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This perhaps should have been my first thread on this forum, but we live and learn :rolleyes: I am looking to obtain a Working Holiday Visa (417 subclass) and i meet all the provisional criteria. My main concern however, is the health requirements/restrictions that this visa is associated with. I am a 25 year old epileptic that has had the condition since i was 18 years old. The condition has be controlled for several years now, largely down to prescribed medication. I am still able to sanction a prescription of the medication, but it is very rare that i do these days, due to the fact that i can manage the condition with a healthy lifestyle. My last seizure was around 3 years ago. Anyway, i just wondering if anyone had any knowledge on the visas health requirements and what potentially i may be asked to do (in terms of medicals and providing details) in light of my condition? I appreciate that every case is individual and therefore different, but any guidance or information on the matter would be greatly received.

Hey there! I would really love some clarification on a couple things please.. have a tricky situation and next to no straight answers My partner is in Australia on a Philippines passport currently on his student 500 visa which expires on the 15th of March.. and allows travel. We are intending on extending his stay in Australia with the post graduate 485 visa after this.. HOWEVER, before he planned on applying for the 485 visa we booked a holiday to Bali for two weeks which he was then intending on going home.. things have now changed and we have a bit of tricky navigation to get there first.. His visa expires the 15th of March, we intend to leave for Bali the 13th of March BUT his course doesn't finish until the 10th of March meaning we cannot apply for the 485 visa and bridging visa B until successful course completion.. this gives us a tiny 3 day window between visa application submission and a 5 day window between submission and visa expiry.. My main question is, can he leave the country on his student visa and then have the bridging visa approved while in Bali or should we wait and change travel arrangements until bvb is all approved? If anyone knows how the system generally works that would be amazing!! Thankyou!

I’m hoping to go to Australia this year for 2 weeks. I’m limiting myself to 2 weeks because I’m still currently studying at uni so can’t come out for an extended period of time. I have been to Australia before, back in 2013 was my first time, and although I’m willing to go out to Australia for 2 weeks on my own, it would be good if there is anyone of a similar age (I’m 23) that fancies jetting off and is someone who I can get to know before hand. I ask as currently none of my friends are up for it and it’s pretty daunting to go solo. Thanks

So me and my boyfriend moved to Queensland from the uk about a year ago maybe less. It’s probably just because we chose Queensland and not nsw or vic but we are very excited to get back to the uk after how disappointing it has been here. We were so excited to visit this country that is spoken about like it’s so wonderful but we Just seen to have no liked it. We visisted Sydney and Byron bay we have seen Australia zoo and lone pine, visited Brisbane city and all the Gold Coast theme parks and my favourite eat street. But unfortunately they all cost a great deal of money and take a very long time to get to. Is there anywhere else people would suggest going before we move back preferably on the cheaper side of things. Thanks

Hi there We are doing a Validation visit to Adelaide in July/August. We're a family of 4 and the 2 little ones are age 2 and 7. We have currently booked a few days in Glenelg and a few days in Stirling to get a feel for the different areas. We are wondering on the 3rd area we could visit and need some help. Should we also stay in the CBD? Should we stay more down south like Brighton or Seacliff? Maybe Norwood or more north of the CBD? We are trying to find out what suburbs are nice to live in, not too cramped and not congested (we're from the UK so not interested in too many queues ). We need to also look for good Primary schools. Once we move, our final destination will need a good sized garden, along with a view of some sort (sea or hills), it just boils down to space and views but not too far out with lots of traffic. Not asking for too much are we! . Has anyone got any advice on where this 3rd holiday stay could be? I am thinking of Norwood, Brighton or going 40 mins north or south from the CBD, but don't have any idea on how remote they really are. We both need jobs, so don't want to make it difficult for ourselves xxxxxx

I was just wondering (important subject) Once you have migrated to the sunshine from the UK where do you go on holiday? Here in the UK we tend to look at the sunshine hours per day, temp and things to do, see and taste. When there is an abundance of sun on your doorstep then what?

applying for the subclass 600 visa which allows you to stay in australia for up to 12 months ,just looking at the cost and it says the visa starts off at £90 there fore i'm a bit skeptical about sending the forms off just incase i get stung by the government for loads of cash , has any one actually stayed out in australia for a 12 month period on this visa and if so what was the aprox cost i fit the criteria as our daughter is a permanent resident and her place would be our base ect and can prove i have significant funds and monthly pensions kind regards graham

Hi, We've been to WA before and spent a lovely week in Perth and Margaret River and want to travel back again this October and looking for somewhere different to stay. Ideally, we are looking for a beach/pool type holiday so that my wife can have a few days relaxing and I can play with my daughter if the sea/pool is warm enough. I'd appreciate any thoughts/comments on the areas we should look at (about 3 hours max drive from Perth) and any recommendations on hotels/apartments. All comments would be most appreciated, especially about the weather in late October in and around Perth. Thanks, Rich

