emigrating to Australia from UK - how long did it take from initial application to actual move?

[meemar]

DH and I, after a few years of dithering about, have finally decided that we would like to give a move to Australia with the DCs a good shot.

We are at the very early stages of investigation - we've got enough points according to points calculator, DH works in a field where workers are required and we have a possibility of the offer of work from an Australian citizen.

I have no idea how long to expect the process to take. So could you let me know how long it took you from the initial application to when you were sitting in your back gardens having a barbie with a tinny in one hand

Thanks x

where can I find a points calculator?

Hi Emma - sorry haven't worked out links yet, but here's the url for the website I used

www.workpermit.com/australia/point_calculator.htm

you need to get yourselves onto www.britishexpats.com it is the best source of real life experience that you can find - trust me I flit between there and Mumsnet! Its addictive so be warned, but seriously there is shedloads of advice and if you dont see the answer to your question, just ask it on the forum adn you will get answers within the hour. Hope this helps.

Thanks harrogate mum - will do that.

Also just realised that Oz was sleeping when I posted this thread, so here's bumping for you all now that you're awake

bumping again for the evening in Oz

We logged our application in Nov 2005, accepted Feb 2006 & here 27th June 2006, after selling house etc..

BUT we came on a former resident visa as dh used to live here & all his family are here.

Other visas can take longer. It is hard to give a precise time. An agent mught be able to tell you roughly how long. We had an excellent agent, if you need a recc, he's in London too.

Might

my best friend moved over a couple of years ago. from start to finish it took about 3 years, but every individual case is probably quite different. good luck by the way - she LOVES it over there!

Thanks for responses!

Sandcastles - what kind of stuff does an agent do for you? And is it expensive?

I would be interested in a recommendation, but we live in Devon, so London based is not really practical unless we can do all communication by email.

We did ALL communication by email/mail/phone. We were reccomended to him & we prefered that he was in the UK as he was on hand for any questions we had. We didn't have to worry about time differences.

He told us which visa to go for, as we had a choice of about 4 potentials!

He sent us a list of what we needed to fulfil the criteria of the application. In our case we had to prove
He (dh) used to live here (bank statements)
He did his schooling here(school reports)
He kept in regular touch with his family (we had to send letters, copies of emails, b'day cards)
He had visited here & they visited the UK (send copies of airline tickets etc...we were extremely lucky that MIL & I are collectors of sentimental crap)
He had an interest in Australia (he still used to 'support' his old footie team & get regular updates on the net/emails etc).

His mum, dad & sister had to write a statatory declaration & say why they wanted him home & dh had to write & say why he wanted to come home. These were all checked by our agent to make sure they said what was needed.

We wouldn't have had any idea all this was needed if we didn't have an agent, therefore may have been refused the visa.

Also we needed medicals, police checks, full birth certificates (so may be worth getting before hand, one less thing to get at the time)

He filled out & sent off all the official paperwork.

He sent our passports off to have the visas put in, he corrosponded with the officials all the way & just really took all the stress out of it for us. For dh it was a must that we got our visa. He wanted to come home.

Should have added

[email protected] of you would like his name & phone number.

Will have to check out cost but I think it was around 1,200pounds. We found him to be worth every penny!

Thanks for that!

I think we will consider getting an agent because even at first glance there is so much information out there it is a bit mind-boggling and we don't know where to start. Also we don't have the family links in Australia that you have.

If the guy you used is good I would be happy to have his contact details if you don't mind.

Also, could you give me a rough idea of what we could expect to pay in agents' fees?

drop me an email & I'll send you his details.

Thank you.
I have CATed you x

We lodged our application for a skilled migrant visa (136) in January, received our visa on 3rd May and left the UK on 6th June. As we were relying on DH's job being on the skilled occupations in demand list he had to have his qualifications and experience verified by the ACS (Australian Computer Society) which took about six months in all prior to lodging the application. The whole system changes in September - categories of visa, the points system etc. so as someone already said log on to British Expats, it really is a great source of info. Some agents post there as well so you can often get advice if you have specific questions. If your situation is straightforward personlly I wouldn't bother with an agent - ours didn't do anything we couldn't have done ourselves. CAT me if you want further info - we've been in Sydney for just over two weeks now (spent a month travelling en route) and are loving every minute, despite the fact that yes it is as expensive as everyone says and yes it is just as hard to find rentals as everyone says!!! Good luck.

meemar, that email keeps bouncing back. Here are the details you need...

Darren @
Australian Migration Consultants
10 Greycoat Place,
London
Tel : 0870 240 1976
Fax : 0208 767 6840
\link{http://www.amcvisas.com/AMCVISAS}
[email protected]

As I said we paid around 1,200 pounds (no pound key on Oz keyboards), but felt every penny was worth it. He was very helpful. He was always aronud to answer the simplest of questions & never once made me feel like I was bother him.

AMCVISAS

Thanks Sandcastspells - I did get your email though too .

SunnyD - thanks for the offer of CAT, I may take you up on it when we get started as we will need advice on Sydney!

meemar, Is ent it about 3 times, so you obv got 1!

Not sure why it took so many tries!

sorry quick hijack for Sunnydelight, can you tell me any more on the new system, we were planning on going on a sponsership, however have now changed our minds and had planned on skilled workers as we have enough points. Do you know if the new system will be tougher? change of points etc. Thanks, hi jack over