AmyL

All the tips above - decluttering and researching helped me feel in control. I made an Australia folder with areas to live in, quotes etc.  but as someone who has been waiting over 2 years now for a 491 - don’t let the wait consume you. Get on with your life and distract yourself but do allow some time to plan ahead - I drove myself a bit insane and learnt the hard way. Doubt you’ll have a long of a wait as some of us, but just incase! 

I believe anyone staying long term in Australia requires a medical. They base it off how likely it is that someone’s medical condition is to cost the government in resources, so whether your son needs extra teaching support, respite care, medical costs etc. I would probably consult with a migration agent

I lied and said I had the opportunity to apply for a temporary work placement for a couple of weeks which would teach me new skills. I prewrote a template of what I needed and sent it over for it to be produced on letterhead and signed. 
 

I felt bad lying to my boss but felt I needed to protect myself. They didn’t bat an eyelid or question it but that might have been because in my field (psychology) work enhancing training and placements aren’t unusual so try and think of an excuse that is believable :) 

That’s good to know  

For us it is costing nearing £40k. We are being cautious though as I want the money there before we go to pay for 6months rent upfront as we don’t have a rental history and just security as I suspect it will take some months to secure work.

I think for me I can’t put a price on Australia. Yes there are things that are more expensive like housing and food but salaries are usually higher to compensate if you can get one. There are cons like everywhere but for me I spent a year in Australia Some years ago and fell in love with the country, I’ve never settled coming back to the UK and feel very much that Oz is my home. The lifestyle is completely different to the UK. It has been really hard for us saving as everything we earn is pushed into our savings for Australia but it is an investment and you have to accept start up costs are always costly but it’s whether for you the outcomes outweigh this - for me the gains of the end goal far outweigh the current bleakness of overly strict budgeting and selling belongings.
 

you have to weigh up why you are going. Also you need to weigh up your visa type - a lot of temporary visas can cause disappointment when there is no option for you to stay at the end. I don’t think there is ever the “right” time to emigrate - it’s a risk and it can be scary but that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
 

So long as you have enough money in your pocket to support you for 6-12 months on arrival. I know a lot of people may advise against It with children but my family uprooted me when I was an adolescent to move country - it turned out to be a disaster and we had to come home - for them it was stressful but actually all I viewed it as at the time was some adventure and it taught me the importance of taking risks and accepting that things don’t always work out the way you want them to but that you can deal with that. 
 

Sometimes it might not work out, but sometimes it’s the best decision you will ever make. That’s life. I’ve experienced both sides of the coin. But you’ll never know until you do it. It might not work out for us but it would be far worse for me living my life wondering what if than if we took the risk and tried.

i would get on it ASAP though. We started the process a year ago and Covid will delay that further with the backlog of applications they need to get through. We applied for the 491 as I didn’t have enough points for the 190 - this gives us a potential pathway to PR and I will be working towards that the minute we arrive - hopefully if all goes well we will be moving to South Australia  

6 hours ago, louwilkins said:

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has information on shipping pets to Oz. We have 1 dog at the moment and wondered if you pay per dog or 1 price for there are more than 1. 

Thanks

Hi  I have one small dog and I’m using petairuk after lots of recommendations on here. You pay per dog I believe. The more animals you have to take with you the more expensive it is. It is costing us just over £3000 to take our chihuahua with us 

2 hours ago, RD there is light said:

Thanks so much Amy. And sorry for late reply.  As our agent was not helpful at the earlier skills assessment stage, we decided to work without him.  What you have mentioned is helpful indeed.

No idea where we'll go to in Adelaide as yet, not even sure when borders will open to allow 491 holders into Australia, though will be following SA 491 holders closely. We may even end up a small community supporting each other once we are over there!

 

 yes that would be nice to have a little community with everyone in the same boat!

2 hours ago, RD there is light said:

Me again.  Just lodging apapplication now, though asking for character checks to be completed.  Is this different to police checks which seems is requested afterwards visa app submission?

I believe the character check is the police check :) 

@RD there is light Oh gosh I'm not sure as I had an agent put all my stuff together and submit it. I know I completed a form 80 on invitation which was submitted and then I received a request to action police checks and medical pretty much soon after submission. My medicals and police checks were requested pretty much immediately after lodging the full visa application so just something to be prepared for as you have 28 days to show evidence that you have acted on the request I.e booking medical appointment and uploading this into your account.

I'm not sure if that was at all helpful! 

What part of SA are you thinking of going to?

7 minutes ago, Conyo2588 said:

Haha thank god for that!

And yes, I can imagine your dignity does take a little dive then

Thanks for all the info

Be sure to keep me updated on your visa progress! We’re on roughly the same timescales so it’ll be good to see how somebody else is getting on x

You're very welcome

Yes and same to you, keep me updated! It's nice to know someone who is going through the same process for SA x 

50 minutes ago, Conyo2588 said:

Thank you so much for updating me, I really appreciate it!

I feel much better now that I know what to expect

Not sure how my partners going to feel trying to touch his toes  

Do you get weighed together? I really don’t want him seeing my weight

it's very undignifying standing there starkers trying to touch your toes 

So you get seen together but the doc only does one person at a time so your partner will be seated near the door and then you will be seen to so he won't be anywhere near you or the scales 

On 21/07/2020 at 13:46, Conyo2588 said:

I think the hold must have only come in early July, from what I’ve seen on here. 
I’m just going to keep an eye on the Govt website to see if the processing times get updated. Sort of hoping they don’t considering we can’t travel anyway!

Will you let me know how your medicals go please? I’m dreading it!

