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Hello, I am new here and really need some opinions and advice. I am 27, have a PhD in my field and have my own consultancy business which is successful. I am married and have two children. My business is really taking off in the UK and is growing very quickly. Next summer, I plan to launch my second service which will be global and entirely online. I already have contracts and travel to work in US, NZ and AUS about once per year. We have always wanted to emigrate but never really thought it was possible until last month when I was offered a consultancy contract in Aus which will last five years. This is offered via my UK registered business. The commissioner has said that I can remain living in UK and they will fly me out 6-8 times a year but I would rather just live there to be honest. I'm struggling to know what to do here. I can't find much information on applying for visas and such if you plan on remaining self employed in your own business. As an example, I often get commissioned to write research or government guidance. I can do that from anywhere in the world, so I don't need a job when I get to Aus as my diary is fully booked for about 18 months in advance. I spoke to a guy who was an emigration specialist and he said that this is not seen as a good thing and that Aus govt would want to see how I am contributing to their economy and would likely reject the visa. Is this true? Do Brits with successful businesses ever go to Aus and operate the business from UK and set up a second one in Aus? The contract value I have been offered in Aus for the whole 5 years is $2.2m ($440k per year - which would be paid into an Aus bank account and I would pay Aus tax on it - so I thought this would be seen as a good thing? Could someone let me know their thoughts? (Husband is 33, and is CEO of our charity here, which we will have to close down when we emigrate to Aus - but he has many qualifications and experience so I think he would be fine for a visa too - our kids are 10 and 8 if that helps anyone). Thanks to anyone who can provide any insight, J x

In breaking news tonight, the changes to the Assurance of Support scheme will be scrapped in the face of an impending loss in the Senate. Here is a link to the story: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/exclusive-coalition-backflips-on-parent-visa-crackdown?cid=newsapp:socialshare:whatsapp

Hello all. I am new to this site, so g'day to ya. We are currently in the system for a Contributory Parent Visa 143. I thought I'd let you know that I did the assurance of support for mum today, and it was so easy! A visit to Centrelink then to the Commonwealth Bank then back to Centrelink and hey presto all approved and set up. All in all it took about two hours. I was expecting a load of red tape, but no!! Isn't it lovely when things go the way you want?? I have been living in Perth for 11 years now (came over on visa 126), so if I can answer any questions just yell! :biggrin:

I have an 8 year old son in Australia & his mother is willing to be my Sponsor so I can be a Father to him. I am applying for a Contributory (Migrant) Parent Visa (Subclass 143). My problem is that the mother is a part time student & therefore does not have the income to support an Assurance of Support. Addtionally her parents are both retired so are not eligible & I do not know anyone else who is an Australian Resident well enough to ask them to make this commitment. I can put the money up for the AUD10k Bond, however, I understand there are companies that will be the Assurance of Support. I am not looking for them to put up the money just issue the bond with my money & be acceptable to Centrelink. Has anyone come across this before & know any of the companies please?

