176 visa lodged March 2012

[leanie]

Hello everyone, how have you been in AU? A quick update that I'm moving to Melbourne in 3 weeks time, and in good luck I had a job offer. Thank you everyone and all the best.. Cheers

 

Hi Helen. Wow 3 weeks to go. I hope your last few weeks are not too stressful. I hope you like Melbourne. :wink:

[helen2012]

Hi Helen. Wow 3 weeks to go. I hope your last few weeks are not too stressful. I hope you like Melbourne. :wink:

Thank you Leanie.... I'm really excited for the move... All the best to everyone :laugh:

[Indikaya]

 

Indikaya you left WA! I hope it all works out for you in Sydney and that you don't get into any trouble visa wise. I'm not sure if there is anything you can do but I did hear a visa revoked story on the news (maybe not what you want to hear sorry, it wasn't for a 176 though). Could it be worth at least informing the WA office what you've done and explaining why? Maybe they'll release you from your state obligation like they did/were going to do for Pradiprn. What do you reckon Pradiprn having dealt with the office yourself?

 

 

 

Hi Leanie,

Sorry for the late response.

Yeah, everything happens for the best. I did inform WA about my situation & they have replied saying that I should contact DIAC regarding this. Then I sent a mail to my case officer (in fact their team), but no response yet. We'll see.

But I do miss WA. Sydney is a pretty busy city. Buildings everywhere. Most importantly, I don't like living in apartments. But houses are damn expensive here.

 

Cheeers All.

[leanie]

Hi Leanie,

Sorry for the late response.

Yeah, everything happens for the best. I did inform WA about my situation & they have replied saying that I should contact DIAC regarding this. Then I sent a mail to my case officer (in fact their team), but no response yet. We'll see.

But I do miss WA. Sydney is a pretty busy city. Buildings everywhere. Most importantly, I don't like living in apartments. But houses are damn expensive here.

 

Cheeers All.

 

Good luck with Diac, I hope they are understanding. Let us know the outcome. I would be very much like in moving to Sydney - not a fan of busy cities, big buildings and would be devastated to live in an apartment! I'm sure you could live in a house if you flat shared. But then you may or may not want to do that. The idea of living in an apartment for me with young kids, and two big dogs is crazy. They're all outside now for example - outdoor space is vital for us! Must be some good live bands in Sydney if you are into that sort of thing, and some good museums etc, heaps going on. Are you liking your job? Hopefully you're not too far from a beach, always good to relax at )

[Indikaya]

Good luck with Diac, I hope they are understanding. Let us know the outcome. I would be very much like in moving to Sydney - not a fan of busy cities, big buildings and would be devastated to live in an apartment! I'm sure you could live in a house if you flat shared. But then you may or may not want to do that. The idea of living in an apartment for me with young kids, and two big dogs is crazy. They're all outside now for example - outdoor space is vital for us! Must be some good live bands in Sydney if you are into that sort of thing, and some good museums etc, heaps going on. Are you liking your job? Hopefully you're not too far from a beach, always good to relax at )

 

Yeah, like the job quite a lot. In fact it's the same employer where I worked for over 5 years. Initially I didn't apply for them, as they only have a office in Sydney. But when things were not seems to be working out for me in WA, I opted to take the risk & change the state for the sake of my family. We'll see, how it goes.

Yep, apart from being pretty busy, Sydney is also a sooo nice city. Lot's of ups & few down's as well. Keeping my fingers crossed for the new life ahead.

But one thing is eminent. Buying a house in Sydney would never be easy, compared to Perth.

 

Cheers All.

[leanie]

Yeah, like the job quite a lot. In fact it's the same employer where I worked for over 5 years. Initially I didn't apply for them, as they only have a office in Sydney. But when things were not seems to be working out for me in WA, I opted to take the risk & change the state for the sake of my family. We'll see, how it goes.

Yep, apart from being pretty busy, Sydney is also a sooo nice city. Lot's of ups & few down's as well. Keeping my fingers crossed for the new life ahead.

But one thing is eminent. Buying a house in Sydney would never be easy, compared to Perth.

 

Cheers All.

 

I'm sure it will all work out, and you'll be able to buy a house in the suburbs/outskirts of Sydney one day. What family do you have with you?

[Indikaya]

I'm sure it will all work out, and you'll be able to buy a house in the suburbs/outskirts of Sydney one day. What family do you have with you?

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm here with my wife & one year old baby. I'm 29 & wife is 28. We believe, we have a long way to go. So let's see, how things are working out for us.

Cheers to everyone in WA. Honestly I miss Perth.

[leanie]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm here with my wife & one year old baby. I'm 29 & wife is 28. We believe, we have a long way to go. So let's see, how things are working out for us.

