Ausvisitor

Which state have you directed the 190 and 491 applications towards? If it is "all states" you will almost certainly never be picked out of the pot for the sponsored visas as the states want you to be committed to them and not just scatter-gunning for the first one that accepts.

If you have applied for all states, might be worth pulling that EOI and submitting a new one for a specific state - might be worth a chat with an agent on this

55 minutes ago, Dean7133 said:

We will have $430,000 deposit available may be more but have worked on the lower end of the selling price for our property in the UK.

Mortgage is based on a 2.7% interest rate with max lending of 1 million. 

Cool, should be fine then. The mortgage lending rules seem to be a little different in AUS to the UK 3/4/5 times salary, they take much more notice of deposit amount and committed outgoings then the UK (although the UK is going that way to).

Your other issue may be getting a mortgage (big enough to require $3000 a month repayments) with those salaries (base don what you propse your repayments will be) unless you have a decent deposit.

If you have $150 AUD as a deposit NAB would allow you to borrow $525K (based on $115 income and $2900 expenses a month) which is only $2,000 in repayments (but limits your house purchase price to $650K) - remember stamp duty and fees also need to paid (on a $650k house this would be nearly $20K)

If you have $250K AUD as a deposit they let you borrow more - up to $800K (and this is $3000 a month in repayments) however now stamp duty etc would be $35k on the maximum $1m house price

Of course other banks have other products, but this gives you an idea of what might be possible depending on how much your deposit can be.

https://www.nab.com.au/personal/home-loans/calculators/borrowing-calculator

Unless you are both going to be living in walking distance of your employment your fuel will be more than $200 a month (especially if running two cars and/or one on public transport)

You also don't have car payments in that list, so unless you are planning to buy a car outright (and hence it won't be in your monthly outgoings) you will need to add that (maybe twice if you need two cars)

You can live and work anywhere in NSW deemed "rural" as that is what the 491 is designed to address (vacancies in the rural markets).

The problem with Sydney is that it is vast and most of it (if not all of it) is not classified as rural. However you may find that there is a rural NSW area within easy driving distance of your family. The other thing to consider is that you have to live and work in a rural area (so central Sydney / Parramatta are out for jobs on a 491)

340 George Street NSW 2000

So we get to Sydney (finally) on Feb 12th. Just been offered a job on George Street, where would be the best place to rent?

4 hours ago, BeachBabe2022 said:

Hello

Not to put a damp vibe on you - but summer is pretty nonexistent in Sydney this year

Sitting here in my winter PJs

Valentines Day at restaurants etc.. gets pretty booked up early.

If not raining, I would pick up some food for a picnic (cooked prawns, crusty bread rolls, soft cheese, and champagne, etc...), and have a picnic in the Botanical Gardens and watch the sunset over the harbour. 

You can also sign up to the following newsletters:

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney

https://www.timeout.com/sydney

 

 

 

 

I'm sure it will be warmer than the UK which was -4c in my area last night

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

That’s what I meant about Sydney. It’s like someone in the UK thinking of living in London.  It’s a fantastic place but much more expensive than the rest of the country. 

With your skills, the state is your oyster as there’s demand for both your skills even in smaller cities 

I'd live in Newcastle in a hearbeat, it's a lovely place, but I am "stuck" with Sydney because of what I do, those roles just don't exist outside of Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.

If my skills would allow me to work outside a metropolis, I would in a heartbeat as wonderful as Sydney is, the traffic, people and noise get to you after a while. I love London, but I prefer the Cotswolds, the difference is in the UK you can commute London - Cotswolds in a decent amount of time, not the same case in Sydney

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Your partner should be included in the employer-sponsored visa if he is already your partner, even if he's not planning to travel immediately. 

If you can't afford an agent then I doubt you can afford to migrate, to be honest.  it's a drop in the bucket compared to the other costs involved. 

I guess the cost thing depends on if the employer is just sponsoring the visa or sponsoring the move.

If they are footing the bill for the visa, flights, shipping and housing deposits then the cost to move is minimal. However these roles are rare nowadays

I'd agree with most of Marissa's comment, except for the "Don't go to Sydney" bit.

Sydney is a fantastic city and by far the best place to live in NSW if you can afford it.

So it depends on the funds you are bringing and the salary you can command.

If you sell your UK house for £500k (and it is all equity) you are starting with $950k as a deposit, if you can then earn $250k in salary (between the family) then properties in the $2.5M range are achievable. Plenty of nice family homes within 45 minutes commute the absolute centre of Sydney. 

