The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[Guest]

:biggrin: SOLD THE HOUSE

Yes we have finally done it, sold the house and moved out today.

Had the removers collect our household belongings Tuesday and Wednesday and completed the sale and moved out today.

 

Hi David

CONGRATULATIONS :jiggy:

I am very envious, being in the same position, you can now start living the dream.

Well done

[annalong]

:biggrin: SOLD THE HOUSE

Yes we have finally done it, sold the house and moved out today.

Had the removers collect our household belongings Tuesday and Wednesday and completed the sale and moved out today.

Now homeless but have a very healthy bank balance.

Things happened very quickly with only two people in the chain before us and both cash buyers so it has been very hectic and very hard suddenly having to do this very quickly.

We never believed the house would sell so quickly, about 4 months after marketing it, and at the price we got so anyone still trying to sell be positive you never know when it will happen.

Got flights booked to Cairns next Wednesday so will be landing in Oz a week today.

Even been able to use air miles for the flights.

Going to settle in/near Brisbane hopefully before Christmas with our Son, Daughter in Law and two Grand Children (plus a third on the way) initially in rented accommodation to we find somewhere to buy.

Just need the exchange rate to improve now.

Good luck to all who are still trying to sell their homes.

David

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU,AND THANKS FOR THE GOOD WISHES.

We have had our house up for sale for 2yrs now and are hoping it sells before we get our visa's next spring.

Ann.:spinny:

[Guest austibeach]

Congratulations, I just wish we could say the same. I always considered that selling our house would be the easy part of this long and demanding process, unfortunately it's become the hardest part of all.

One day it will happen.................:yes:

[Les Avalook]

Hi guys,

 

Haven't posted for a while as we have been using the local library free internet and the time just slips away. At the moment I refuse to pay $50+ a month for the kind of connection that the UK had with dial up 15 years ago. :mad: I have borrowed our son's dongle :shocked: and the connection is not tooooo bad (it ain't good either).

We are in a rental at the moment in a nice peaceful area (no dogs) of Shailer Park, south Brisbane.

 

All our goods arrived in one piece, we used John Mason, insured by Letton Percival, delivered by Wridgways in Oz. No dramas. :twitcy:

 

We got a $50 HD box from The Good Guys and our UK tele works fine, we connect our UK external hard drive to the set top box to record any thing we want to watch (very little) but at least you can buzz through the countless adverts. :yes:

 

Wanda has beaten me to find work but I have done some casual work so a few $s building up over here.

 

I think it is fair to say don't anyone think they can come over here on a tight budget as there really isn't anything you could call cheap.

 

Weather wise it is great, I have only worn long trousers (apart from working) once since we left the UK, the sea is warm on the Gold Coast and takes us 40 mins of easy driving to get there.

 

The price of cars is silly money (expensive) over here so it may work out that bringing a car out 'could' be cost effective.

 

Haven't had many regrets yet, we do miss our son who remained in the UK but then we also missed our other son when we were there. :wacko:

So far so good, will let you know what Christmas on the beach is like when I next post? :laugh:

Les and Wanda

[fiz]

:biggrin: SOLD THE HOUSE

Yes we have finally done it, sold the house and moved out today.

Had the removers collect our household belongings Tuesday and Wednesday and completed the sale and moved out today.

Now homeless but have a very healthy bank balance.

Things happened very quickly with only two people in the chain before us and both cash buyers so it has been very hectic and very hard suddenly having to do this very quickly.

We never believed the house would sell so quickly, about 4 months after marketing it, and at the price we got so anyone still trying to sell be positive you never know when it will happen.

Got flights booked to Cairns next Wednesday so will be landing in Oz a week today.

Even been able to use air miles for the flights.

Going to settle in/near Brisbane hopefully before Christmas with our Son, Daughter in Law and two Grand Children (plus a third on the way) initially in rented accommodation to we find somewhere to buy.

Just need the exchange rate to improve now.

Good luck to all who are still trying to sell their homes.

