student route

[Bradburns]

Hmmm....just not sure then what the rule is?:unsure:

 

Maybe all will soon become clear for us, as we have now decided to err on the side of caution and use an agent, whereas previously we were going to do it ourselves. Just not feeling brave enough at the mo! Feel like we're having such bad luck with the house that I feel like if something can go wrong, then it flipping well will.......

 

Cheers,

Rache:cute:

 

Hiya Rachel, Sorry to hear that you're having bad luck with your house, what's going wrong?

[Guest Rachel&Stu]

Hiya:)

 

Oh the house, the house, the house!!!:arghh:

 

Well, back in May, when we first put the house up for sale, little did we know what an ordeal we were about to put ourselves through. We thought that a good 12 months to sell would be easy-peasy:nah:

 

Had about 5 viewings in the first 3 months, so dropped the price. Still only had a couple more viewings, so dropped again. By this time (end August) papers full of stories of housing market slowdown due to the HIPs coming in. Changed agents, dropped again and.....got an offer which we accepted and we took it off the market. Now here we are, November tomorrow and we're no further forward. Our buyers cannot sell their property as the property market appears to have ground to a complete halt. We now have said to our buyers that we will have to put our house back on the market in a couple of weeks if they still have no joy. Meanwhile, Northern Rock fiasco and interest rate rises have, apparently, made house-buyers 'extremely cautious'. That's a flipping understatement. Time marches on, and June looms ever nearer. We wanted to be out of our house by the end of this year and tucked up in a little rental. Yes, it could still happen, but as the weeks roll past, I get more resigned to the fact that I could be waving my hubby off at the airport:cry: doesn't bear thinking about.

 

I bet you wished you never asked!!!!!

 

Rachel x

[Bradburns]

Sorry to hear that Rachel, I thought you were going to say something along them lines, it's happening everywhere. We're just finishing our house then we're gonna put it up for sale. I've been getting really worried because of all the stories about houses not selling and when they do, it's for a fraction of the price. What ever will be will be, but i went though the stress of a house sale last year and i'm hoping that this one will be ok. Hubby has a place at Sunshine Coast TAFE to start in July. This is my plan, we'll just have to see if it works out now.

1) Put house up for sale in December

2) Sell house by Feb. 2008

3) March, move into nans house with family

4) May, move to oz

5) July, hubby starts course

I bet you're thinking, be a bit more realistic, i know we are aiming high, a bit too high probably, but ha ho, we'll just have to wait and see. Good luck with the rest of the house selling process. Fingers crossed for you. Keep me informed. Bye for now, Lisa.

[Guest Rachel&Stu]

Hi Lisa:smile:

 

I would never ever slate anyone for their timescales:nah:. There's no reason to think that it will go wrong, sometimes just being positive really helps!! Unfortunately for me, my positive days are outnumbered by the negative days!!

 

I know that there are loads of others on here struggling to sell too, so we're in the same boat as a lot of people, but there are also people who seem to sell straight away, and things go really smoothly.

 

Will be looking out for your posts, so as soon as you've got some good news, please share!!

 

All the best,

Rache x

[Bradburns]

no probs, Lisa.

[Guest Rachel&Stu]

Hi guys:jiggy:

 

Have now instructed an agent to help with the Student Visa process, and today have had confirmation from him that our actual application for the Student Visa cannot be made before March 2008, ie 4 months before Stu's course starts.

 

Meanwhile we will busy ourselves getting certified copies of birth certificates etc and will put in for our police checks.

 

Cheers,

Rache :wubclub:

[connaust]

Re. Student Visas, as Brits are AL1 and able to do online it signifies low risk of breaking conditions, and candidates do not need to provide much in way of "bona fidas" except to have a CoE.

 

Of all our candidates in recent years mix of AL1, 2 and 3, British/EU, Hungarian, Turk, Persian etc., only rejection was procedural via Belgrade for a AL3 candidate i.e. a Serb did everything possible not to follow DIAC procedures......these days visa officer would explain that they are putting application aside till all papers are provided.

 

In fact I am not sure how you could be rejected on a student visa except remote possibility of failing the health test. If anyone was that nervous about the health test I would merely suggest having a check up with your GP, including TB Xray and HIV test. If the GP can find nothing wrong you can probably relax....

