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Hi! Random question - does anyone know whether there's an agreement in place for Auspost to deliver mail for free to the British armed forces posted abroad? I've found it on their site that they deliver for free to their own personnel but wondering if they do for the British also. Thanks

Hi This question has possibly been asked before, but I have had no luck searching the forum. I need help in redirecting my post to Oz. I know that I can set up a redirection service with Royal mail, that is the easy bit. My issue is that I don't have an address in Oz to forward to. I'll be staying in temporary accommodation for the first month, and hopefully will move into a longer term rental after that. I've been told by Oz post office that I can't set up a PO Box from over here, you need to do it in person in an Australian post office. Using relatives over here to receive the mail and send it to me in Oz, is not a viable option unfortunately. Any one out there faced a similar problem and managed to find a solution?

Does the postman deliver mail on a Saturday? Is it the same in all states/territories?

Hi All Not sure if this is the right place to post but I hope someone can offer some guidance. We're moving to Melbourne from the UK in a few months and I'm wondering what we do about our mail. Do we have it forwarded? I've not really looked in any detail, but I assume it's pretty expensive? We don't really have a UK address we could have mail sent to, so I'm struggling to think of an alternative. Thanks!

Dear, I had commonwealth DEBT which i wasn't aware of. and case officer sent me following e-mail. Dear Mr XXX Our records indicate you have an outstanding debt of $4,500 to the Commonwealth for Litigation. Public interest criterion 4004 of Schedule 4 of the Regulations must be met in order for a visa to be granted. PIC 4004 The applicant does not have outstanding debts to the Commonwealth unless the Minister is satisfied that appropriate arrangements have been made for payment. The debt can be repaid in full at Overseas POST counters. Please provide the receipt details via email (preferably with a screen shot) for updating of DIAC Onshore systems. .......................... I have already made arrangement to pay the DEBT in full. my question is, is my VISA going to be refused on this ground even after i pay the debt? please advice...any comments would be very helpful. I have applied on January 2009..all my documents are showing MET in the system.

We're arriving in Brisbane from Chch NZ in 10 days and we don't yet have a permanent address - staying in a hotel and then a holiday let for the best part of 3 weeks (longer is we don't secure a rental before then). Just don't know where to have our mail redirected - what have other people done? Sure others must have been in this situation. When we moved from UK to chch 6 years ago, I think we just gave the address of the central post office and all we had to do was go into that post office with our passports and they'd hand us our mail. Can't find any info on doing the same in Brisbane. Time is running out!! Thanks in advance! Kate

Hi all Does anyone know whether you can re-direct mail to an Australian PO Box? We are moving to Melbourne at the end of October and staying in temp accommodation for the first 6 weeks. We therefore don't want the mail re-directed to that address. Or does anyone know of any other way or is it just best to have it directed to family in the uk? Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks Tara

Wasn't sure whether to post here or in Dilemmas but here goes nothing. Got the keys to our rental today and already we have some mail in our very nice mail box. My question though, is what happens if you have a parcel or a lettler that doesn't fit in said mailbox? Does nice Mr Postie knock on your door, leave it near the front door, try a neighbour or what? :unsure:

I'm sure I did and it was packed with Poms (and homesick Aussies?)

Did any Cat5 got any email from DIAC regarding recent implementation of priority processing?

Dear If you are 18th March 2011 mail receiver then according to DIAC you will get a CO within 20 Days ( Last date 18 th June 2011) . And I am still waiting for CO What about you ?

I lodge my application on april 13 and it wouldhave been reached there by 20 April( I didnt check because i sent it through post -no tracking system). Until now i havent recieved the acknowledgment mail. When I can expect the acknowledgement? Do anyone near to this dates has got acknowledgment? How Can i make sure that DIAC recieved my application? impatiently Waiting for your responses Rex

Hi Sent a smallish envelope via Royal Mail to WA with photographs and letter inside - it was delivered to the correct address in Perth but was found to be neatly slit open (at the side) and completely empty! Just wondered if anyone else has had the same experience. David

Hello poms, I got my visa on 28th march and on 9th april I go mail from Skilled Migrants Job Matching Service.. so I need to fill form on this http://www.skilledmigrant.gov.au website.. During filling form they asked for preferred location of job means VIC,SA,WA,ACT and in last All States.. Now I am sponsored by SA can I select All states ?