David

Well done and best wishes for the next stage. Fiz

[PhoebeW]

Hi guys,

 

Haven't posted for a while as we have been using the local library free internet and the time just slips away. At the moment I refuse to pay $50+ a month for the kind of connection that the UK had with dial up 15 years ago. :mad: I have borrowed our son's dongle :shocked: and the connection is not tooooo bad (it ain't good either).

We are in a rental at the moment in a nice peaceful area (no dogs) of Shailer Park, south Brisbane.

 

All our goods arrived in one piece, we used John Mason, insured by Letton Percival, delivered by Wridgways in Oz. No dramas. :twitcy:

 

We got a $50 HD box from The Good Guys and our UK tele works fine, we connect our UK external hard drive to the set top box to record any thing we want to watch (very little) but at least you can buzz through the countless adverts. :yes:

 

Wanda has beaten me to find work but I have done some casual work so a few $s building up over here.

 

I think it is fair to say don't anyone think they can come over here on a tight budget as there really isn't anything you could call cheap.

 

Weather wise it is great, I have only worn long trousers (apart from working) once since we left the UK, the sea is warm on the Gold Coast and takes us 40 mins of easy driving to get there.

 

The price of cars is silly money (expensive) over here so it may work out that bringing a car out 'could' be cost effective.

 

Haven't had many regrets yet, we do miss our son who remained in the UK but then we also missed our other son when we were there. :wacko:

So far so good, will let you know what Christmas on the beach is like when I next post? :laugh:

Les and Wanda

 

 

It's all sounding good for you's so far :biggrin:. taking the grand kids to see Santa in his grotto with shorts, sun top & 'thngs' on (the feet type) :jiggy: is a bit sureal.....

 

Enjoy the Gold Coast is beautiful :cool:

 

Phoebe x

[vava]

Hi All,

This question has cropped up before and I cant remember the answer; how do we go about getting an extra luggage allowance on our validation trip? I am sure I read that singapore airlines allow you to take double (eg 40kgs instead of 20kgs) but I cant find anything on their website about it and my travel agent thinks I`m wrong and you only get the extra allowance when you are leaving the UK for the last time (on a one way ticket).

Hope I havent shot myself in the foot here, Oz daughter has been shopping online and all the stuff is here for me to take and it weighs a ton!

Please help!!! Thanks Val xx

[Guest]

Hi All,

This question has cropped up before and I cant remember the answer; how do we go about getting an extra luggage allowance on our validation trip? I am sure I read that singapore airlines allow you to take double (eg 40kgs instead of 20kgs) but I cant find anything on their website about it and my travel agent thinks I`m wrong and you only get the extra allowance when you are leaving the UK for the last time (on a one way ticket).

Hope I havent shot myself in the foot here, Oz daughter has been shopping online and all the stuff is here for me to take and it weighs a ton!

Please help!!! Thanks Val xx

 

Hi Val

Not sure about the validation trip but Emirates have a standard 30Kg baggage allowance for normal cattle class.

pete

[PhoebeW]

Hi All,

This question has cropped up before and I cant remember the answer; how do we go about getting an extra luggage allowance on our validation trip? I am sure I read that singapore airlines allow you to take double (eg 40kgs instead of 20kgs) but I cant find anything on their website about it and my travel agent thinks I`m wrong and you only get the extra allowance when you are leaving the UK for the last time (on a one way ticket).

Hope I havent shot myself in the foot here, Oz daughter has been shopping online and all the stuff is here for me to take and it weighs a ton!

Please help!!! Thanks Val xx

 

 

I know my daughter got an extra 10kg allowance (so 40kg altogether) off Emirates but that was their 'one way' ticket. Why not just ring the airline and ask you've got nothing to loose, just tell them you need to take some personal items prior to settling :wink:

 

Phoebe

[vava]

Hi Again,

Since posting my question earlier, I did some more research and it seems that Singapore will give the double allowance but only if you have an unvalidated PERMANENT visa..............we got the 173 temporary parent visa! So it looks like all the baby stuff and party dresses will be going via DHL.

If anyone has had a positive outcome on extra luggage with a 173 then I`d be grateful to hear from you.

Thanks again - Val xx

[Durhamlad]

Tuesday

Household belongings left the North East today with Pickfords heading for Brisbane, don't know whereabouts in Brisbane as my son has yet to find a rental for him or us.

