cronemeister Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Ok people. I've been offered a job in Bairnsdale (Vic) which I have accepted. The company are sponsoring me on a 457 visa and I will be moving out there with my partner and our 2 children (Aged 10 and 12). We're all a bit apprehensive (more so me cos I'm gonna greatly miss watching my beloved Newcastle United and the banter in my current office about footie in general), but its for the greater good, and I'm sure that despite how far away I'll be moving the Aussie's aren't completely removed from our beautiful game back here so I'm hopeful (via the medium of the internet and whatever version of sky tv they may have over there) that I can still see highlights at least and maybe the odd game. Anyhow, enough of that. I'm not moving out there to live the English life, otherwise I'd stay here but I'd still like to know that certain things are still possible out there. So I've accepted the job just this evening there so I guess I just need to wait for my prospective employers to kick things off with the whole visa process etc. I was just wondering if there were any people on here that could offer me any advice on a few other things that we are thinking of :- Do I need to get a migration agent, or will my employer take care of all of this? How should I base my decision on whether to pay for a crate to ship some of my home contents over? Are things fairly comparable over there to buy brand new? i.e. £250 washing machine, £500-£750 decent TV, £??? beds and mattresses, or is it better to pick things up 2nd hand from the likes of ebay and is this just as easily done as here in the UK. Whats the best way to go about setting up an Aussie bank account, and what ID would I need to provide for this ? What ID and other info might I be asked for by a prospective landlord ? Should I wait until I've got my visa before leaving my current job ? If my employer in Oz is going to sponsor me are there any reasons why I may not be granted a visa ? Not sure when we're actually moving, but I guess the VISA process will take about 2-3 months. Will keep you all updated as things progress. Any other help would be most appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Congratulations. Firstly, yes you can get foxtel which is the Oz version of sky and watch the games, though very few ozzies are interested in it. Most employers will arrange a migration agent so wouldn't worry about that. Deciding what to ship is one of he hard decisions everyone has to make. It is very defendant on personal circumstances. Some employers will give something towards this so that may affect your decision. Some things here are cheaper and some more expensive. So hard to say. If you have the funds and the items are in good condition I would ship. If they are of a condition that you might be looking at replacing them soon anyway en I would buy here. Bank accounts are simple. You will need a Medicare card which you can get on arrival, passport and your employment contract. Bring as much documentation relating to your current housing as possible such as references or if you own your own place a statement from the bank stating you haven't missed payments. Yes, I would wait until visa is granted before handing in your notice No. 457 visas can be very quick, depending on how fast you act. Your employer will start the visa process then once you upload all your documents it can be a matter of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest haunted1234 Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 our 457 took 13 days to be granted! Luckily hubby's employer sorted everything, even the container the flights, 4 weeks accommodation and a car, so we were very lucky! i would say bring as much as you can with you!! we didn't bring beds and found mattresses to be very expensive here.....Bank accounts are easy, you can set a NAB one up before you leave the uk. Bring all your Docs with you, dont ship them as you will need ID, things like motgage statements/bank statements if youre going to rent. Birth Certs, Doc notes, marriage certs, just bring as much as you can carry LOL! Also double check about schooling fees in Vic as you're on a 457...in Queensland we dont pay but i know some states you have to pay fees if on a 457 visa. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linshorton Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Took 3 months for us. My husband did most of work as advice from employers was not always correct. They were pushed to the limit as well. General advice was ok. Sorting health insurance (HCF) took a while. Police checks for the 3 of us. Luckily didn't have to have a health check. We were also renting out house so that took up a lot of time while we were both working. Getting the right person to sign all the certificates could be expensive but luckily there was one at husbands work. We were told not to take fridge with us as they wouldn't work very well over here. Basically all advise was to not take any white goods. We through out and gave away tons of stuff and then just managed to fit it all into a 20 ft container. The company came around to assess the amount Anglopacific). Very good. We had to got 3 quotes ourselves though. Glad we are out here now but difficult to buy a car due to no credit history here. Getting it through salary sacrifice scheme so have been carless for a week. Only been here for nearly 3 weeks so not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest haunted1234 Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Took 3 months for us. My husband did most of work as advice from employers was not always correct. They were pushed to the limit as well. General advice was ok. Sorting health insurance (HCF) took a while. Police checks for the 3 of us. Luckily didn't have to have a health check. We were also renting out house so that took up a lot of time while we were both working. Getting the right person to sign all the certificates could be expensive but luckily there was one at husbands work. We were told not to take fridge with us as they wouldn't work very well over here. Basically all advise was to not take any white goods. We through out and gave away tons of stuff and then just managed to fit it all into a 20 ft container. The company came around to assess the amount Anglopacific). Very good. We had to got 3 quotes ourselves though. Glad we are out here now but difficult to buy a car due to no credit history here. Getting it through salary sacrifice scheme so have been carless for a week. Only been here for nearly 3 weeks so not too bad. we managed to get two cars easily on finance with no issues at all. we have also brought two fridges from the UK both work fine, we also brought our washer and dishwasher which also work just fine. we also didnt need any police or health checks which is probably why ours came through so quickly. We used John Mason removals, very good ) Think all these things are dependant on which state you live in etc as to how easy/difficult is is to get finance etc. our private medical cover is with