Raplin45

Just as a side note re. the 491 --> 191 pathway, they've removed the minimum income requirement now which makes it feel a little less conditional - live/work where you've said you would for 3 years, don't do anything douchey and you should be good. Although it still says it in the headline, if you click through to details it says - 

You must

Hiya, last I heard nothing had been formalised for the UK but it's been a couple of months since our quarantine request went in so fingers crossed for you there's been a relevant update. An email address that might be worth contacting for clarification is PetExports@apha.gov.uk if you're in the North, or you may be able to find the equivalent competent authority for gov.ie of course, maybe here - gov.ie - Contact the Department (www.gov.ie)

Good luck!

On 11/08/2023 at 23:43, InnerVoice said:

If you move back to the UK and renew an expired licence they just send it to you and ask you to destroy your old licence. They don't ask the reason why you didn't renew it for so long, or if you've been overseas, or have another licence - so I don't think 'null and void' would be an accurate description.

Perhaps null and void was bad wording, I meant if the address on your UK license isn't up to date and you need to show it when driving on UK roads for whatever reason (albeit of course you can drive in the UK on your Australian license) it's illegal and therefore has an associated fine, what happens after that of course I'm unsure...

I was having a look at this as also curious, looks like it's a no no if you technically have no valid UK address/use someone else's address as your own incorrectly. Some guidance here - 

Can You Renew Your UK Driving Licence as an Expat?– Keith Michaels Insurance

I guess you don't have to hand the existing one in per se, but to be valid your address and residential status has to be accurate, so if you move away from the UK and convert to a license in your new 'home country', it becomes null and void. That's my interpretation anyway.

25 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

Obtaining a visa grant seems great at the time but it's a drop in the ocean compared to everything else you need to deal with. The first time you move it seems like an adventure, but the novelty quickly wears off when repeated.

I'm about to get shot down in flames by all the animal lovers for saying this, but I really don't understand why people spend thousands shipping their pets over here, or back. I appreciate they are part of the family - we were always a cat family until I married someone with a cat allergy - but unless you have a parrot or turtle, they have a relatively short expiry date. Isn't it more humane to rehouse them with family or friends rather than subject them to a difficult journey to the other side of the world?

I'm surprised there isn't an AUS-UK pet-swap operation, where those emigrating in opposite directions can swap their pets so they don't don't need to go through the ordeal, and their owners don't need to bear the expense. People get very attached to our pets and can't imagine life without them, but when they pass they are often replaced after a respectable period of grieving (2-3 weeks) with another one, whom they feel equally attached to a month or so later.

I think the money side of pet transport is by the by...if you can afford to do it then it's your call what you spend money on. People spend money on golf and I couldn't imagine anything more unfulfilling...but horses for courses isn't it.

In terms of rehoming, if you haven't got friends/family that you can rehome them with (as is the case with me), knowing that they will live a happy and comfortable life then I'd rather them have a crappy month of flying/quarantine and a great rest of life than rehome them with someone who might treat them poorly for the duration, again, circumstances play a massive part.

This is me trying to be objective about it of course, I love my cats, and absolutely wouldn't just swap a cat for a cat on the other side like they're a kitchen table 

Hey - worth looking at something called a Move Cube if you're not taking enough stuff to warrant a container but more than your suitcases. They do various sizes based on your requirements. As long as there's no immediate need for that stuff as it's a boat ride so 90 - 110 day delivery time. I *think* that's what we'll be doing when we emigrate in October time.

1 hour ago, Rob Frain said:

Will I be safe if I book 24th July? 

As far as I'm aware, from my experience last year, you have to have the medical booked in within the 28 days, not actually have the medical.

I don't think anyone on a forum (unless they're a migration agent of course who knows the timeline!) can factually tell you what date is safe and what isn't though, so possibly best to seek professional guidance.

21 hours ago, Dominic Thompson said:

Hi there,

My family and I are currently looking to move to Australia but I have no job offer yet which we will need to be able to get a visa (too old for skilled migration !).  We would be hoping to take our 19 yo daughter and her 2 cats with us as she is hoping to study engineering out there at University and eventually settle and go for Aus citizenship.   I am wondering at what point do people start engaging a pet relocation service such as Pet Air when they have no real timetable for a move. 
 

If anyone has any idea or experience with this sort of thing any advice would be gratefully appreciated.  

(Note were advised as a starting point to get the cats rabies jabs and certs obtained which we have now done and told to keep them up to date which we will).

Kind regards

Dominic

Hiya,

As others have suggested it's worth speaking to your preferred travel company early on (we're using PetAir and they've been great so far). The rabies thing is obvs key as you say as once they've had the jab you then need to have the bloods done (about 30 days later) to confirm that it's been effective and then from that point on you have to wait 180 days before they can travel. With the rule change this year the rabies certification only lasts for 12 months rather than 24 but that can be renewed without having to wait the 180 days again with bloods and a retest. Most of the vaccinations used are effective for 3 years I think. Once that's all sorted you crack on with the import permit and once you have that you can book them into quarantine. Definitely tricky when you're waiting for visa grants etc., but your travel company should outline everything clearly.