 

Study candidates who can be nervous are those from AL3 and AL4, although now they do not require an interview, and basically just need to provide relvant financial documentation.

 

At end of day, education is a big industry for Australia, more the merrier and I suspect/know that Oz Embassies i.e. DFAT, get a fee for every Visa processed for DIAC....like commission.

[Guest Rachel&Stu]

Reassuring kind of.....but until we get a definite 'yes, here's your visa' there is still a lingering thought of 'what if we don't get it'.

 

Of course, rationally thinking, we are paying for it all! The medicals, the police checks, the course, the private health cover, and then ultimately providing Australia with another skilled resident.

 

However, despite the above, most of our friends do think we're absolutely nuts to sell our house, and move thousands of miles away, when we haven't actually 'got' the Visa!!

 

Cheers,

Rachel:wubclub:

[Bradburns]

Visa is not such an issue and if you are pushed for time you can request a course deferral.

 

Sunshine Coast TAFE, and others, have study pathways that may give PR outcomes.

 

However, as TAFE has so few trades related SOL/MODL on CRICOS, they book out quickly and up to 18 months ahead, and there is no guarantee this will give PR. There are more private institue choices now, especially in Melbourne.

 

When looking at a course and institution, speaking as an education consultant and agent, I would think most important are industry links and training hours....if these exist most other things fall into place.....

 

Others may know about work on Sunshine Coast, it is very popular destination so.....

 

Hi Andrew, My hubby starts a bricklaying course at Sunshine Coast TAFE in July 2008, is it likely that he will find 20 hrs per week paid work doing ground workd or labouring? or is the work situation really that bad? The only reason we've chosen Sunshine Coast is because it's the only place where that course is run.

[connaust]

Two things here:

 

1. Brickie work in Sunshine Coast not too sure because it is quite new for international candidates and feedback limited so far, you may have better chance from people on here. Although I just spoke with SC TAFE re. one our Brits (who dropped out of conatct then turned up at SC....) . they should know, but with growth in area should not be a problem. My concern with SE QLD is that many many people migrating there internationally end up competing with each other, when there are many other regional areas with more opportunities, especially inland, just that no one has heard of them Re. bricklaying, given a choice I would recommend Melbourne, Holmesglen TAFE, as temperate climate gives at least cooler seasons for working comfort outdoors. I know, as I was a farm boy and brother "was" a brickie from southern NSW where summer average about 30-32 degrees C

 

2. We have families from Central Europe going over to Australia but we almost always suggest one of the parents going (well) ahead and getting organised first e.g. the study candidate, and preferably renting house out at European end. Leaves options open, provides income if you live modestly like a student

[Bradburns]

Two things here:

 

1. Brickie work in Sunshine Coast not too sure because it is quite new for international candidates and feedback limited so far, you may have better chance from people on here. Although I just spoke with SC TAFE re. one our Brits (who dropped out of conatct then turned up at SC....) . they should know, but with growth in area should not be a problem. My concern with SE QLD is that many many people migrating there internationally end up competing with each other, when there are many other regional areas with more opportunities, especially inland, just that no one has heard of them Re. bricklaying, given a choice I would recommend Melbourne, Holmesglen TAFE, as temperate climate gives at least cooler seasons for working comfort outdoors. I know, as I was a farm boy and brother "was" a brickie from southern NSW where summer average about 30-32 degrees C

 

2. We have families from Central Europe going over to Australia but we almost always suggest one of the parents going (well) ahead and getting organised first e.g. the study candidate, and preferably renting house out at European end. Leaves options open, provides income if you live modestly like a student

Thanks for that Andrew, we've already paid hubbys first semester and our overseas family health care for the two years that the course runs so it's thgere we'll staying. Do you know if Nambour is regional Quieensland? if it's not what areas nearest to it are regional? It definitly makes sense to go where the jobs are, but we were told tgat there's a highdemand in Sunshine Coast, that's why they've started to run this course.

Have been looking at all the student visa posts and because the course is so new, no one really knows whats what yet, but i'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Thanks.