Lou8670

To all those already living in Perth I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread on where you live and with its good and bad points to help those moving to Perth.

Just wondering if anyone went as accountant?

Great idea debs!

Oh Russ and Claire. These things come to try us. We haven't really saved and have just taken a massive hit paying our visa fee and booking travel to UK for our Medicals. Medicals cost enough too and with travel for 5 of us it's £1500. Yikes! Don't give up. As Debs does you can save in very very inventive ways!!!!

The Cambridge ielts books are good particularly the ones which include the cd http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/s/ref=pd_sl_9e7a903ohn_p?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Aielts+cambridge&keywords=ielts+cambridge&ie=UTF8&tag=mh0a9-21&hvadid=21875636

Welcome to PP. You'll get lots of advice on here. Just check things out and double check as sometimes people try and be helpful but hey may not always give you correct information especially as things change or are different depending on your circumstances.

Such a great bunch in WA or seeking to get there :-)

Hi Bob Have a look at booklet 6 on immi http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/books6.htm You can apply together a defacto partner. You'll need to prove your relationship and immi need various forms of evidence for this. I understand from reading posts on this forum and on its sister site that you will need permission from the child's father but you can include them on the same visa. There are forms etc to be competed for this by the child's after and no doubt it will all need to be done with a solicitor even if you don't use a migration agent. We are also looking at Waikiki/ Rockingham area and have family there but I haven't asked them about schools yet. When I find out more I'll try and remember to let you know. Hopefully someone will give there opinion / some info before then. Lou

Thanks for this...really made me laugh and my OH said you have his sense of humour! :-)

Thanks all. Your posts are making me feel much better. Especially as you have children of similar ages.

Thanks Debs. By the sounds of it there are a few who seem to want to just bitch at everyone else which is a real shame. I'm using the sites to find out info, get some support and help others if I can like others have helped me. It's really s**tty to see some of the comments when people are making such big decisions in their lives.

See http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1129.pdf If you're willing to go on a contributory parent visa then the current processing time is 2 years otherwise its 15 years processing. Alternatively there is a last remaining relative visa: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/books4.htm

Awe thanks Amy. I'm sure you're right and as some very good friends of ours said to us "you two will make it wherever and whatever you decide to do" which encouraging.

Hi all. Sorry for the length of this post but I am having a wobble... I am quite new to this forum but have been surfing the sister site Poms in Oz. I have found that some people on the site can be quite negative about Oz and this has caused me to have a wobble!!! We received our Visa Invite on Sunday and have completed all of the information requested online but still need to submit payment. I am relatively sure I want to do this but I have so many concerns and worries. My sister in law lives in Rockingham and is desperate for us to join her. I am 42 and my husband is 35 so I see this as our last chance to emigrate to Oz which we toyed with for a long time. I also have Aussie family in Melbourne. My mother in law has said she will apply for a contributory parent visa if both her children are in Oz! She's like my hubbie and nothing fazes her!!! I am originally from the UK but have lived offshore for 20 years so I am used to being away from my close family. Still, being the other side of the world is scary scary thought! We have 3 children aged 6, 6 and 8 all at private school. They all love Oz and I'm sure they will settle there well. It's just me I who is worrying...and I do tend to worry! So what worries me.... What are the schools like...will I and the children like school in Oz? Will they get the same opportunities both in school and in their activities as they do now? My eldest loves maths, physics and is extremely sporty representing our island in both swimming and rugby. Will my hubbie get a good job? We both have good jobs here but need a change. We both work at a senior level and are both qualified accountants. Will we make friends? I have made loads of friends here over the years but probably only have half a dozen I can really truly rely on. Are we just not really appreciating what we have here? Do we just need a change: take a bit of a risk enjoy the ride and if we don't like it get off? We've done it before when we took a year out to do a ski season 10 years ago. ?????arrrrggggg!!!! Hubbie says if I don't want to do it we won't go but I know he wants this so badly and I do too (i couldn't wipe the smile off my face when we received our visa invitation) and I know it's not the end of the world we can always come back (although I potentially will lose my residency where I have lived for the past 20 years and so will my children so we would be reliant on my hubbie residential status to come home). Any advice, reassurance/ positive feedback would be appreciated. Cheers Lou

I have but may cost more to post to you as we're in the Channel Islands. Try Amazon. We got the book and cd for about £30 but it was well worth the money.

Doh! Just realised where I'd seen it! Check out the articles on here rather then the forums....

Hi Kev There was a great thread on this on either this forum or PomsinOz forum but I can't find it! I remember though everyone said open a bank account as if you don't do this on your trip you'll need loads of documentation later on but if I recall rightly don't register for Medicare or tax until you migrate permanently as you will be deemed resident in Australia and it can cause you problems with health cover and tax back in the UK until you permanently migrate. Lou

Skype to Skype is definitely the way to go. We've been doing that for 5 years now to family in Waikiki which is great as the kids get to see their Aunty every week for free.