Hope that helps a bit 

13 hours ago, RJG said:

Hi, perhaps a silly question - we have been granted a 491 Visa for SA and are planning to move next month. Do we have to arrive at Adelaide airport to validate our visa or can we eg fly via another Australian airport ie Perth and then fly on to Adelaide? Unsure of the rules Many thanks in advance 

I hope it all goes smoothly for you! Ours finally got granted last week (491 SA also) so hopefully we won't be too far behind you! 

39 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

I disagree, we sold absolutely everything before we came over. We travelled with Qantas, one 30kg suitcase each and 10kg of hand luggage. So 80kg between us. Basically clothes, laptops, important docs and some sentimental things.

Never been happier, we had a 5-bed house chock full of stuff before, we now rattle round the new place because we don't have any clutter

Best thing we ever did to hit "full-reset" when we made the move

I'm really glad someone has said this as that is my plan when I get to that point! Everyone's different of course but this gives me confidence that I'm not totally nuts 

1 hour ago, JetBlast said:

I am part of a Facebook for 887 applicants. People share when they get their grant. it seems recently they have suddenly started to process 887 visa's. Good news! However, I am now more frustrated than ever. I am a single applicant who applied in June 2021, my application hasn't been touched as is marked as "received" in the immi portal.

Meanwhile, several other people who applied in September and October 2022 received their grant today. I was trapped in Australia during COVID, the borders opened and I had a short window before my bridging visa kicked in again trapping me in Australia. I understand I need to wait, but other people who have been waiting a fraction of the time (4 months compared to my 20) have been processed. It's just a massive kick in the teeth! 

Does anyone know what's going on and why this would happen please?

Hey, erratic is definitely a word for it! I'm a 491 applicant who has now been waiting 9 months and I see grants come in daily for people who have applied after me in non-priority occupations. Equally I see them popping in for people who have been waiting much longer but in much smaller numbers. Feels like the focus is definitely the 22/23 applications though which I guess ties in with what Ausvisitor said around SLAs. Not much fun!

On 18/01/2023 at 14:36, Linda Fletcher said:

Looking for advice on which pet transportation companies members have used recently to transport a dog & cat from the UK to the Sunshine Coast and whether the findings were as expected. Thanks in advance for any positive or negative comments.

Agree with VERYSTORMY, I'm not in a position to make the journey yet but PetAir have been super helpful with quotes, planning and running through the process with me. They're also the go-to for my vet for any international queries.

9 hours ago, Waz05 said:

Hope it's ok to ask some questions around 491 visa. We have had successful skills assessment for my wife who is main visa applicant as a Nurse. We are now at a stage where we are about to submit 491 EOI by the migration agent. 

One things that I am little confused about and maybe I should have done more research into it.

There is designated area we have to live and work in. Does this apply both the main applicant and the partner? 

Am I correct in thinking the we can live and work anywhere within those postcodes?

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skill-occupation-list/regional-postcodes

I work in IT and my concern is it means I may not be able to work for organisation that not based out of main cities. There is also question around remote working does it invalidate the visa?

Is anyone able to offer any insight or advice?

Sorry for so many questions I am concerned in terms of securing a job. 

Hiya,

To the best of my knowledge all visa terms that apply to your wife will also apply to you as you would have made a commitment to the state/region that your 491 is linked to, so if/when you go to apply for permanent residence when applicable you can show that you met the terms of your visa. The remote working thing I'm not 100% on as I've seen some different answers - my agent suggested it would be ok but I have seen others say the company you work for must be based in the regional area. We're aiming for South Australia so Adelaide is included which makes it less of a concern for us. I'd like to think your agent would be able to give you the advice you need though on those queries. 

As a side note (and I'm sure you've weighed everything up re. points and sought advice from your agent so feel free to totally ignore me ), from what I've seen there's a high focus on visas being allocated to medical professionals at the mo so would the 189/190 be an option if your job is better suited to one of the major cities'?

Trying to sit tight and be patient while waiting for a visa to be granted and receiving this email asking for more people to apply 

28 minutes ago, Ceebs-x said:

Interestingly, one of the IELTS employees was saying the likelihood of getting an 8.0 or above is so small that she wouldn’t fancy her chances herself. Seems like they might need to re-evaluate each section so they are all on the same level/standard. It is a bit unfair that the other sections (to a native English speaker) are extremely straight forward yet, it is extremely difficult to achieve a similar mark in the writing. The balance doesn’t seem quite right IMO. 

Yeah I agree, seen so many people who have English as a first language and various qualifications but struggle to get max points on the writing because you're trying to tick the IELTS box, not the 'actually good at English' box.

1 minute ago, Ceebs-x said:

I asked for a remark the first time because I had 9.0 on everything else and within two hours they told me no (result remained unchanged). I was a little insulted they made that decision so quickly haha. 

Oh damn! Maybe I got very lucky 

1 hour ago, OnTheFence said:

Can anyone advise, my husband had completed the IETLS academic exam twice but isn’t scoring the required 8 in each section for the maximum amount of points for migration. He’s scored 7.5 in writing twice, which gives him enough for professional registration in Aus if we make it there but not enough for migration. When he was at the test centre there was someone else there who said that the IELTS General is all that’s needed for migration and it’s much easier than the academic.
 

