , I have had blood tests done at the same practice and diagnostic tests done 15 minutes drive away , results are always provided within a week or two at the latest . I am so impressed with the care I have received and during my short stays I have had in the local university hospital It was faultless , I have also used the on call out of hours doctors for the kids and they have been out within an hour . The out patience side of things I also can't fault I have also seen the stretched side which was in accident and emergency which actually quite surprised me , my young son was sent in via ambulance for suspected appendicitis , the ambulance was quick to arrive but we were waiting with the ambulance staff In the corridor at the hospital for well over an hour awaiting a bed and there was a queue of other patients there also and some in extreme pain awaiting beds , it was the week of schoolies so I asked if this was due to that and they said this was the norm , it's always busy here . Although my son was still on an ambulance trolley he was reviewed by a doctor and appendicitis was diagnosed as likely to be the problem we still had to wait there with the ambulance staff until a bed was found and a changeover could be provided , the ambulance and staff my son came in with and all the others also waiting really highlighted how stretched the a and e were and how much waiting around the ambulance staff had to do before going back out . Once he was fully admitted and given a bed due to the influx of a and e for children's ward the care he received was absoluutely faultless . Although initially some of his care was done in the corridor he was being continually observed by the ambulance staff and the on duty doctor. I was always kept updated and continialy reassured , I could see they were stretched and prioritising patients in need but could also feel the stress and hear their aplogies for the wait . They had the staff that was clear to see but they had nowhere to put my son in the children's department so In the end they had to put him on the adults side temporarily .I cannot fault the care they gave my son and had the ambulance staff taken him to a different hospital that was less busy they said he would have been transferred here anyway because they didn't have the facilities to treat him there for appendicitis. I believe it is hard to make a true relative comparison between two different counties of which is better or worse just of your own experience , my experience in one postcode in Australia although positive might not be the same in a different area , my experience in the a and e in the U.K. was faultless but the GP side in my postcode was not as positive as in Australia but my area was highly populated and there were less doctors surgeries available.

My daughter and her boyfriend have recently submitted their defacto visa with an agent here in Australia ( Jan 2018) my daughter is a permanent resident here in Australia and her partner was here on his 2nd year WHV and now been put on a bridging visa awaiting a decision . Myself and her step dad filled out a form 888 as we are Australian citizens which were certified by a justice of the peace along with the certification of our passports , his parents both made a written statement which were witnessed by a prescribed person on the U.K. list along with their passports . The agent was happy to forward these . I would say your Australian friend could also get someone to witness his form 888 whom is on the list but it could still be considered not a legal document but not due to the witness but because he is not residing in Australia . All form 888's and written statements and passports were all certified for my daughters boyfriends application

so sorry to hear of your bad experience she does sound like a blooming nightmare , yep we have our door open to all our visitors but theiy are fully aware of our circumstances before they come and we've been very lucky so far as everyone has paid their contribution

I totally agree that it's on the quality of stay for all sides , my visitors have always had free accommodation as we know how hard it has been for them to gather the funds to visit Australia . They also know how tight our financial circumstances are here so it's always worked well with a food kitty and pay your own way on everything else .its always worked for us as they have felt that they have payed their way and we have felt that we have given something back to towards their airfare . Quality time together and building new memories has always been the focus of equality with our visitors

Haha I'm all booked up at the moment got lots of family coming at the beginning of December for just short of a month , I've been lucky so far as got on really well with all my visitors

Yes that's one of the things I've found too plus I've found you get to really know them as a person as they are away from all the normal day to day things , especially my father in law he was always in the background doing his own thing when we visited in the Uk but when he came to visit he was the centre of attention and he really suprized me how involved he got and how is sense of humour really shone I've never laughed with him as much in the three weeks he was here he was like a different person

Hahs I go for what's on special offer at the time so would have to say cheap deodorant , cheap is good for me though

We've been very lucky so far with our visitors but some of my friends have had some of the experiences you mentioned

hi Beaty we are on the Gold Coast so probably why we've had so many visitors

We moved out here 4 years ago and never did we envisage the opportunities taken and embracement to Australia that our family and friends have shown . We've had different family members visit each Christmas along with the same family members we've had each year . Friends of friends meeting up with us on their travels ,backpackers from our local village , ex in laws and their new partner and family arranging to meet us next year , visit form an old work colleague , and another 7 members of our family that we haven't seen for 4 years coming out for Christmas yeahhh !!! ( so a total of 13 this year ) We have been most overwhelmed and very happily surprised that some that we thought would never visit have . They have also said that if it wasn't for us moving here they would never have even thought about coming to visit Australia . When we came to Australia we thought deeply and often of our loss to the Uk especially our family and friends but we never considered the gain to Australia of those that we left behind . It is very heartwarming to learn that they have looked to the positive of us moving here and taken the opportunity to come and visit us and this wonderful country . We may have have left a door ajar in the Uk for us but we now know we have left a door wide open in Australia for many . We hope they keep a coming because it's fantastic when they do

