Ausvisitor

All the states do seem desperate for teachers and if your hubbie was a secondary teacher they would absolutely bite his arm off. As in most countries the crisis in attraction and retaining teaching staff is not as heavily felt in the primary age teaching However an EOI costs nothing (except from the skills assessment and English test which it looks like you are doing anyway) so you don't lose anything by applying (the costs come after an invite)

What cobs_ahoy wrote seems true, if you are going to double up on applications I would get some professional advice before going down that route as it seems like a way to spend plenty of cash and end up with the wrong result if you aren't careful. My only disagreement with cobs description is the 2.5 years in limbo. It isn't 2.5 years in limbo, it's 2.5 years waiting for a decision, now like any other decision in life you should never put things on hold waiting for an outcome that may never come, you get on with living your life where you are and if you get a grant then decide what you do with it.

It depends on what you mean by Victoria... A quick google shows the average salary in Victoria is $86,000. However the average in the capital, Melbourne, is $119,000. Of course average is a blunt measure as it only takes a few really high or low values to really skew an average. The absolute minimum wage for a full time worker in Victoria is $44k so these figures should help you decide where you salary lies

Each anzsco code (or at least many anzsco codes) have prescribed minimum salaries for that work to be considered equivalent. So it depends on your job code and what the authorities have decided a good benchmark is. Assuming you are over the minimum salary level for the job code you apply with, I don't think it will matter if you are just over or way over as it will depend on industry and pay conditions in your home country. Worth noting that some states only leave open applications for a very small window of time so don't hang about, get the application in as soon as you can

Well that depends on where you are coming from. I will assume the UK (given the forum name). The interest rate on savings in AUS and UK is broadly the same right now, half of absolutely nothing! So it makes no difference which country you leave the cash in. What does make a difference though is the exchange rate right now it is 17c to the pound worse than it was in February. So if you had £500k from a house sale and you moved it now you would get $865k but if you had done it in Feb (or when it next touches 1.9 to the pound) you would get $950k Nearly $100k difference for choosing the right time to exchange cash, now $100k is a big chunk of change - enough to pay for 2-3 years of rent. If you wanted an interest rate that could net you that sort of difference in 6 months it would need to be about 25% (once you've paid tax on the interest) So whilst you can never tell the best time to exchange pounds for dollars, this is almost certainly not it - for the last 5 years this is about as low as it has been

I'd say those costs are relatively cheap compared to what I've heard some people have to pay for their customs examination and associated services.

The team at DUC aren't RMAs - they have a number of RMA on retention as advisors but the majority of the people you interact with at DUC are just paid case handlers that turn the cogs It may be that yours was a qualified RMA if so that makes their mistake even more unforgivable

It's heartbreaking and you have to feel for them. However it does backup many of the posts on here reminding people that temporary (or provisional) visas are just that and that the dream can end at anytime (even decades later) if you don't get that PR hurdle over and done with.

I totally agree with you statement, but I do have sympathy with the OP. They engaged DUC who are generally talked about as offering a decent service on these forums and generally they have a decent reputation. In their position I would have assumed if that many are saying they do a good job then they must be ok. I guess you just don't expect people you've paid to do a job to screw up like this. I'm always glad I chose to work with an RMA directly - but I was seriously considering DUC when we did our paperwork because they appear to be reputable and dependable

If Raul is saying you don't need any cash proof for a 482 then I'm sure that's right (he'd definitely know more than me there). What I can say is don't underestimate how much the costs will be until that first pay check, whilst there isn't a requirement to show cash available, it's still a good idea to come over with 3 months worth of living expenses in your pocket to get you going and see you over the first few weeks when everyone will find a way to take a few dollars of the newbie....

Thanks for that. Does that mean you just kept reporting an accounting loss for those two years as I assume no new revenue was going into the accounts? That might be an option

We have a company in the UK (that is basically dormant since moving to AUS in Jan). There is a positive bank balance in the company (enough to be worth not just leaving it there) and wondered what is the best (least tax) way to extract that. The income in the company has had all UK corp tax paid on it (so it is profit) so wondering what the best way to wind it up and minimise the taxation due in UK and AUS on the disbursement Will most likely need some actual help doing it but just looking at options right now to work out how to proceed

Or leave it with your sister and get her to buy a few Christmas pressies or birthday pressies for your other UK relatives in your behalf to use up the cash.

