Quoll

You may find you don't have an option - chronic illness costing the tax payer a lot of money is not likely to endear you to immigration and you may fail the medical - it's not the same as for a temporary visa. So, perhaps before you start agonising, you should talk to one of the agents who specialise in medical conditions to see if your condition is likely to preclude you getting a permanent visa.

If it’s not university based with 45 days supervised practice then, no, it won’t be adequate. If it’s one of those learn in the job programs it doesn’t meet the criteria.

If you’re all desperate to go then go. Will it work? Who knows. Will you regret it? Who knows. Will you cope with leaving elderly relatives behind? Who knows. End of the day, neither place is going anywhere, so if you go and it works, you win. If you go and it doesn’t work then move on - to NZ or U.K.whichever seems the next step. Not sure that I would be thinking of Australia in the longer term though given your visa status - I don’t think it’s the most stable of situations and you never know when the goal posts might get inched over.

Looks fairly straightforward from a partner visa POV given your relationship but the non migrating child might be an issue if the other parent refuses to play ball. Other thing to be working on at the same time, if you don’t already have it is your U.K. citizenship. If you should decide to return at some point it’s much easier than a spouse visa down the track.

If it's a short term temporary visa then you will have to pay in WA. About $4kpa I think. For such a short term then go for the local state school. All depending on when he turns 6 he will be in either the first or second year of full time school.

I think it rather depends on the visa you will be coming on as to his entitlement and the possible cost of schooling. On balance, yes, it's worth it to enrol for 6 months if you are eligible and can afford it. Getting him back into his current school could well be an issue.

I lost about 30kg since being back in UK. I had lost the first 20kg in Aus by not eating things I am intolerant to but now I walk all the time and I have very rarely not been able to go for my walk - since buying my first Fitbit in 2013, I've walked about 13,000 miles! For a couch potato who would struggle to walk the 1km to the local shop, I think it's been brilliant. Only thing is that I live in one of the flattest counties so my altitude achievement is pathetic!

Hmm, 17 is a really bad year educationally to move a kid. As mentioned to the OP, finishing up education in UK is by far the most sensible option - 17 is even worse than 16 tbh! She would be more sensible to finish A levels then move. With that bit of extra maturity and all her options kept open you might be pleasantly surprised to find that she actually is ready for the adventure and that would fit in nicely with starting Uni. She's got time enough to move

Well, no, if you arrive at the end of the year she will have missed out on one year of the 2 year HSC course. Foreign country, totally different system. If she has aspirations of Uni she would be better to hang on and finish her schooling in Scotland - when she started schooling in Scotland will be irrelevant in Australia. Her age cohort will be starting year 11 at the end of this month and she will be disadvantaged if she doesnt do the full 2 year course (they talk about conversions but if you want a good grade for Uni, there is no telling how effective "conversions" are) - if she would be Uni ready after just one extra year in Scotland, I would definitely leave her to finish that year there then bring those scores to Aus for Uni at that point if she wants an Aus Uni - or, she's taken a belt and braces approach and kept her options of a (isn't it free?) Scottish Uni open as well.

HR countries take longer - ask your agent what the current processing time frame is. Could be a couple of years.

Are you moving on a temporary visa or do you have permanency? If temporary, I'd suggest letting her stay with family /friends to finish her A levels. In fact I'd probably be tempted to do that any way because she's 16. NSW starts the HSC course when kids are 16 in year 11 and you're saying you'll arrive by the end of the year by which time she will have missed most of the first year of a 2 year course - she would really need to arrive in the next couple of weeks to be able to fit into the system. If you are temporary and will be returning home at the end of a contract there are a couple of issues - one is that HSC results don't travel well back to UK Uni entry requirements and the other is that she will be stung for international student fees because she won't have been resident in the country for 3 years before uni starts. The other whammy for temporary visa holders in NSW is that education costs you - its $6kpa for the lower years and I think it's more than that for senior years. If, however, you will have PR or expect to apply for it one day, having A levels will keep her options open as A level results travel well to Australia for Uni entry or she keeps her options open for Uni in UK. 16 is not a good age to be chopping and changing education systems unfortunately. Apart from all that, how well kids settle really depends on them. For some kids it's the end of the world and for others it's a good adventure. If they're resilient with the capacity to make friends wherever they go or they're resilient and happy with their own company they'll probably do well but if they're secure in a long standing cohort it'll be much harder.