Hi Everyone, we have family living in the UK, South Africa and Australia. After a recent year of bowel cancer, my father who lives in South Africa is well enough to travel to the UK to join us for Xmas. My sisters who live in Bournemouth and Stephenage will join myself (from Brisbane, Australia) and my father in the UK for Xmas 2017. I hope to find a house somewhere in the Andover, Marlborough region to accommodate us. My question is : Where can I find accommodation (preferably a lodge or two adjacent cottages) that doesn't send us bankrupt. We want hire a house for a week to 10 days for 10 family members to experience being together as a family in the UK. I am trying to organise this from Australia and it is particularly difficult as I am finding that searches on AirBnB and Homestay.UK are so terribly expensive. I am looking to explore house swap options, or cheaper rental for the hire of a house in between Weston Super Mare and London - or thereabouts. Any suggestions, contacts, or alternatives, I am open to hear!

Hi I would like some information or advice from anyone who has applied for a visa to Australia with a criminal record. I am looking to travel to Australia with my family next year but my father has a criminal record. He was convicted for 22 months for fraud, serving less than 12 months. The conviction happened over 5 years ago and he has had good behavior since. We are looking to go over there for a family wedding and he has two brothers and a sister living over there who have lived there over 30 years. He has done some initial investigations and has been advised not to try to apply for a visa himself but use an agent. When we have spoke to some we have been quoted £6000+ which seems ridiculous for a 3 week holiday. We are going to speak to a few more people and his family in Australia are going to do the same but if it is too expensive we would probably attempt to apply ourselves. If we did that does anyone know where we would start as I would expect we wouldn't just go along the online visa application route? Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone My boyfriend's working holiday visa is due to expire soon. After a brief trip home he's hoping to return to Australia as a tourist and continue his travels. Have you had any experience of that - is it fairly straightforward? Or a risk of being turned away? Many thanks

Hey all, Myself and my partner are looking at going back to the UK for Christmas from Sydney. I've been looking at dates roughly around the 23rd Dec to the 3rd of Jan. I've been searching around for flights and would really just like any suggestions of airlines that would be the most affordable over christmas time and good value for money. Any help or previous experience shared would be much appreciated, ie- websites, airlines, flight companies, any tricks to drive the price down. Thanks so much, Dave

Hi guys, I am set on moving to Australia for a working holiday, in September or October. Being quite an irrational person it seems smart to gather your opinions and experiences on this matter. I would greatly appreciate any advice positive or negative and a thank you in advanced if you can provide any! Getting to the point I will try and keep it simple and I hope not to boring! Too paint a picture I am a 22-year-old male (23 in June!) living in London with a couple of friends. A quick heads up to anyone looking to move to London in your early 20s, you may want to be earning a lot more than you would expect to really enjoy the “London Life.” Having been unable to save money from my salary and with my house contract running out at the end of August, this year has been somewhat a nightmare. Having planned to save up enough for Australia the following year. Now this is where I need your advice please! Being able to save up more than enough for flights, visas and all the essentials to make it to Australia, though not having the money for a safety net to get into Oz. Am I mad to take a credit card out of £2000+ (4000 AUS)? Furthermore I am looking at finding farm work with accommodation and meals provided before I depart. This may be unrealistic and if I am unable to do so I am motivated to find work quickly once I am out there. Previously working on a farm in Kent for the summer I am prepared for the manual work, although the heat will take some getting used to I can imagine! First question, is this viable, if not why? Please feel free to be honest, but if so please explain why. If you believe in my adventure, thank you! Please feel free to help answer some more of my questions J With the variety of places Australia has to offer for a starting point I am unsure where the best place would be to start. From your experience and knowledge, in my situation, what would be your first choice and why? Also how much can I look to make whilst carrying out the farm work, with and without accommodation and meals paid for? I have been looking at starting in Perth, working out there before Christmas and to deciding where to go from there. Additionally having borrowed money off my dad who has always been supportive of my irrational way of living I would love to pay him back whilst in Oz. Would this be viable? How much can you make in other fields a week and what fields are the best to go into? Looking at my research I am hoping to make between $600- $800 AUD a week. I have a degree in business management and marketing and have currently been working for a pharmaceutical research company. Would this be of an advantage, as I know it is hard to find office work? Finally onto living costs! From you experience, in times of activity filled weeks and those weeks you work, sleep and relax, how much do you look to budget? From one extreme to another, in terms of the amount you spent a week. From my spreadsheet I am looking at budgeting a minimum of £200 ($400 AUD) a week and a maximum of £300 ($600 AUD). Though these are estimates. What additional costs apart from food, travel and accommodation? I have included between $150- $250 AUD pocket money for the week, is this enough? Any replies will be much appreciated and responded to, and the more details the better! Even if you would like to share an experience I would be more than happy to hear it! To finish I know everyone lives to a different lifestyle and budget when travelling, I just wanted to get an idea from other experience on budgets and cities. Any other relevant information you may think would be useful in my position would be great! Thank you! Mike