Can anyone confirm if we should book a resit for the Academic or General please? It’s very expensive to keep resitting so if he can do the General for migration it would be so much easier!

Hiya,

Absolutely not advice to do the same, but just for info - I sat my IELTS earlier this year, got above 8 for everything other than writing for which I got a 7.5. Disappointed and a little bit grumpy I requested it be re-marked - you pay for the pleasure but if they amend your score you get that refunded. They re-marked mine within a couple of days, bumped me up to an 8 and refund processed straight way.

It's a gamble, but if your husband is confident in what he did for the writing section it might be worth a punt.

9 minutes ago, RJG said:

We got our 491 grant this morning

Congratulations! Great news. And good to see things moving. We're still waiting, I'll cross my fingers a little harder 

On 28/01/2022 at 17:06, jdavies27 said:

That's my concern! All of my fur baby's paperwork says Domestic Shorthair however, I don't want to just put that down as he does have some bengal features and I would hate for him to be stopped on the other end. Also, as part of the import permit, you have to declare that your cat is not a hybrid and.... if they have some sort of bengal in them then technically they are. You do not want to lie on a document like that. I've reached out to my "dodgy" breeder to try and get any possible information. She mentioned the sir that my cat came from, could have had bengal genetics. She provided me with the name of the place she adopted him from. This place is TICA registered, so I'm hoping I can try and get ANY information. Although, the place is no longer in business so its really like jumping through hoops. TICA have also never responded to any of my inquiries to date.

My hopes is that I can get some paperwork of where his bengal mix heritage could come from. If his father was a bengal mix, then I hope I can provide his history to the exotics department. I believe the mother was a domestic short hair, so that would be my explanation of how he is a bengal mix and why he was not registered himself through TICA or another association. 

It really sucks that they're soooo incredibly strict over any possible bengal mix. We all know these kitties are domesticated and do not pose any harm but hey, what can ya do. I know its possible since reading the success story above, so I will keep trying. The exotics team did say they are reviewing their bengal policies, so I'm hoping they don't ban the breed all together again because that will really make it impossible. I wish you all the best.  

Hey again, just wondering if you got any further with this? We are at the point where we've contacted petair to kick off the process but have been directed to the exotic species department again who are having none of it

Hiya, that's a pass 

9 hours ago, Andrea-Familyof5 said:

And here was me thinking this forum was a friendly place to seek advice. Boy was I wrong. I won’t be doing it again, nor will I be responding to your inevitable condescending reply. 

 I promise this forum does have kind people on it. Sadly it can also be a place where you need to apply a filter and put your armour on before entering...which is bonkers of course.

5 hours ago, Phil1712 said:

You have to do the dreaded form 80's. What a ball ache they are

Any news on yours following CO contact @Phil1712?

2 hours ago, Phil1712 said:

Hi just reviving this thread. Has any been granted yet?

Nothing for me, still "Received", lodged in May. 491 SA.

10 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

The problem with comparing wait times is you are thinking about the process wrong 

You are thinking about it as a queue with rules, if someone enters 10 days before you and it takes then 270 days it should be your turn on day 280. But it isn't like that at all

 

The queue is more like a 1990s nightclub queue, you stand and wait patiently, all the time the bouncers are walking up and down and picking out the "better looking" patrons and getting them to jump the queue

 

Now immigration doesn't care if you look like Beyonce or Katie Hopkins, it isn't beauty they are seeking but they are looking for a certain profile of skills/experience/language etc and if your "face" fits you will get a shorter queue time

 

And of course just like a nightclub queue, there comes a point where regardless of how long you've been waiting you realise you might never get to the front and get in

I don't think anyone wants to compare wait times to help them determine how long theirs will be. As someone going through the process I find it interesting to hear what other people's experiences are and by the sounds of the OP they do too - which is absolutely fine.

It's also OK to look at it with positivity, which shouldn't be mistaken for naivety.

On 15/09/2022 at 05:14, award92 said:

Hi, just looking for other peoples experience with how long this process has taken recently. My husband is a carpenter, we have 70 points and are looking to apply for a 491 visa for South Australia (we are using a MARA agent to help with the process). 
 

Our EOI was lodged with SA as our preference on the 31st August. How long has it taken for this to come back recently for other tradies with an invite to apply? Just wondering if we are potentially looking at a long wait…
 

Any advice or tips for the whole process would be gratefully received

Heyyy. We're going down the 491 route for SA also, but different occupation and kicked things off in 21/22 FY so of course may be a totally different journey for you being the new FY etc.. I always like checking out other people's timelines though, so ours is - 

EoI submitted 26/04/22, state invite received about 2 weeks later, applied the next day, state nomination approved a couple weeks later then visa lodged and paid for on 23/05/22. We're still waiting for the grant which of course may come tomorrow, may come in a year 

Think it's a case of being prepared for a long wait, but being hopeful that it won't be and trying to not get too immersed in the feeling of not being able to control it...which is easier said than done and something I haven't yet mastered 

Good luck with things