Mazza227 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Hi, I'm just making a to-do list as advised I need a very good one by somebody else on here! So hopefully when we get our visas it will make the whole thing a little easier! I am sure there is a lot more that I'm missing, so please let me know. Is there anything else I can to do before visas are granted to save time once they are? Decide who to use for shipping decide who to use for cat shipping Put house on market in uk when visas granted book shippers for household and cat book flights and Singapore hotel for a night inform school arrange short term house for arrival open bank account in oz sort all finances out in uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Sell car and organise a hire car on arrival. Job research (unless that is sorted) research houses and areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Sart the process for the cat early as it takes a long time. Start going through things you might want to sell / get rid of rather than ship. Before shipping start the cleaning process - can't ship things with soil etc. start thinking and researching locations to live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I'd second the importance of starting to declutter NOW. Everyone has stuff they don't really need and wouldn't miss, even if you change your mind about migrating - and there's always a LOT more stuff to get rid of than you think! Start getting rid of that stuff now - put things on Gumtree. It will make life a lot easier when you have to start packing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevsan Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Some of mine.. Research bank accounts in Australia and open one ready for transferring money. Research currency brokers and sign up to accounts with three so you can get quotes when ready. This Forums is a good place to look for recommendations. Make sure any new passports you apply for are linked to your visa. Organise copies of medical notes from your doctor. Organise copies of dentist notes. Consolidate and cancel any bank accounts that aren’t needed. Start to clear off and cancel any credit cards. (Just remember that whatever card you buy your flights on, make sure you KEEP THAT CARD even if you cancel it! You need to take it to the airport with you. Nobody told us this and we cut ours up as we’d closed the account. When I printed out our online boarding passes the day before our flight it said on there that you needed to take the original purchase card with you. I called Singapore Airlines and they assured me without it we wouldn’t be allowed to board the flight. Thankfully, I found the card statement in our things and we took that as proof. Nobody asked for it at the airport, but it was a terrifying couple of hours thinking we might not be able to fly.) Finish going through the loft to work out what is coming and what is being sold/thrown away/given to charity/passed on to family. Organise the shed and garage into what is coming and what is staying/being given away. Start researching suburbs and rental prices online in more detail... You will only really know where you want to be when you land and start exploring, so don’t panic too much about knowing where you want to live before you arrive. Start researching schools as this could have a bearing on the suburb you choose. Don’t rule out state or private until you’ve arrived and actually looked around them. Keep an eye on the job market. (some companies aren't interested until we were in the country, but if you see something and you have a definite arrival date you might be lucky). Find temporary accommodation for a month when you land. (Try to find somewhere central enough to be able to explore easily. Places further out are much cheaper but unless you want to view houses in that area you’ll spend a lot of time travelling and time is precious when you’re so busy – plus if you have kids, they won’t thank you for it!) Research and book flights. (The earlier you can do this, the cheaper it will be. Find the cheapest place online, check with the airline direct and then call up some agents to see if they will discount it to save you a bit more. If you are travelling with children, make sure you book meals for them on the flight otherwise they’ll be given the same as you Research car seats to buy in Australia. If you have friends or family there, you could ask if they’d pick some up for you and meet you at the airport with them to save you hiring any. (You can’t use your UK car seat in Australia. You also can’t use travel booster seats Plan goodbye parties. (Your friends and family will expect an opportunity to give you a good send off. My advice is to organise this for a month or so before you go – the last three weeks will be emotional and hectic so having it sooner is much easier on everyone). Organise birthday presents for people in the UK for the rest of the year and leave them behind so you don’t need to worry about things when you land. Request a credit reference from your bank. (We saw this on lots of emigration ‘to do’ lists when we were planning our move. Our bank wouldn’t do it as it wasn’t a service they offered, but it’s worth asking yours). Consider whether to transfer pensions and what to do about any shares you hold. (It’s worth taking some professional advice on this and, if possible, looking at this six months ahead rather than leaving it to the last minute like we did). Collate recent bank statements, bills and statements to take in your luggage so you’ve got reference numbers for bills in case you need to contact them from Australia. Get your post redirected to a family member. Take out emigration insurance for when you land. (We took out two months to give us some breathing space so we didn’t have to worry when we landed. Make sure it is emigration insurance or ‘one way’ insurance, as regular travel insurance won’t cover you). Get a copy of your no claims bonus for your car insurance. (We didn’t need this for setting up our new policy, but it can’t hurt to bring it with you). Not a happy one, but think about your wills. What will happen to your kids if something happens to you when you’re abroad? You’ll need to set something up when you land but you want to have something in writing to cover you in the meantime. You’ll also need to discuss things with family so everybody knows your wishes. Speak to your life insurance company to make sure you can keep your policy when living abroad. If not, you’ll need to set something up in Australia. (Ours was fine to keep