Also, where in SA were you thinking of going to? 

Just letting you know how medicals were 

I was so stressed going in I've got such a fear of doctors but It really was not as bad as i thought. Whole process was about 45 minutes. We went to the manchester one. 

We arrived and were given sample pots for urine sample and signed a paper to consent to being examined (we got wrong for not bringing our own pen so bring one!). You go to the loo when you are ready and then got called in and we were seen together at the same time. Went through medical history (any diagnosis, under any specialists, any medication etc.) Had blood pressure taken, did quick eye test just reading some letters, then stripped down to underwear and listened to chest and lungs, checked ears, checked body over for lumps and bumps, checked reflexes then had to stand up and touch your toes () ... then bloods. Got dressed went back in waiting room and was called in for chest xray which took all of 10 seconds.

Was really just like a good old fashioned routine doctors check up. 

29 minutes ago, PJA87 said:

It’s been so long that I forgot that there was a fee for state nomination. Ok, that makes sense then. 
 

yes, I do mean that. State sponsorship in March, then applied within the 60 days. 

I think it all just starts to merge into one after a while! 

48 minutes ago, PJA87 said:

I got my invite in March and still no grant. At the time the estimated processing time was 30 days but the last update was up to 85 days, which I have surpassed and now there isn’t an estimated progress time visible anymore. So, I assume my application has been pushed back for a while which is understandable considering Covid. 
 

Did you submit and pay for your visa prior to the 28th of June to avoid it being deleted then? 
 

 

It is frustrating the waiting game. Such a long process anyway made worse by all the madness with Covid.

I applied for state nomination end of feb. Got nominated and invite to apply 24th june and lodged visa application on 6th July.

The link is for state nomination applications being deleted if not submitted and paid for rather than the full visa applications 

12 minutes ago, Conyo2588 said:

I think the hold must have only come in early July, from what I’ve seen on here. 
I’m just going to keep an eye on the Govt website to see if the processing times get updated. Sort of hoping they don’t considering we can’t travel anyway!

Will you let me know how your medicals go please? I’m dreading it!

Also, where in SA were you thinking of going to? 

I will do yes I'm dreading it as well but booked it for as soon as I could to get it out the way. Will let you know what to expect afterwards! 

We have been watching youtube videos of suburbs in adelaide to get a feel for it Haha we want to be close to adelaide but not live in the city. We like the look of Glenelg and Henley beach. We had hoped to get over there for a research trip before covid set in this year but we might just make the move when we can and do a bit of exploring when over there to see where we want to settle. Part of the adventure I suppose!

What about you where are you thinking of going to?

1 minute ago, Conyo2588 said:

Hi

We also received our ITA from SA at the end of June, we were told the visa application had to be lodged within 60 days or it would expire.

We lodged it around a week ago, now need to send Medicals, Police checks etc

Our agent has said that visa processing for offshore candidates is currently on hold due to travel restrictions so they can’t predict when it’ll be processed. We just have to wait and see and know it’ll be a few months down the line.

Fingers crossed things improve soon

 

Yeah we are the same with just needing to send medicals and police certificates. Have our medical on thursday.

I had a feeling offshore processing was on hold that's why I was so surprised to get an invite! At least then everything is done though and it is just a waiting game. Fingers crossed!

Thank you  

7 minutes ago, kimboslice said:

Drink plenty of water beforehand, I had a very small trace of blood in my urine test and so did my wife, we both sat there drinking about 8 cups of water, tested again and my wife’s was clear, mine was still showing a slight trace of blood. I was told to go to my doctors who referred me to a kidney specialist, only problem was the waiting list was 3 months, so I went private, £2,000 later I was given the all clear. Very worrying because you start thinking what it could be. It was an early appointment so didn’t really drink much, the nurse did say it is common but does normally flush through with water. Good luck.

Oh wow, I wouldn't have even considered that! Thanks so much for the advice 

17 minutes ago, db100 said:

At mine I had a chest x-ray, blood sample and urine sample taken.

Did the usual height, weight, blood pressure, medical history questions. Did a brief sight test too.

Then lay on bed in underwear and the doctor had a feel for lumps and bumps, then tested knee and joint reflexes.

From arriving to leaving it was under an hour. Wasn't uncomfortable at all.

Thank you that's really helpful

Can anyone who has had the medical let me know what is involved? Is it invasive? 

On 24th June I received an invite to apply for my state nominated 491 visa for SA and occupation of counsellor nec.

I didn't expect an invite as I had assumed they were not processing provisional visas. Just wondering if anyone has had a grant recently or if any agents know of processing times? I don't want to get my hope's up eagerly watching my inbox over the next couple of months if receiving a decision for this visa is unlikely within the near future 

I would consult with a Migration Agent for that one 

Ahh thank you Lavers!

As far as I'm aware skilled Visa's are still being processed as usual, albeit a bit more slowly. You are in a good position having had your medicals completed as others are receiving invitations and requests to complete medicals,  but are unable to get these done. I know someone who was recently granted a 491 but they have to wait until borders are lifted to travel. If they grant you an initial entry date and you cannot go by that date because of covid, you will have to cross that bridge when you come to it, that is the only thing I would be worried about. I wouldn't worry about not receiving a visa grant because of covid  it just might be delayed.

can I ask when you submitted your state nomination application? I have also applied for 491 with SA and trying to figure out roughly when I will receive my nomination and invitation to apply 

Are you applying offshore? I might be wrong but I think NT state nomination takes around 6-8 months. What visa are you applying for?

Does anyone or any migration agents know whether South Australia are still processing state nomination invites and if visas are still being processed due to the current circumstances?