Marisawright

Definitely not a huntsman with that bulbous body

Australia is offering very limited flights out, the only people allowed to leave the country are people who can show they are permanently resident overseas, and a few other limited exceptions (compassionate grounds, essential services).

Your only sensible option for a short visit would be an employer sponsored visa, but the big hurdle would be finding an employer willing to sponsor. I don’t think it’s at all common for nurses. Applying for a permanent visa is a long and expensive process and will take over a year to get, plus as a nurse you will also need to get your registration.

You wouldn’t be allowed to go and come straight back again anyway. Why do you think it would be hard to get a flight?

Yes @MARYROSE02, and hated it. Back in Australia now and loving Melbourne. Far friendlier than Sydney, to my surprise. I will always think of Sydney as home though, but I simply can’t afford to live there. Besides, the summer there is too bloody hot.

That’s the difference, then. Your home is excluded from the means test

Did you have savings in the bank (from the sale of your house or otherwise)?

You will be eligible for Medicare immediately.

Yes, we always warn people about that when they come to these forums asking about migration. As there are no benefits available to new migrants, we tell them they need to bring enough money for living expenses for three to six months, just in case they struggle to find work. It's just one of the costs of migrating. Some of the state visas require you to prove you've got the money. Tax and benefits are based on residency, not citizenship (the same goes for the UK). So I don't think being a citizen will help. Currently, the waiting periods have been waived - but if you're not arriving til the emergency dies down, by that time they'll have reinstated them all, so that won't help you. Currently they're saying they'll be reinstated in September. I'd say you have two options. One is to move while the emergency is on, so you'll be eligible for Jobseeker while you look for work (but remember, you'll lose the payment when they reinstate the waiting periods). The other is for the main breadwinner to come over alone and live in a hostel till they find work, then find a place to rent and bring over the rest of the family. The alternative is to wait till the emergency is over, come as a family and resign yourself to eating into the house proceeds to live on.

I don't know what the current rules are, but I can tell you that in over 35 years in Australia, I've never been able to claim any kind of benefits when I was unemployed, even for extended periods. Benefits are means-tested, so if you have money in the bank (which I assume you will, since you'll have sold your house), you won't be eligibie.

Most food is OK if declared but Quoll is right, it means they’re likely to take more time and may open the cube to inspect, all of which will delay your shipment and risk stuff getting broken/going missing. Not really worth it IMO

There is no point in applying for the 189 visa unless you can get 90 points. However there are other visas. If there is an employer willing to sponsor you, you can get a temporary employer-sponsored visa. That will give you and your family the right to live and work in Australia for 2 to 4 years. Obviously if you have a family, you need to consider the costs and upheaval of moving across the world, and make sure the employer is going to give you enough help with relocation costs to make it viable. However,the advantage is that the temp visa is much quicker to process than the permanent visas - there aren't many employers who'd be willing to wait the year or more for you to get a permanent visa of any kind. If you don't want to take the risk of a temporary move, then look at the 190 visa or the 491 visa. These are both state-sponsored visas, and points are not nearly as important. You will need to check which states want your occupation and what extra conditions they impose. Your best bet is to book a consultation with a good migration agent. All the reputable ones offer the first consulation free of charge. These days, visas are far too complicated to tackle yourself, especially if you're time-poor.

How annoying. Well, all you should need to do now is provide the visa again, since they have all the other paperwork.

Congratulations on the PR! I suggest you do this calculator, to make sure the financial advisor gave you the right advice: http://yourpension.com.au/APCalc/index.html If that shows he is eligible, then print off the page so he can take it with him to Centrelink, and demand they explain why he's not. Their staff is overworked, so they are inclined to try to brush people off without an explanation - but they will look into it if pushed!

Exactly. There was one woman who was interviewed on the ABC, moaning about how traumatised she was, because she and her husband had been confined in a hotel room for two weeks. She did seem very upset and I felt sorry for her, until the interviewer asked which hotel she'd been in. It was the Intercontinental in Sydney.

If it’s only temporary then that’s fine, that’s what most people do. The reason we say not to take on a long term rental is that real estate agents shamelessly doctor the photos. When you arrive to collect the keys you discover it’s a dump, but you’ve already signed a contract. You run the same risk with holiday places too, of course, but at least you can look at reviews.

All you have to do is keep the Pensions dept informed of your address and they’ll contact you at the appropriate time. As Tulip says though, the amount you get on Day 1 is the amount you’ll get for the rest of your life, you’ll never get any of the increases you would get if you were living in the UK

I second that.

Are you sure of that?

I think it’s an easy decision for those who have already sold their house and given notice at work - might as well be renting and job-hunting in Australia as the UK. If you still have a home and secure jobs in the UK, I’m not sure I’d be risking a move now. I don’t envy you having to make that decision

I believe you can get practice papers to try out. Paul Hand who replied above is an agent

No, there isn't. The quote about families comes from a Professor who used to be a public servant. It's only his personal opinion. They also quoted another Professor who said they should go the other way, and prioritise skilled migration. The journalist is just being even-handed, as they're supposed to be, and quoting two experts from opposite sides. The government minister said absolutely nothing about wanting family migration, in fact his focus is on bringing in an extra 5,000 highly-skilled migrants. If the total number of visas stays the same, those 5,000 will have to be cut from somewhere else. I understand you want to grasp at straws in your situation but I don't see anything there to offer hope at all.

Best to ask an agent (all the ones on here will give you a free initial consultation) but I think you can do any job once you have the visa. Here's a wee snap of the beach in Newcastle to whet your appetite for NSW

It doesn't sound too promising to me. If you read it carefully, you'll see that the suggestion for a family reunion visa is from a Professor at Western Sydney University, NOT from a government spokesman. The government guy (Alan Tudge) just said they needed to review the two-thirds skilled/one-third family allocation - and the way I read it, that could go either way.

Can you give us a link to the article please? I've tried Googling and I can't find any sign of such a statement. I found one article advocating for more family visas, but that was by a journalist, not a member of the government. I find it hard to believe they'll be adding any new visas, considering they're expecting the unemployment rate to be very high after the coronavirus, so there should be plenty of people to fill manufacturing jobs.