IT Technicians / Engineers Helpdesk Engineers / Technical Gurus / Fulltime OR Part-time OR Contract. Are you looking for a fun, challenging, dynamic role? Do you want to work where part of your day includes playing with the latest technologies and actively researching the latest trends? Do you want to have the ability to help grow the company you are working for and benefit accordingly? Server, Network, Desktop, and Business IT Support Progress your IT Career & broaden your experience Base Salary + Super* + Car* + Allowances* + Performance Bonuses Ategra is a small professional Managed Services Provider located in Palmerston, Darwin. So if you anyone qualified you know has an interest in visiting, traveling or migrating to Australia, get in touch, we often have short term and permanent positions available, we have even provide immigration sponsorship for several staff. We have a loyal client base, many arguably amongst the best in their respective industries, who are diverse, dynamic, fun and most importantly they all understand the importance of a solid IT infrastructure. Attractive Salary Package; Plus; Benefits, bonus program; and Company Car. We are looking for highly driven, enthusiastic self-starters who have had previous customer facing IT support experience looking after multiple Small to Medium or larger IT networks. The role involves mostly offsite work and varies from troubleshooting clients day to day issues and regular maintenance to conducting migrations and project rollouts. You will have the opportunity to work with some of the latest and greatest technology and software (RMM tools, Virtualisation, Hosted Services, Cloud Computing and more). We are currently using a mixture of some really cool RMM tools to manage our clients systems. If you have most or all of the following – PLEASE APPLY – we would love to hear from you. • SBS 2003/2008/2011/ Server 2003/2008/2008R2/2012 Experience • SMB Routers/Switches/Networking • Advanced Troubleshooting Skills (Desktops/Servers) • Good understanding of DHCP, DNS, VPN, Active Directory, Exchange, SQL Server and Internet Technologies • Server and Network Maintenance • Previously used Remote Management and Monitoring system (Kaseya, Zenith Infotech, Labtech, Level Platforms etc) • Fantastic client facing/interpersonal skills (our clients value our simple to understand approach the most) • Current Driver’s License (ideal but not necessary) • Microsoft Certified Professional (MCITP/MCSE would be great, but not essential) This is a great opportunity to work in a growing and exciting company. We have a very dynamic work ethic. We provide an environment with plenty of learning, variety and great customers. We have a caring and fun team whose focus is making a difference in our customer's business. If you think you would make a great fit into our company, please email us a quick cover letter and resume to jobs@ategra.com.au About Ategra Computer Technology Since 1997 Ategra has been a respected and professional IT Services & Support and Managed Services provider in Darwin committed to our clients. This is an opportunity to join a company that values their staff, rewards them and has a friendly positive working environment. IT Technicians / Engineers / Tech Guru at Ategra Computer Technology Darwin NT Check out more details http://www.ategra.com.au/contact-us/news-blog/434-ategra-now-hiring

Hi, Anyone here have tried to apply TRA-ICT Customer Support skills assessment? Please share experience. My case is that I happen to have a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and 10 years experience as ICT Support. Just confused on how to fill up the TRA application as it state there "Vocational Training"? Can anyone help? Thanks!

I am about to apply for a CPV 143. I understand about the assurance of Support and intend transferring the necessary monies for myself and partner to my child when the time comes. But I have just read that the sponsor is also means tested. This is of concern to me as my child is not working herself but is in a marriage where the husband works. My question is: is this means test focussed on my sponsor alone of will it be her relationship as it were. If anyone can tell me what kind of income they would need to pass this it would be a bonus. I really need to be sure before we go ahead and apply. Thank you FB

IT Support Engineers/Technicians- Sponsorship Possible We are a leading IT Support Company based in Darwin Australia (a great place to live and work, near Kakadu and other terrific places). We are looking for Microsoft Certified Engineers with at least 4 plus years of experience in the implementation and support of Servers, Networks and general computer/desktop support. You need to have excellent customer service and communication skills as this is mostly field engineer/technician work at customer premises working with a high level of autonomy and responsibility. If interested PM me with your resume and contact details for more information. Occasionally we also have shorter term positions available for legal working holiday visa holders.

Hello to all, The 34th Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament is being played in Melbourne from Dec 1st to Dec 9th. It would be great to have as many supporters there as possible to cheer on our boys as they get revenge on the Aussies for London! This tournament has the best of the best playing, so it should be a lot of fun to watch. Personally, I'll be there in facepaint with chants ready. Regards, HockeyNut

Hello, I thank God I found this useful site. I really need your advice regarding on my case about child support. My husband resides in Australia and I (with my 2 Kids) reside here in the Philippines, our 2 kids below 18 years of age are currently receiving an on-going child support payments from their father for five years until now. My husband wants me to apply my 1 child (16 Y/o) to migrate to australia and he needs from me the Statutory Declaration or Letter Of Consent to permit my child for VISA application as one of the main requirements for child visa below 18 years of age. My question is, is there any grounds or reasons that my husband might use this document (Statutory Declaration / Written Consent made from the present of a Lawyer) to stop the on-going child support of my children or my child even if I still have the full custody/care of them? I am planning to give this consent or permission for the purpose of VISA application only. Once the VISA is approved, I don't want yet to migrate my child to his father since she is still young and below 18. My child is 16 years old and if her VISA will be approved I will only allow her to migrate when she will turn 18. (I tried to seek for legal advice here in our country but they said they do not cover the laws and child support procedures since the case is in different Jurisdiction/Country, I hope your experiences and knowledge about child support will help my case and justice for my children) Thank you in advance and I am hoping for your reply Please.

