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Hi there, Looking for advice on Brisbane suburbs for families. I have browsed ALLLL of the online lists and drawn to Victoria Point or Sandgate, but this could be wrong. We will relocate in Jan 23 with a 2 year old and 5 year old. Ideally would like my son to start school as close to Feb as possible but taking advice from others here to not rush that when he's so young. Will be working CBD, but will have to travel and will also work flexibly. I prefer coastal to inland and have a 900k budget for a 4-5 bed property, need space to ensure family can stay with us. We both drive but I would prefer not to drive into CBD if we can avoid it. Help and advice, particularly from those in the area would be great. I've done so much research online, I want a 'real' view. TIA, Ashley

If you have the skills and the visa join a family friendly company that will look after you. Fulltime pay, super and holidays. All the perks. Factory located close to the CBD & Gasworks area, nice coffee shops etc for that local feel in the morning. Variety of work in the Brisbane and surrounding areas, Gold Coast, Logan, North Lakes, Redlands, Sunshine Coasts. We have been through the process ourselves 10 years ago so understand it’s a big move. Do it, you will not regret it.. contact Anthony anthony@rapidglass.com.au ref PomsinOz

Refusal rates for other visas are available online 2020-21 Migration Program Report.pdf

Hi everyone. My husband and I are relocating on a short skill temp visa (482) with his work, hoping to move to Sydney at the end of January. When we move I’ll be 14 weeks pregnant (first time). We’ve read that private health insurance will not cover the costs of antenatal care if you haven’t had a policy in place for 12 months. We’re happy to use public hospitals and services and I’m trying to understand if we’ll be part covered by Medicare, or if we need to cover the costs ourselves? Can anyone help? Has anyone arrived pregnant in Australia on a 482? I’d be so grateful to hear any advice, recommendations and guidance of who to speak to for more information. With me not having a job to go to and unlikely to get maternity pay it’s a bit of a concern to us. (As well as the scary thought of having our first child so far away from our family and friends!) Other info; we need health insurance as part of the visa approval and they have requested I have a medical in the U.K. Thank you for reading.

Hi Everyone, I'm new here... We are part way through our migration process to move with my husband and 2 young children, planning on leaving UK next summer 22. We have decided on Sydney as our landing point as we have family west of Syd, work prospects and also as it is generally the most accessible from Scotland. We're aware that it comes with a hefty price tag in comparison to Scotland, so we are 90% but not 100%. I'm really keen to know first hand experiences of those who moved with young children, where you lived at first (from day one), how you picked your first living location and how you settled on an area to live. My son will start school this year, but will restart in NSW next year as he wouldn't make the age cutoff this year (he is 4). I'm not worried about his learning as he attends nursery, but i don't want to move him more than i absolutely have to. A key criteria is to live as near to the coast as we can afford. We are both mid level professionals. Thanks Ash

Hi everyone, Could you inform me, (and the community in who may read this thread in the future)in regards to: Inviting someone to Australia As of 2022 Could you please answer these questions, that could help me, or others in the future too. the examples are to illustrate case situations that may fall in these criteria, you may be in that situation or not, not all examples are pertaining to me personally but rather to emphasize the requirements, given how obtuse such answers are to enquire. #1 What is the minimum employment status towards inviting someone to Australia: - Example: John has been working for 3 weeks and has only one pay slip but has accommodation, Sarah has been working for 3 months and has multiple pay slips but has no accommodation, Chris is listed as casual, and is recieving part payments from Centrelink and has accommodation family, Lastly Tom is unemployed but can provide some financial assistance with accommodation while on Centrelink, but is not working as of now. - #2 Does the visitor require mandatory travel health insurance if they visit? #3 Does the visitor require funds before traveling over sea's? #4 Does the recipient from whom they invite require all documents provided via their respective channel, need to have all documents statutorily signed by a public official (bases on documents) - Example: bank statement from it's respective source/government/Centrelink/payslip, bankruptcy in the unlikely event, compound interests, pertaining towards proof of support. - #5 When and when not(basis of pandemic or not) do you notify immigration of immediate changes: - Example: Andrew's wife was married outside of Australia but decided to inform the immigration in that respective country, due to the nature of unforseen circumstances that had created them to live single lives, they then decided to remove financial burden in their respective countries given the situation was out of their control, until they were able to do so on arrival in Australia. Ben was living in Thailand or Philippines, or any region in Asia for two years, and found work while unable to return to Australia, could a family member invite Ben back to Australia if he was a British born citizen, or countries that have joint sovereignty to Australia like New Zealand being one example, should Ben notify the embassy, or contact Australian immigration immediately to update changes. - #6 What constitutes a business for a visitor to visit Australia: - Example: Lou worked for the family business, but earned nothing from it until he's older sister found work, given Lou was not employed, and the business name was in Lou's sister's name, but Lou's older sister decided to give Lou the online business due to her finding employment; does Lou's new found business in these respective countries: Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia allow Lou to apply for a 600 series visa even tho Lou has no property but is earning a income. - #7 Does each state enforce immigration more differently then other states of Australia: - Example: overseas visitor to Perth Vs over sea's visitor to Sydney (pre-pandemic and current pandemic) would the outcome be more stringent or more lenient. - #8 If at such circumstances the visitor isn't able to travel to the respective state in Australia, can another family member invite them? - Example: Harry's younger sister lives in Mexico, but wishes to visit family in Sydney, but cannot because harry has only invited he's sister to Perth and only Perth, could Harry's sister stil travel from Perth to Sydney and leave sydney back to Mexico, if that person in sydney who stil is a family member but could not for-fill the requirements pertaining to work, or accommodation that Harry could still be able to meet the requirements in a different way. -