Also Sydney property is essentially a liquid asset, when you want to sell it will sell in days, so whilst it costs more than say Alice Springs to buy property, when you want to move on it is easier to release those funds, and more likely the value has been retained or grown.

What are his plans after qualifying? Stay in Wales/England or go back to Australia?

Whilst Australia does now recognise an English/Welsh law degree (it's a bit different with a Scots Law degree) it still has a number of (as the law society puts it) "structural issues" with the fact the person was qualified in a different location and so may not have covered some key case law/statutes (or worse conflicting ones)

If he really intends to just get a law degree and then practice in Melbourne (for instance) it might be worth reconsidering is the UK the best place (if he was doing Law at OX/CAM/Durham/Edinburgh this is less of an issue as they are international law schools and recognised everywhere on the planet, but Cardiff is not in the same catchment)

As a British citizen (passport holder) he needs no further visa/permission to be able to reside in the UK and take up work/education. 

He will need to apply for a National Insurance number, but thats just paperwork and somethign that anyone in the UK needs.

He will need to apply for healthcare with a GP - As a citizen he is covered for this from day one of being able to prove residency in the UK, some elective treatements have longer qualifyign times but so long as he isn't planning to have major elective plastic surgery on day one he should be fine!

The main issue is that as a student you aren't entitled to many/any benefits anyway, and as he wasn't in the UK as a resident for 3 years before startign the course he will always be payign overseas fees, and ineligible for a UK student loan to cover these fees or living costs

Other than the finance bit, he would be identical to any other British citizen that (for instance) had lived in Cardiff since birth

On 04/03/2021 at 13:07, ali said:

Unless your son completes year 12 he won't have an ATAR score

And if your son goes back to the UK for the start of sixth form he won't have been resident long enough in the UK to qualify for "home-school" status when (if) he goes to Univeristy, but will have been out of Australia long enough to not get any help from Canberra for studying in the UK either.

This would be very expensive... Overseas fees in UK unis are typically £25k a year and there are no loans to cover them (and he wouldn't qualify for a loan for living either until he had been in the UK for 3 years, and then only if he hasn't already started the course)

The prices seem to have gone up massively since I last looked at them (I am seeing similar prices) thankfully we are moving with just airline baggage so don't have to deal with this

I'm wondering if there are any city events (like an open-air music down at the harbour or in one of the parks) or something like that?

After 2 years of sitting on our grant waiting for COVID to subside (and 2 failed attempts at flying) it now looks like we are finally getting that plane, we should (fingers-crossed) be in Sydney by Feb 13th and one Lateral Flow Test later, taking a sip of well deserved australian wine in the summer sun...

National Insurance payments don't entitle you to benefits, they are just a mechanism for "paying" for benefits (and they aren't very good at that either).

To qualify for benefits you need to show "habitual residence " in the UK, which takes between 1--3 months to prove depending on benefit being claimed.

The text below comes from the UK Citizens Advice - which is usually better at interpretting government rules than the government's own webpages

Also remember that benefits are "means-tested" so if you have more than approx £16k+ (worldwide not just in UK) in savings, stocks and shares, premium bonds or property equity (exemption on equity in your main home - but if you are claiming residency in the UK you couldn't also count an AUS property as main home so you'd have no exemption on any equity in the AUS property if you have one and haven't sold it)

Showing you're habitually resident

To pass the test you'll be counted as 'habitually resident in fact'. To pass you'll need evidence to show:

• when you arrived in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man
• the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man is your main home
• you have a right to claim benefits in the UK

Evidence you'll need

You'll need to provide original documents - copies won't be accepted.

Show when you arrived in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man

You'll usually need to be in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for at least 1 to 3 months before you can claim benefits - this is called an 'appreciable period of time'.

It's best if you've got at least 2 documents to prove this. The documents can include:

• your travel ticket or boarding pass
• your wage slips or tax documents such as a P45 or P60
• a copy of your tenancy agreement in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man
• UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man bank or building society statements

Show the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man is your main home

You'll need to show the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man is your main home and plan to stay. These are called the 'settled intention to remain' and your 'centre of interest'. 

It's best if you've got at least 2 documents to prove this is your main home and you plan to stay. The documents can include:

• a copy of your tenancy agreement in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man or proof that you've ended your tenancy in the country you've left
• UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man bank or building society statements, or proof that you've closed accounts in the country you've left - you don't need to close bank accounts, but it will strengthen your case
• bills or letters with your name and address in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man
• a letter or email from your doctor or dentist
• a letter or email from your child's school
• records of membership payments to a local club - for example, a gym membership

3 hours ago, skyeman said:

Congratulations! I see from your timeline that they asked you to re-do medicals. I submitted April 2020 and I have considered re-doing them now to hopefully get a direct grant but I hoped they may let people off with it since it isn't our fault that processing was delayed  

I doubt they will let anyone off doing a medical, the cost implications of letting someone have a visa that entitles them to medicaid with an undiagnosed issue is potentially massive. Now every year people get let in with health issues that they didn;t know about and weren't detected, but could you imagine the outcry from the Aussie public if they let you in without a recent medical and you then immediately get ill (with something the medical would have easily spotted) and cost the taxpayer 5m AUD in treatment - the tabloid press would have a field day!

