Cobs_Ahoy

Sorry, post above mentioned PR in 3 years, that’s obviously only relevant for 491 visas, so hopefully DUC wasnt advising this approach for any 491 EoIs!

I think although it’s not a legal obligation, if the department of home affairs can prove you never intended to live in the state that sponsored you then they can rescind your visa. So it is a gamble as which ever state sponsors you could pursue the canacellation of your visa if they think you’ve pulled a fast one. Also, when you apply for your PR in 3 years time, they may well be looking for people who can’t demonstrate living in their sponsoring region for that time. I’d say that’s a big risk!

You are going to SA right? I just had a quick look on https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/skilled-migrants/supporting-information/state-nomination-requirements if you scroll down to 9.13 they talk about this, looks like you might be in luck if your last nomination was in the 21/22 year as you would be eligible for nomination again now we are in the 22/23 year (at least that’s how I’ve read it). Fingers crossed for you, hope your agent can reassure you and the next round happens soon.

Oh I’m gutted for you @Bluey128 that must be beyond frustrating. Have you checked whether it will impact on getting state nomination in the next round? I know each of the states have different rules about a waiting period before they will nominate applicants for a second time.

Health services within the NHS use lots of different I.T systems and lots of them aren’t linked up, so if you have open referrals with one or more service then you would need to contact them directly so they don’t write to your old address. In theory there is something called ‘the spine’ which is a centralised database for patient details, and if you update your address with your GP it should update the spine details, but from my experience services tend to trust their own data over the spine, so if you have any health info that is sensitive and you don’t want to risk being posted your old address then ring the service and tell them.

Ah yes I think they are accredited. Good luck with the move!

That’s great news, I’m an RMN in the U.K too, currently in the process of getting my future employer to get everything ready to submit the nomination application. Can I ask, do you know if your sponsor is an accredited sponsor or not? I’m trying to figure out if the government health providers (NSW Health, QLD Health, etc) nomination applications are processed faster than the independent health providers......

Just piping up to say we are hoping my husband can find something totally different to do once we get over. Luckily for him the visa is linked to my career (nurse), so he is free to start all over again if he wants. What are you thinking/wanting to do? In an ideal world I think my husband would do something either creative/conservation-y, I know there is a member on here who started out volunteering in this sort of work and then became a ranger, which sounds great - but must remember not to get too excited as it’s not me who gets to sack off my career

When you do your medicals, if you havent had the Covid vaccination there is a bit to sign that basically says vaccination status had no impact on visa processing but that you will be required to have it to enter the country. Although it looks like that last bit might irrelevant after 6th July if that article is correct.

@Ailene I’m a mental health nurse

Thanks a lot @paulhand , appreciate you taking the time to respond. Yes the loss of the visa money is a bit gutting, especially as I still had a couple of weeks left before I had to lodge the 491 application, but I am trying to frame it as if I would have paid that amount for a 190/189. The employer is a government health service so I’m fairly confident they are solid, although it’s obviously still a bit of a gamble.

I have recently lodged a 491 application (but not had my health check yet), but have since been offered a 186 with a better relocation package. From what I understand, once my 491 has been granted I won’t be able to apply for several other visas, so I would need to withdraw it before it’s granted. Are there any implications for withdrawing a visa application before it is granted, such as not being allowed to resubmit another application within a certain timeframe? also, my health check for the 491 is booked in for Monday, could I use the results for my 186 application or would I need to cancel this one and rebook once new visa application is lodged? cheers!

Oh that's an invite worth celebrating @Areyousure where are you headed and when are you aiming to get out there? I was under the impression that you could lodge your application before your police checks came through and just add them later? Although I might be wrong on that (I hope I'm not though as I haven't even started that!) @BoldyC we finally got an update on the tracker that our old passports and other documents had been received (a mere 14 days after Royal Mail had confirmed they had been signed for!). Unfortunately my daughter's photo got rejected as she was smiling, I thought it was ok for kids to smile but apparently that's only if they are under 6, and unfortunately my daughter is 6. Just resubmitted another photo so fingers crossed things move a bit faster now. I have also received an email from immigration saying they are asking the '491 department' to get back to me about what to do if my passports don't make it back in time. The nail biting looks set to continue for a few weeks yet for me!

