Search the Community

Hi, I wondered if anyone could help me. I am on a 187 sponsored regional migration visa, I’m currently on the bridging visa and my application was logged January 2019. I am being sponsored as a duty manager and prior to my sponsorship I was working for the employer for 9 months. I have now been there for 16 months. Since getting sponsored my boss has completely changed his demeanour. His family has joined him in running the business and they daughter gets away with doing nothing but gets paid the same as me. Despite the fact that my role is duty manager, she has been put in this position. After a few months into my sponsorship I went off sick for 2 days (first time since being employed there that I wasn’t off sick) and when I returned I had heard that they thought I was lying and that I’m not reliable etc. This really annoyed me and I chatted with my boss and said I wasn’t happy. I said I can’t work with the daughter as whatever decision I make gets over ruled by her decision. After this they put me in the kitchen, and ever since I have been working as a kitchen hand which is not my job role. I have mentioned this many times and he seems to think it is fine and won’t move me out of there. I’ve been extremely stressed and absolutely hate going to work. I’ve lost a lot of weightdue to the stress and it is a horrible environment to work in. It is very bitchy and the bitching comes from management. I am over worked and get only one day off per week, work split shifts everyday despite living 60 k away. I don’t get to spend time with my boyfriend which is making me more stressed. I was off sick for 2 days again last month and I received abusive text messages from my boss saying I was lying and that I have to come into work with my medical certificates. I sent him my certificates and he still sent me nasty messages. This really upset me. He also took money out of my wages when I first got the sponsorship to pay for the $3000 business tax. I think I’m right in saying that this is wrong however I haven’t questioned it because I’m so scared that my life will be made hell there again. I also do not want him to have this over me that he has invested in me. There is another lady also on Sponsorship visa and she too is in the same situation as me. Her life has been made hell and I know she is very stresssed. The boss’ daughter does not like her and they are just hoping that she is going to mess up so they can get rid of her. They have given her a formal warning when she has done nothing wrong. Please help us and let us know what we can do in this situation. I really just want to walk out the door and be happy again, but after investing all this money I do not want to lose it. We are so stressed and it’s affecting our health, surely with two of us there is something we can do? Thanks!

In mid November the company I was working for went into liquidation after 2.5 years there on 457. I was immediately offered a job by a new firm. I was asked to relocate immediately and did so at great cost. We went to the visa agent and I had all of my details complete, but the company dragged its heals to get all the paperwork done. I was sitting in a new home unable to work for 6 weeks, waiting on this company to sort out the 457 visa transfer. Yesterday I found out the member of staff that was dealing with my employmemt had been fired and the company would withdraw the offer of employment. The company had their own guy who would start in the position I had been offered immediately. I had signed a contract and was ready to start but now that's gone. I spent 6 weeks waiting for this company to get the 457 transfered and now have a lot less time to find a new job. If I bring all the evidence to immigration can they reset the 90 days? None of this was my fault.

Faced with very difficult choice Our PR visa was granted in 03/2013 and at the time my husband didn't want to move to OZ. Two years fast forward and my mother-in-law was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She has been battling the disease for almost 3 years now and we wanted to care for her but she refused to move in with us. She says she will only do so when she is incapacitated. We live 2 1/2 hours flight away from her and only see her twice a year. She has 2 other children that don't live in the same city as hers but her brother does and he has been a big help. Our 5 year visa expires in 03/2018. I still want to move to oz and my husband says that if his mother passes before the visa expires he will move. Part of me feels that our live has been on a hold for a while and I've been trying to let go of the tought of moving but can't get over it and if we did go I'm afraid that her and the whole family would resent us forever and I would probably regret being so selfish.