Any one receive mail from SA department ... Mail tittle " " A message from Immigration SA"

Hi all and happy new year, NOt sure if this is the correct forum for this question, but hoping someone can point me in the right direction if not. We are due to head out to oz in just under 8 weeks and we are now busy trying to sort out all our personal affairs in the UK, with regards to mail we would like to arrange a redirection of UK mail to Australia but we are not sure if we can obtain a PO box in australia from the UK as we don't have an address to redirect to as of yet. Has anyone done this, is it easy to do? Thanks any assistance would be appreciated Alison

Sent docs to SA for SS between shutting down, and starting up of new application system. Still not arrived - aarrghhh! What is the point of track and trace when all it says is "received and ready for processing" - grrr! So tempted to just do a new application, but it was so time consuming. Worried about missing out on SS I'm possibly the only person who wants the SMP to wait until my application has been processed, just in case there's a sudden influx of applicationds after release. Anyway, ranting done. I do hope SMP is released soon for all those waiting patiently!! x

Hi all, I have applied for GSM 175 category on 25/09/2009 as an Electronics Engineer. I have front loaded my health check and it was finalized on 27/10/2009.so it is almost expired as per the validity of 1 year. Today I mailed my case office for redo of my health check and in it's response I got reply which I have pasted below. Dear Client, Thank you for your email in relation to your visa application under Australia's General Skilled Migration program. At present your application is undergoing routine processing. Unfortunately, ensuring all the legal requirements are met in relation to an application can take some time. Please note that in an attempt to strengthen the integrity of the General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa categories, the department is increasing the level of verification of documents received from applicants for GSM visas. As a result of this increased verification there may be some delays in finalising applications. We appreciate your patience in this matter. You should not undertake to re-do any expired clearances until you are requested to do so by a case officer. Regards Case Officer - Team 4 General Skilled Migration - Adelaide Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) DIAC has verified my job on 15/05/2010 and I have submitted all mandatory documents to process my application. Please share your experience or opinion that why there are taking so long to finalize my application..Is there any chance for rejection of my application?????:unsure: Regards, Tejas

Hi everyone Myself and my girlfriend of 3 years are applying for a defacto visa so Sarah can be back with her family. Despite knowing each other since i went to aus on a 1 year working holiday visa we have been together since but only lived together for 12 months since Sarah come over to live with me from last august. We have applied for the defacto visa and have heared back from our CO who has asked for more confirmation of us living together. The issue is i have been rather slack and not had my post redirected to the flat we now live in. Sarah is fine but I have had my bank and pretty much all offical post being sent to my parents address where we both lived together for the first 5 months. Part of the reason for this was due to the fact we have not signed a lease and are renting a room off a friend who has a new build and we were unsure as to how long we would be living here. My worry is will our CO take notice of this if i put this to them in writing but in more detail. I have some stuff sent to our current address such as doctors stuff, items ordered online etc but no official things as such. I will send copies of the items i have mentioned but do you think it is worth me putting something in writing to our CO regarding the issue or will they ignore this? We are just worried about this as we are aware its stupid i did not have my post redirected but my parents just forward my post to me via mail or by hand. We have statements from my work colleague and am going to get my friend who we rent off to write something. Does anyone have any ideas of how we can prove to our CO we have lived together with so little official documents? Or can we arrange to speak with them over the phone or meet them in person to answer any quesitons they may have. Please help, thank you Jim :unsure:

Dear Friends, Can you suggest what kind of mail to write to the new immigration minister? We will compile all points and put up a long mail. The best mail could be publicised here before posting. This is ,i think one of the ways for us to press the new minister to let him understand our problem.:hug::biggrin:

hi guys I received SS from WA in July 2009 . In August I sent them the form 1100 + SS agreement that they sent me via mail along with the SS approval. In October I lodged my 176 PR application. Few days ago I called DIAC to enquire about the status of my 176 application and they told that they never received confirmation of Sponsorship from WA. They told me to ring up WA Skilled migrationd department I rang them up and told them that DIAC did not receive confirmation of SS from them and they checked my file and told me that they seem to have misplaced or never received form 1100 + SS agreement. They asked me to fax it to them. I faxed it yesterday. What is it going to happen now?

