Guest mandymoo Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 Hello!! We've just found out today that my hubby has got through the skills assessment, and we are now, hopefully, putting in for the emirgration application. I'm feeling sooo nervous and sick its unbelievable. The guy at the TRA stand at the expo told my hubby that if we get through the skills application, the visa part is just a formality - how true that is I don't know. Also, I didn't expect to hear about the skills assessment so quickly - it only took a month from when we sent it to when we heard. I think things are going a tad too quick!!!! I keep saying to myself IF we get accepted for the visa, the lifestyle will be far better for our 2 year old daughter let alone us. Just want a bit of reassurance from you guys who are either feeling the same as me, or those of you who have done it and are out there living the dream!!!!! Thanks Amanda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daceys Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Hi Congratulations We are in the same boat!! I've just been accepted through TRA after only a month and because of our circumstances we were hoping that it would take a little longer. See our past postings and you'll understand our dilemma :? Can you hold off the next stage or is it like a snowball rolling down a mountain from here on? What trade is your hubby in? We keep telling ourselves that it is for the better future, the whole experience of life and at 46 we don't want to be saying "what if" We are sure everything will work out but the emotions that we go through are unbelievable, we're sure we'll look back, sipping a cool drink or two, sitting on/by our veranda/pool, looking out and saying, "this is the life" Good luck Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bob and ginnie Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 As I write this, in early October, sitting in the my house in the hills region to the east of Adelaide, it is 29 degrees (85 F), the sun is streaming thro' my window and I watch two parrots with vivid reds, blues and bright greens feeding on my lawn. My next door naighbour is 300 yards up the road, so I can crank up my stereo if I want to. I am a postman and I live 45 mins away from work, having an 8 acre block of land with 4 cows, 6 sheep and chooks (hens) together with my orchard and vegetable patch for growing all kinds of stuff for the table. I came here as a backpacker 33 years ago and never went back. Australia was it. I felt this was the spot for me right from when I landed at Fremantle and took my first job lugging timber around in a mill in the suburbs of Perth. Since then, I've lived in Auckland (NZ), Brisbane (Queensland) and Hobart (Tasmania), but I keep coming back to Adelaide where my wife of 25 years is from. Australia is exciting and has an air of optimism about the place. You sense that this BIG country has a future. It has minerals, oil, gas, coal, wheatbelts, sheep farms and cattle stations (ranches) to feed the world. Its cities are full of people that are easy going and down to earth, not given to chasing the rat-race and living up to the next-door-neighbour's standard. They don't give a stuff if the bloke next has three BMW's and 7 swimming pools . . . . as long as they have a car and a pool too! Australians are not "up themselves" and you'll notice from day one that you can wear anything as long as it's comfortable. . . . you don't have to dress to kill. Wear your oldest jeans and tee-shirt, feel comfy and everybody is happy. The beaches are great. . . . . fine golden sand in the east (South Pacific) and white sand in the West (Indian Ocean). You can walk for miles in the mornings with tropical coconut palm trees draping into the South Pacific and not see a footprint on the beach . . . . no-one has been down and you have that mile of beach all to yourself! The sunsets in the Outback and the deserts are bright red. You need your digital camera to catch . . . and quick, because twilight doesn't linger for long Down Under. The worse thing you'll miss is your mates and your family. You have to get to know other Poms and / or Aussies and that takes time and effort (getting the barbie and beers out!) You will love the laid back lifestyle of Australia. It beats anything you will have had in Europe. You will be on an emotional roller coaster for the first couple of years, being homesick and that, but communication is far better now with emails, digital photos, International phonecalls, webcams, etc than 33 years ago. Go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daceys Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Thanks Bob, that sounds my cup of tea and looking back over your past posts you have hit the right chords on how we feel. We are 100% on our migration, it's just going to be a very difficult time for us all with our circumstance. We are sure it's going to be worth it in the medium to long term future for our children and we really do feel that Australia is calling us!! in a wierd sort of way!! 8) We are planning to settle in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, what are your thoughts of the area? Take care Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bob and ginnie Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Al! I lived in Indooroopilly, a suburb in Brisbane right on the river. I loved the joint. Brisbane is sub-tropical and has a warm pleasant climate for 90% of the year, only getting pretty muggy for a month or two each year. My young bloke, 22, has just spent a week up there and came back raving about the place. It wouldn't surprise me if he disappears up to Queensland some time in his life. My wife has always said that she'd be happy to shift there, as she worked in Indooroopilly for 3 years. As you venture further up in Queensland, you get more and more into the tropics until half way up, at a place called Rockhampton, you cross the Tropic of Capricorn. The tropics is never cold. Everything is the same termperature . . . the wind, the sea, the air. Houses there don't have any heating . . .just air con. The only draw-back to the Tropics is the mugginess of the "wet" season which happens in the Australian summer-time ( Nov to March). The further toward the equator you get, the muggier it becomes and can be pretty debilitating if you have to work outside in it. The winter months (May to Sept) are a dream . . .beaut days, sunshine, warm weather. Just perfect. Brisbane as a city has a great future and many Australians from down south are trekking up to the tropics to live, work and retire. The place is a builder's dream . . . so much happening with houses going up all the time to cater for the growth, which is rattling along at a gallop and is one of, if not the highest growth in Australia. If you don't like Brisbane, you'll be hard to please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattandSarah Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Hello!! We've just found out today that my hubby has got through the skills assessment, and we are now, hopefully, putting in for the