Cheers to everyone in WA. Honestly I miss Perth.

 

I guess it will take some time for us all to be truly settled. I'm sure we'll all get there in the end :rolleyes:

[Indikaya]

I guess it will take some time for us all to be truly settled. I'm sure we'll all get there in the end :rolleyes:

 

Yeah, we'll surely will get there. Time is the crucial factor. :cool:

[leanie]

Yeah, we'll surely will get there. Time is the crucial factor. :cool:

 

I reckon time flies by pretty quickly when you have kids, I can't believe my eldest is about to turn 5!!!

[Indikaya]

I reckon time flies by pretty quickly when you have kids, I can't believe my eldest is about to turn 5!!!

 

Yeahh, u r absolutely correct. Mine is just 15 months old. Feel like he's born yesterday.

[leanie]

Yeahh, u r absolutely correct. Mine is just 15 months old. Feel like he's born yesterday.

 

Hows it all going everyone? All a little quiet on here. I have a question and hope someone is able to help me please! I have just got new passports for my daughters so they are now dual citizens. I need to link up the UK passport with their Aussie visas. I have been on the immigration page and it says I need form 929 which is fine. Can anybody tell me please who can certify documents in this country? I've done a google search and haven't found a clear answer from the immigration page, is there a list somewhere? Also what visa evidence should I give when I apply for my baby's Aussie passport? I've used the original letter all this time but is there another document they prefer? Cheers.

[toOZ2012]

Congratulations! I usually go to the local police station when I need stuff certified.

 

How's everyone doing?

 

Anyone else house hunting to buy?

[pradiprn]

Hows it all going everyone? All a little quiet on here. I have a question and hope someone is able to help me please! I have just got new passports for my daughters so they are now dual citizens. I need to link up the UK passport with their Aussie visas. I have been on the immigration page and it says I need form 929 which is fine. Can anybody tell me please who can certify documents in this country? I've done a google search and haven't found a clear answer from the immigration page, is there a list somewhere? Also what visa evidence should I give when I apply for my baby's Aussie passport? I've used the original letter all this time but is there another document they prefer? Cheers.

 

I think you can to the Department of Trade and Commerce( you willl have to check the right name) over at St George's terrace and they can certify documents. I guess the other option is what ToOz said (frankly the more convenient one).

 

Been busy with work and havent been here much lately. I moved to South Perth. The rent is high but it is a one bedroom. The missus will be relocating in July so getting ready for that.

 

ToOz: have you looked at houses and whats your take? where are you looking to buy? I plan to start looking in a year or so

 

​

[leanie]

thanks tooz, just saw your message now. i looked at what you needed for certification for citizenship and thought immigration is pretty similar and equally as important, you can get a registered nurse to do it, so thats what i did - easy as hubby is a rn (he asked a colleague). i'm yet to hear anything back though and knowing wa it'll take a few weeks! all good though as we're not travelling until sept, going to malaysia )

 

i can't wait to buy and we are saving up our deposit. plan to buy when we move to qld in a couple of years, we want acreage! where are you thinking of buying tooz, what sort of deposit are the banks happy with here?

 

how is south perth pradiprn? so great your wife will be here in just a few short months. things will be much easier for you then with 2 wages coming in.

 

i am pretty fat everyone, less than 6 weeks to go til i'm a mama of 3! can't wait but not looking forward to those sleepless nights!

[akmirror]

Hi Guys,

 

Anyone in Perth ? I like in Highgate...How are things going so far ? Just thought of passing by and asking how things are!!

 

​Cheers,

[akmirror]

Yeahh, u r absolutely correct. Mine is just 15 months old. Feel like he's born yesterday.

 

Nice to hear about your baby, Indikaya. So you moved to Sydney. I am a Telco Engineer myself and the job market is pretty worst for us. Hope you are doing good over there.

​

[Indikaya]

Nice to hear about your baby, Indikaya. So you moved to Sydney. I am a Telco Engineer myself and the job market is pretty worst for us. Hope you are doing good over there.

​

 

Hi akmirror,

Yep, i was throwing my self hard at the job market in WA. But Telecommunication industry is not quite good in Perth, to be honest. I don't know, why WA has put Telco Engineering as a highly demanded field in WA. I don't have any friends who's doing a telecommunication engineering job in Perth, where as I got plenty of friends in Melbourne & Sydney.

Well, Sydney job market (in terms of Telco industry) is much better. But still there're stories of job cutting's. Anyway just don't loose faith. You'll get something soon. It took me 6 months to finally get a good job.