Hi thanks for reading, my boyfriend and I have both applied for working holiday visas and his arrived within 48 hours as it should. It has been 10 days and I still have not received mine. It says online 90% should be done within 48 hours. I am just wondering if anyone else has been in the situation where they have been waiting for it to arrive and have entered austrailia on a different visa whilst waiting for their working holiday visa to be approved and if so how did they do it. I have found it very difficult to find a definitive answer online and would be extremely gratefull if someone could help! many thanks guys!

I'm planning on coming over to Australia on a working holiday visa for about 6 months. I will be living with my step dad and his wife in their home in Perth. My step dad will be supporting me whilst I look for employment. Do I still need to have savings in my own bank account even though my step dad has the right amount and more to look after me until I find a job out there? If so - is it possible for him to transfer the money into my account to show that I have the money, and then when I get over there... I just transfer the money back into his account? Or is that illegal? Thanks!

Looking for experienced child carers to look after my nearly 4 year old daughter - in exchange for FREE room and most meals. Big room with double bed - can easily fit in another bed (or more!). Would suit single, couple, two friends, or single mum and child. House is in Paynesville, East Gippsland, Vic. A 2 minute walk to lake, with swimming beaches, bush walks, koala island... the list goes on! Need help with child care on Wednesdays & Friday IMMEDIATELY and throughout school holidays. I work from home, so will be close on hand to deal with any problems. Daughter is 4 just after Christmas, in to everything and very easy to entertain :-) I would love a little help with cooking, cleaning and gardening (we have a organic vegie garden going strong!) ...but for most of the week you will be free to enjoy summer on the lake! Looking for fun, creative, trustworthy people who'd like to spend some time enjoying our home and our beautiful town. Qualifications / references would be fantastic! If you are interested please pm me I can send photos & more details - will be listing it on Helpx etc. but thought it might be worth trying a forum first. Thanks for reading! :-)

Hey everyone, ive just signed up to this hoping for some advice. Back in 2012 I completed my farm work with one employer - I did 89 days mostly paid but some voluntarily. Recently I was in aus on a visitor visa but have flown to Thailand to apply for my 2nd WHV. I applied online - the day later I recieved an email requesting I upload more info to immiaccount (bank statements, job description etc). I uploaded all the requested documents as well as a letter from my employer confirming the dates I had worked and that I did paid and voluntary. It's been just over a week now and haven't heard anything - just wonder if any of you had the same investigation for extra evidence and how long it took for you to (hopefully) get your visa accepted? My boyfriend is Australian and just want to be back with him soon! Thanks so much, Zoe

If anyone needed evidence of just how dangerous the internet can be then surely this is enough

Hi there I am new to this forum and was wondering if anyone had any advice and had been in a similar situation. Have been here in Oz for 8 months with husband and children. Living in Perth. Husband very settled, children very settled. Me (mum) not very settled....... Totally underestimated the value of strong friendships. I had many friends in Blighty as I'd lived in the same place for 16 years and was a bit of a social butterfly. Because my children are older there are no toddler groups etc to go too and they walk to school on their own so not a lot of opportunity to meet new people, plus I am working full time. Realise I have to give Oz longer as 8 months is far too short to make any rash decisions. The problem is I have a return flight back to the Uk soon (This is the return part after we decided to get a return ticket when we left UK last year). We were all going to go home as a family but we knew we would have needed to have booked one way tickets to then get back to Oz. The price of tickets have soared and we can't find any cheap one way fares for less than £1,1150. Husband and children weren't that bothered about going back so have decided to forget about trip and forfeit tickets. He says I should go back as I am so unsettled. But is this a good idea? Will it make me more unsettled? I'd obviously love to go back dearly to see friends and my widowed Father, but will it set me back? The other issue is that I feel I'd be neglecting my kids if I went back as I'd be going over school holidays in July. I can't change the date of the trip as I am working full time and I lodged the leave a while back and this would be difficult to change. So it would mean I'd be going back while the kids are off school. Hubby says he would take four days off to spend some time with them, but I am worried they'll be at a loose end during the two week hols when he is working. So should I go home to Britain for the two and a half weeks, which I'd like too, but have the possible risk of feeling more unsettled and miserable on my return or should I abandon the idea and stay put and enjoy some time off work with my kids in the hols? Any advice appreciated Cheers:wub: Ribbon