A packet of tomatoe flavoured snaps at 5p

It can totally imagine it to be unbearably stressful as I relate it to our experience and we saw brick walls many of times , hopefully you will eventually have a positive outcome like we did

i just want to wish you good luck in all your plans and decisions , we had a very complex visa application involving my teenage daughters with their non emigrating father and both had boyfriends . We also had on the application two younger siblings to my husband the main applicant on our PR visa . It was a very emotional and extremely expensive process but it has all come good in the end . Considering money is tight and your short time frame to Februrary I would say you might have to defer your consideration for a student visa for your step daughter until she is 18 as I'm not sure but think you will have to apply for a jurisdiction for removal to the courts if her dad won't agree to a sworn declaration to allow to you take her to Australia before she is 18 years .All the best to you and your family sometimes you've just got to try with your given lot and hope for the best , do what you can and give it your best shot so you have no regrets trying

My advice is the same as above to see if you qualify first . We used a redgistered migrant agent to help us through the process so I would suggest having a consultation with a redgistered agent if you qualify to discuss the best options for you . All the best for your future plans we are extremely happy in Australia and everything as gone to plan for us , but I wouldn't look at is as 'better career options and lifestyle ' but different . I say this as for some they have had to step back in their career paths and found the lifestyle not to be better for them.

Thank you Bungo

Looking for a pathway to hopefully get my daughters boyfriend a defacto visa in the future . They are both 21 yeas of age and been in a relationship for the past 3 years . Daughter has PR which was granted and activated in 2012 but she has fllitted to and fro from the uk to Aus because of this . She hasn't yet accumulated 2 years of living in Australia but is currently living in Australia and intends on staying here but also building to this in case she needs to apply for a 5 year RRV . . Her boyfriend is currently in Australia on a 1 year WHV and has done his 3 months farm work to hopefully extend it to 2 years . They have redgistered their relationship here in Australia , got joint bank accounts and have lived together from when he arrived in Feb but we don't think this will count as living together as it was with parents , backpackers , shared accommodation . Can anyone shed any light on how they can prove their relationship , do they need to have a joint tenancy agreement with a real estate or private landlord for at least 1 year or is it longer . Can they apply for a temporary defacto visa after a certain amount of time and what would they need. They both want to live in Australia together and defacto is the only option

Both areas have got a good reputation and very favourable with expats . I don't live there personally as we settled on the Northern end of the GC due to work commitments but have friends whom live there and are very happy . If your on face book it might be worth joining Gold Coast pomms n ozzies and Brits on the Gold Coast groups as there are lots of members that live there that will give you great advice . They have a lot of meet ups too so really good for newbies arriving on the Gold Coast

Adults have to pay for all treatment and you can go to any . We have PR so my kids get a free voucher each year which has a limit on it but it has allways covered their check ups and the odd filling .you cannot use it towards orthodontic treatment though which is expensive over here but you can go on payment plans for this to spread the cost

It was 4 years ago with Anglo Pacific and think it was in the region of £4000, but we figured to replace our belongings it was a good price to pay , we brought 4 beds , 2 lounge suites ,American fridge , washer , 2 large TVs , cooker ( which we never used) , dining suite , outdoor furniture , 4 bikes , kitchen equipment , pictures , mirrors , bedroom furniture , toys , treadmill, multi gym , tools , all electrical equipment , games consoles , tv stands , and many other little bits . We could never have afforded to replace our items when we came over as our funds were very tight , we had enough funds to get us by for 3 months whilst we found work so not having to buy any household goods was a huge relief to our finances .

We shipped a 4 bedroom house worth of household belongings and so glad we did ,we filled a 40 ft container to the brim the only thing we didn't use that we brought over was our cooker and wished we'd of sold that in the Uk . Also wIshed we'd have brought more bedding and our winter clothes

I would seek legal advice due to the The Hague Convection Act . My daughter was 16 and birth father refused to allow her to leave the UK and reside in Australia , we had to go through the courts to get a removal of jurisdiction from the country of residence ( Uk) . It was granted due to her age of being 16 .

We did our reccie in Sunshine Coast and loved it , ideally we would have loved to live there but work opportunities was not favourable for us and we live a stones throw away from Helensvale and been here 4 years . We love it here but given the choice I would have headed to the Sunshine Coast . Good luck on your journey I'm sure you will be very happy with your choice