We received the following information in respect of one of our clients this week. Not good news for "other family" applicants - ie anyone who would have applied using form 47OF. Doing the mathematics leaves me with the conclusion that many remaining relative and aged dependent family applications may be waiting up to six years, if this policy continues, for their visa applications. Carers may be facing lengthy waits as well. Eventually I assume DIAC will introduce a Contributory Family Visa to complement the Contributory Parent Visa. Anyone counting on an "other family" visa should apply immediately, as the waiting periods will just balloon from this point forward. "I have received the documents you provided for Ms xxxx's application, however I am unable to process this application further at this time due to the reduced number of places in the other family visa class. For the 2010-11 program year the Government has allocated 55,550 places in the Family Stream, 7.9% fewer places than in the preceding year. Within the family stream the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship announced on the 11 May 2010 that number of places for the Other Family class (which includes Aged Dependent Relative, Carer and Remaining Relative) will be reduced from 2500 places to 750 places globally for the 2010-2011 program year. Within the global allocation 500 of the 750 Other Family places are allocated to Carer visas as they have the highest priority within the category. The Department has a responsibility to ensure that the numbers of visas granted overall and within each visa category are in accordance with the agreed planning levels. Departmental resources are allocated to ensure that the planning levels are met over the course of the program year. While this means that some cases may not be finalised as quickly as clients or the Department would want, it does help to ensure that visa grants within the Family Stream reflect the priorities set by the Government. The Department is currently reviewing the impact on service standards of the reduction in family stream planning levels. It is anticipated that there will be substantial increases in the processing times for Other Family visa categories. More information on processing times will be published on the Department's website when it becomes available. Given the dramatically reduced number of places in the Other Family visa categories globally, we are prioritising cases based on their lodgement date. While Ms xxxx's application was lodged on 8 October 2009 which was almost 1 year ago, we currently have a substantial number of applications lodged in 2008 that are still being processed and will be given priority given the age of these applications. I appreciate that you would like to have Ms xxx's application finalised as soon as possible and if I have any further information on this in the future I will contact you as soon as I know something." Cheers, George Lombard