emirgration application. I'm feeling sooo nervous and sick its unbelievable. The guy at the TRA stand at the expo told my hubby that if we get through the skills application, the visa part is just a formality - how true that is I don't know. Also, I didn't expect to hear about the skills assessment so quickly - it only took a month from when we sent it to when we heard. I think things are going a tad too quick!!!! I keep saying to myself IF we get accepted for the visa, the lifestyle will be far better for our 2 year old daughter let alone us. Just want a bit of reassurance from you guys who are either feeling the same as me, or those of you who have done it and are out there living the dream!!!!! Thanks Amanda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattandSarah Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Hi MAmanda We are in the same boat. Our TRA came through last month and now it seems to be moving really quickly. We submitted our visa application last Friday. As for kids n stuff, we have a stroppy 7 year old and an almost 2 year old. I keep telling myself if we stay here, my daughter will have nothing better to do than drink cheap cider, snog boys and work down the SPAR shop! Its gonna be hard but we are gonna do it to give us and our children a better quality of life. Our life hereis ok but its drudgery and the thought of that for our children spurs me on to know we are doing the right thing! Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandymoo Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Hi Sarah, We put our visa application in on 11th November, and have found out they received it on 18th. I don't know about you, but I'm on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. One day, I feel yep this is so right yet another day, I feel the total oposite. The thought of packing up our house, and starting a new life the other side of the world so daunting. But am totally with you in that it will give my 2 year old daughter a far better lifestyle. On Saturday, the weather was awful here - rainy, cold, couldn't do much, and I just kept thinking to myself, if you were in Oz, we could be doing this or that. Do you know what part of Oz you are heading for??? I do hope that it all goes ok for you. Amanda x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest choobs Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Hi Sarah, We put our visa application in on 11th November, and have found out they received it on 18th. I don't know about you, but I'm on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. One day, I feel yep this is so right yet another day, I feel the total oposite. The thought of packing up our house, and starting a new life the other side of the world so daunting. But am totally with you in that it will give my 2 year old daughter a far better lifestyle. On Saturday, the weather was awful here - rainy, cold, couldn't do much, and I just kept thinking to myself, if you were in Oz, we could be doing this or that. Do you know what part of Oz you are heading for??? I do hope that it all goes ok for you. Amanda x Feeling a bit intimidated by all the girlies in here We had my skills assessment results back from the ACS (I'm a computer nerd) about 5 weeks ago but, due to the complexity of my wife's family tree, we've only just submitted the main visa application last week. We're going down the skilled-australian-sponsored route as my wife has family over there and we're hoping the application will be about six months (less would be nice ). Having said that, we're raring to go - I've already handed in my notice at work because I have a three month notice period. I've lined up another job with a one month notice period starting February. The house is on the market and we're clearing clutter. Of course, the obvious thing that springs to mind is 'what if you don't get the visa'? Well, we're moving anyway - I'd like it to be Australia, but the world's a big place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattandSarah Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Morning Amanda (and computer nerd!) My husband, Matt spent a year living in Perth and some time on a sheep station in Kalgoorlie when he was 11years old. Fell in love with the local shop girl and has had a soft spot for it ever since. So we are Perth bound. Probably one of the smaller towns south of Perth just in case the shop girl hasn't turned into the big fat italian Mama I keep telling Matt she is! We are using an agent for our visa application and have been advised that for a skills visa the maximum time at present is 5 months. I was hoping we would be looking at an all round time of 18 months, but for my daughter's sake we are going to have to go as soon as we can. She has made friendships that are very important to a 7 year old.... apparently! How about you - any idea where you are looking to settle? I was talked into Perth for the weather. I don't like hot and sticky and the Perth climate apparently is dryer than the east coast. Matt has convinced me the Freemantle breeze makes is similar climate to Portugal. As for houses and homes go I did have a panic about what to take and what to leave, but (slushy as it sounds) I was reminded by Matt that we will be taking all we need with us - each other. Coming from a burly ex scaffolder I laughed, but thinking about it he's right! Youre right computer nerd - too much girlie chat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandymoo Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Hi Sarah, Perth sounds lovely I must admit We visited some friends in Oz in Feb of this year, and we spent quite a bit of time in Brisbane, however did spend a few days in Cairns/Port Douglas (extremely humid) and then a few days in Sydney before heading back to Brisbane for a week. I guess Brisbane is where we'll be hoping to go just because we kind of know the city. Whilst we were there, we met a couple of their friends, and they have said they will help us out if we get out there. Also, a close friend of mine's sister lives in Colundra which isn't that far from Brisbane. I liked the idea that Brisbane is a relatively short flight to Cairns/Sydney, and not as isolated as Perth. However, when our friends were in Perth they absolutely loved it there and said that if they were to move out there to settle, Perth is where they would go. Another huge plus for us is that Darren has been offered a job which happens to be in Brisbane, so if that come's off, it will make things a whole lot easier for us. We're applying for the skilled independant visa, and have been advised that the maximum time it takes is 12 months. We're not going through an agent, as our's is quite straight forward. Darren is the skilled worker, and I'm just the pleb!!! I'm really hoping that it doesn't come much sooner to be honest, but if it does, guess I'll have to deal with that eh!! Its scary to think that this Christmas could be our last here, and next year we could be having a barbi on the beach!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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