Jimbo

Congratulations mate. If you have any questions before your arrival feel free to message me as I'll be glad to help. Good luck mate!

Excellent news!

Fingers crossed for you mate

Hi guys, I have a bit of advice for those that are heading out to Adelaide soon. Not long after you arrive you will no doubt be wanting to enrol onto the Medicare system. The building we used to enrol is right next to the department of transport so you can do this at the same time as getting your driving license sorted out. Also, if you are traveling with a partner or with kids, I would advise that only one of you take the passports and visabdetails to the Medicare building as we all went at 0930 and the wait was 1 hour. My kids were climbing the walls as there was nothing for them to do and there was actually no reason for them to be there, one person can do it all. There is a large shopping mall called the Marion centre directly across the road so I would suggest that one person sorts out the Medicare whilst the others either sorts out the driving license or chills out in the Marion centre.

Hey, I have just been down to dept of transport and the lady advised me that there was no need for me to get obtain a full Aussie DL at the moment whilst on my 489 visa. She took details, passport, visa grant number, address and a photograph and then provided my wife and I with FP numbers which we can now use to buy and register cars. She printed me off a copy of the details on an A4 sheet and wrote the FP number on a small sticker which I've stuck on the back of my uk licence. This process was free and took around 5 mins to complete. As as I was there with my wife and 2 bored and restless kids this is the option we went with at the time. This is not to say we couldn't have obtained full Aus licences if we had wanted too. Regarding ID, I required my passport to open a bank account, nothing else. The assistant then printed off my bank account details with my address on it which wad useful for ID purposes, i.e enrolling my son at school. They required, passport, proof of address in local area and copy of visa details. Hope this helps.

Hey Jetblast, all going well so far thanks! Still very much in holiday mode so far as that's only been a week we've been here. Weather has been lovely so there's been plenty of beach and pool time. Had a nice day down in Glenelg the other day which the kids loved. Sorted out some buisnessy time things like Medicare, driving license, bank account and also enrolled my son into the local primary school which he will start in after the Easter holidays. So far so good!!

Once I get set up with my new Aussie number I'll join the chat too and as I said would be happy to help out and advise you guys where I can once I'm there.

Thanks guys I'll keep you posted and if anyone had any specific questions feel free to ask. See y'all there!

Probably mid June. Think I will be the second in the thread to arrive? We are all flying out tomorrow afternoon! Last full day today in the UK! Snowing here in Glasgow so will be perfect contrast given its 30 degrees in Adelaide just now. Can't wait!

All the best, hope it all goes to plan for you.

Yeah exactly, we're the same. Will definitely be around the Hallett Cove, sheidow park area where we end up settling I reckon.

I'm no expert but my mum and my cousins all live around the Hallett Cove area which is lovely (and where we're headed)) and has quite a large expat community. Before that they all lived in Aldinga beach which was also lovely and really reasonably priced but was about an hour away from the city. Both of these areas are to the south of Adelaide city centre.

Lucie, I did the IELTS twice, needing superior for the 20 points. Each time I got 9,9,7, 8.5 which left me with 10 points. I sat the PTE and found it really difficult, I didn't even finish it I found it that uncomfortable. I resat the IELTS and got 9,9,7.5,8.5 which was still short. I did a bit of research and found instances of people appealing when they only needed a half mark on the writing to get them to superior. I decided to try it and look and behold got marked up to 8 on the writing which was the difference of me getting my visa invitation or not. My advice would be to not give up and consider appealing your result if a half mark will make all the difference to you. All the best, James

We used dial-a-flight. Used them every time weve went to Adelaide. They pricematch sky scanner etc. We have always booked with a chap called Danny who has always been really helpful especially seeing as we've had 2 little ones in tow. Got us an excellent deal from Glasgow - Dubai - Adelaide. Was weird only booking one way tho!

Yeah. I really dont get where's the hold up. If there is less demand for the regional visas, the waiting time shouldn't be this much. It's difficult to experience the wait! Hopefully good news is just around the corner for you Renault