justme

Hi, I just wanted to say that we are in a similar situation ... well similar in that we realised a short amount of time after arriving that we don't see our long-term future over here and, therefore, we don't see the point in spending loads of cash setting ourselves up here temporarily. I've read through a lot of posts on here recently (trying to justify the way we feel) and soooooo many people say the whole 'it takes at least 2 years to settle' thing. That is very true I'm sure - I've lived in 3 different cities over the past 20 years, my husband emigrated to the UK from the Mediterranean, so he's made a move abroad previously, and of course it always takes time to settle somewhere new. BUT it doesn't take that long to know that you don't WANT to settle somewhere, that's the big difference for me. For example, lots of people love living in London, but equally somebody could go there for a weekend and decide they could never live there. I'd write more but my baby just woke up! But if I was you I'd trust your instinct and not worry that you're missing out on something that you haven't found ... not everyone's 'dream lifestyle' is the same ... our discovery too!

Sq51 then sq221 ?

Hi again! We booked the flight. Late November with Singapore airlines. Manchester to Singapore on A350-900 then Singapore to Sydney on A380-800. We’re stayinh two nights in Singapore to break up the journey and to enjoy a little holiday of sorts! Excited and nervous all at the same time!

Thanks Jetblast. We’re flying end of November. We’re intending to stay two nights in Singapore to break up the trip. The onward journey we are looking at looks to be an airbus 380. To be honest as long as the planes are safe that’s the main thing I’m after! Still not sure about whether taking a day or night flight for the long leg is better with young children? Overnight seems like a good idea - but only if they sleep. Otherwise overtired young kids could be carnage. Day time flight would mean everyone is fresh, but may get bored? Anyone who has made the journey with a toddler and infant have any words of wisdom? ?

Hi Jetblast. We’ll be flying economy. We’re now looking at the Manchester flight, which is on the a350 as it’s cheaper and we’re closer to Manchester. Downside being it leaves at 11am so our 1 and 3 year olds will be awake for a lot of the flight. Perhaps tell me about the different planes and it’ll help make our decision ... thanks in advance!

Hi Jetblast, we’re thinking of flying Singapore in November too. To Sydney via Singapore stopover for a couple of days. Probably flying from London but could do Manchester. What are your thoughts about the aircraft flying on the London - Singapore route. There seems to be a choice to take the 8pm or 10pm flight - one is Boeing 777 something and one airbus 380? Are these aircrafts newish or is the Manchester flight better? I’m a bit of a nervous flyer ...

Hi All Bit of a random one but I thought you lot would know. We’re moving over at the end of the year to NSW and starting to think about what we want to ship. Our bed is incredibly comfy but has a fleece topping on it. Stupid question maybe, but am I right in thinking this makes the bed warm as well as comfy? And, if so, presumably I wouldn’t be suitable in a warm climate? There are other household items that we’ve been needing to replace for a while but are unsure whether it’d be worthwhile doing so before we leave (if we’re paying for shipping anyway) or waiting until we’re there. I’d love to know if there are any things you’d definitely recommend bringing from the UK and what you’d wait to get in Australia. I saw someone mentioning calpol and bedding in a previous thread for example. We’re in the fortunate position of being able to stay with family for the first couple of months so no worries about immediate furniture purchases etc. Look forward to your comments

Hi Piscin Good luck with your skills assessment. I was just honest on my CV about my previous jobs and described what my roles and duties were. Perhaps your friend was knocked back because his role or duties didn’t match what they consider a construction project manager to do? You need to make sure that what you do matches up with their description of the duties. You can find this online under the occupation code. To be honest I don’t think the CV was the main part of the skills application though. It was 1.5 years ago that I applied so I can’t remember all the details, but I had to fill in all job descriptions on the application and also have letters from my previous employers describing my role and responsibilities. Good luck!

Yes you have 28 days to submit documents once asked. You just need to make your first entry to Australia by the date they give you, so a holiday would be fine to activate the visa.

Hey, we just got our 190. Some people on here advised against front loading the documents in case it takes nearly 12 months to decide the case and then you have little time to make the first entry to Australia (as it’ll be 12 months from the date of your medical or police checks). I guess it depends if you think that’s likely or not. Currently they are processing 75% if applications in 6 months. We didn’t front load, but as soon as we submitted our application a tab became available asking us to complete the medicals, so we did that straight away. Case officer contacted us three months after we submitted to ask for police certificates. We did them st that point then waiting another 1.5 months for our grant. No big deal for us. Though in retrospect I would probably just have done the police certificates earlier on and I think we’d have got a direct grant in April.

Ah that’s a shame Dublin are so busy. If immigration know then I’m sure it’ll be fine. The health check is sent online directly from the clinic to Australia, so you don’t need to upload it yourself. Or at least it was for us - maybe better check. So that’d suggest you could click submit once you’ve attached everything else they asked for within the 28 days. We’re looking at moving probably around October time. Need to sell our house before then (would’ve been doing that anyway as it’s too small for us). We’ve got a family member in Sydney who we can stay with initially and then we’ll take it from there. We kind of prefer the idea of being out of the city and finding a nice community and less expensive housing, but I guess it’ll depend where we can find jobs. Definitely lots of work in Sydney but also so expensive. What about you, assuming visa come through in next few months?

Oh that’s a shame. Is there anywhere else you can get the medicals done? We got ours in Edinburgh and they had appointments available within a week ... Otherwise surely they make allowances when you can’t get an appointment quickly? Perhaps you can upload your appointment booking details to the immiaccount or something so that you’ve put something there?

Yes you’re probably just 6 weeks behind us. Fingers crossed! Date of entry is by the end of January 2019 - basically the date of our medicals. Thank goodness we didn’t wait for a 189 invite! All very exciting now, but a bit scary too. Hope we’re doing the right thing!

We got our grant! 190 sponsored by NSW For those that are interested the timeline was: 190 EOI submitted early October 2017 20th October - NSW invite 30th October - submitted documents to NSW 22nd December - NSW sponsorship confirmed and 190 invite received 16th Jan - submitted 190 visa application. We did the medical a few days later 18th April - case officer asked for police certificates 27th April - submitted police certificates 7th June - visa granted I think if we’d submitted the police certificates at the start we’d have got a direct grant in April. It was a question I asked on here at the time and some people advice against front loading everything in case you then don’t have much time to move. We aren’t in a huge rush so no issue, but for those who are it might be worth considering ...

We got our grant! 190 sponsored by NSW For those that are interested the timeline was: 190 EOI submitted early October 2017 20th October - NSW invite 30th October - submitted documents to NSW 22nd December - NSW sponsorship confirmed and 190 invite received 16th Jan - submitted 190 visa application. We did the medical a few days later 18th April - case officer asked for police certificates 27th April - submitted police certificates 7th June - visa granted I think if we’d submitted the police certificates at the start we’d have got a direct grant in April. It was a question I asked on here at the time and some people advise against front loading everything in case you then don’t have much time to move. We aren’t in a huge rush so no issue, but for those who are it might be worth considering ...