HibiscusDreams

Yeah... there goes my weekend lol

yay! Congratulations ? So happy for you! Now you get a well earned honeymoon and some time together before throwing yourself back in more of the visa moshpit :)

I've been looking at this sort of thing. My (Aussie) partner already has a full house, so just have a few extra boxes of personal stuff to shift on top of a regular luggage allowance. I found that parcel couriers can be suprisingly competetive. Check out Landmark Global's "World Heavy Parcel" service. They carry 20kg for around £95 door to door, and also have a 30kg service for about £110. It goes by air so only takes 1-2 weeks.

This just makes me so glad my s/o is a slightly OCD woman ? Between the two us we are a beureaucratic slaying machine! lol

My s/o has her federal one in one, and my UK one came back - offcialy not a criminal, and a certificate to proove it! lol We're pretty much there now, big relief is finally got the money for the application fee! That's been worrying on my mind for ages - I was terrified I wouldn't get the money together. We're just waiting on a few stat dec statements to come back, and whilst that's happening we're getting together our social media proof. With this, for Skype and Facebook Messenger, do immi want actual screen shots of the log, or is it better to export the logs to a text file? For Emails can we just submit the results of an Inbox search with dates and names, or do they expect the full text of every email?

Cool. Thanks all - will get her to apply ?

Hi all, Getting my police certificate sorted and gathering the last of my evidence together. We've been having a look at the main form my fiancee needs to submit and we're a bit confused as to whether or not she needs to get a police/background check done, and submit it to immi, or if they request it themselves? If she does need to get it, does anyone know what it is she needs to ask for, and if she needs to apply to the federal or NSW police? Nearly there now!

Yep, I'll drink to that! PIO really is the best forum I think. It's a lovely environment here and you definitely don't feel so alone. It's not easy when you're loved one and most of your friends are literally on the other side of the world!

Also my news - had my medical yesterday at Knightsbridge Doctors in London. Lovely female doctor really did her best to put me at ease given the awkwardness of standing in an unfamiliar room with a complete stranger in nothing but your undies - All looking promising on that front, so onward and upward

Awe, fantastic! You must be on top of the world (well, bottom of it, but you know what I mean!). So glad for you - take a moment to enjoy life and savour the moment - and your wedding

Sky Scanner are my god. Their month by month search is the cat's whiskers. They are only a comparison site - you are never booking through them, you are booking through whichever option you select. Most of those are fine (I've never had a problem) but obviously check out the site's reviews before booking and if using a UK based ticket broker, make sure they have a legit ATOL registration number (you can look it up here http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplication.aspx?appid=2 )

Don't know if they are on Flight Scanner, but they do come up on SkyScanner. If you want to use the Skycouch though, I'd recommend contacting China Airlines or Air NZ first and checking how to go about it, as it's a non standard option, and you don't want to buy a ticket through a broker only to realise it's the wrong type. If I recall, Air China let's you add it on as an after booking option, but best to double check as it's a lot of money involved.

Thanks, Nikisha. It was right there in front of my eyes - didn't register there option there on the menu in the left to submit the extra form on hospitals stays, medications etc. - soon as I did that it came up. d'oh!!! With that, appointment in place for next monday at Knightsbridge Doctors.

Coming back to my earlier slight concern, has anyone got any experience on how long it takes to get an emedical reference number through when putting in for it before a visa is submitted? I thought it would be instantaneous, or within 24 hours, but I submitted the emedical form (all 9 pages?!) a week ago and still haven't got back a ref number. Is that normal, or should I chase them up? Should I be concerned?

Good point! I can see the thinking behind the penalty system but it's unfair in a lot of ways. Younger people are more likely to be on a low income and trying to save to get on the super-affordable and easy to climb housing ladder, pressuring them to buy insurance they don't need is draining money away they already can't afford - Then when you can afford it, you get whammied with the penalty.

Really depends on your job. My s/o gets private cover through her employer at a discount, though her income means she wouldn't get hit with the levy surcharge anyway. You don't really need it though in most cases (YMMV). I think the relatively high usage of private in aus is partly due to medicare being (relatively) new, so the older generation still feel more comfortable having private - whilst the medicare rebate system makes having private more attractive (and affordable) than in the UK. The real bugbear in the aussie system is the governments refusal to support and encourage bulk billing. It's a shame, and it means some people have to travel way out of their way to get a doctor who still accepts it.

