Cobs_Ahoy

Thanks @Jon the Hat and @Ruth1 it’s helpful to hear from people who powered through it. I want to set myself a goal of a year before re-evaluating, but just feel this immense guilt at the thought of trying to get my 7 year old back into the U.K. system after that length of time.

Im a (very!) new arrival to Oz and have found myself really questioning whether we should stay here. Obviously not ideal, but also not the end of the world if we go back. We (me, husband, 7yo and 2yo) arrived here at the end of October. We got off to a good start, visited my sister in VIC for 2 weeks then headed up to the Gold Coast where my job was waiting for me. We cracked on with everything that was within our power to sort (bank accounts, phones, school, etc), but have had some difficulties with my employer, and finding a rental here at the min is brutal. Up until recently I haven’t thought about home at all, but in the last 72hours I have just suddenly been hit by a wave of extreme anxiety about staying here. Rationally I know it takes a while to settle, but I can’t get this thought out of my head that if we aren’t going settle then it would be better to go back ASAP so my daughter can get back into a U.K. school asap (she has been complaining that the year 1 class was learning stuff her previous school taught in reception) to minimise the extent to which she would be behind. I’m not someone who usually struggles with feeling anxious, but am second guessing myself as to whether it will pass once we’ve settled. has anyone else had this reaction within the first couple of months of landing? What did you do and do you regret the choices you made? Part of me thinks this is a normal reaction to the stress of getting settled in a new job (I’m not great circumstances) along with really struggling to get a rental sorted (we still haven’t got anything long term), an perhaps I’ll feel better in 6 months time. But the other part of me is looking on rightmove, NHS jobs and costing flights+shipping!

Thanks @paulhand that’s good to know, much appreciated. Will spend some time this evening figuring VEVO out.

I’m currently in Melbourne visiting my sister on a tourist visa and have just received my 186 grant (), do I need to exit Australia and return to activate the 186 or is it already activated as I’m here?

That sounds like a really sensible approach, good luck with it all Sue, however it plays out x

I feel for you, children moving to Oz at the best of times will be hard, the added concerns about the partner/child situation are no doubt causing additional stress and must make it hard to be supportive. to go back to your original post, I had very different experiences with my mum and mother-in-law when we told them our plans. Both were upset, but while my mum was also supportive (said she was proud, thought it would be great for the grandkids etc), my mother-in-law has never said anything positive about it. It’s made the relationship with myself/partner and the in-laws really tense, and really soured our last bit of time with them. It’s also really stressed my husband out as he is feeling incredibly guilty, and the result has been that we haven’t really spoken to them about our plans as they develop - when we have tried to update them we either get blank stares/they walk off/they change the subject. My mum on the other hand asks about things regularly and expresses an interest in what’s happening. my mum has said although she is devastated, she views this as ‘our time’, in so far as she had ‘her time’ to make her way in the world, and she recognises we are doing what we think is best for our family. whether this is true, or she is just trying to lessen our guilt, I’m not sure. But she definitely has a different approach to my mother-in-law, and she seems to be handling the move better.

What does your daughter think about her partner’s choice to make the move despite leaving an 8 year old behind? Does she have concerns about his reliability/sense of responsibility? Does she recognise the impact it will have on the 8 year old, or is she minimising it? I have a 7yo daughter and she would be heartbroken if her dad pulled this stunt. And in your shoes I’d be dreading your daughter potentially ending up having kids with this guy, especially if that happens on the other side of the world.

I had mine through Knightsbridge Doctors (or something similar), at the time of booking the appointment they said to let them know if you wanted copies of the results emailing, so I requested it when I left the clinic. It took a week or so, but they emailed a link to site where all the results had been uploaded.

Congratulations, that’s a real slog of a journey!

I believe school are were waived in NSW on a 491 (you had to pay a one off admin fee though), and from memory I think there are no school fees in QLD for any temporary visa holders, I’m not sure about other states. This was from my own research in Jan, might be worth double checking with your agent though.

Thanks Alan, really appreciate the advice and will have a look into that today, cheers!

Thanks everyone, that’s useful to know. I had a quick look at their exchange rate and it didn’t seem great, so perhaps as suggested it would worth having one but, but definitely not worth transferring house sale proceeds through.

We are in a similar position, house sale is looming and wondering how to manage the equity in regards to moving down under. My husband has a HSBC account, who (if you you have enough in savings) offer a premier account that comes with few-free instant transfers between international accounts, and the ability to hold money in different currencies in one account. So I was wondering whether opening one of those accounts and having the sale proceeds paid in there might be a good plan. I’ve seen HSBC recommended on these forums because they are a global bank, but does anyone have any experience of transferring money between U.K. and Oz HSBC accounts? It seems like an easy way to manage money in two countries, but not sure if I’m missing something.

Good luck OP. When I was first looking into sponsorship I came across a post on the RCN international bulletins board that was posted by an Australian recruitment agency called Health Staff Recruitment. They were really good at helping me find a sponsored post, and the guy mentioned that a lot of the work they do is recruiting GPS. Looking on their website be a helpful starting point. https://www.healthstaffrecruitment.co.uk/ I went with a different job in the end that id found independently on Queensland Health’s own website, but only because it was a very specific job in a very specific location that really appealed to me. Just make sure you are clear from the offset you are only interested in 186, and there’s probably no harm lodging some EoIs for independent visas too (189, 190 etc).