Medibank...not needed to use it yet though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 We came on a 457. Both of your children will need to have medicals if they will be attending school (which I assume they will be), and you and you wife will need chest x-rays but only medicals if you are going to be working in healthcare or in a school type situation. You will not have to pay for school fees in Vic. You can open bank accounts whilst you are still in the uk, and just take id along to collect cards etc and set up Internet banking once you arrive. I would advise shipping your belongings as many things are mre expensive here, and you will probably appreciate that you brought them. I would contact the new employer and find out what you need to do with regards to the visa, they may well have an agent that they use to do the paperwork. The 457's tend to come through pretty quickly. Ours was applied for on a Friday afternoon and approved by the following Tuesday morning. Good luck with it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linshorton Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 we managed to get two cars easily on finance with no issues at all. we have also brought two fridges from the UK both work fine, we also brought our washer and dishwasher which also work just fine. we also didnt need any police or health checks which is probably why ours came through so quickly. We used John Mason removals, very good ) Think all these things are dependant on which state you live in etc as to how easy/difficult is is to get finance etc. our private medical cover is with Medibank...not needed to use it yet though. So much for the advice we got! The fridge was a good one and new as just before we found out we were coming out here everything went wrong. There were a lot of security clearances require so that slowed things down. We only just managed to get everything into the 20 ft container in the end. It was definitely worth it though. No regrets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cronemeister Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Congratulations. Firstly, yes you can get foxtel which is the Oz version of sky and watch the games, though very few ozzies are interested in it. Most employers will arrange a migration agent so wouldn't worry about that. Deciding what to ship is one of he hard decisions everyone has to make. It is very defendant on personal circumstances. Some employers will give something towards this so that may affect your decision. Some things here are cheaper and some more expensive. So hard to say. If you have the funds and the items are in good condition I would ship. If they are of a condition that you might be looking at replacing them soon anyway en I would buy here. Bank accounts are simple. You will need a Medicare card which you can get on arrival, passport and your employment contract. Bring as much documentation relating to your current housing as possible such as references or if you own your own place a statement from the bank stating you haven't missed payments. Yes, I would wait until visa is granted before handing in your notice No. 457 visas can be very quick, depending on how fast you act. Your employer will start the visa process then once you upload all your documents it can be a matter of days. I've just been reading up on this and I'm in a bit of a flap now. Things have changed slightly at my end. Basically I've been told I can take voluntary redundancy at work which will net me a nice lump sum just short of £10k which will help towards moving costs etc. The catch with this is that I have to have a signed form on my directors desk by the end of this week. This will then be approved next week and I will have to leave a couple of weeks after that. This has got me all in a flap now as I'm now starting to wonder what could go wrong with my Visa application as if I take up the offer of voluntary redundancy and the application is refused for some reason I'm out of a job which I would have been perfectly happy to stay in otherwise. The other side of this is that I could wait until I know that I've been successful in my visa application, but I've been told that there may not be another enhanced redundancy package on offer until December - hence losing out on nearly £10k.....oh its a head scratcher all right ! You mention above about uploading my documents. When i've done a bit reading tonight its not quite clear what they are. I'm guessing maybe CV and a reference from my existing employer, but do I need to provide evidence of qualifications (a couple of the places I obtained qualifications no longer exist now and I don't have certificates as they are from the mid 90's !). I'm guessing proof of health cover for my family and I'll also need proof of my relationship with my partner (not married) by way of our mortgage statement and some individual bank statements from our current address. The only thing we have in joint names is the mortgage, we have our own bank accounts. I can't think of anything else that I may need - as I said it isn't blatently obvious from the stuff I've read so far. I'm speaking to my prospective new employers in the morning and I don't wanna come across as a right numptie asking them these sorts of questions which they may view as stupid. I would hope that they wouldn't, and would offer me as much information as I needed. Any advice will be most welcome ! Does the fact that they have offered me the job and are satisfied that I meet the requirements of the role not mean that the VISA process is nothing more than a formality.....providing of course that I get any health checks done and have health insurance etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerry Pollard Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Hi cronemeister, I opened an account with NAB through poms in oz on the money page and moneycorp, very easy and straightforward, u can only transfer money over, u can't take any out until u get their and get your cards. The company my hubby is being sponsored by did the sponsorship but we paid for our visas and flights, also we are ony taking 4 boxes and his tool box with PSS as their wasn't much difference in price to ship our stuff meaning full house, well half a container over or buy it new and a lot of our stuff was on its way out anyway. Regarding qualifications and certificates, they want to see that they relate to the job u do, I scanned everything in, so they were the originals. Just scan everything u think. We didn't need medicals or police checks. The nomination took 6 working days and the visa took 6 working days and I did the visa myself. Hope everything goes well. Kerry Flights booked for the 14 th May 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerry Pollard Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Also regarding the whole process, the employer just has to prove why they need u and why they can't fill the position with someone in Oz. U should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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