Jesus! I didn't know Class 300s had an "enter by" date... I was under the impression that it just had to be within the 9 month period from when the Visa is approved. We've already fixed a date for our wedding so hoping that doesn't become an issue - though our celebrant is providing details of all our plans to submit along with the visa so hoping they will take that into consideration? Just wanted to ask those who have trod these hallowed footsteps before how it works with eMedical? I'm a bit worried. I must admit I assumed once one applied for an eMedical ref number to preload a medical before applying that the reference would be near instantaneous and auto-generated by the system. However I submitted the request on the 1st, and still haven't had a reference back. I was hoping to get it done this week or next as I've got time off work - and the nearest clinic to me is still an all day trip. Is this normal? On the plus side, civil partnership cert is underway, stat decs are getting done, things are moving! Fingers crossed if eMedical and BDM get their skates on, can submit at the start of may as planned

Very true! - Seems senible. I've got a decent local solicitor who does certification for next to nothing, so might as well get everything done just in case. Better safe than sorry

Love Port Maquarie... we're planning a road-trip up the NSW coast for our honeymoon, and can't wait to visit again

Thanks - 12 months validity should be fine. We're getting married next feb, but want to head out in the first week of November so we can get stuff sorted and have christmas together (in summer - yay!) - so based on that was planning to submit the visa application around May, if that sounds about right? One silly question - since we do need to apply online (so will be scanning all the ID and whatnot) - is it necessary to still get certified copies of the ID documents and then scan the copy, or can we just upload a scan of the originals?

What skills do you have? Your best bet would be to develop an in-demand skill in something like Early Years Education. The reason for this is that if you can develop that, and then go for a Working Holiday Visa, it shold be possible to work in some kind of child care role on a working hols visa (albeit at a low "casual" level), then utilise that as a stepping stone to find an employer willing to sponsor you for a permanent visa. Hopefully your mum could help with a bit of networking to link you up with an employer who is happy to do that. Bear in mind the exact skills wanted lists constantly change so keep an eye out on the ones in your target states - going for state nomination in a regional area is usually your best bet, i.e. outside of Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane - and for some reason Wollongong and Gold Coast as well (because, obviously....). If your family are in Adelaide or Perth then you're in luck as they still count as "regional" despite being capitals.Hobart and Darwin also count as regional locations, as does - despite being the federal capital (!), Canberra.

If I recall, starting this year Qantas are pulling out of Dubai, and routing their SYD-LHR flight via Singapore again (I think this starts in March too?) so any flights via DXB after that point with QF flight numbers will be an Emirates operated flight running under the codeshare, and to be honest, despite the hyped first class experience on EK, they are *not* as good Qantas in Economy. Avoid economy in EK's 777s - they have been "refurbished" with a "high-density" cabin which means super-narrow seats, as they jam in an extra row down the *length* of the plane in a 3-4-3 configuration. There's a myraid of good airlines doing London-Sydney, so no need to be shoe-horned in to Emirates, or, heaven forbid, Etihad. As well as Qantas, check out China Airlines (NOT Air China - different airline, not comparable, lovely econ class with a "skycouch" option in economy that is *amazing*), or Singapore Airlines (the one and only). If you don't mind a longer route, Air NZ, who also have a skycouch and fly westward out of London which minimizes the jetlag, despite the longer flight.

Thanks for that, Spangle. My better half is in NSW, so all fine there - got the forms hot off the printer Just spoke to the European Service Centre at Immi regarding submitting an application. Got some mixed results so wanted to see how this gels with other people's recent experience? - Asked about lodging a paper based 300 application through the London office. Got am ambiguous response and when asked for clarification was told that's not possible and it has to be done online. The Partnership Visas handbook says this is still an option but dates from last year. (I wanted to do a paper based application as my partner really doesn't want to do computer based forms - the whole visa process is obviously a complete mystery to her as she's always been an aussie!) - Asked about doing medical in advance (to speed up the process by being able to produce it on demand). Was told this was not an option, but again the guidance notes for the visa suggest that it is. - The notes for the partner visas say that you can submit statements either just as plain documents or stat decs, but doesn't indiciate a preference to either. When I asked which one I should do, was just told "Yes". Le sigh! So, my fellow pommies.... what's a gal to do?

registering our relationship seems like a good move - wondering if we should do the same since we are also in an LDR and have never lived together, that's useful advice Also, does anyone know if it possible to file a class 300 application via a paper based route, and what the time/cost implications are? My partner isn't massively tech savvy and would feel happier if I could send over the paperwork for her to that she can send back to me to lodge with Immi. The website seems ambigious as to wether or not this is still an option. Another thing that sent me wondering down this line is that we're currently contacting celebrants for the wedding and one of them especially caught our eye as she specifically says she works with couples having to go through the Class 300 system, and she was saying to me that I need a copy of the NOIM as I will need it to take for interview at the London High Comission - seems a bit ye olde worlde, so is this still current practice? Anyone else have to do this, what to expect?

5 months does seem to be the ball park figure at the moment... hoping that doesn't change! Spangle, if you don't mind my asking, what sort of evidence / quantity of evidence did you submit along with your application? I'm thinking of going with the following, but would value your thoughts, or anyone else who has had approval through: * 4 Stat Decs / statements from family and friends. * Bank statements showing joint financial activity (3 months worth) * Copies of bookings for wedding plans (we have a set a date for next February and have some bookings already in place) * Copies of flight bookings for visits * Photos of joint activities / time together etc. All thoughts / input most welcome @spangle 1