I don't really think there is any substitute for doing the "hard yards" and looking for yourself once there. Yes Airbnb isn't cheap but for 4-6 weeks it is probably comparable to the rental price on a property and the services of an agent to find the place for you. The real problem with getting someone else to choose is they might pick a dog of a property and you are stuck with it for 12 months. Also don't underestimate how long it will take to find a rental especially without a job contract, it will take at least 4 weeks before move in date (unless you are looking just for a room share property) so plan on a month in temp accom at least (we were 6 weeks and that was moving quickly according to everyone else I've spoken to)

I don't think that is correct. You got a grant in May 2019, so the expiry of you travel portion is May 2024. The borders were fully open to PR holders in February this year (we know that is when we came over) which would have given 2 years and 4 months on shore if you'd come then. So what you mean to say is we haven't done our 2 years on shore because we failed to make decisions that enabled that, not because of COVID. I wish people would stop using COVID as an excuse to cover up their own decisions

Never lived there, been there quite a bit and it seems totally soulless

Everyone is forgetting in this that Canberra is a complete hellhole and people should be paid to live there not have to pay to opt into that purgatory

Still seems really high, ours was £9.5k all in for 3 people, all adults (as our kid turned 18 while in process). We also paid for expedited skills assessments and some very expensive police checks as we had lived in Canada, US and two other countries as well as the UK in the last ten years. I think someone is taking their Christmas bonus early at your expense if that £20k is correct. Most agents charge around £2k to £2.5k for their part in the process so if yours is charging much more than that for their work then you should switch and quickly

Canada can do it because autism support (except for very basic help) is a private paid for service by the family/patient

I must be missing some thing as I can't see why someone holding a 190 visa would be bothering with a different visa, both require 4 years before becoming a citizen so why switch?

The line is drawn at intent. If you have moved over here and intend to reside you can't use the "I'm on holiday and my boss asked a question" excuse. In reality the line is on proportionality. If you really are just taking a 5 minute call or reviewing one email because it's urgent in a week of otherwise ordinary tourist activities then that wouldn't be seen as work by anyone. Actually giving another company tax advise as you would if you had been in the UK is most definitely working and you can't do that until you have a visa with work permissions attached to it.

True, I did feel like maybe I'd over shared after I typed it. I do wish you luck, people do grow into themselves over time despite past mistakes. Despite my flippant comment the rest of the post was intended to be helpful (and I should have stopped at 2 paragraphs ). You will need some professional help to navigate the process as, like me, people (immigration officer) will just see the crime and make judgements without considering the person. Good luck with the application, if you can get here you won't regret it.

I had similar, although mine was my own company. Your tax returns are useful as they prove you have been employed and the tax you've paid. However the umbrella reference will almost certainly not be enough as they won't be able to comment on your role and daily activities You will need (as I did) documentation from key personnel in each contract role or if all else fails a signed affidavit.

You have no chance if you do the process yourself, you will need to engage an agent to help here. Even then, the statute in most countries to consider a custodial sentence served is 10 years with no re-offence, so you would have been looking at 2025, but your "minor offence" probably pushes this back to 2030 Interesting is your choice of words, to most people an offence is an offence, only to habitual offenders is there a need to grade the severity of an actual offence

Unless we are talking many glasses, and assuming that's all you want to transport, by the time you pay someone to wrap them and transport them, and pay to replace the one or two that will inevitably get damaged, I'm sure it won't have been much more expensive to replace. We had really good Waterford crystal in the UK, sold it/gave it all away (many 100s of pieces) and when we moved over replaced with much more contemporary riedel plain crystal glasses (the ones Virgin Atlantic and Emirates use in upper/first). So much nicer than the cut crystal we left behind and really easy to replace if you do damage one