I’d be wary of being sponsored by a nursing agency, a lot of government providers are offering nomination at the minute and you would be in a more secure situation hitching your cart to them. For example, I looked on the individual websites for Townsville Hospital and Health Service, Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service, Gold Coast Health, Tasmania Health and Northern Rivers Health Service - I found the contact details for their recruitment departments and emailed them all asking if they offered 186 sponsorship (I attached my CV and gave a brief overview of experience). I heard back from all them even if they were telling me they couldn’t offer 186/any sponsorship. Some of the state delivered health services (eg Queensland Health) will have a general international recruitment email address so you can express an interest in multiple regions.

In my case, I got a job offer before AHPRA reg, I think pre-pandemic this would have been unlikely but HCPs are so in demand that employers seem to be taking gambles they wouldn’t normally have done. My employer didn’t seem fussed at all about waiting. However, I then applied for AHPRA reg and they gave me a 6month window to present in person, which again I think is a reflection of the time’s and might not be a permanent change. pre-pandemic I think people tended to get registration in principle, ‘pop over’ to present and scope out where they wanted to, and then go home to hunt for jobs etc. I actually switched to a different employer recently (my first offer wasn’t a sponsored visa offer) and they seemed surprised that I already had AHPRA in place, so I would guess that employers are open to giving offshore candidates an offer and waiting while you get provisional registration. Now is a very good time to find an employer and ask if they will sponsor you for a 186 visa - I would suggest checking the RCN international jobs board, international recruitment agents (my first offer was via Health Staff Recruitment Australia, and I believe they are still actively recruiting HCPs from U.K) and just pinging some emails out to see what they can offer. Good luck!

My understanding is you have to be under 45 at the time of being invited to apply, so it wouldn’t matter how long it then took for the visa to be lodged and granted, but it’s still a very tight window for you. Might be worth having a frank discussion with your agent as she/he will likely have a reasonable idea of the chances in you personal circumstances (eg if you are in health/teaching you might be in with a chance). Good luck to you both

Well you can lodge the visa at the same time as the nomination, which is what I’m planning to do, so I guess my employer meant it would take 1-3 months for the both to be granted. From looking on some Facebook groups other HCPs seem to lodge their visa at the same time as the nomination, and they generally seem get granted at the same time (if everything is in order with both parts). I think if your employer isn’t accredited though it can be different/riskier as I presume home affairs are more likely to scrutinise the nomination, and there is always a chance the employer could have done something wrong on the application. My employer is an accredited sponsor which is why I feel more comfortable lodging them simultaneously.

I’m in a similar situation, have been offered 186 but received 189 invite on Monday, and have decided to go with 186. This is a PR visa, and if you are employer sponsored, offshore and an HCP you will be processed as a priority. I spoke to my employer today and they seemed to think 1-3 months (ish) for a 186DE grant in my situation (offshore nurse), but bear it mind it can take ages for an employer to actually get the nomination lodged - it’s taken my employer 9 weeks since they verbally offered me the job, and that seems to be fairly standard. if I’m honest, I almost just lodged the 189 application on Monday as was starting to despair that my employer would ever lodge the nomination paperwork, but they’ve done it today () so I’m sticking with that. 189 is points tested so if you’ve made any mistakes/miscalculations you are vulnerable to visa not being granted. 186 requirements seem less difficult to meet (in my case anyway, due to MAT leave potentially effecting points). Also, although I reckon that currently visa type has less of a baring on process times than occupation and offshore status, the 186 pathway does show you have a job waiting which might influence things. But I would totally discount current processing times in your case, most of the 189 invitation round was targeted at health and education, both of which are needed immediately, so I don’t *think* they are going to take too long. Basically I would go for 189 if I were you!

Thanks for replying, much appreciated! Yes, the amount of ambiguity is pretty frustrating, hopefully I will be on the other side of it all soon enough though!

Hi OP, Sorry to jump on your thread with an incredibly random question, I’ve been looking for info on whether maternity leave is deducted from skilled work experience, and I came across an older thread of yours where you mentioned this being the situation for you. I wondered what the result was for you in the end? I can see you hold a 189, was this awarded with the inclusion of your mat leave time, or did you resubmit an EoI with reduced experience points? Anything you can share would be much appreciated, cheers!

Oh, and also I saw something a migration agent posted on Facebook following a webinar with Migration Queensland, they have just reopened for offshore candidates and apparently are focusing on health, teaching and something else I can’t remember (tech?). Might be worth looking on the Migration Queensland website to see if your husband is eligible. Although I think all the states are keen for teachers to be honest!

Hi OP, Because of your husbands’ age you really have a very small window to make it happen, but on the plus side it seems Australia is currently desperate for teachers so luck might be on your side. if I were in your shoes I would stick in EoIs for 190, but also 491 as a back up. But I think probably the most useful thing would be to have a consultation with an agent - I have done my applications on my own and it is possible, but with so little time you would probably benefit from having an expert opinion around which states to target and how to go about it to maximise chance of selection etc. Any mistakes can cause lengthy delays and that could have serious repercussions for your plans! Good luck with your plans, and good luck to your husband this Saturday

Hi James, I can’t help with QLDs specifications, but if your 491 is granted you can’t then apply for most other visas, including 190. So if you lodged a 190 application and then your 491 was granted, your 190 application would be cancelled (and I don’t *think* you would get a refund on the 190 fee). Conversely, if your 190 was granted first but you didn’t with draw your 491 application, if that then got granted it would override your 491 visa and you would go from permanent residency to provisional residency! I feel for you, 2.5 years is a horrible amount of time to be in limbo.

I really struggled to find info on this when I was looking (Mat leave, I’ve not looked into furlough I’m afraid). Most people seemed to be saying anything less than full pay during Mat leave meant it wasn’t counted, but that all seemed like quite old info. The most recent discussion I could find on it was a thread on here. You can look at the users’ other posts, and I think from memory they both got visas granted.