what would be your biggest advice for somebody starting the visa process ? AUSTRALIA.

[4bambinos]

I was just wondering, if you could go back in time to the early days of starting the process of a move, knowing now what you do. what would your biggest piece of advice to yourself be ?
My DH and I are currently looking into starting the visa process and its all a bit overwhelming.
( we havent done anything yet, it's all just research at the min).

I'd go to the PomsinOz website, as they have dedicated sub-forums.

The visa website for Australia, immi.gov.au is very clear, though there is a lot to be done. Make sure you satisfy the most basic requirements of age, health sponsorship, etc. before you start shelling out any money.

Sadly, if you have child with SN/ certain medical conditions, this will affect your application.

I can't think of much more, as we had an agent acting for us so were spared much of the hassle. Agents cost a ton of money.

I think it's far simpler than often is made out.
Decide if you are going to apply for pr or a 457. The immi web site talks you through eligibility.

Then apply. It's simple. No need for agents taking your money!

Obviously on a 457 you need an
employer. Try the Australia expat recruitment days. Dh got his first job there. Or ask
In here if anyone recruits in your fields.

I agree, no need for agents.

My best piece of advice would be to make sure your chest x-ray doesn't coincide with the second (last) day the removal people are packing up your home. This really causes issues, when you realise your DH is a feckless halfwit who lets them leave half the stuff they should have packed and there's no comeback because it's the last day. Cost us a bit in air freight, that did.

My next bit would be - make sure you actually know what you're getting into! There are a lot of threads on here where people have asked about pros and cons of moving to Australia, if you haven't already seen them, I suggest you have a good read. :)

Finally, if your visa(s) are taking a long time to be processed, do phone up. I didn't for ages, because I didn't want to piss the visa woman off; but it was getting a bit desperate, our stuff was already in Australia and we weren't, and our flight date was coming up quick! So I phoned, and she cleared it that day - got the email next morning. I wish I'd phoned earlier, because checking all your boxes into your house when you have jet lag isn't ideal.

Hmm, find all those annoying bits of paper/docs and put them in a big folder - not sure what visa you are applying for but if its skills related (or 457) you'll need all that supporting documentation in place before you even submit and I think alot is done via electronic scan so make sure it is scanned on your pc perfectly.

Degree certificates, further ed and futher qualification certs, birth certificates (amazing how you lose those), marriage certificate (that was tricky scanning in cos the size wasn't A4).

Our 'funny' story was having to retrieve DH's degree certificate out of its sealed frame as MIL was so proud of it and had had it done thinking he would never actually 'need' it - years later it was practically glued to the glass and was extremely tricky to get off and scan

Thank you for your replies. No need for agents ? I was thinking about this, are they really not worth the money ?
Its all so much to take in. Everything seems so expensive I like the idea of saving money where possible, but at the same time is it money well spent because they are doing most of the work ?
Im just going through some threads now and will have a look at the links thank you :-).
Oh gosh i bet that was a nightmare moment thumb, men huh ?
Ifink haha I never even thought about this, better go hunting for certs I suppose.

About agents, if you feel they'll save time, then try PomsinOz where you'll get a range of experience. I've just had a look, and there seem to be very few threads that creature agents, so maybe most do do it themselves. The reason we used an agent was because DH's employer paid for it.

Creature?? Feature.

We didn't use an agent and found the process quite simple. Definitely go for a visa that gives permenant residence.

What takes the most time and effort is gathering all your certificates and paperwork. Agents won't do this for you. If yours is a straightforward PR application, then save your money as you'll certainly need it.

If your application is straight forward you don't need an agent, you are only paying for convenience. Which visa are you going for? Do go for a permanent visa if you can, living on a 457 can be stressful and uncertain.

Don't use an agent. Even the immigration department says you don;t need it. Friends of mine have used them and basically it cost them loads of money and they still had to do all the running around.

The other thing I'd recommend is when you have the visa setting up a bank account from here rather then when you get there. The process is pretty simple.

Oh and the third thing if you are a UK citizen you absolutely do not need to get extra private health insurance for visa purposes. You may choose to get private health insurance here but you do not need it to enter the country. The application may ask about your insurance and you just put reciprocal.

Thank you all. Im not sure yet about which visa as to be honest i think a 189? We need skills asessments, pomsinoz is great thank you ive just been looking.
My other major concern is ...spiders arrgghhh haha, how do you cope. I realise this may seem silly but honestly i get nervous thinking about them BUT the reasonable part of my brain tells me that they cant be that bad as i'm thinking. I mean its not like they have wiped out half of the population is it ?! Totally irrational I Know haha.
P.s please excuse any bad grammer etc im on my phone.