hi all, we were just wondering if anyone had any experiance of this dilemma.... my husband has a 16 year old daughter, who since the age of 4 has lived a 50/50 life between us and her mother. There has never been any formal custody arrangements as it was a mutal agreement with contact drawn up during the divorce, and therefore there has never been any finacial agreements made. We have always paid for what she needed when she was with us, and her mother when she was there. School uniforms/trips etc have been split or eneded up us paying them. Her mother gets all her child benefit etc for her. However, now we are on our way to oz, our daughter has been included on our visa with her mums permission but wants to stay and finish her schooloing in the uk. Now her mother has brought up that she wants maintainance for her as she would be living with her full time. We would love nothing more for her to come with us straight away, and wouldnt ask for a penny from her mother, just pleased with the fact that we had her with us. And as a mother, cannot understand why her mother is not just pleased to have her all the time. Sorry to go on, but my question is, how does it work with payments if we refused to pay? We have already said we would send our daughter money regularly, but i begrudge sending it to her mum, as she would spend it on herself! and not our daughter. Would the CSA chase us in oz for not paying her mother or what is a resonable amount to pay her to keep her sweet? any ideas? Thanks

Hi all, Im pretty much just starting out, im a 25 year old joiner looking at going down the state sponsorship route 176, to get a further up on the priority processing, rather than the 175. My ideal states aren't sponsoring my occupation, but WA is. After speaking to a reputable agent he informed me that if I fly to WA and then if I was to say id been offered a job in VIC, QLD, NSW I could move state, as it is not a condition of the visa? just an agreement with state???? I find this a bit hard to believe as everybody would be doing it. Any advice would be much appreciated. Dan

So im a nineteen year old girl currently living in the united states. ive lived here all my life and all my life ive dreamed about just getting up and leaving. a couple of months ago i read a book (fiction) about a man who loved the outback so much he seculeded himself there built a home and everything. He talked about how beautiful it was and it made me want to do a little research of my own. I fell in love. Now i just need some help getting my **** in order to get there. See i dont have a passport and im kinda in a bit of trouble. i dont want to run from it but when everything is cleared up i definetly dont want to be in the states anymore. any information on how to get myself to australia would be great. Boat? Plane? Visas? Sponserships? anything please i dont think i can handle living here much longer. :unsure:

Hi there I'm new to the POI forum but having a fairly difficult time so wondered if there was anybody out there with any advice or who had been through something similar. I've been on a 187 visa now for about 6 months and am really not happy in my job. I work in a very small office and am having trouble with the 2nd in command. I was pre-warned by a girl who no longer works for the company that this person tends to have bad mood swings and will pick one person in the office to target when this happens and was told to try to not let it bother me. If I think about it she has been pretty bad since I started with the company but it has always been on and off (she will oscillate between being awful and then being super nice). I have just recently got to a point where I don't think I can take it any longer. This week especially she seems to be constantly irritated by my presence. I've noticed this week she has starting ignoring me when she comes in to the office - usually everyone will say good morning but she has stopped doing this to me and only me. Generally, she will never say please or thanks, snatches and throws paperwork at me and often just yells orders at me from her office in a really unpleasant way. She often gives me tasks to do at the last minute with a timeframe I can't possibly meet, they are often over my lunch break or right towards the end of the day meaning I have no lunch or have to stay back late which I wouldn't really mind if she said please or thank you. Also the work she gives me usually has very little information and when I ask for clarification or more details she snaps at me or rolls her eyes. If I then make a mistake I will get yelled at again. She will sometimes scribble all over my work and/or tell me its wrong before she has even read it and it usually turns out that the work was correct and she is constantly blaming me for things I haven't done. She has called me stupid fairly recently and there was an incident she made me stay back late because she had forgotten her key making me miss my lift home and then smirked when she found out I had no other way to get home. She also looks me up and down when I go into her office which I find really degrading. I really dread going in to work and whenever I have to ask her something I end up sat at my desk for about half an hour building myself up to ask her. I've been racking my brains trying to work out if I've done something to upset or offend her but I can't think of anything. I've never really had a problem with anybody else in another job, I'm actually usually well liked, and am pretty quiet anyway so I can't see what I could have done. I come in to work and am pleasant, hard working and make very few mistakes in my work. I recently had my 6 month review and my manager didn't have any complaints and was happy with all aspects of my work. I love living in Oz and have an amazing lifestyle here but its constantly being impacted by me going home from work upset by this individual. I also don't have very much to back up how she has been treating me as its more body language and the way she speaks to me or looks at me and tone of voice. I can certainly feel my self-esteem has been impacted and I find I will stutter when I have to go in to her office to speak to her. I'm also not very good at being assertive, although I've gotten better, so I am constantly feeling like a victim who is being shouted at and just taking it. I don't feel like I can raise it with my manager as they really value this other staff member and I know already they will tell me to suck it up. Does anybody know what the implications would be if I did quit my job on a 187 visa? I am also aware that I live in a regional town so if I was able to quit my job word may get around that I had problems with another staff member and put other employers off me and also that I left my employment before the sponsorship was up. Does anyone have any words of advice? Am I being too sensitive and need to just suck it up?