Just a quick update to tie up the thread for any lurkers who were having the same worries as me.... we told our kids on Friday evening, framed it positively but made sure it was clear it was happening rather than an option. Daughter was initially very excited, then very tearful, then a very rapid cycling between the two extremeness for about 30mins. Ever since she has only been excited. I don’t bring it up with her as want to give her the space to process it at her own pace, but she keeps asking lots of questions and making positive comments. She says she can’t believe she gets to live in Australia, which is obviously a relief to hear, even if the reality of it is totally incomprehensible to her. My son is two so he literally had no reaction at all I have overheard a couple of sweet conversations between them though, with my son asking my daughter if they will meet a koala, and her explaining about needing to look up in the eucalyptus trees. Telling our parents about the move was a different experience entirely, I think we are all still recovering from that particular discussion!

I reckon she might have an idea when the movers arrive and pack our belongings up, the estate agents plonks a ‘sold’ sign out the front, and we go into temporary accommodation for a few weeks! Seriously though, I’m all for different approaches with different kids, but I really can’t imagine many 6 year olds for whom this would be a good idea. Agree with @Nemesis that there would likely be some long term damage to the trust in our relationship, and rightfully so!

Thanks everyone - it’s been really helpful to hear everyone’s tips/experiences, especially when considering the benefits of getting my daughter enrolled at the end of the year or vs the benefits of waiting until the start of year 2.

@Quoll do you know if they generally mix the kids up every year like in the uk?

6 weeks sounds like a good stint to get them settled to me, I think if we were able to make it happen 6 weeks before the end of term we would consider it, just to familiarise her with the school and get to know a few faces. And yes, I’m with you on routines, the past couple of years have been testing to say the least! But I think that with our daughter’s personality, anything less than 4 weeks wouldn’t be enough time for her to get those benefits. looking into schools is next on my list of things to do. I’ve spent so long looking into the Sunshine Coast that now I’m not going there I basically have to start again good luck with your move @emmajane0429 hope it all goes smoothly for you all, not long till September/October now!

Thanks @calNgary it’s really helpful to hear from someone who also left in October and held off on enrolling. Asking for a handover file is a good idea, I wonder if the intended school would be able to give us an idea of Australia-specific topics covered in year 1, (as I’m presuming Aussie kids haven’t been learning about The Great Fire of London!). That way we might be able to touch on them while she is off school so she doesn’t feel totally out of her depth when she starts yr 2, and luckily she is at an age where learning about new things is still fun.

@emmajane0429 Yes, to be honest I'm looking forward to being able to talk about it freely in the house, my 6yo is a bit of an earwigger! I'm not sure about the process for withdrawing kids from school either, but once we've told our two this weekend I will speak to the school to see what they suggest. I don't want to withdraw her before September in case there is some disaster and we don't end up getting over there in time, so I guess I will formally withdraw her at the start of next year if all goes to plan. I'm in two minds about enrolling her in year 1 when we arrive, if we don't then she will have been out of school for 6 months, which is a long time! But we are hoping to spend a month visiting my sister and seeing some sights ( we haven't had a holiday since 2018!), so by the time we are able to enrol her it would be November, which really does seem pointlessly disruptive. I think we might just hold off until Year 2.

We didn’t pay for the fast-track service unfortunately, wish I had now though! Yes if your friend is able to shed any light on things I would be very grateful to you both, I rang them the other day and they just told me to call back two weeks before the deadline for my visa application That’s a good idea to go back on the wards here, less of a shock when you get there.

Yes @Tulip1 I definitely agree about minimising the time for her to stew over things, and this is a big reason why why haven’t told anyone so far - I didn’t want her to hear about it from someone else, or overhear a conversation. However, we are 5 months away from our planned flying out date (29th sept), and there are things we need to be doing/people we need to start telling. Also, because we will (hopefully) be flyinging out on 29th September, there is no point in her starting year 2 at her current school. Endings are very important to children, and so I don’t want her to feel like she left school thinking she would see her friends and not getting the chance to say goodbye. We went through something similar when her preschool closed during the pandemic, she only returned for two weeks before the year ended and she transitioned to primary school.

I hope you’re right @BoldyC I sent them registered post last tues, they were signed for the next day, but so far the HMPO tracker hasn’t even updated to show they’ve been received. Yes, two children aged 6 and 2, how old are yours? We are telling ours about the move on Friday (well, hopefully, our 6yo came home with a vomiting bug yesterday, so might wait until she’s stopped puking before I drop it on her!). Are your children aware if the plans? I’m a mental health nurse, currently in the community but looks like I’ll be on the wards initially when I land. I haven’t been on the wards for 8 years so that will be a shock!

Thanks for sharing Emma, sounds like they are handling it really well. How far in advance of the move have you told them? We are aiming to get out there by October and hopefully telling the kids this weekend, my daughter can be a bit of a worrier so I didn’t want to tell her until we had a timeline to work with.

Ah ok, might just tell her the Port Macquarie one is where her koala lives!