[toOZ2012]

ToOz: have you looked at houses and whats your take? where are you looking to buy? I plan to start looking in a year or so

​

 

thanks tooz, just saw your message now. i looked at what you needed for certification for citizenship and thought immigration is pretty similar and equally as important, you can get a registered nurse to do it, so thats what i did - easy as hubby is a rn (he asked a colleague). i'm yet to hear anything back though and knowing wa it'll take a few weeks! all good though as we're not travelling until sept, going to malaysia )

 

i can't wait to buy and we are saving up our deposit. plan to buy when we move to qld in a couple of years, we want acreage! where are you thinking of buying tooz, what sort of deposit are the banks happy with here?

 

 

With Perth real estate, the last two years have been pretty flat and a lot of suburbs have seen -ve growth. It picked up a bit in the first quarter but can't tell for sure if it's going to sustain. Economic uncertainties aren't helping either. Having said that, the rents are always going up and if you don't already own a home(which is true for most of us PIO'ers) my suggestion is to get one as soon as you can afford it. Just be careful that you don't pay too much. I've been house hunting on and off for about 6 months now and I, initially, missed out on a number of deals - strangely enough can't seem to find those kind of deals anymore. I've also seen people make crazy offers just based on the cosmetic appeal. I also saw finance applications not getting through simply because the the bank's valuation comes under the asking price and the buyer wasn't aware of what he/she is offering.

 

Few tips from my experience:

1) It does take a lot of time and practice to spot good deals and you usually know that when they are grabbed within days of a listing.

2) Be prepared to spend most of your weekends attending inspections. Take a camera and notebook with you and write down what you like and dislike. Once you've done 50 or so inspections, you'll walk in and out of a place in under 15 minutes and come to an opinion of what it's really worth.

3) Pick a suburb and get to know it very well, spend your evenings and weekends there. Get a feel for the local demographic, the last thing you want is a dodgy neighborhood.

4) Talk to all the local listing agents, try to get on their mailing/sms lists.

5) Subscribe to alerts on popular real estate websites.

6) Even if you want to buy a year from now, start tracking sales, availability, days on market and the list goes on.

7) Find yourself a good finance broker, talk to a bank only for information and never for an application.

 

Finance side of things:

1) Banks are only too happy to give you a home loan.

2) You'll need a 5% deposit shown as genuine savings (the definition being money being added to an account over a period of 3 months or more)

3) Have a stable job(No probation) for at least 6 months to a year. This can be bypassed if you've been employed in the same line of work before you moved here. Different lenders have different criteria.

4) With a 5% deposit there is something called LMI (Lenders mortgage Insurance) and this will be around $10k to $15k depending on your purchase price and this can be added on top of home loan (provided that the total loan amount 95% + LMI is less than 97%). The other way around this is to save up a 20% deposit (no LMI) or go with keystart (A government program).

5) Get yourself a good broker (can't stress this enough)

6) You'll get a $7k First home grant (which is federal) and there is a $2k state grant (if it's an existing property and the price is under $400k)

6) If you can , try not to take on any bad debt (expensive cars, lots of credit cards etc). A $20k bad debt can reduce the max home loan amount by a $100 grand - Ouch!

 

Famous quotes in real estate

1) Location, location, location. We all know this - Buy the worst house in the best street sort of thing: close to good schools, public transport, amenities etc.

2) How do you know when a real estate agent is lying - They open their mouth

3) Once in a lifetime deal come every other week - this is not always true - Don't get emotional - I sort of overcame this by actually making an offer on a property that I didn't like very much and then retracted it the next day. That way, I went through the initial process (which is where most people make mistakes) This can be dangerous if you don't have conditional clauses in your contract - Don't try this at home

 

Location wise, I am looking at Rockingham and Wattle Grove/High Wycombe.

 

I love acreage as well - though I never lived on a large block. I did come across several blocks in Martin, Kelmscott, Roleystone, Mount Nasura, Kalamunda etc or if you want something close to the beach I would say Mandurah may be a good choice for reasonably priced acreage.

 

As for educational resources.

www.realestate.com.au

www.reiwa.com.au

www.suburbview.com

price reports from sites like myrpdata, homepriceguide etc

API magazine

local council website

propertyinvesting.com

somersoft.com

 

Happy hunting,

Yours truly.

[toOZ2012]

thanks tooz, just saw your message now. i looked at what you needed for certification for citizenship and thought immigration is pretty similar and equally as important, you can get a registered nurse to do it, so thats what i did - easy as hubby is a rn (he asked a colleague). i'm yet to hear anything back though and knowing wa it'll take a few weeks! all good though as we're not travelling until sept, going to malaysia )

 

i can't wait to buy and we are saving up our deposit. plan to buy when we move to qld in a couple of years, we want acreage! where are you thinking of buying tooz, what sort of deposit are the banks happy with here?