Ok, so I sent Partner visa application to Australia House recorded delivery on Friday not knowing that they were closed on Monday so it was not delivered and is now at the local delivery office in London! Does anyone what will happen with this? Will they re-arrange for it to be delivered? I have no idea Many Thanks Emma

Hi everyone I submitted by 175 visa application online last night but haven't received an e mail confirmation. Does anyone know if I should be worried about this? Do I need to contact DIAC? Thanks Jaffy

After some frustration (too long a story to tell) i had to post a letter to Oz, it was in a standard sized envelope and posted directly at the post office. They (Post Office) told me maximum 5 days, that was last Thursday, its now Firday and they still have not received it. they cannot process my TRA through until this has been received. Do i re-send the letter, or wait? Do i learn from this lesson and now send EVERY thing though registered, or other options available? How do you send your stuff through to Oz?

'Four million expats want to come home as savings and income plunge along with the pound'. Here's the extract: Almost 4million Brits living abroad are planning a mass return to home shores after seeing their savings and income stripped by the plunging values of the pound and their property. The dramatic slump has slashed their income by a third and has turned Brits into the paupers of Europe. Fears over job security and falling property prices are also giving expats second thoughts, according to research from foreign exchange specialist Moneycorp. Some 845,000 Brits living in Spain and France have suffered an 8 per cent drop in house prices in the year to August 2009 alone. This wiped €30,000 off the average property on the Costa del Sol. Sterling has slumped from over €1.50 to £1 in January 2007 to close to parity, taking a terrible toll on the estimated 5.5million British expats, and particularly the 1.1million pensioners living abroad. Moneycorp research shows that 70 per cent of all expats are now considering returning to the UK. A retired couple living in Spain, for example, both drawing a full state pension of £95.25 per week, will have seen their combined monthly income - on their pension alone - drop by €396 over three years, from €1,263 to €867. The warning signs that hundreds of thousands of Brits may be ready to return to the UK started when the credit crunch began in 2008. That year, the number of expats returning home jumped by a fifth on the previous 12 months. The number of British homeowners downsizing or selling up and sending money back to the UK doubled last year, foreign currency specialist HiFX reports. It has seen an 180 per cent increase in the number of euro to sterling transactions and an 11 per cent increase in the number of U.S. dollar to sterling transactions in the past six months, compared to last year. More people over 65 than any other age group are repatriating. Mark Bodega from HiFX says: 'The pound's fall to historic lows in recent months has meant the cost of living or running a holiday home on the continent has risen to unaffordable levels for many people.' A weak property market is also proving to be a nightmare for many of the estimated 1.5million Brits who own homes abroad. Many are being forced to sell their property at a loss, particularly in countries like Spain. The weak pound has proved a blessing for those who receive an income in euros, for example from renting a property. Sterling's slump means they will get far more pounds for their euros. Brennon Nicholas, managing director at estate agency Cluttons Spain says: 'We have seen an increase in the number of people coming to us who are struggling because their pensions and savings do not stretch as far as they used to. They're selling up because of the favourable exchange rate but the market is extremely tough and there is a lack of buyers.' Pensioners abroad have arguably been hit the hardest as they rely most heavily on their savings and pensions built up in the UK. They've been hit by a declining pound and falling interest rates. One in five expats claims a sterling pension, with more than a quarter of Brits living in Spain (28 per cent) and a third of British expats in Germany relying on this as their core source of income, according to Moneycorp. More than half a million pensioners living in Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand suffer a further blow because their state pensions don't rise each year in line with inflation. Only those living in the European Economic Area and countries with reciprocal agreements in place with the UK, such as the U.S. and Jamaica, are protected against inflation. Yesterday, these pensioners lost their fight in the European Court of Human Rights to prove this pension freeze violates anti-discrimination rules. Tim Finch, head of migration at think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research says: 'The weakness of the pound will mean more people will lose jobs and find it harder to live overseas and come home. This is likely to be a growing trend over the next few years. 'Generally, the big wave of lifestyle emigration where people got their place in the sun for a better life was a reflection of the boom years when you had high house prices and decent pensions.'