Hey PIO, This forum is certainly the most extensive for all things OZ but I can't seem to find the best discussion for this topic. I am Currently in Oz on a WHV 417...this is my second one and expires on the 15th Nov. My plan is Study (Graduate Diploma of education Primary) and whilst studying get Defacto Visa with my current Girlfriend..then live an amazing teaching life in OZ! BUT Since the course would start in Feb/March 2015 I am wondering what happens for me between 15th Nov and the start. If I get a visa granted would it start from the course start date or the acceptance date? AND It states clearly on the Immi website no work can start until your course does, is there any way to stay on the bridging visa I really need to keep on working to save for the mammoth amount I am paying for the above visas and course! Any thoughts, suggestions and questions would be appreciated, I am a little at a loss! Thanks David

Hi all, I am returning to the UK permanently, and am going back via cruise and train to take a very long way home. I am wondering if anyone out there is interested in room sharing on the cruise from the 8th July, it takes 12 nights to get to Singapore. Cost for the room is around $6K (balcony room) including all food and some soft drinks (alcohol is extra). It is a one way cruise only and you would need to fly back or arrange accommodation in Singapore. about me: 33 years old, female, professional, polite, English, non smoker, non snorer! If you are interested please get in touch, Thanks Angela

Hey guys, back to this forum again and feels great.........! I am planning for a week's holiday to Tokyo in April. I require a tourist visa to enter Japan and am prepared to get one. How easy or difficult would it be to acquire a Tourist visa for a family of 3 to Japan for a Australian permanent resident? Has anyone been in my shoes before? How much cash would they need to see in the bank? Do they accept credit card (funds available) balance? Do they generally interview you or is it just the docs they need to see? I tried calling the consulate's office in Sydney and the person i spoke to wasn't that helpful. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Im about to sort out my WH Visa after planning it for over a year. All seems straightforward. Now I come across the health insurance problem. As I understand there is an emergency reciprical agreement between UK/OZ but I still have to pay for other costs. Apparently policies are based on what state you are in so I cant do QLD and NSW. So NSW it has to be. Ive got quotes of $200/month to $100/month but it is going to take an age to sift through these. Can anyone recomend a good policy?

Hello! Thanks for reading this first of all, whoever you are. I'll try keep the situation short but apologies in advance if I rant. Now, I'm from UK and I got here 1st October 2012. Place is awesome of course. Now there was no question in my mind I wanted to stay for a second year so after my first 6 month stint in employment was done in April I was on the hunt for farmwork. Now I just found this site today and quite annoyed about all the links at the top for farm work - which is great if you're not an idiot like me and couldn't find any. I'm in Victoria and needed to stay near Melbourne for some unrelated issues and could not find any for life nor money within a few hours travel. A month and half goes by and I'm still unemployed and running very low on funds. Now a mate I was staying with mentioned the whole paying someone off thing and had a number, and said I should do it, to which I gave a rather half hearted nod. Was totally not against the farmwork, I was quite looking forward to it actually it was just getting soul destroying not having any money come in. Now, person I lived with lodged a visa application with this number he knew (all our documents were kept together) and applied. A few days later he's asking me for the money for the application. Some feigned protesting and thought **** it, what else can I do right now being unemployed with money dwindling - at least this way I could get back into a job in Melbourne and get some funds going. Now, whilst all this is going on I'm still looking for farmwork and as of 2 days ago I have a cushy orange picking job in SA that I'm rather psyched about. Asked him for the login details to withdraw the application cause yknow, why fake it when I'm doing the work anyway and on the thing they're asking for further documentation as to my farmwork - which I obviously don't have. I mean I can show a bank statement with no incomings but all the outgoings are in melbourne so it'd make no sense. Now I'm in this crappy position where I want to retract the application and resubmit when I have done the legitimate amount of time - but I'm afraid they're going to ask questions when I retract it, or even worse it'll affect my actual application later on - especially if I don't get another bridging visa (they gave me one even though mines doesn't end for a while?) as my farmwork is going to end middle to late september and my first year visa is up at the start of October - so I'll likely need a bridging one till they make a decision. So, to sum it all up my questions are - Can I retract online or do I have to fill in a form and send back? Will my retracted application affect the later one? Will I have to answer any questions when I retract it because I sure as hell don't want to have to explain to them I knew it was fraudulent but desperation got the better of me? Sorry again about the rant, I just wanted to make ti clear I don't want to rip off the system, I'm happy doing the work but gah, desperation does funny things Any advice would be absolutely ace. Thanks guys!

We're planning on hiring a car for the first 3/4 weeks when we arrive in Melbourne in June - can anyone recommend a good company to go with? (Based on the recent thread it doesn't sound as straight forward as I'd have hoped!)