Hi I moved to Australia in July 2008 on a 457 visa to work in regional WA. I remained on this visa until 1 month ago when my application for a 857 visa was granted. The conditions of this visa are that i remain with my company for a period of 2 years. I am currently in a position where i am extremely unhappy in my current roll, to the point where it is effecting my health. I enjoy living in Australia and would like to remain in Australia, however i would really like to change my job. Does anyone know if immigration would make me leave australia and revoke my visa should i leave this company??

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15799571 I found this really interesting article on the bbc website and just thought it would be interesting to see what other people make of it??

Article on Newscom today quite sad for the NZ people. ONE in four young Kiwis would rather live somewhere other than their home country, especially those from shaky Christchurch. A media poll found 24 per cent of New Zealanders under the age of 30 were either "considering" or "definitely" leaving to live overseas. While the poll didn't say where they planned to set up base, recent figures show Australia is heavily favoured. A net exodus of 3300 Kiwis came to Australia in May followed by 3100 in June - the heftiest departures across the ditch in 30 years. Labour's economic development spokesman David Parker told Fairfax New Zealand the number of young people planning to leave was "shocking", and placed the blame squarely on the conservative National government. "That's terrible and it's because the Kiwi dream is beyond their reach, partly because house prices are beyond their reach and The trans-Tasman drift is one of the few pieces of bad news for the government, which has been polling with constant strength ahead of the country's November 26 general election. Prior to winning the 2008 election, National leader John Key campaigned heavily on reducing the stream of young New Zealanders jumping the ditch, and narrowing the wage gap. Mr Parker said the Government had clearly failed. "The wage gap with Australia is growing rather than narrowing as the Government promised. The underlying problems in our economy are entrenched and they're not being fixed," he said. The Government defended the results, saying living overseas was a rite of passage for many Kiwis, so it was natural some people would be thinking of heading offshore in the future."

Hi all, thought all a long that my daughter would come with us but she say's she's not why can't i leave why am i tugged between my husband my youngest daughter (13) and my 19yr old wish i hadn't started the whole process, sorry for the rant. Paulaxx

Hi all, I m now in australia on a 457 visa. i studied here for 2 years and then i found a job and have been on 457 visa for abt 2 years.i applied for my 176 family sponsored visa in May 2009, and it was changed to state sponsored in Nov 2009. if i leave the country now and never come back( i dont wanna come back here anymore till i got my 176 visa granted), is it gonna be a problem for my application later with recent work expericene thing and the other stuffs. Regards, Chan

Hi all, not posted for a bit as weve been busy with the last bits n bobs. Anyhow we had our leaving party last nite, and it was absolutely packed, pretty much everyone turned up, and it was a great nite, we didnt do a speech we decided against it! Our friend filmed the whole nite and then people were given the opportunity to leave us a private message on the video. It was a really great nite and was the first time i have been emotional i wasnt really bad, but tears were shed. Anyhow i know im no different to most but i am absolutely sh$*&ing a brick now about going, i have been for the last week or so i have all of a sudden hit a brick wall. and its purely down to leaving our life here its finally hit me how huge this move is and what were giving up. I have no queries about ife in oz i dont doubt it will be wonderful, but i am really struggling with giving up everything we have here, especially leaving my son behind. We have spoke about it and jamie has promised that if dont settle we come back end of. I have been the driving force up until now and so positive but not anymore, i will give it my absolute best and hope once there i find that spirit again:wubclub:

Hi all I am starting to get into a bit of a panic now. I have a job offer to start work on the 4/1 and we have had the house on the market for little over a week now. After talking to the estate agent, I had the spiel about if it's priced right it will sell, but I get the feeling she thinks I'm a weird desperate person after seeing her this afternoon and all but begging to find me a buyer. Anyhow along with the many other things swimming in my head I am now starting to seriously consider that we might have to leave our house empty and on the market. It seems really silly to turn down a fabulous job opportunity because of the house. I wondered if anyone had actually done this and how they found the logistics of the whole process, insurance, viewing, security etc. Thanks Kate