Grammar haha .

Correct hazchem... People spend a fortune on health insurance they don't need with British passport

Spiders are a bit of an urban myth. I've been here five years (albeit in suburbs rather than the country) and only seen one suspicious spider.

Possums running around on our roof are more of a problem than spiders!

Agree with the others re agents/lawyers. Waste of space. Save the money and do it yourself - it's time consuming collecting all the paperwork but pretty straightforward.

Get an agent to help you, well worth the money IMO! But then, dh had lived here (not as a citizen) previously and we had the pick of several visas, so it was a bit confusing. The agent looked over all paperwork before he sent it, he told us exactly what to have for the visas (we needed to prove dh kept in touch with his family & did indeed live here previously).

Yes, we did a lot of running around, but it was good to know that the Immigration dept received all our paperwork without any delays/things missing. This was also before the net became as big as it is, so we could find limited into online.

Make sure that you are 100% sure this is what you want to do. I was so excited about my move, that I didn't think that I would be missing new babies being born, engagements, weddings, times when I just needed to be with friends/family.

If you own a house DO NOT sell it before you get the letter that says you have the visa!

Scotinoz - lucky you! and yes, maybe it is because of your area. I'm in a more "rural" (country town) area and we have lots of fun spiders. Not so many redbacks now as when we moved in - the first summer we were here, we spent a lot of time hosing and stamping on them - luckily they're pretty slow moving so don't run away when you try to stamp on them. I think we may have knocked out all of the breeding population in our yard!
We get a regular visit from a Huntsman indoors though; only one at a time, and not always the same one (they're territorial, I'm pretty sure).
Haven't seen a funnelweb yet but keep checking for them - although DH thinks we had one in a towel once, but it ran away under the washing machine and was never seen again
Have had a white-tip spider fall on me while on the computer late at night, that was a bit scary! but not seen another one for ages
Mostly have wolf spiders in the house (apart from the daddy long legs spiders and black house spiders which are nothing to worry about); lots of St Andrew's cross spiders outside, the occasional orb spider, and a really interesting stick spider.

I don't mind spiders but they are certainly a consideration if you ARE scared of them; currently I'm entirely more fucked off about the ants getting into the house!
The cockroaches are a permanent problem, as are the ants (tbf) and we're currently battling pantry moths again. Bastards!

I found out about a new garden delight the other day - assassin bugs - never heard of them before but my friend, who was over with her DS, has because her DS has been bitten/stung by one. Joy! There were 2 on our trampoline apparently.

At least we don't have snake issues here, although have seen a red bellied black snake 3 times near us. Twice dead (youngsters, probably dropped by a kookaburra or something) and one big live adult, who just watched us collect wood for a while and then disappeared when we weren't looking.

At least we don't have European wasps though!

Spiders are around, lots. We live in adelaide, 20 mins from the city and there are many, so do consider this. You do get used to them and we employ a kill at first sight policy for most of the spiders we find, huntsmans being an exception as they make a massive mess and are harmless.
We have more of an issue with skinks and blue tongue lizards, so if you are scared of big lizards, beware!! We absoloutly love them. We get skinks in the washing basket, school books, shoes, everywhere, although this year there is a noticeable absence.

oh and snakes. I work out of a big building near the city, two brown snakes sighted in the last week!!
But, Australia is such a great place to live, all of these things are easy to put up with for what you get in return!

Yes I am scared of spiders and think I would be quite paranoid about the poisonous ones BUT I also think its something I could get "used too" for the sake of a good way of life.
Anything big isn't an issue for me ( I say this but I would definitely freak out the 1st time I see one !) Its more little things that move quick haha. I must say I am glad to hear red backs dont move that quick.
Different- I think we would look at renting our property at 1st although trusting somebody to help with any issues would maybe become an issue for us. We don't have that many ties here in the uk. The real issue for me would be my grandma, she's the one I would find it hard to leave as she wouldnt be able to visit and im not naive enough to think I can come back at a drop of a hat.

I think you can get a bit swamped with immigration while thinking about it.
We decided to give Aus a go. I'd lived here before dh hadn't.
We decided the grounds to go, so it was a permanent move. We chose qld to settle but agreed if it was too hot for dh we would move state.
Therefore we fully left the uk. Sold up and packed up and headed off
Still here 8 years on. Not going anywhere.
It's a slow process through immigration so I'd say just jump on and start the ball rolling.