BendigoBoy

I think at least part of the answer to this will be hinged upon whether you read Scots or English law.

Fair shout, fella. Fair shout. At least she'd have earned the VC, unlike some war criminals.

No offence, but giving away citizenship at whim like that is a bit of a smack in the mouth to those who have done their time as individuals to earn it, and it would likely still open the door to a fair bit of abuse by a good old number of those who want to make a profit. Plenty of countries where you can slip notes to officials for marriage docos.

Absolutely; zero is a far more preferable price!

Happy to stand corrected, but isn't there a maximum cap of something like $1500 or so that you pay in prescriptions before Medicare steps in and picks up the tab for the remainder?

Nah, don't. If they ever did change their minds, they'd end up feeling annoyed because the French may finally realise that De Gaulle was absolutely right with his reasoning about why the UK shouldn't have been allowed into the Common Market to begin with and demand that they enter on the same terms as any other applicant country. That'd probably put the cat even further amongst the pigeons.

Not for all of us, @Toots Not for all of us.

Singapore is always Heaven on Earth, @Toots

I was referring to keeping leprechauns away, not midges. Edited to add: Can't stand whisky or whiskey. Give me a good armagnac any day.

Indeed. And I hear proper spirits (read "whisky") work just as well at keeping those creatures at bay, as anything else. Apparently they like Bushmills, which says it all about their bad taste...

I think you mean midges. Small people don't need nets.

Aye... But I'm pretty sure they could get through the holes, still...

If it was large acreage within an hour or two of one of the capitals, at a reasonable price, I'd be looking north or south of Adelaide, myself.

Heck, proper acreage for horses isn't going to be cheap regionally within 2 hours of Greater Sydney, either.

Yeah. 3 + 1 will be fine in terms of you meeting the 4 year training requirement, as I understand it.

All good, matey. And good luck to you!

A 190, if you're sure of which state you're keen on - and they're accepting 190 applications for your skilled occupation - would of course be fine as a permanent visa. Personally, I would always suggest a 189 ahead of any other visa, for the case of a skilled worker looking to make the move. As others have suggested, a consultation with a registered migration agent would probably be very useful to you.

With a family and an intention to stay long term? I would be hard pressed to suggest a 482 as the best option. There might be a pathway to permanency, but there is absolutely no guarantee of that. That said, if you just wanted to come for a few years before moving back, certainly an option.

You'll forgive me popping the ellipses in. I honestly thought you were in your mid 40s, @InnerVoice. So either you're young at heart, or really planning ahead!

Never heard of them. I am a bit suspicious, though. Scroll down and you'll see their lovely Emma is referred to as Matt. Also, nothing on that page suggesting anyone there has registration or expertise regarding Australian tax arrangements.

Then don't be put off, pal! Good luck to you. And if you're keen on Melbourne, feel free to drop me a private message. Happy to point you in the direction of the recruiters I use for free food and drink... sorry, job hunting.

If you want to deal with the recruiters for sponsored roles over here, honestly, the best thing you could probably do is head over for a few weeks and speak to them face to face. Now, as long as you enter for valid tourist reasons, you shouldn't have any problem having coffee and cake while chatting with people who are recruiters, as long as your primary intent on coming here isn't to look for work. There are, of course, folk who land roles before they get to Australia (I was one myself); however, with the market softening up a bit, there are also a ridiculous number of people who will apply for roles who are offshore, don't have a visa, and have never visited Australia. As someone who's recruited more than a few engineers in the last few years, I can tell you that those folk are the first CVs I filter out. This isn't meant to put you off in the slightest - just offering a candid view on the lay of the land. One little caveat that (hopefully) won't apply to IT roles, of course, is that occupations can be (and are) removed from the skills list over time. So just be aware that it's not impossible (even if unlikely) that your occupation is removed from the list before you accrue the points required to apply for a permanent residence visa.

I'd recommend PTE way ahead of IELTS. IELTS is just a cash cow rort; whilst not necessarily a walk in the park, PTE at least feels more natural and doesn't prescribe you to write in a style of their choosing as IELTS does. Seen more than a few excellent (and professional) writers end up with only 7 or 7.5 on IELTS writing.

Absolutely. It's lovely and quiet when I do my 14km hikes around the reservoir in the afternoon recently!

Fair comment. But for me to get somewhere equivalent in terms of house, plot, and friendliness of locale in Melbourne, I'd need to tack on another $1.5m or so in terms of what I was spending. I'd sooner see folk in hell than spend that on a property when a little extra travel gives me effective retirement at 40.