1 hour ago, Perthpops said:

Hello,

 

Please can people recommend agents to use for our skilled/family visa?

Unfortunately we know someone who used a woman quite a few years ago who turned out to be a total con artist and took their money and left them without a visa. 

Thanks 

There are a number who give out advice on these forums that are well respected

@paulhand @WESTLY @Raul Senise amongst others seem to be good reviews.

Be careful though when listening to others and their tales of woe, just engaging an agent doesn't mean you will be successful in gaining a visa, you still need to be truthful (career history, criminal record, qualifications etc.) and healthy and willign to put in the effort (collect paperwork, undertaking career skills assessments and maybe even an Englsih test). So it is possible to give you money to a really great agent and still be left without a visa...

(That said most good agents will tell you upfront if you have an excellent/good/ok/slim/no chance of a visa, but if you insist on applying they might still be willing to work with you so long as you understand that there might be little hope of a good outcome. Other agents may instead opt for a - "I don't think you will be successful so I won't take on the case regardless of how much you will pay")

I would imagine they will tell you what tests need to be arranged and they will need to be done by the immigration panel doctors or someone they instruct

Well blood in urine is a possible indicator in of a number of issues, but it can also just be an infection.

So they will want more tests to.make sure it isn't something that would incur heavy Medicaid costs for Australia.

It will incur some delay as you will need extra tests, but whether it is a long delay depends on how quickly you can get the extra medical investigation done

20 minutes ago, talktosi said:

45 years is the usual cut off for work visa. Look on the Australian Immigration website - it has all the details about all possible visas - a much better source of info than this forum or the person who told you you were too old !

30 is too old for the Working Holiday Visa, which is pretty much a doddle to get, and is a way many of that age group use to get over and then assess if they apply for a more substantive visa

18 hours ago, tina1606 said:

Really? All I've heard is that they give a little longer time and a supervised break

The tests are difficult because the person writing them is under time pressure to process the question and formulate the answer, so extra time is a huge benefit.

Both PTE and IELTS rely heavily on sentence construction, spelling correctness and reading multiple choice and long form questions, none of which is easy for a dyslexic. Practice is the best option so he is aware of the format and types of questions that are typically asked.

I've said it before, IELTS is not an easy test to get "superior" score on, I've got a masters and missed the 8+ on each section the first time I did it (mainly because I presumed I couldn't fail it as I was English and had a masters in English). Prepare and learn the things they are looking out for and you will have no issue, try to rationalise whether or not how it works is correct and you won't get the marks you need. There are loads of free resources on the internet (youtube) - you really shouldn't need the "paid for" lessons but if you want to spend more cash on the migration process no one will stop you

1 hour ago, tina1606 said:

Hello all, 

I woupd love some advise My partner is very worried about the English exam. He has dyslexia (not diagnosed) and we are trying to decide which English exam is better for someone who has dyslexia.

What are your opinions please?

 

It would be better if diagnosed as they give dispensation for it.

As others have said this is unlikely to be covered under a reciprocal Medicare agrreement.

(Not sure what country you are from - i.e. which reciprocal agreeement you are covered by). In the UK only UK citizens/perm. residents are able to access funding for IVF, so as the UK wouldn't give IVF to AUS temp visa holder, therefore it follows that AUS wouldn't offer that to a tmep visa holder in Australia either.

(Assuming you are from the UK) Moving home isn't necessarily an option either, You need to be under 40 (in most health areas they have local rules that reduce this to under 35) and have been trying to conceive for 2+ years, this is further complicated by the requirement to have been residing in the UK for the last two years as well (which you haven't if you are in Australia). That said in about 50% of health regions in the UK, IVF is effectively stopped as the funding isn't there, and where it is the competition for places (health - BMI, smoke, alcohol) is great.

A cycle of IVF is £5,000 (so about $10,000 AUD) this is likely to be your best option.

I wish you luck in getting the outcome you hope for, but it might be costly.

A few other comments: State IVF funding isn't generally available to people who have already had kids (including you or partners past relationships) or single women (which isn't the case in your situation but might be useful for others to know)