Hi, I met my partner who is pretty much Aussie in the UK. He grew up in different countries of the world and has a head for Australia but heart for the UK I think is safe to say. I always wanted to have a stint outside the UK and didn’t know where I wanted to be but wanted adventure. I remember working in the UK and looking out the window thinking ‘is this it?’ My MILs family are all based in London and my FILs family are mainly based in Australia. Ive been in Perth WA for nearly six years now. I have Australian citizenship and so do my kids. My children were born here and it’s really all they’ve known. We’re very close to my in laws but I sometimes feel I don’t have much of a say because it’s simply just not my family and all families are different. Whilst we often have times of ups and downs as is normal I love them very much. The same can be said for my own family all based in the UK. I bloody love Perth for my young children. The parks are fantastic and safe and some of them are down right beautiful. I love the lifestyle that we have here. I’ve lost 17kg and kept it off. I’m healthier. I make better decisions for food and exercise and even alcohol consumption and think this has been excellent for me and my health. Australia’s bumped my life ten years ahead financially. We have bought a house that has made profit and we are in a good financial position. Australia has enabled me to not have to work but to raise my kids and we live on one salary. Although we’re fairly frugal we have a good life. My husband finishes work every day around 230. We go on family walks together with our two dogs and I have made a couple of lovely friends here. One of my friends have also just moved here as a returning Australian family so we have that connection. but……….. coronavirus has made things difficult. I’m one in millions of people who want to see my family in the UK. My daughter has never met my mother. My mother is getting older every day and my father had a kidney transplant that whilst life changing won’t last forever. My parents and brother and sister simply do not know my children. That hurts my soul. So I’m stuck in a mental jam between bit really being done with Australia because of friends and family here but being torn to wanting my family so very much. Being jealous that my partners family know my kids so well whilst mine don’t. Not wanting our work life balance disrupting. Not wanting to sell a house to not be able to buy in the UK. I also think I will eventually get bored of Perth and think it would be be great for an introvert teenager but taking my kids from their beloved grandparents would be so painful too. My partner is happy to move if it’s what I want but I don’t really know what I want and every list I make basically says the financial tie wins because it’s less stressful for us. I also don’t want to move to spend less time with my husband and I would definitely have to find full time employment. Something is missing for me in Australia. It’s been said before that it’s history and what I recognize as growing up with in the UK as to what I’m showing my kids here that’s just alien. help me I’m confused!

Heya I am looking for some advise/feedback in regards to relocating to Australia. We are a family of four with our kids being 7 and 4, my partners is an apprentice carpenter and i work in accounts. We are weighing up between moving to the Gold Coast or Brisbane. Looking for somewhere with good job opportunities but mostly great area for the kids in regards to schools and safety. Moving is a huge and scary decision so trying to do as much research as possible. Any recommendations would be extremely helpful

Hi guys, I am currently living in Australia on a bridging visa A, with my immediate family who are Australian residents. Long story short : My parents and 3 little brothers moved here 7 years ago whilst I was at university and due to me being classed as independent (I was 23) I was removed from their visa (skilled work). I then applied for a remaining relative visa (onshore) to which gave me a 50 year wait time for my visa (with no working rights as I entered Australia on a holiday visa). I am now 27, and have found a partner (Australian citizen). We tick a lot of the boxes required to apply for a partner visa, however we recently approached a few visa agents regarding the application. We have had two responses, one said yes all good we can apply. The other said, due to my current application and bridging visa, I won’t be able to apply. I contacted immigration and the woman I spoke to pretty much read off the website and couldn’t answer the simplest of questions (she suggested I contact a visa agent ) I’m just looking for someone who might have been in a similar situation, or someone who has experience in this field. Apologies if I’ve not included enough info for you guys to advise me! Thanks in advance! Jack

Hoping for some more great advice. My wife and I are now Australian Citizens after being on a Skilled Independent 189 for the past 5 years. Our grown up children are now also living in Australia and looking to settle down here. They have both just qualified for a Bachelors degree from an Australian uni, but we are not sure what visa pathway would be best for them now. My son is 26, will have his Bachelors soon. Is currently on a international student visa and is looking, ideally for a PR, but worst case would go for a longer term temporary visa that has a pathway to PR. He needs to be able to work and live, preferably close to us in Victoria, but would go to Regional Victoria too. He will currently get 60 points on the skilled independent or 70 points if he takes and gets a 'superior' IELTS score. We are less worried about our daughter, she has passed her qualification and has met a lovely partner and applied for a defacto visa. Paul and Sandra

Hi there ..I’ll make this story short,the long version is very long ..I came to Melbourne as a 16 boy (1999)to live with my dad who had emigrated to Melbourne years previous ..my dad has since passed and I now have no family in oz. my wife is Aussie born and bred , she has been to Scotland multiple times and loves it .she says she would happily go home with me ..however as much as I feel I need to go home to my family I can’t imagine how my wife will be/cope ...I’m very worried I will be putting her in the exact position I am currently in ..does anyone else have this worry about going back ??