can anyone tell me is there a need for support workers to adults with learning disabilities/ challenging behavior and how much could you expect to earn per hour? i have searched the site but not found what i have been looking for plus we are goin to gold coast in 2weeks for a recci an it would be good if i knew where to go lookin for this type of work .. here at home i work for the trust which is quite well paid plus you get good enhancements in your pay , the trust is the other name for the nhs ( i think) i would be grateful to anyone who could help me here an also thanks to gollywobbler for all help :yes: cheers caza

We are due to emigrate to Oz in a few months time. I currently pay child support for 2 of my children to my ex partner via UK CSA. We have input our details on the Au CSA website and found that the payments would be triple what I am currently paying for earning slightly less out in Oz. This doesn't make sense !!! Have any of you been through a similar problem/issue and what was the outcome ? Do you continue to pay through the uk based on their rules and calculations or go to the Oz calculation method once you are working out there ? Based on the Au method we would be unable to cover our living costs !! Hence we are extremely worried Any help , advice, guidance would be greatly appreciated !! :unsure:

Hi everyone, We are applying onshore for the defacto visa in August and will be fully frontloading in order to get the visa granted asap. Having read the guidance by DIAC and the Partner Migration Booklet, my OH's salary over the last two years is not high enough and therefor we will need to get an Assurance of Support from someone. I've googled like mad, but haven't been able to track down a form like this one.Has anyone ever done this before? It would be great if we could get this sorted beforehand so that there are no more requests for information slowing us up! Thanks all. Leah :wacko:

Hello, Just wondering if anyone can advise me on the following situation. I am divorced and my children live predominantly with my ex wife. I pay full child support. My eldest child has just finished VCE year 12 and is over 18, so child support for him officially stops. Now he will be hopefully going on to tertiary education next year. Are there any legal issues around ongoing support for tertiary education. I plan to help him directly with various expenses such as HECS and maybe give him money directly to help with his expenses. I suppose I am wondering whether my ex can sue me for ongoing support of him and force me to pay money directly to her for his support. I am unclear on the law regarding this issue, but obviously I will continue to help support my son but would rather do it directly with him. Thanks for any advice.

Hello all, My wife is an Australian permanent but has not lived in Australia for about a year now. I work and have been supporting her. We would like to move to Australia and have come across two issues: first, that she be "usually resident" in Australia, and second that they may ask her for an assurance of support, which she would not be able to provide and has no friends or family that would be able to provide it. I was hoping for any advice on these two points that board members can give. We've done a lot of research but it's just a nerve-wracking situation. On the "usually resident" requirement, we have heard quite a few stories of people being successful despite the permanent resident not physically residing in Australia, so long as the couple is able to establish their intent to move to Australia permanently. We have come to the conclusion that it's worth it to roll the dice on this one. We will provide statutory declarations and as much proof as possible that we intend to move to Australia in the near future and live there permanently, and hope for the best. Our second issue is the assurance of support. I am self-employed, and while I made a decent income in 2009, my 2010 income was a little on the low side for various reasons. 2011 should be decent again. Probably about $40k AUD pa for 2011, though I could make that a little bit higher on my taxes if necessary. We have about $11k AUD saved for the move (we will not be transporting anything more than we can carry in our suitcases), plus whatever we can get for selling our cars (maybe $5k AUD, one has a loan on it). I have about $30-40k AUD equity in a house but we were hoping to rent it out at first. Both our parents are retired and fairly well off but not Australian. I would move first and live as cheaply as possible until I found a job, then she would move over. We are by no means wealthy but for a couple in their 20's coming up with $16k or so in cash for transitional expenses isn't that bad I don't think. We should be fine, but we have to prove that to the government which is the problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated....we are hoping to send off the application in the next month or two if it seems at all feasible. Only other option is for me to go over there on a working holiday but then seems like we run into the same problems with the assurance of support.

Can anyone help me? My mum and dad have a contributory parent visa and are slowly gaining interest from the $14000 AOS that they put in place. Are they allowed to `spend` that interest????

