mt9754

Personally I would submit with 75 pts so you're hopefully set for an invite later in the year, estimates pinpoint an invitation of around October / November (volatile estimate, subject to change!). Even if the partner assessment came in today and you submitted an EOI with 80pts today, you're unlikely to get an invite before July / August. When your partner's assessment comes through, you can update the EOI and hopefully get an invite sooner, and if the partner assessment hits an unexpected road block, you'll be safe in the knowledge you're already set up as much as you can be for later in the year.

I'm hoping so, looking at previous years they seem to prefer having a bumper month in August/September and then letting invitations tail off from March/April - June. Here's to hoping Labor reinstate 190,000 so we can get 189s back upto 45,000 ish.

Yes, it comes with a Mastercard which you can use worldwide, first £200 (on equivalent) of cash withdrawals per month is free (2% fees above that). Overview here:

Great, thankyou both, i will bear this in mind!

You are given a UK sort code and bank account number. People in the UK can send money to your bank account details for free, and you can send money to bank accounts in the UK for a fixed 65p fee. What do you mean by "it's not a UK bank account"? Is there some sort of technicality / does this have any implications for the account holder? I only ask as it's making me nervous as i'd hoped to use this when i arrive.

Take a look at the Transferwise Borderless account. It allows you to open a UK bank account without being a resident. You'll also probably save money and hassle on the conversion too. https://transferwise.com/au/borderless/

No first hand experience personally but I can share some experience aircraft wise. I agree with the above, you could look out for A350 / 787 (these generally are quieter and have a higher cabin pressure meaning less upset because of ears hurting during take off and landing), and A380 is good for the sheer space. The ambient temperature on the 747s is generally quite hot and on the 777s it's generally quite breezy/cold. Obvs call up to reserve a bassinet seat, airlines are used to baby travellers in those seats so relax. Sometimes there's a choice between a day or night flight (eg Cathay), have a think about if one would be better based on your little one's current personality.

I would if I were to do the process again from scratch, most Migration Agents will offer an initial appointment to discuss your case before you jump in, normally fairly cheaply (free to £200), in person or on Skype/phone. Some will refund it if you choose them to proceed with your visa application. I can't recommend anyone specifically but there are quite a few Australian based agents that are very active online and clearly handle a lot of cases which can only help with ensuring you're given accurate info. Beyond the initial appointment... the visa process itself has a lot of nuances and it requires you to be very organised, persistent and pro-active. There are a lot of pitfalls and it requires a lot of research and support. Some people are totally up for throwing themselves into the process and doing it themselves but others can't think of anything worse. I've done mine independently so far but if I were to do the process again I would definitely look to a Migration Agent. Not because i feel i've made any bad decisions, just because of how many hours i've had to invest to understand everything in enough detail to get on the right track.