SWMOY04

Definately kept us in the loop... they gave us realistic timescales which in hindsight they were quite conservative... so for example they told us 2 weeks for the EOI... response came back in 24hrs... visa about "7 months or so"... got it in 5 They even advised us not to use my skills but take a chance and use my wifes skills as she was younger and we could get an additional 5 points for that... they advised us AGAINST me doing a skills assesment so that we could get another 5 points... they were right... that saved us another £500-ish just to gain an extra 5 points when they knew that what we had was enough... I'd say they know their stuff... but I only know about our own case...everyone is different

John and his family/team are brilliant. We only had one mishap and that was early on in the relationship but it was quite quickly resolved... nothing major or worth stressing you about. He had warned us that he has a habit of calling people at dawn to give good news... so when he did call us that fateful day at about 5am... I saw his name on my phone and answered thinking "it cant be...or is it?... its only been 5 months.... dont get too excited...I'm quite possibly dreaming...answer the phone even if its a dream idiot, its about to go to voicemail!" And thats how he broke the news that we got our 189. As far as living here... I wont lie to you... it is VEEEEERY different... theres things I miss about the UK (expediency being a key one)... these guys just take their sweet sweet time... then they have a coffee... then a smoke break... and a posh lunch... then they'll get to your email to tell yoi they have received it and will get back to you... then they have another coffee...which they brew and stir in that plunger kettle for 7 mins straight with 30 second intervals of stirring....its like that EVERYWHERE....Centrelink, work, tradies, Estate Agents...arrrrrggggggghhhhh&h (rant over) Other than that... its great...the weather is quite warm and temperamental here in Melbourne but im not complaining... people are friendly enough.. Job wise, i think you'll find that us Brits seem to work a lot harder (regardless of the industry) simply because we are used to that.

Think of it this way... The ENTIRE process of going from one house/2 jobs in UK to one house/2 jobs in Aus (and I have every receipt) cost me, my partner and two small kids just over £15,000. Visas alone were about £4,900something on the day .. that means over £10,000 hung on the balance of me being ABSOLUTELY SURE I filled in every question correctly etc etc... The extra £2,400 for the agent gave me so much more piece of mind that I could focus my energy on things like job interviews... schools... CVs, house hunting...shipping etc As @VERYSTORMY put it: Yes! No if's and's or but's We personally used Immigration2Ozin Surrey... but I've read on here countless positive refferals to @wrussell and @Raul Senise

Please take my advice with a bucketful of salt... (For this piece, nurse(s) simply refers to UK RMN trained...or Aus RPN) If you decide to go down the nursing route...I'd suggest you train (in the UK) as a Mental Health nurse. The training methods for nursing differ between UK and Aus. The impact is that after a 3 year degree in "Nursing", the typical newly "qualified" Aus nurse only has about a months worth (160hrs) of Mental health placement experience. Compared to 2300hrs or so over three years for a UK newly qualified nurse... What that means is that whilst the Aus nurse enters into a "graduate and postgraduate" scheme (2 yrs of part time study whilst working)... the UK qualified Mental Health nurse doesnt need to... thats one less thing to worry about. Now... i spoke about placement hours a few paragraphs up... the impact of the placement hours is that UK nurse has experienced various settings accross the mental health spectrum...and also experienced first hand how different nurses nurse different conditions... which translates to a resilience and experience that the Aus nurse may not necessarily have from the 160hrs. This means you are likely to advance (slightly) quicker than someone who finished the actual 3 year course on the same day as you...remember...they still do an additional 2 years (on a univeristy accredited course) before full recognition...whereas in the UK there is typically an in-house 6-12month period of preceptorship (think of it as probation)... this is typically completed by most people within months 5-8. I'd suggest you go for mental health...the jobs are dwindling in Aus ...but I think you'd stand a better chance in that particular specialty, compared to general/adult/paediatric nursing. And also... if you find that nursing isnt on the list anymore, you definately wont want for a job as there is a massive shortage in the UK anyway...with private sector paying typically much more than NHS... (I know hospitals paying £28,000/yr to newly qualified nurses prior to the new deal done last year when NHS was paying £23,000) Dont do the Learning Disability Nursing course (RNLD)... its far too specialist for Aus... they are still playing catch up to Mental Health as it is... Just as a side bar from ... of the 28 middle to junior-upper management (clinical) posts in my hospital... about 13 of those are staffed by UK/Irish trained Nurses! (With two more on the way from UK that I know about.)Thats how well recognised UK training is.

