Marisawright

Of course it would, and I expect they would do the same whichever state it was. You have to look at the practicality of closing borders. WA, the NT and Queensland can do it because they have a limited number of major entry points, where they can set up road blocks. You'd have to really "go bush" to get around them, which reduces the number of people sneaking through. From memory, there's a lot more access points on the Victoria/NSW border. And trying to barricade everyone inside Melbourne would be nightmare!

As Tulip1 said, the Prime Minister has said the travel bans will stay in place till June 2021 at least, so you won't be able to use the temporary visa anyway.

For someone overseas, it's frozen at the amount you get paid when the pension starts. I looked at it and although it's frozen, it was such a bargain that it was worth it. By the time I found out I could make extra contributions, I could only do it for a year, (plus backpaying six years). I think I paid less than £2,000 altogether. Considering I will get paid a pension for the rest of my life, even if it never increases, that small amount was worth it.

Even before Covid, some companies wouldn't do a house visit and made you work it out for yourself. Cost cutting I suppose.

I'm in Victoria but actually, I agree with you.

Again this is just me, but as a Scot myself, one of the problems with Queensland is that it gets dark so early. Even at the height of summer, sunset is about 8 pm. So heading to the beach after work isn't as practical as you might think! Of course, you have the whole weekend to play with. However, I prefer further south in NSW where the evenings are that little bit longer, but the weather is still warm. We're in Melbourne now, where the summer evenings are a decent length, but of course the weather isn't your typical Aussie weather! I prefer it because I'm not good in hot weather. As for opportunities - I'm in two minds whether living in Australia will give them better opportunities. You may be surprised to hear that before Covid, unemployment in Australia was about the same as in the UK. There may be less competition for jobs but there are also fewer jobs because it's such a small population.

You'll find it being discussed plenty of times in this forum: https://www.pomsinoz.com/topic/50481-the-brand-new-pio-parents-visa-thread/

I wondered if it was just a practical thing. So many possible crossings between the two states, it would've been hard to police. Besides, the incidence of covid in both states was about the same.

I'll see if I can track down the ads.

Provided they get the current spike under control, I think you'll be fine. You're not tempted to buy something while you're in Victoria? I've seen a couple of car dealers advertising that they'll bring cars to you.

No. The Home Affairs website shows 4 years, but that's for applications that are being processed now - i.e. the 2016 applications getting their visas in 2020. Since then, every year there have been more applications received than visas granted, so the queue keeps getting longer. Also, there was a big surge of applications in 2016 and another big spike in 2017, which have made things even worse. They award 6,000 to 8,000 parent visas every year. As of now, there are around 45,000 applications in the queue (that is a guesstimate, but probably not far wrong).

Apparently, people with young children are worried about the invasive nature of the test (it is very uncomfortable, apparently).

I didn't know until recently that Victoria hadn't closed its borders. Probably because everyone else had!

I'm not seeing any hints either way. It's true they are talking about letting international students in again - mainly because the universities can't stay afloat without their fees. Money talks! I haven't heard anyone mention "long term visitors" - other than Boris Johnson. Here in Australia, people are in a panic because Melbourne has reported 70 cases a day for the last few days. There is no way we're going to open our doors to countries that have had hundreds of cases every day for weeks - the government knows there would be an outcry. There has been talk about creating a "Pacific Bubble" with other countries that have low case numbers, like New Zealand, but not until September at the earliest. It's very disappointing to see that 489 and 491 visa holders are being lumped into the same boat as temporary visas.

No, I'm afraid not. No one has been invited with less than 90 points for any occupation for quite some time.

Credit scores don't rule your life in Australia the way they do in the UK. You'll be able to get a mortgage once you've got a secure job and enough for a deposit. I would strongly advise against getting a car on a lease or hire purchase. If you have to go back to the UK before the end of the contract, you'll be stuck with a car you can't sell and a big debt to pay off. Much safer to buy a second-hand car at first, until you're sure you'll be staying for the long haul. (and yes, I know you won't migrate unless you're sure it's what you want, but everyone feels like that when they fly in - and you'd be surprised how many of them head home after a year or two, usually because homesickness hits them hard or their family needs them). Once you get the visa, you'll have about twelve months to activate the visa. All you need do is for all of you to arrive in Australia and go through Immigration, then you can leave again. After that, you have almost five years to make the permanent move. The bigger question is whether you can get a visa.