Since moving from uk to au my husband has changed into a violent stranger. He abuses me verbally and threatens me constantly. He has physically hurt me on one occasion and i am now scared to speak or even look at him in case it provokes another outburst. Often his black moods last for days. i have absolutly no family or friends here and am desperate to go back to uk but frightned he may stop me taking our children please please any advise would be great as not sure where to turn

Hi newbie Dave here, I have only about two weeks left in the uk before I leave with my Aussie partner for australia. Is there time to apply for residency ( de facto ) in London-offshore ( forms 40SP and 47SP) . Or should I wait and apply in Brisbane? I understand that there are some possible issues- Applying in the Uk means I have to get permission from CO to leave for aus. Will I have one to ask in time? Applying in Australia means I have to be there at the time of the granting of visa. What happens if I want to travel to the uk say after a month of application being lodged? At present my circumstances are : I'm on a tourist 676 visa. I have a defacto relationship with my Australian partner of some 25 years and we have a 5 year old daughter together(dual citizenship). Plenty of proof of the ongoing relationship etc. What are the chances of being granted a permanent (100) visa straight away? Any advice would be appreciated.

I was thinking of buying a camera before I leave the UK and head to Oz hopefully in the next month or so and a friend said 'can you claim the VAT back'. It hadn't occured to me at all. I couldn't find anything obvious on here (apologies if there is). But I thought I'd share the following with everyone as it might save a few pounds. This is from the HMRC website and seems to suggest that as I'm leaving the UK for more than 12 months I can get the VAT back. Please correct me if I've misinterpreted this but it seems like this is the case. If you live in the EU If you live in the EU, you may be able to obtain a VAT refund if you are planning to leave the EU for at least 12 months. You must: leave the UK for a destination outside the EU - with the goods you have bought - by the end of the third month after the month when you bought them (for example, goods purchased on 3 February would have to be exported by 31 May) stay outside the EU for at least 12 months show customs officials the goods, your receipts for them and a completed VAT refund document when you leave the EU http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/sectors/consumers/overseas-visitors.htm#1 So it looks like I might be able to claim back the VAT on my camera. Perhaps anyone else heading out can do the same on a laptop or whatever :biggrin: Eddy

Just wondering if anyone still has funds in the UK? I am about to get permanent residence and having sold my house, I still have the money over in the UK in various bank accounts. Haven't transferred it yet due to low exchange rate. After re reading the terms and condition of some of the accounts, however, they state that you need to be a UK permanent resident, so not sure what to do. Don't want to bring the money over yet. Just wondering if it's possible to put the money in an offshore account and where to start?

Going back to UK. Selling Washing Machine-Whirlpool 7.5kg - $350 (half Price) 1000 rmp, Front Loader, white, (Only 5 months old) PM me. WA North Suburb, Ellenbrook. Need to be collected as soon as possible. Only selling coz leaving!

Well the time has come and we are off to the airport in about 30 mins!! I kind of fell relieved i think. See you the other side guys and gals :jiggy:

In the process of packing right now and all is on schedule. We are now completely unfurnished, 2 sets of keys gone to letting agency (there's a viewing on Monday!) and a third to go through the letterbox when we leave for the airport. Countdown is now 12 hours til taxi time! OMG. Just bought some extra cash currency for USA stopover and Aus to tide us over til our bank appointment. Hope we'll remember to stop at the Travelex counter at Glasgow Airport! Really looking forward to my first beer of "tonight", which will in reality be at Heathrow Airport tomorrow morning after a sleepless night!