Here is the content of mail which I got from David Harvey. Dear Clients We have now received 70 contributions. So, please make no further payments at this stage. We will get an invoice out to all contributors over the coming week, and we will stay in touch as work proceeds. Thanks again to all of you who contributed and sent in case profiles. Best regards David Harvey Solicitor Reg'd Migration Agent P:03 9940 1538 F:03 9940 1456 W: www.dhmigrationlaw.com.au

Hi, rather than go into a very long story I will keep it short. We have now moved to Oz and my partners ex made it very hard due to his daughter coming with us and her 3 sisters. She is 13 and has not been in contact with him for 10 years and no contributions were made. Due to us going to hell and back to get here with issues he caused we decided to fight fire with fire and had the CSA on board. He has been making payments for the past 8 months now out of 11 yrs :mad: we can no longer claim CSA now and do any of you know if there is a way and will the REMO order work from Oz to UK. Many Thanks

We are just about to apply for my brothers last remaining relative visa and just wondered at what stage during the application process they normally ask for an assurance of support. As I am AOS for my parents my partner will be AOS for my brother however he has just started his own business and so wont currently qualify. I have however read that immigration dont tend to ask for an AOS until the final stage and so with the waiting list being several years for the visa we think he will have time to either get his business going or be back at work. Can anyone advise me on this? Thanks Louise

Good day, My company is looking for a Validation Support Officer. PM me if you have validation experience. Primary responsibilities will be; • Establish good technical knowledge of the equipment or processes to be validated and associated GMP requirements. • Design and prepare validation protocols • Initiate new and update existing Standard Operating Procedures, Controlled Logs and Forms as required • Prepare Validation and Technical reports as required • Conduct Facility and Utility design, installation, operation and performance qualification (DQ/IQ/OQ/PQ) as per approved protocols • Conduct Equipment design, installation, operation and performance qualification (DQ/IQ/OQ/PQ) as per approved protocols • Co-ordinate and perform process validation projects • Perform pre-validation trials as required • Air quality testing (Particle counting). • Train staff on validated equipment and processes • Provide technical support to production and QA To be successful in this position you will have: • Degree in Science or Engineering field • Pharmaceutical experience essential • Preferably worked within a GMP or quality management system environment • Good mechanical aptitude • Results Orientated • Customer Focus • Quality Orientated • Teamwork • Problem solving skills • Ethics, Values & Integrity • Planning & Organisation • Communication skills • Be able to work independently • Detail conscious

Hi, Does anyone here have tried to apply Skills Assessment for ICT Customer Support under TRA? My concern is that I hold a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and have work experiences As an ICT customer support. Will it be correct to have my skills assess under TRA or VETaSSeSS? Hope anyone can help me out or share his/her Experience relevant to this matter? Thanks. Appreciate.

Hi can someone shed some light on how the UK child support find you in Australia. Is it through your national insurance number. I pay out of my wage in the UK. They have been screwing me for years. The child is over eighteen, the mother does not allow me access eventhough i have been to court, and been granted access order in the past. I have not seen the child for 14 years. The child is no longer in my name, they changed it to her new husbands name without my consent. Here in the UK they make my life hell any overtime i work they take. Leaving me with hardly any money to live on. If i move to Australia and do not inform the CSA. How will they find me and how easy is it for them to find me.

Hi everyone, we are new to the forum! My husband has literally just been offered a job in Melbourne as an internal promotion within his company. Its all a bit of a shock as very out of the blue and they want things to happen quickly. The package on offer is $90k (plus £20k relocation costs.) Out of this 90k this includes $12000 for a car and all running costs including petrol. Bonus too put no gurantee of course. So this leaves $78k for all other costs. They also say we might get approx $7k extra for living away from home (though I havent quite get my head around this bit yet!) Is this enough to live off realistically? It will be my husband, myself, our 5 year old daughter and our baby (due to be born within the month) Thanks so much!

Hi, I'm looking for work in WA. I'm a great "all rounder" having done most things IT related but now seeking roles such as 2nd line support, systems admin ect... My CV is at http://www.maybury.me.uk Any tips and advice also appreciated. Thanks for looking. Steve.

Hi! I have 2 great employers in Australia looking for good people. Are you fantastic customer-focused Desktop Support Analyst with excellent communication, and an appreciation of the importance of fast support in the Finance industry? If so, and if you have a visa already and are planning your move to Sydney get in touch. Additionally I have a sponsorship opportunity for a Business Analyst in Brisbane, must have strong retail POS experience. Both offer competitive salaries at respected and known companies, and I look forward to speaking to you about these soon! Feel free to reply on here or email me. Sarah Hilton