Hey, This is a bit of a strange ask. I've scoured the forum and can't seem to have found anyone in a similar situation to myself. My whole family (mum dad brother and sister) uprooted to oz back in 2009 and have remained there ever since. We all went over on a permanent resident visa. Me being a stubborn teenage who thought they knew better decided to come back to the UK (I stayed in oz less than 2 years) I have remained in the UK ever since. I am now wanting to finally move to oz and hopefully settle there and will need to apply for a resident return visa. My only glimmer of hope is that my strong ties to australia (immediate family) all still live and work there and are settled. My sister is now an Australian citizen and has 3 children, my mum dad and brother are permanent residents still. My mum and dad have bought a house and work full time. I was just wondering if anyone could advise that this is sufficient enough for me to be approved for a resident return visa.

Hi I'm 35 and my daughter is currently 5 and we are applyingvforbthe partner Visa subclass 300 intention to marry visa to be a famiky together with my finace in Cairns Trinity beach. I was wondering if there is a chat group or if anyone else moving ro the area or already established there with children of a similar age? We are just applying for our Visa so wont actually be there for another year. Would be nice to make connections with people with friends for my little girl as all the friends we have in Cairns dont have children.

Hi, Im just wondering if anyone has managed to get family over from the UK to visit recently? (unlikely - I know) I am due a baby in October and my parents wanted to fly over to help (as I have 2 other toddlers). We have no family support here and so I was gutted once I realised this covid situation wasn't going away anytime soon. I was pretty sure that there was no way of them getting over, but some people have told me I should apply for an exemption via home affairs and you never know............. ????? I am aware that even if they did make it over then they would have to go into quarantine etc. Just wondering if anyone has successfully managed to get an exemption and their family has been allowed in? I must add that I am a citizen, live in QLD and my parents are Scottish if any of that makes a difference.

Hi there, Trying to find our wether 491 family sponsorship visa is available for NSW. There is no info on NSW web site. Doe it mean it is closed? Thank you

Hi I have 489 visa right. I have almost completed 02 years stay and one year full time work. Now I have to apply for 887 visa next month. I am in Australia but my wife and kids are struck overseas due to covid 19 crises and travel restrictions. Our 489 visa will be expiring on 02 Nov 2021. Can somebody please help me regarding following queries: 1) If I submit 887 visa for myself, can I add my dependent subsequent family members for 887 visa later on, when they are able to travel to Australia? 2) what will be the effect on our application, if I submit 887 only for myself at this stage?

Hey I hope I posting this in the right place but I cannot find any answer online. So I applied for a subclass 820 visa for my wife and she's now on the bridging visa. I have a son who's already an Australian citizen. I was thinking about applying for a centrelink to help us since the visa took a toll on us, I was wondering if doing so might have any impact on the visa application? Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, I applied for visa 143 for mum back in Jan 2016. We received request for documents on 1st Nov 2019: form 80, police clearance, medical, AOS, etc AOS bank guarantee submitted: 12/02 AOS application approved: 19/02 We thought the hard part was over, but this morning we received an email requesting for police clearance for my dad, who is not migrating. Now, mum and dad are still married, but living separately - not divorced, so no legal documents to prove separation. I dont know if dad will comply with the request to provide police clearance. Not sure why we need a police clearance for dad, when he is not part of the application? Can someone please advise? in cases of separation, would my mum still need to provide police clearance for dad? thanks, L

Hello everyone I’m currently in my third year of a nursing degree, due to qualify in September... several questions really, so please bear with me. Firstly, what are the odds of me and my family actually getting accepted? Secondly, a holiday over for myself, wife and two kids is knocking on £15000, so would you recommend holidaying first or just taking the plunge- what did you do, and would you advise it? And my youngest daughter is 8, how does moving schools work? She’s one of the youngest in her year in the U.K. (July), so how would the different year start dates work with her? Thank you x

Hi, Can anyone tell me that my relative, who sponsors me for 491 Family Sponsored points tested visa. has to live in a designated regional area at the time of the invitation or at the time of visa application? Thanks a lot!

Hi All, This is my current situation: * Im Aus Citizen and married, no children. * I want to bring my MOTHER via Parent 143 visa * Im the ONLY child she has ( No other children ). * My mother is divorced from my Biological Father, * She got re-married and got Divorced from that one too ( No children from that marriage ) but my STEP FATHER has THREE Children which are over 18 years of age (and not dependent ), and not living with them. they are all in different countries other than Australia and USA (where my mother lives currently) Question 1: Since Im the only child that my mother have, and she had NO Connection with her former partners step children , and since she is divorced now, I shouldn't have any issues with family balance test ? Question 2: Do I even need to state those children's details in my mother application ? I mean she has no connection and she has no details of them either Question 3: In Form 47PA Application Question 57, Part H : "MEMBERS OF THE FAMLY UNIT AGED 18 YEARS AND OVER", I dont have to p=include my details here do we, Since Im he sponsor ?And we dont have to include my mothers former partners children ( they are over 22 yeas old and not dependent ) Thanks in advanced FYI : https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/contributory-aged-parent-864/balance-of-family-test A stepchild is: your current partner's child, or your former partner's child who is under 18 years of age and in relation to whom you have guardianship, custody or a parenting order in force under the Family Law Act 1975. Stepchildren born from polygamous or concurrent relationships are not counted in the balance of family test