Checked in on line today for my flights tomorrow with BA from Newcastle to Heathrow to Singapore to Cairns.

Packed the cases and ready to go.

 

David

[ariomart]

How exciting.

Wishing you all the best in your new life

Moira

[jtct]

Tuesday

Household belongings left the North East today with Pickfords heading for Brisbane, don't know whereabouts in Brisbane as my son has yet to find a rental for him or us.

Checked in on line today for my flights tomorrow with BA from Newcastle to Heathrow to Singapore to Cairns.

Packed the cases and ready to go.

 

David

 

 

Good luck on the next stage of this roller coaster ride!

[liverpoolloo]

Tuesday

Household belongings left the North East today with Pickfords heading for Brisbane, don't know whereabouts in Brisbane as my son has yet to find a rental for him or us.

Checked in on line today for my flights tomorrow with BA from Newcastle to Heathrow to Singapore to Cairns.

Packed the cases and ready to go.

 

David

 

Wishing you all the very best for your new life in Cairns, Christmas in the sun how good is that !! :jiggy:

[Guest chameleon]

Tuesday

Household belongings left the North East today with Pickfords heading for Brisbane, don't know whereabouts in Brisbane as my son has yet to find a rental for him or us.

Checked in on line today for my flights tomorrow with BA from Newcastle to Heathrow to Singapore to Cairns.

Packed the cases and ready to go.

 

David

 

Gosh i am so envious.

I wish you all the best in your future.

 

Cham

[PhoebeW]

Tuesday

Household belongings left the North East today with Pickfords heading for Brisbane, don't know whereabouts in Brisbane as my son has yet to find a rental for him or us.

Checked in on line today for my flights tomorrow with BA from Newcastle to Heathrow to Singapore to Cairns.

Packed the cases and ready to go.

 

David

 

Enjoy living the dream :cool:

 

I'm not jealous......honestly :cute:

 

Phoebe

[ariomart]

Hi out there

I wanted to check the state of my application online but am I right in thinking you can only check it on line if you applied on line and I think someone said that you can check what the department has set the rate of exchange. Could someone point me in the right direction. I want to be prepared...

many thanks

Moira

[DavidandGill]

Tuesday

Household belongings left the North East today with Pickfords heading for Brisbane, don't know whereabouts in Brisbane as my son has yet to find a rental for him or us.

Checked in on line today for my flights tomorrow with BA from Newcastle to Heathrow to Singapore to Cairns.

Packed the cases and ready to go.

 

David

 

Great news - enjoy your new and exciting life. Gill

[Guest]

Hi out there

I wanted to check the state of my application online but am I right in thinking you can only check it on line if you applied on line and I think someone said that you can check what the department has set the rate of exchange. Could someone point me in the right direction. I want to be prepared...

many thanks

Moira

 

Hi Moira

following your "postion" in the queue you are better using steve's tracker. As for the Gov currency converter put http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/990i/converter.htm into your browser and fill in the boxes from the dropdown lists.

regards

 

By the way still in blighty trying to sell the house, Anyone want a very nice house in south yorkshire???:eek:

[PhoebeW]

 

By the way still in blighty trying to sell the house, Anyone want a very nice house in south yorkshire???:eek:

 

Nice positive thoughts :biggrin: Good Luck with it :wink:

 

Phoebe

[fiz]

Hi All,

This question has cropped up before and I cant remember the answer; how do we go about getting an extra luggage allowance on our validation trip? I am sure I read that singapore airlines allow you to take double (eg 40kgs instead of 20kgs) but I cant find anything on their website about it and my travel agent thinks I`m wrong and you only get the extra allowance when you are leaving the UK for the last time (on a one way ticket).

Hope I havent shot myself in the foot here, Oz daughter has been shopping online and all the stuff is here for me to take and it weighs a ton!