running so long as it was paid from a UK bank account). Book a dentist appointment as you don’t know when you’ll have time to go again for a while and it is likely to cost you a lot more over there if you need work doing. If you take any regular medication, collect repeat prescriptions to keep you going for a while after the move. Here’s the things we did in the last few weeks and days… Cancel the following bills: Gas, electric, council tax, water, cable tv and broadband, phone, mobile phones (unless you want to keep them running until you land so people have a contact for you), bank accounts (you might need to keep one open for any bills), tax credits, child benefit, tv license, Inland Revenue , home insurance, car insurance and roadside assistance (when you’ve sold your car), film subscriptions, any club memberships. Sell your car. Print out a copy of the Medicare application form to take with you as you won’t have a printer when you land- or rock over to TheGoodGuys or similar the day you arrive! Take photocopies of your passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate and any important documentation. Take copies with you and leave a copy with a family member too. If you need to, finish off your UK tax return for the previous financial year and remember you will also need to submit one for the current financial year when it is due, so keep all paperwork together. Inform the school of your leaving date. Book a hire car for the airport big enough to take all your suitcases!! Print out your visa confirmation. (Although it is held electronically now, it’s amazing how many people ask to ‘see’ the visa’. You will need to show this as proof often so it’s worth taking a couple of copies.) Sort out a forwarding address for pensions, shares, child trust funds etc. Inform your UK bank and any credit cards that you’re moving abroad so they know to pass any payments you make through your cards abroad. (Although you will have an Australian bank account, it may take you a few days to pick up your bank cards and you might need money in an emergency.) Transfer some money to your Australian bank account. If you’ve been watching the rates for the past few months you’ll know if it’s worth taking all or just part of your money with you now. You can also set up alerts to sweep your money over when the rate hits a certain point. Update your CVs ready for the local job market and print off a few copies to take with you. Plan what important documents you need to take in your hand luggage i.e. which items you can’t afford to lose if your case went missing. Back up any photos and documents on portable hard drives (we took two) and keep them in a different place to your laptops. Get your mobiles unlocked so you can use them with a local sim. Get some Australian dollars to keep you going until you collect your bank cards. Write a list of phone numbers and addresses for your accommodation and taxi company ready for when you land. Ditto leave a copy of contact numbers for where you’re staying with family back home. Pack lots of fun things for your kids to do on the plane - POSSIBLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM ON THE LIST!!! Do your best to plan in time to do some fun things with your family and friends and take lots of photos as these will form precious memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Don't rush to close bank accounts and credit cards for UK. It is worth keeping an account open. We still have accounts and UK credit cards just manage them on line, they have our Aus address and send new cards out. They do come in useful. You can always cancel them later if you find you don't need them. Just make sure they don't have fees that will drain them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 We've still got UK bank accounts (very useful for birthdays). Think about putting your house on the market before you get the visa - what if you don't get it/it takes longer than anticipated? We had all the valuations and met all the agents and then chose who to go with when the visa came through. Definitely start the cat's processes - they need vaccinations etc. Petair was really helpful to us and gave us lots of information. Agree about start de-cluttering - it's amazing how much stuff you probably won't bring with you - we did car boots, advertised on FB gave things away (tools to friends who needed them, books and DVDs to charity. It all takes a bit of time!! Start to scan everything and save it to a couple of memory sticks and a folder on your computer. We've all got a copy of passport/visa in our emails so we can easily forward them on if needed. Good of luck with it all - Kevsan's list is great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazza227 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Sart the process for the cat early as it takes a long time. Start going through things you might want to sell / get rid of rather than ship. Before shipping start the cleaning process - can't ship things with soil etc. start thinking and researching locations to live. Thanks, I have had the cats rabies vaccine done so that she is covered when we go. I have had a couple of quotes for her flights etc, As soon as I have visa I will sort her flight, when we do ours, but do I need to do other things regarding cat before this then? We have started to go through some things, and done a couple of car boot sales already, it's amazing how much 'stuff' you have lying around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazza227 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Sell car and organise a hire car on arrival.Job research (unless that is sorted) research houses and areas. Thanks, we are planning on buying a car as 1 of the first things we do when we arrive, and will be renting in Hallett Cove, so was planning on using the train to get around until a car arrives. Do you think we will need to rent a car whilst during this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazza227 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Wow what a great list, thank you! I didn't realise that about car seats, I was planning on taking ours. Another thing to cross off the list then! Will have a proper look through it all tonight again :wink: Some of mine.. Research bank accounts in Australia and open one ready for transferring money. Research currency brokers and sign up to accounts with three so you can get quotes when ready. This Forums is a good place to look for recommendations. Make sure any new passports you apply for are linked to your visa. Organise copies of medical notes from your doctor. Organise copies of dentist notes. Consolidate and cancel any bank accounts that aren’t needed. Start to clear off and cancel any credit cards. (Just remember that whatever card you buy your flights on, make sure you KEEP THAT CARD even if you cancel it! You need to take it to the airport with you. Nobody told us this and we cut ours up as we’d closed the account. When I printed out our online boarding passes the day before our flight it said on there that you needed to take the original purchase card with you. I called Singapore Airlines and they assured me without it we wouldn’t be allowed to board the flight. Thankfully, I found the card statement in our things and we took that as proof. Nobody asked for it at the airport, but it was a terrifying couple of hours thinking we might not be able to fly.) Finish going through the loft to work out what is coming and what is being sold/thrown away/given to charity/passed on to family. Organise the shed and garage into what is coming and what is staying/being given away. Start researching suburbs and rental prices online in more detail... You will only really know where you want to be when you land and start exploring, so don’t panic too much about knowing where you want to live before you arrive. Start researching schools as this could have a bearing on the suburb you choose. Don’t rule out state or private until you’ve arrived and actually looked around them. Keep an eye on the job market. (some companies aren't interested until we were in the country, but if you see something and you have a definite arrival date you might be lucky). Find temporary accommodation for a month when you land. (Try to find somewhere central enough to be able to explore easily. Places further out are much cheaper but unless you want to view houses in that area you’ll spend a lot of time travelling and time is precious when you’re so busy – plus if you have kids, they won’t thank you for it!) Research and book flights. (The earlier you can do this, the cheaper it will be. Find the cheapest place online, check with the airline direct and then call up some agents to see if they will discount it to save you a bit more. If you are travelling with children, make sure you book meals for them on the flight otherwise they’ll be given the same as you Research car seats to buy in Australia. If you have friends or family there, you could ask if they’d pick some up for you and meet you at the airport with them to save you hiring any. (You can’t use your UK car seat in Australia. You also can’t use travel booster seats Plan goodbye parties. (Your friends and family will expect an opportunity to give you a good send off. My advice is to organise this for a month or so before you go – the last three weeks will be emotional and hectic so having it sooner is much easier on everyone). Organise birthday presents for people in the UK for the rest of the year and leave them behind so you don’t need to worry about things when you land. Request a credit reference from your bank. (We saw this on lots of emigration ‘to do’ lists when we were planning our move. Our bank wouldn’t do it as it wasn’t a service they offered, but it’s worth asking yours). Consider whether to transfer pensions and what to do about any shares you hold. (It’s worth taking some professional advice on this and, if possible, looking at this six months ahead rather than leaving it to the last minute like we did). Collate recent bank statements, bills and statements to take in your luggage so you’ve got reference numbers for bills in case you need to contact them from Australia. Get your post redirected to a family member. Take out emigration insurance for when you land. (We took out two months to give us some breathing space so we didn’t have to worry when we landed. Make sure it is emigration insurance or ‘one way’ insurance, as regular travel insurance won’t cover you). Get a copy of your no claims bonus for your car insurance. (We didn’t need this for setting up our new policy, but it can’t hurt to bring it with you). Not a happy one, but think about your wills. What will happen to your kids if something happens to you when you’re abroad? You’ll need to set something up when you land but you want to have something in writing to cover you in the meantime. You’ll also need to discuss things with family so everybody knows your wishes. Speak to your life insurance company to make sure you can keep your policy when living abroad. If not, you’ll need to set something up in Australia. (Ours was fine to keep running so long as it was paid from a UK bank account). Book a dentist appointment as you don’t know when you’ll have time to go again for a while and it is likely to cost you a lot more over there if you need work doing. If you take any regular medication, collect repeat prescriptions to keep you going for a while after the move. Here’s the things we did in the last few weeks and days… Cancel the following bills: Gas, electric, council tax, water, cable tv and broadband, phone, mobile phones (unless you want to keep them running until you land so people have a contact for you), bank accounts (you might need to keep one open for any bills), tax credits, child benefit, tv license, Inland Revenue , home insurance, car insurance and roadside assistance (when you’ve sold your car), film subscriptions, any club memberships. Sell your car. Print out a copy of the Medicare application form to take with you as you won’t have a printer when you land- or rock over to TheGoodGuys or similar the day you arrive! Take photocopies of your passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate and any important documentation. Take copies with you and leave a copy with a family member too. If you need to, finish off your UK tax return for the previous financial year and remember you will also need to submit one for the current financial year when it is due, so keep all paperwork together. Inform the school of your leaving date. Book a hire car for the airport big enough to take all your suitcases!! Print out your visa confirmation. (Although it is held electronically now, it’s amazing how many people ask to ‘see’ the visa’. You will need to show this as proof often so it’s worth taking a couple of copies.) Sort out a forwarding address for pensions, shares, child trust funds etc. Inform your UK bank and any credit cards that you’re moving abroad so they know to pass any payments you make through your cards abroad. (Although you will have an Australian bank account, it may take you a few days to pick up your bank cards and you might need money in an emergency.) Transfer some money to your Australian bank account. If you’ve been watching the rates for the past few months you’ll know if it’s worth taking all or just part of your money with you now. You can also set up alerts to sweep your money over when the rate hits a certain point. Update your CVs ready for the local job market and print off a few copies to take with you. Plan what important documents you need to take in your hand luggage i.e. which items you can’t afford to lose if your case went missing. Back up any photos and documents on portable hard drives (we took two) and keep them in a different place to your laptops. Get your mobiles unlocked so you can use them with a local sim. Get some Australian dollars to keep you going until you collect your bank cards. Write a list of phone numbers and addresses for your accommodation and taxi company ready for when you land. Ditto leave a copy of contact numbers for where you’re staying with family back home. Pack lots of fun things for your kids to do on the plane - POSSIBLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM ON THE LIST!!! Do your best to plan in time to do some fun things with your family and friends and take lots of photos as these will form precious memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Thanks, we are planning on buying a car as 1 of the first things we do when we arrive, and will be renting in Hallett Cove, so was planning on using the train to get around until a car arrives. Do you think we will need to rent a car whilst during this time? We are arriving next week and buying a car is high on our list. We have decided to hire one for 2 weeks though as we have reasoned that even if we buy a car quickly having 2 cars will not be a disaster (we had two cars in the UK). Where we are going public transport is probably not viable and it is not suitable for stuff like visiting schools and inspecting properties to buy/rent which you will want to do. I reckon you could regret not having your own wheels right from the off and having to buy the first car you see to rectify that. Maybe 2 weeks is a bit much but 1 week is good I feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazza227 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 We are arriving next week and buying a car is high on our list. We have decided to hire one for 2 weeks though as we have reasoned that even if we buy a car quickly having 2 cars will not be a disaster (we had two cars in the UK). Where we are going public transport is probably not viable and it is not suitable for stuff like visiting schools and inspecting properties to buy/rent which you will want to do. I reckon you could regret not having your own wheels right from the off and having to buy the first car you see to rectify that. Maybe 2 weeks is a bit much but 1 week is good I feel. Yes I guess this makes sense, I do feel lost without a car here if only for a short time, so doing the food shop/looking at schools will be very difficult without one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessemillis Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Hi people, I wonder if anyone could kindly put me in the right direction, I've been toying with the idea of going to Australia for a few years on/off now and one thing or another's always crept up just before the move was made. Anyhow I'm approaching 30 and am looking to head out in a few months time with my visa going through the checks as we speak, can anyone suggest a decent area for a bricklayer to go to work/ live? Any advice would be highly appreciated. Jesse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Thanks, I have had the cats rabies vaccine done so that she is covered when we go. I have had a couple of quotes for her flights etc, As soon as I have visa I will sort her flight, when we do ours, but do I need to do other things regarding cat before this then? We have started to go through some things, and done a couple of car boot sales already, it's amazing how much 'stuff' you have lying around! Yes you will need a permit for the cat. We got ours too early and it expired before we had managed to sell the house so now we have paid for a second one, the price went up in the mean time too dohhhh. Do you know which company you will use for the cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazza227 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Yes you will need a permit for the cat. We got ours too early and it expired before we had managed to sell the house so now we have paid for a second one, the price went up in the mean time too dohhhh. Do you know which company you will use for the cat. I got quotes from pet air and golden arrow shippers. I've got to look into them both as they offer different services so difficult to know without looking into it more what each of them cover for the money. So many things to sort out, it's very difficult working it all out! How long is a permit valid for? Which company are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I got quotes from pet air and golden arrow shippers. I've got to look into them both as they offer different services so difficult to know without looking into it more what each of them cover for the money. So many things to sort out, it's very difficult working it all out! How long is a permit valid for? Which company are you using? sorry, only just seen this. The permit lasts for a year, we are using Golden Arrow. It takes a couple of weeks for the permit to come through. Also, as quarantine is so short now, The shippers are going to board the cat for two weeks after we leave and then send him on to Sydney. This will give us extra time to sort out a place to live before we have to collect him. It will be cheaper to board him this end than try doing it in Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgies2Oz Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Fabulous help there for many of us. Thank you particularly kevsan that was a very helpful list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevsan Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Fabulous help there for many of us. Thank you particularly kevsan that was a very helpful list. Thanks Although mine is a ripoff / collation / amalgamation of others on here and other sites. All i've been doing is copy & pasting good ideas over the last few months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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