As you can see from the information above, Those hoping for an Employer Sponsored Grant, or Family Grant might have to expect to wait a while due to the number of applications that were in the pipeline at June 30, 2018, compared to the number of people they invited over the entirety of the 2017/2018 migration program for that category. Also helps to explain why State and Territory seem to be going slow - they had over 50% of the number of invites they give out in an entire year - still waiting at the start of the 2018/2019 migration year. I guess they need to clear those backlogs first, other than the odd lucky few that get quick grants from current year. I wish their report had more details of all the categories and numbers waiting in the pipeline, as well as numbers by state/territory, but did the best I could with what I found. Thought some others might find it interesting.

Hi, My name is Sarah and I am new to this forum and I am looking for some help/information regarding the 189 VISA. I would really appreciate it if anyone could answer any of the following questions I had. A little bit about myself...I am 37 years old living in Brighton, England and currently in the process of preparing an application for a 189 Skilled Independant VISA with my partner. I am a qualified Social Worker and believe we would have the required 65 points to gain entry. Many thanks in advance. - From the date of Visa being granted, how long do we have to arrive in Australia and activate visa? Does the visa last for a lifetime? And could this be done on a holiday without work initially, ie to activate the visa? We have read conflicting information regarding timeframes. - If my Visa was granted as a Social Worker, am I limited to JUST doing Social Work/Social Work in a certain role? Could I seek employment in other fields ie Family Support Worker, or even a complete career change? If anyone has experience of applying/gaining visa through Social Work I would really appreciate hearing about their experiences and any advice they could give. - Can my partner work in any job? (He does not have a skill on the Skilled Independent Visa list). - If we were successful in gaining Visa’s, but before we left England had started a family, how easy is it to add a child/children to visa? - Do you advise going through a Visa Specialist Company to gain a visa, and if so is there one you would recommend? Again thank you so much to you all for reading and any help you can give. Best wishes, Sarah.

I’m not sure where to start. Just over 4 years ago we moved to Queensland on a skilled visa (myself my wife and my youngest daughter). My eldest daughter remained in Scotland for a further year to complete her hair dressing apprenticeship. When she completed it we were advised that although hairdressers were on the skilled list she would be unlikely to earn enough to go for a skilled visa. We were advised to get her over initially on a working holiday visa then to apply for a last remaining relative visa (although we were aware of the 50+ year waiting list). This visa had work restrictions meaning she had to change employment every 6 months. Fast forward 3 years and she was living with an Australian citizen and were planning there life together so we’re advised to go for a defacto partner visa. We were advised she had to leave the country for a few days, return on a holiday visa and then apply for the partner visa. Once out of the country her visitor visa was rejected. At considerable cost we flew my wife to NZ to collect her and they moved back to Scotland for a few weeks until resolved. At this stage we took our issue to a federal state senator who we believe helped speed things up. (Although they did say we had been badly advised from our migration specialist- but did not expand on this) She has now been back in Australia 2 weeks and we find her partner does not want her and we believe due to gambling issues wants her out the country so he can retain all their assets (car etc). He did not want to tell her whilst she was away as this would be wrong! Thought it would be better for her to land and pay over 10k for the new visa to then pull the plug. At this time he does not answer her texts or calls and she is currently back living with us. She loves him so much and as such this is affecting her immensely. to make things worse whilst on her own out of the country she got so depressed and with this happening she is in a really dark place where she is currently seeing medical/mental health specialists to get her through as she does not want to go on. I know we need to contact our specialist again as well as immigration and am worried what options may now be available to her. she is not strong enough to leave the country on her own and we would need to take a further loan on the family home if we were to accompany her. All her family are here, other than my elderly parents in the Uk. any thoughts or comments would be appreciated as we are desperate thanks Rob