Please help!!! Thanks Val xx

 

I thought you could only get the 40kg with a one way ticket...Etihad airways are also allowing 30 kg as well as Emirates and are quite cheap to fly with..I went with them once and only went back to Emirates because they fly from Birmingahm which is/was much closer to home. Also Etihad will let you have 7kg carry-on AND a laptop

 

You'll have to do what I did on my way out..stuff your largest handbag with all the really heavy stuff cos they don't weigh handbags and them wear your heaviest clothes....once you've left check-in you can reorganise everything into your carry on luggage!

[vava]

I thought you could only get the 40kg with a one way ticket...Etihad airways are also allowing 30 kg as well as Emirates and are quite cheap to fly with..I went with them once and only went back to Emirates because they fly from Birmingahm which is/was much closer to home. Also Etihad will let you have 7kg carry-on AND a laptop

 

You'll have to do what I did on my way out..stuff your largest handbag with all the really heavy stuff cos they don't weigh handbags and them wear your heaviest clothes....once you've left check-in you can reorganise everything into your carry on luggage!

 

Hi Fiz, I had already booked with Singapore before I knew about the 30kgs with Emirates. I wrote to them yesterday and said (nicely) that I wished I`d booked with Emirates................maybe they`ll give me a bit extra as a goodwill guesture. Lord knows I`ve spent enough money using their airline over the years! If that fails then I will send a box with Parcelflight - its much cheaper than airline excess baggage costs!

I can keep our stuff to a minimum but my daughter is now giving out my address to her friends and there are parcels arriving daily for me to take to Oz! Entirely my own fault for assuming the double luggage allowance came with every visa!

Cheers! Val x

[Les Avalook]

Hi All,

This question has cropped up before and I cant remember the answer; how do we go about getting an extra luggage allowance on our validation trip? I am sure I read that singapore airlines allow you to take double (eg 40kgs instead of 20kgs) but I cant find anything on their website about it and my travel agent thinks I`m wrong and you only get the extra allowance when you are leaving the UK for the last time (on a one way ticket).

Hope I havent shot myself in the foot here, Oz daughter has been shopping online and all the stuff is here for me to take and it weighs a ton!

Please help!!! Thanks Val xx

 

Singapore airlines gave us 40kgs each when we went with them on a return ticket to validate in May this year. If you have a unvalidated PR visa they give that allowance, we had an email confirming that, Heathrow had to check as they said we could not have 40kgs on a return ticket (but they were wrong).

 

We then asked by email for 25kgs when we left for good (?) in September and they allowed that (they say they do not charge extra between the 20kgs on your ticket and 25kgs if you have extra).

 

Having an email confirming things does help at checkin.

 

Standing at the desk with 80kgs of luggage and checkin telling you you are wrong is not funny. It felt good when they checked and said sorry though. :twitcy:

 

Don't forget to use your full duty free allowance at Singapore airport as any spirit is dear in Oz (as is everything else).

[MikenSueNW3]

Don't forget to use your full duty free allowance at Singapore airport as any spirit is dear in Oz (as is everything else).

 

G'Day Les

 

We're going through Singapore in a couple of weeks. Did you find it cheaper there than the inbound "duty free" in Oz?

 

Mike

[vava]

Singapore airlines gave us 40kgs each when we went with them on a return ticket to validate in May this year. If you have a unvalidated PR visa they give that allowance, we had an email confirming that, Heathrow had to check as they said we could not have 40kgs on a return ticket (but they were wrong).

 

We then asked by email for 25kgs when we left for good (?) in September and they allowed that (they say they do not charge extra between the 20kgs on your ticket and 25kgs if you have extra).

 

Having an email confirming things does help at checkin.

 

Standing at the desk with 80kgs of luggage and checkin telling you you are wrong is not funny. It felt good when they checked and said sorry though. :twitcy:

 

Don't forget to use your full duty free allowance at Singapore airport as any spirit is dear in Oz (as is everything else).

 

Hi Les, We would have got the 40kgs if we had gone for the 143 permanent rather than the 173 temporary. They only give the extra allowance for permanent visas! Although why you would have less stuff for any length of stay is a mystery to me! I take the same amount whether I go for a cheeky little week to Spain or a 6 week stay in Oz! I guess rules is rules but I wasnt about to rock up at Manchester airport without confirmation so I`m glad I made sure!

Glad all is going to plan for you in Oz!

Regards, Val