Everyone has to activate their own visa... four tickets in your case:)

I was delayed by the nursing board, but otherwise my employers wanted me tonstart in October 2018... we weren't even ready to move at the time. We had only just activated the visa and returned from an Oz holiday. Im currently in my 6th week.of work and im loving it! More responsibility, but less stress compared to NHS. (Im a psychiatric nurse)

That was July 2017 EOI...November Grant.... We moved over in Nov 2018... best decision we've made together so far.

My wife applied with 75 points...secondary school teacher (Maths) Sumbitted expression of interest and within 24 hours we had the invitation to apply... it caught us off guard, but we applied within 10 days and got the visa in about 4 and half months (189)

Yeah, waiting times have increased lately... rumour has it its due to a change in location for initial registrations (from overseas) all being done in Perth now (you still present in your state of choice) My application was lodged in August and reg in principle received december after a lot of pushing from me and my employer... AHPRA had requested an extension till February

Yeah... got my job about a week after sending off ahpra reg

I've only just got my reg this week. To say AHPRA has been a frustration is an understatement. Personally this is what I went through. Applied in good time and calculated latest grant day to be in last week of October. Arranged all other necessary things... ensured all my information landed on the same week (a week after application form and its appendices arrived) Booked my flights for late November. Middle of October... nothing... got an email saying I didn't send my signed CV.... ( something like this has never happened to me... I'm always a stickler for making copies and practicing on one copy before doing my ritual of sitting down and copying everything clearly onto final copy and ticking along a checklist ..) So I reprinted my CV, signed it.. took pictures and sent it by recorded and tracked mail... 6 days later it arrived... I emailed two weeks after original request for CV and was told...we don't have it... I had sent it directly to the CO. Then I was asked "please send any tracking numbers you may have..." I emailed literally 1 minute later and heard nothing... I told them theybhave the CV. I was then informed that they want to extend the period to asses my reg till early Feb... I emailed back asking for a rationale... wasn't given 1. I emailed a copy of my job offer and booked flights... and was told... "if you don't accept this request we will take it you are refusing to continue with your alplocation" or words to that effect... This type of behaviour went on and on until I got to Melbourne and have met some colleagues who have all expressed a sudden change in AHPRA towards intl registrants.... HR at my work said it was to do with all the registrations now being done in Perth... But even they were assuming... But they (HR) tool over the case and shook a few trees and even they were given run around about some forms not being received blablabla... Utterly frustrating... But keep at them.... I'm sure it will work out... it's really annoying... just don't give up... I had already started an application form for the local Bunnings (B&Q) the day I got my reg through..

just a side note... be prepared for slow turnaround... I just tried financing a $20k car with a $4k deposit and it took the dealer almost two days to give me a response... I ended up buying a steal of a car outright from a mutual friend who has had it in the garage for a while... one owner full service... flew through the roadworthy with a warning about the licence plate light! you will get warnings about sub$5k cars... and I think it's wise to heed those warnings.. but be prepared to wait about a bit with some things... and haggle like mad... that is very true!! I walked in expecting the usual 30minute turnaround from salesperson on the keyboard to drivibg off the lot. (ps... I too had a permanent contract, local bank statements with money in for a few months, bills in hand etc etc, but had obly landed a week before)

hey all... it's been a whirlwind if a first week... I feel.like I've been on a week long shopping spree... but a t last the house is starting to feel like a home... the gas and electricity were on on our arrival... one last call whilst at Manchester and the utility company confirmed all was set. Telstra sorted us for NBN within 12 hour period... even the sales guy said that was some record. Their shop has the region's best manager for 2017 I believe... he must be doing something right.. his team is ever happy and he knocked off a few charges and gave a few discounts here and there. My wife has discovered the joys of Kmart... I'm still #TeamIkea hoping to sort out our own car today or tomorrow and see if I can return my rental car early. our neighbours are great... all young couples like us... one of the guys has been lending me his tools...which was kind work starts on monday... but.....garden is a mess

Used immigration2Oz in Surrey.... couldn't fault them

sounds to me like they are a bit behind from the chats I've had with my future colleagues... I'll let you know once I'm on the wards in 2 weeks... but I'm sure a few people will come along whonhas actual experience. one thing I am looking forward to is the lower nurse-patient ratios....