Hi this is something from the telegraph, which makes you wonder are you in the same boat, or have you got it covered "Geoffrey Boycott, the former England cricketer Thousands of homeowners’ plans to leave property to their heirs could be hit for six by an obscure legal definition which Geoffrey Boycott, the cricket legend, has described as “double-Dutch”. Mr Boycott went on to lose a test case in the High Court about the ownership of a home in the millionaires’ resort of Sandbanks, Dorset. But with the average house price now exceeding £161,000, according to the Halifax House Price Index, questions about who has legal title to property could have a major impact on much more modest households. Now lawyers say many people – especially unmarried couples or those who have contributed unequally to the purchase of a home – may be caught out if they are unaware of the distinction between owning property as ‘joint tenants’ or ‘tenants in common’. No wonder the straight-talking Yorkshireman suggested the difference was difficult to understand. But the legal jargon could mean other couples’ plans to bequeath or inherit property are stumped. The Court heard that Mr Boycott bought a three-bedroom house overlooking Poole Harbour for his “friend and confidante” Anne Wyatt in 1996. Mr Boycott told the court he allowed Mrs Wyatt to live in the house rent-free, although they were no longer partners, for as long as she lived. They were listed on the deeds as joint tenants. But when Mrs Wyatt died in 2009, aged 82, her half of the house went to her estate instead of to Mr Boycott. To his “huge surprise”, he discovered that Mrs Wyatt had changed the agreement in 2007 to a tenancy in common so that she could leave her share of the property to her heirs. Andrew Goldstone, head of tax and wealth planning at Mishcon de Reya explained: “With a tenancy in common, when one joint owner dies they can leave their share to whoever they want in their will. That’s a big advantage where joint owners are neither married nor in a long-term relationship, since they won’t necessarily want their share to go the other on their death. Tenancy in common also makes sense for couples who each have their own children from an earlier relationship. “It is possible to convert a joint tenancy to a tenancy in common but not the other way round. The technical term for bringing a joint tenancy to an end is called “severing the joint tenancy” and it’s very easy to do. It can be by mutual agreement, in which case the joint owners will usually document in what shares they will then own the property. “However, it can also be done by just one of the joint owners giving written notice to the other. That sometimes happens when a couple are splitting up and one of them wants to be sure that if they die, the whole property won’t go to their ex-partner. This can mean that what was intended at the time of purchase can be overridden by one party alone. Once notice of severance is given to the other party it is too late to change.” John Condliffe, a partner at Hogan Lovells, added: “In this case, Mrs Wyatt ended the partnership by serving notice on Mr Boycott, whose arguments did not push the boundaries of legal principles. If property is owned by joint tenants the owners together own the whole property equally and do not have individual shares in it. If one owner dies their share automatically passes to the others, and therefore a joint tenant owner cannot leave their share to somebody else in their will. “By contrast, property owned by tenants in common entitles each person to a distinct share of the property, and their shares may be unequal. If one owner dies their share can be left to others in their will.” This distinction is no longer as important for inheritance tax (IHT) planning by married couples and members of civil partnerships as it used to be, now the nil-rate band of £325,000 is automatically transferred to the surviving spouse or partner on the death of the first spouse or partner. That means even married couples and members of civil partnerships who have made no plans to utilise the first spouse or partner’s IHT nil-rate band effectively enjoy a £650,000 threshold for IHT. However, the different forms of ownership remain relevant to many others; including unmarried cohabiting couples. Clare Rant, a property litigation specialist at Irwin Mitchell pointed out: “Disputes frequently arise following death where the ownership of a property has not been correctly identified at the will writing stage. A disappointed beneficiary – someone who is left an interest in a property under a will but where the property passes by survivorship to the joint owner – may also have a claim against the will writer. “The distinction between the two interests is not just relevant to death. This is of particular importance to co-habiting couples, as they will not have the benefit of legislation which can redistribute property.” So the legal jargon can prove more even important than the difference between deep square leg and silly mid-off. If in doubt, seek professional legal advice. :arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh:

Hi I'm hoping our 457 visa comes through anyday now and wondered whether the whole family has to travel together when leaving the UK? Cheers

Hey guys, I shall be leaving for a new life in Perth in just over a week now, I believe I've got most things sorted, docs, accom, job etc just wondering if there's ANYTHING that you forgot that you wish you'd brought? :wink:

:jiggy:We are planning a leaving party :jiggy: Would love to hear all about your parties, where did you have them, what food & drink did you serve :wideeyed: Anything you wish you had done diffferent ? :unsure: What are your special memories of your party? :cute: