Jackie123 Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Our 489 Visa has been granted, Yippee! And I have secured a job north of Adelaide, starting in 6 weeks. So I'm going into panic mode - what do I do first? What can I do from the UK to be more prepared when we arrive? Who would you recommend banking with? Getting health insurance through? I will need to buy a car (not worried about it being anything too special but reliable) - we have clean UK full driving licenses will this be OK? I've heard people recommend getting proof of no claims bonus for car insurance for the UK, so I'm guessing this can carry over in a way? Am I right in thinking we cannot get our TFN until we are on Australian soil? We are hoping to have some temporary accommodation through my work when we first arrive, however will need to rent somewhere for a while - do we need references etc. for this? We don't plan on bringing too much with us so looking at Move cubes and trying to sell/give away various items we are definitely not bringing. The dogs have had their moving plans organised and in motion. Any advice will be greatly received! Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeNinja Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Ship as much as you can, especially the big expenses like fridge/washer/dryer/TV/mattress/hoover. But be aware that there may be a gap between the ship arriving and moving into your rental, so you might need to buy some stuff to tide you over. I wish we'd taken a set of cutlery/plates/mugs in our suitcases. TFN can only be done once you land, but you can literally do it online the minute you set foot here. I think you have 1 year from your Medicare registration date to take insurance to avoid the levy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Travel light, take it easy and it will all fall into place. Things that you think you might have organised the planning of weeks ahead often come to naught as circumstances change and places you thought were the bees knees end up being the cesspit from hell. You won't need much time to get yourself set up - bank account, medicare in a morning (for the bank, look at where you are working and then look at a radius where you might be living then choose a bank with a shop front in the area and a lot of atms in the vicinity - most of them have phone apps which can give you atm locations, they are all much of a muchness really and it isn't until you get into mortgage territory that you might want to shop around) mobile phone in the afternoon - ask around for which telco has the best coverage in the area you are planning on living and working in. Buy a car - 2 days if you go through a dealer but check out the places you can access on public transport if there is any then take your time in choosing. Take proof of your NCB you might get lucky. Spend a lot of time in coffee shops just watching the world go by - gives you a feel for the suburbs and the places you are likely to want to frequent. At least you have immediate accommodation and, yes, references are good if you are going to enter the rental market - regularity of payments, treatment of property, proof of ongoing employment etc Health insurance - you've got a year to sign up without the age penalty so don't rush it. Remember there's nothing that a passport and a credit card won't solve (my life's motto!) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie123 Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 Thank you both for your advise, very much appreciated!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Whereabouts north of Adelaide as you should start looking to book a short term rental if you have to be up there for work. Depending on where you are, if you don't get something organised you could be in for a long commute to begin with. Also you may be limited choice wise in areas to live in the longer term depending on where you are working. Are you going to be Gawler way? Further north at Port Pirie? Somewhere in between? Do you have kids? Research carefully schools and areas if you have kids. If you wanted, open an Aus bank account before leaving so you can transfer money into it and have it ready for when you arrive. As has been said, TFN, Medicare etc can be sorted once you arrive. I'd also change the DL over in the first few weeks/months. Bring proof of no claims and be prepared to shop around for insurance as not all of them will accept it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeNinja Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 2 hours ago, snifter said: If you wanted, open an Aus bank account before leaving so you can transfer money into it and have it ready for when you arrive. As per above. Also, might be worth looking into a MoneyCorp Explorer card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSTARDJ01 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Are you entitled to Medicare on a 489? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPG Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Are you entitled to Medicare on a 489?No I don’t think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSTARDJ01 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 I know the nhs cover some basics but the health insurance isn't too expensive I think my quote was around $200 for a family of 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 8 hours ago, SUPERSTARDJ01 said: I know the nhs cover some basics but the health insurance isn't too expensive I think my quote was around $200 for a family of 6 Beware the gap............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 (edited) 8 hours ago, SUPERSTARDJ01 said: Are you entitled to Medicare on a 489? If you are from the UK you will get reciprocal Medicare. You can check the detail on the Medicare website. This covers all essential care so more limited than full Medicare but fine for most needs. Edited December 7, 2017 by rammygirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSTARDJ01 Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Thank you both for your advise, very much appreciated!! May I ask your profession and how long to grant tool from paying for your visas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie123 Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 I am a Veterinary Nurse and visa took 6 and a half months from application completion & payment to visa grant. The whole process from skill assessment to completion probably took me about 17 months. Had I used an agent it may have taken less time, maybe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSTARDJ01 Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 We're using agent on a 489 as well going to qld, wife is a midwife we started the process in July when she took her ielts, we applied to qld in November and got an invite after 5 days we were told it would take months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeralBeryl Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 On 9/24/2017 at 23:48, DukeNinja said: Ship as much as you can, especially the big expenses like fridge/washer/dryer/TV/mattress/hoover. Funny. I would actually say the opposite. Why go through the expensive and stress of shipping things, that you can buy here. I say sell everything (expect for family heirlooms) and then use that money to start afresh in Australia. I don't see the point in shipping things like fridge/washer/dryer/TV/mattress/hoover, etc.... when you can easily buy them here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Well when I added up the cost of replacing our stuff for insurance it came to far more than the shipping costs. Although you need to add in the extra cost of furnished accommodation I guess. But then it is a lot of effort to replace everything. It really depends what sort of stuff you have and other circumstances for living without at either end for a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSTARDJ01 Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Funny. I would actually say the opposite. Why go through the expensive and stress of shipping things, that you can buy here. I say sell everything (expect for family heirlooms) and then use that money to start afresh in Australia. I don't see the point in shipping things like fridge/washer/dryer/TV/mattress/hoover, etc.... when you can easily buy them here. We're shipping our new TV but just sending as a parcel, that's it if it won't fit in a suitcase or hand luggage it gets sold or left in the uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeralBeryl Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 17 minutes ago, rammygirl said: But then it is a lot of effort to replace everything. I found it extremely quick and easy to replace everything. Literally took a couple of hours. I got a bedroom and lounge room package from Fantastic Furniture, which they delivered. And picked up the white goods and telly from Harvey Norman, which they delivered. Towels, cutlery, bedding and little things like that were brought cheaply from Target. Plus picked up an excellent good quality dining room table and chairs free of charge from a recycling site. The whole thing took one weekend to complete. And was a LOT cheaper than shipping everything. The only things I brought over was irreplaceable things like heirloom jewellery and photo albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSTARDJ01 Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 I found it extremely quick and easy to replace everything. Literally took a couple of hours. I got a bedroom and lounge room package from Fantastic Furniture, which they delivered. And picked up the white goods and telly from Harvey Norman, which they delivered. Towels, cutlery, bedding and little things like that were brought cheaply from Target. Plus picked up an excellent good quality dining room table and chairs free of charge from a recycling site. The whole thing took one weekend to complete. And was a LOT cheaper than shipping everything. The only things I brought over was irreplaceable things like heirloom jewellery and photo albums.How much roughly in total did it all cost you? We might just look on gumtree and eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeralBeryl Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 5 minutes ago, SUPERSTARDJ01 said: How much roughly in total did it all cost you? We might just look on gumtree and eBay. Hello Not a lot biggest single expense was the fridge. We brought it new, but there are 2nds outlets where you can get a brand new fridge cheaply, just because it has a small scratch or dent on it. https://www.appliancesonline.com.au/factory-seconds/ The Fantastic Furniture Packages are great. https://www.fantasticfurniture.com.au/c/Package Deals Most places also offer a buy-now-pay-later option (i.e.) a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 year interest-free payment plan. I use Gumtree and the Freecycle groups too: https://trashnothing.com/groups/australia/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeNinja Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 We used a large movecube, in which we shipped: washer/dryer (GBP600), TV/stand, AV receiver, , BluRay player, PC/Laptop (GBP4000), sofa bed (GBP1000), bicycles (GBP800), cot-bed (GBP600), and other things. Overall, the value of our shipped items was about GBP12K. The shipping cost us about GBP1500, including insurance. I very much doubt we could have sold everything there and afforded to buy like for like here for nowhere near what we paid back home. Also, we found that having some of our items contributed to making us feel settled. Your case may be different though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 It’s interesting but when you ask people how much they spent replacing everything here they can’t give you a figure but tell you it wasn’t much but there are people that ship that can tell you exactly how much the items they shipped would cost to replace. We got flooded with sewage a couple of years ago and the insurance claim for the items that were damaged came to over $22k. We didn’t replace everything immediately and didn’t replace everything like for like and still spent over $11k on the new stuff. Given that a container costs about £4K or around $6k to $7k at the current exchange rate I honestly don’t know how people can replace everything for less than the cost of shipping it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSTARDJ01 Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 It’s interesting but when you ask people how much they spent replacing everything here they can’t give you a figure but tell you it wasn’t much but there are people that ship that can tell you exactly how much the items they shipped would cost to replace. We got flooded with sewage a couple of years ago and the insurance claim for the items that were damaged came to over $22k. We didn’t replace everything immediately and didn’t replace everything like for like and still spent over $11k on the new stuff. Given that a container costs about £4K or around $6k to $7k at the current exchange rate I honestly don’t know how people can replace everything for less than the cost of shipping it.Like others have said it depends on what you have our furniture wouldn't be worth shipping, we're moving for a new start, not a new start with all our old knackered stuff, plus the 3 mth shipping time, we looked into a cube which would've been helpful but they only go to Brisbane in qld we then have to arrange for it to get to cairns, so we're just posting our TV, decks and records. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 Just now, SUPERSTARDJ01 said: Like others have said it depends on what you have our furniture wouldn't be worth shipping, we're moving for a new start, not a new start with all our old knackered stuff, plus the 3 mth shipping time, we looked into a cube which would've been helpful but they only go to Brisbane in qld we then have to arrange for it to get to cairns, so we're just posting our TV, decks and records. I didn’t say it’s always best to ship, just that I find it hard to believe it’s cheaper to buy everything new than to ship everything. For some people buying everything new may well be the best thing for them. Personally there is no way I could land with nothing and buy it all from scratch in a country I don’t know and not familiar with what shops are what or where they are. The experience of having to replace our stuff after the flood has shown me that we were right to ship everything, from an emotional perspective as well as financial. For others it would be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 We are one of the ones who brought no furniture and not much of anything else. Our main reason was the furniture was nearly 10 years old and ready to be replaced and with white goods we just decided to buy here with australian warranties as and when we got a rental and needed them. It worked for us, the fridge we sold in the UK was a few years old and smaller than the one we got here. We couldve used it as spare for drinks in summer but not worth shipping just for that. TV's can be dodgy and not at all work here so didnt want the risk. I wouldnt want a leather suite here in the heat so glad we didnt bring that. Beds are slightly different sizes so for the ease of purchasing bedding in the future we decided to buy here. If i had high end or antique furniture i would probably reconsider ,otherwise, out with the old, in with the new to suit a new home. For anyone due to move,I do wish i would have brought my tumble dryer and Dyson vacuum, i regret not bringing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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