You can apply for a PMV (prospective marriage visa) - that gives you 9 months in which to get married once you are there and you also have the capacity to work and once married then you apply for the partner visa. Apply now and hope that it is issued before the baby arrives. Personally I would be worried about rocking up on a tourist visa with no intention of being a tourist and risking a turn around at the airport and a 3 year ban even if your visa doesn't have a no further stay clause on it.

Did you apply in London? Ask your agent what they are doing. If you applied through a HR country, the processing period is longer.

Yup, it’s a bureaucracy, take it or leave it. Simples!

I think my DH would agree with you! He finds the meat here in UK much better than the comparable offerings in ACT - he's very much a paleo person after 3 decades of vegetarianism and he's a stalwart of our local butchers - we've had some amazing really tasty stuff from them (I'd forgotten how fantastic meat can taste when a good piece is cooked well) and they give him free bones (is a paleo thing!). He used to patronise a bloke at the Canberra markets who did good lamb but he now prefers the local village butcher - we never get it from supermarkets in either place. I really don't think there's much to choose between the two countries restaurant wise - we've had good, bad and indifferent all over. I think yesterday's meal at the Oxo Tower probably takes the blue ribbon for eye watering cost thus far but we haven't done much fine dining in Australia of late of course. One thing that really irritates me about dining out in Australia is how few places can actually manage cream with coffee. I've had all sorts from the "are you American? We call it milk" through to a pile of whipped cream in a dish. Off to find a nice restaurant for dinner tonight now! On NYE it might be a challenge but we eat early! Happy New Year!!!

New year, new start huh? Good luck! The weather isn't much to write home about at the moment but get yourself some m&s thermals (not that I've written mine much over the past couple of years) and enjoy the ride!

The point is its Australia and there's nothing in the rule book that says you have to like it. Hard for someone who is new to the place and determined to love it to understand. It's quite possible to know in a few months (weeks or even days) that it isn't where you want to be, you don't have to try every capital and large city just to prove the point to anyone.

Why? That's very much like continuing to bang your head against a brick wall in hopes that the headache will go away. They've said that neither of them - including the Australian - want to be in Australia. You don't have to be Einstein to know if a place is for you or not. Better they go back now and retrieve add much of their lives as possible and good luck to them! As long as one in the relationship is an Australian then the possibility of another spouse visa is always going to be an option but the OP's current visa won't have no much longevity beyond the original 5 years.

Oh yeah, good luck with that one! PNG have never been known for their speediness or efficiency!

The visa is going to be your biggest hurdle - all the other stuff is irrelevant if you can't get a visa! If your skills aren't on the list of skills in demand then you're not going to get very far. In order to sponsor you, the employer has to demonstrate that they can't fill the position with an Australian and that's quite a process and it would only be temporary anyway. Talk to an agent but don't be surprised if there isn't a way to get a visa given your skills, not everyone who wants to go (baggage or not!) can get to go.

The partner is Australian so probably won't need a medical. Ah, of course! Need to read betterer!

If she has to get an x ray, she's not going to do that until after the baby is born so that could delay things.

It's an immigration forum so perhaps it might be better to keep whichever deity you fancy it off the discussion, just keep to the pragmatics and personal responsibility.

Must be lovely to have your rose tints on when moving in either direction. As has been said, sometimes there no accounting for taste. If you don't belong, despite all the logic in the world, your life can be crap! Personally I'd rather not be broiled alive and develop skin like a sharpei and to have more interesting things to do in my retirement than being cooped up in air conditioned comfort just to get through every day. But I guess you'll never know until you try it huh?! As for 80 year old parents, nope, they won't be around forever and if you can live with yourself for being in the other side of the world and letting them founder in in their increasing frailty then you're more hard hearted than this hard hearted Hannah! Sometimes your conscience tells you that easing their path through their latest years is the right thing to do. There's no right and wrong, we are all different and what floats one man's boat is likely to sink another!

Marrying an Aussie! A la Gerard Depardieu and Green Card but immigration like to know it’s a real relationship