 

how is south perth pradiprn? so great your wife will be here in just a few short months. things will be much easier for you then with 2 wages coming in.

 

i am pretty fat everyone, less than 6 weeks to go til i'm a mama of 3! can't wait but not looking forward to those sleepless nights!

 

leanie, even though you are waiting to buy in QLD it may not be a bad idea to take advantage of the rising market in Perth. You can sell it when you leave or even better use the equity to pay the purchase costs for your leanie-land in Queensland

 

Maybe take a detour to Singapore You probably have the places sorted, good to see list would be Malacca, Penang, Genting (kids love this place), Langkawi and ofcourse KL.

Edited May 9, 2013 by toOZ2012

[jamescool]

hey guys how you doing. arrived perth 2 months back. looking for job. i m an experienced electrical engineer with 6 years of work experience. i send my CV to recruiters and get call from them saying you got good experience, we will try to get something for you. and after few days get a call saying the market is slow now we are looking for a job but can't find one. i am going crazy now. what should i do? suggestions please what should i do????

[akmirror]

hey guys how you doing. arrived perth 2 months back. looking for job. i m an experienced electrical engineer with 6 years of work experience. i send my CV to recruiters and get call from them saying you got good experience, we will try to get something for you. and after few days get a call saying the market is slow now we are looking for a job but can't find one. i am going crazy now. what should i do? suggestions please what should i do????

 

 

I too have heard that the job market is pretty slow and can only improve after the September election. Having said that, for you since you are an electrical engineer with good experience, you might be able to secure an offer, I am sure of that ! I am from Telco background and it is quite depressing here for new people coming in like me. Just trying to be positive and hoping for things to change.

 

Gud luck !!

[akmirror]

Hope Australia Day celebrations are going well for you guys. How many of you planning to come watch the fireworks at Perth today?

 

And I am not going to Melbourne after all! This week has been good for me. Just when I was about to terminate the lease, I got an interview call and an offer the next day!

I am going to be a lecturer at Central! Its left of center as far as career is concerned and I am moving in to academia. But I enjoy teaching and so this should be a good experience.

Its a 12 month full time contract and I start on Tuesday. the pay is enough to survive and I am happy about that.

finally I feel at home!

 

Congrats Pradip. I am sure it is quite late but was reading through the posts and felt so good when you wrote this down. Cheers and wish you a good career here in Perth!!

 

​

[leanie]

leanie, even though you are waiting to buy in QLD it may not be a bad idea to take advantage of the rising market in Perth. You can sell it when you leave or even better use the equity to pay the purchase costs for your leanie-land in Queensland

 

Maybe take a detour to Singapore You probably have the places sorted, good to see list would be Malacca, Penang, Genting (kids love this place), Langkawi and ofcourse KL.

 

i'd love to buy now but don't want to risk not being able to move on due to not being able to sell a property. we sold our property in nz in not the best market, we'd only owned for around 2 years so there was quite a bit of risk, luckily it paid off and we were able to make a very small profit. i don't know if we'd be so lucky here, and we don't have anywhere near 5% as a deposit either so we'll continue to save for now! in a year we'll be in a better place as far as savings go, moving here and the first few months without work drained a lot of cash!

 

i was in singapore a few years ago, such amazing food. not sure if we'll head down that way this time. plan is KL and probably Penang too. I have been before but am sure it'll be a very different experience with 3 kids aged 5 and under!

 

i hope you find some more good deals on properties and get on the property ladder soon. sounds like you've deffo sussed the market )

[jasperyogi]

Hi everyone :biggrin:

 

Just wondering how everyone is doing? Hope your all settled into oz life now. Its almost a year for us now (June 27) and I know some of you have been here for over a year :wink:

Thought it would be great to catch up with everyone and see how they are doing and what the 1st year has thrown at us all!!

 

Well our year has gone pretty well. Hubby is still in his job. Children are settled and doing really well at school . Our son has even been elected to be a guardian there and nominated to be the captain of the school (head boy) even has a girlfriend now!! not quite sure what's got into him to be honest :laugh: but we are so proud of him . They have both thrown themselves into ozzie life and have a great bunch of friends it was worth the move just to see them finally happy!!

 

We did have a death in the family 2 months ago now and we were unable to travel back home due to work commitments which we found hard to cope with, but I guess it goes with the territory :sad:

 

We are still in the same house we moved into when we arrived, our landlord is super. We have bought a plot of land now and are starting to build our home in August. We cant wait to finalyl have our OWN place, the first in 16yrs due to being in RAF housing in the UK and then renting here. I have made some super friends and feel so at home here.

So really starting to feel like we belong now.

So enough about us what been happening with you all xxx

Edited May 31, 2013 by jasperyogi