I don't know about WA, but it would appear there are a fair few jobs in VIC when I was last looking. My future employers and a few other mental health providers have also advertised for RMNs with an option for sponsorship as well.. however like Ali said... it could all be different within a year... let alone 3 years. I was offered sponsorship as there had been miscommunication between the interviewer and HR. the only difference I noticed in the two contracts was that one was offered with an open start date within 6 months (allowing time for revistration and visa applications, with employer sponsorship) and was for a fixed term 2 year period.... final conteach after I advised them I already have my PR, had a start date of 2 weeks from being written and was full time permanent... so I'm not too sure about being treated differently based on type of visa... but again... this depends on employer and state I guess.

thanks @Marisawright

tha is for your input everyone... I'm doing a few night shifts UK time next week so I'll make a few calls and update on here in case someone else faces my situation thanks again to you all. next series of questions... Victoria residents...are there multiple utility providers for different utilities e.g. gas and electricity in UK -First utility, British gas, utility warehouse etc phone and broadband -Virgin, BT, Post Office, Talk talk. is this the same in oz? if so... are there any comparison sites? if not who are the good providers of utilities, by utility thanks again

hello all. still on my.mission of moving. two weeks to go now. just secured a decent house in Mernda, we were lucky to have someone go and view and apparently the landlord liked our profile. Our viewer is also going to furnish with beds and a few kitchen basics for our arrival. paid my bond this morning and my first rent will be due just before I take off from UK. my next quandary is utilities. I'm not liking the idea of landing in a half furnished house void of electricity etc. how quick/slow are the utility companies in setting up? can I set up whilst I'm out here? our lease starts a week prior to our arrival as we have friends who have volunteered to collect our furniture and do some cleaning if needed... so I figured the utilities could also get started

I think this gets cross referenced by AHPRA by virtue of: 1) the NMC register being public so they can always have a look to see if you are actually registered despite what your Uni says they taught/trained you...and the registration proving they are satisfied with how you were trained 2) your Uni sending them (AHPRA) your transcript...proving they taught/trained you and 3) NMC sending them a COGS, at a cost to you, proving you are indeed fully registered and in good standing with them

a slightly different perspective from me...Psychiatric Nurse with varied experience on inpatient, community and agency roles. Melbourne mental health Services seem to be using OTs in a similar way to how mental health services use them in the UK. I had some chats with a few teams when I was job hunting and some brilliant and informative conversations were had. it sounded to me that whilst the UK may have more demand for OTs, Aus isn't that far behind. so fo example the role in the UK known as Care coordinator can be filled by an RMN, an OT, or a Social Worker with experience from the old CMHT models if the manager is brave enough to hire and support them....that said, AMHPs are usually snapped up pretty fast these days and the course is now being offered to RMNs in some areas....but I digress I ended up getting a fast track managerial post offer on an inpatient unit from just chatting to different teams/service leads... didn't apply at all, was just offered a Skype interview off the back of informal chit-chat and someone deciding to look at my LinkedIn profile to verify my experience after something I mentioned piqued their interest. have a look at LinkedIn. search for people who do the job you want to do, and add in all the local universities to yours, then limit the location of the search to a city of your choice eg...Sydney... and network from there. or go on seek.com.au, look at jobs similar to what you would want and find the contact person and give them a call or email. All the best in your studies (personally I'd suggest MSc, only because where I'm going to work offers a bonus of about 5% on top of annual salary for MSc and I think 7% for PhD if the study is specific to the skill and role...)

They want the time you spend working as a nurse, without restrictions, when they are asking for experience... which cancels out student and carer experience as whilst they are noble posts, they are different to what a nurse does

yeah, I'll take part. migrating in the next 4 weeks.

hello all. I'm 4 weeks away from my move... yeaay!!! I've just realised that there is a small debt I won't be able to pay off in full before leaving. and the few phone calls I've made to utilities etc keep asking me to keep my direct debit open for refunds if needed...and then the taxman just said they may owe me money as I'm moving mid tax year and would have been taxed on pace for a full years wages.. and so on it appears I have to keep my account open... how do I go about This? my debt is with my bank.