If I posted on a UK forum and said, "we're coming ot the UK and we're liking the idea of moving to Manchester. Is that a good area to bring up kids?", what would you say? It's very difficult for us to tell you what would suit, because we know nothing about your preferences. For instance, some people love London, so they're likely to love Sydney. Other people would hate to live in London and they'd hate Sydney for the same reasons. Where are you living now and what kind of lifestyle do you like? The Gold Coast wouldn't be my pick because although there are great beaches, a lot of it is too tourist-y or me. I also can't handle humidity so I find the height of summer really uncomfortable there, but not everyone finds that a problem. The winters in Queensland are just beautiful if you can handle the summers. With a young family and a liking for the beach, I'd be avoiding all the capital cities and aiming for Newcastle in NSW. Booming city, gorgeous beach right next to the city centre, on the doorstep of the wineries and good job prospects, with reasonable house prices - and two hours from the "big smoke" of Sydney.

Yes, it's a case of getting on the plane, flying to Aus, and then the authorities will frogmarch you off to a hotel where you'll have to stay for two weeks. The only hiccup might be getting a flight into Adelaide. The rule is that you have to do your quarantine in the city where you first land. So if your flight lands in Melbourne, you'll be taken to quarantine there. What happens after that will depend what's happening in Australia at the time. If you landed today, like Lavers, then you'd do your two weeks in Melbourne and then you'd have to do another two weeks when you get to Adelaide. It's not really worth fretting about it until closer to the date, because things will change. Right now, for instance, Melbourne is experiencing a "spike" so international flights are being diverted to other cities (but note, they're not being cancelled). By September, that spike should have passed but the virus might have popped up somewhere else.

If he is only going to stay long enough to do his quarantine and then go home, he's not going to see your family anyway? Scott Morrison has said the travel bans will stay in place till July 2021 so the quarantine will stay in place too. You can't have one without the other. Right from the very first announcement, they said the travel bans would stay in place until September 2020 at the earliest, so I'm not sure who thought the borders would reopen this July.

Yes, that’s what I said. AFAIK all quarantine in NSW and Victoria has been in hotels for some time, because they found people couldn’t be trusted to stay at home. So I can’t blame Queensland for following that precedent for people from Victoria

Not the case in NSW or Victoria because they found people were cheating

If you look on other threads in this forum, they are granting partner visas now, so why wouldn't they start granting other kinds of visas? Anyone who comes into the country now is forced to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days and be tested, so the risk to the country is low.

To amplify my post - I think there's a general perception that if you are highly qualified and at the top of your profession, of course there will be a way to migrate to Australia. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Perhaps it should, but it doesn't.

If you reckon you've got 75 points + 10 points for English, that's only 85 points. At that level, you've got absolutely zero chance of getting a 189 visa. Here are the figures: https://www.iscah.com/will-get-189-invitation-january-2020-estimates/ And note, that was before Covid. The expectation is that it will get even tougher now. Like I said, no point in researching the industry if there's no way to get a visa.

Only one of you needs to apply for a visa, and then includes their partner in the application. I think your first step is to make sure you could get a visa, given your ages. You lose points for age, and the points score is critical. Although you only need 65 points to apply, it's a highly competitive process and no one with less than 90 points has been successful in recent times (in any occupation). Most people do take the English test for extra points, but don't assume you'll get 10 points. For some reason, non-native speakers tend to score better than native speakers! Employer sponsorship is probably not a good idea. Most sponsorships are just for a temporary contract of 2 to 4 years, with a possibility (not a guarantee) of a permanent visa at the end- and by that time you'd be over 45 and not eligible.