Marisawright

The first step is to consult a migration agent who specialises in cases with medical issues. The one most often recommended is George Lombard. http://austimmigration.com.au/ He's had a lot of experience and is the person best qualified to give you an idea of your father's chances of success. There are several different parent visas. For the contributory visa, which is the most expensive, the waiting time is currently 5 or 6 years. I think it would be very foolish for him to come to Australia and apply for that visa. If he already has problems, they'll only be worse in 6 years, and when he fails the medical he may be deported. There is a medical visa which he could possibly get, but to rely on that still being available in 6 years is a huge gamble. Just look at how visa conditions have been made stricter and stricter over the years - 6 years is a long time! He could find himself back in the UK with no access to the NHS (as he is no longer legally resident). One possibility is the cheapest option, the non-contributory visa. The waiting time for that is 30 years, so he will never get to the point where he has to take the medical. He'll just stay on a bridging visa until he dies. Assuming he's a British resident and is living in the UK immediately before he moves to Australia, he will be eligible for Medicare but not for any other benefits, like pension, aged care home, etc. So although no one likes to think about it, you do have to consider the implications for how you'd cope looking after him at the end of life. There are downsides to the bridging visa - for instance, he'll need special permission if he wants to buy a home, and he'll pay about three times the usual stamp duty. As his British pension will be frozen at the rate it is now, the inability to claim benefits could be a problem so you need to consider that. As mentioned, once he ceases to be a legal resident of the UK, he loses all access to the NHS or to government benefits there, and he can't regain access until he re-establishes legal residency - so it's not as simple as hopping on a plane home if it's not working out.

No, assuming you get a PR visa (and honestly, with a family, I wouldn't recommend migrating if you can't get a PR visa). However you do have to pay for before- and after-school care.

Only one of you needs to qualify, then the partner and children just get included on the application. It doesn't matter if you're married or not, provided you're in an established relationship. You do need a good amount of savings because there's a big initial cost. You'll have: Visa application fees Migration agent fees Air fares Shipping your belongings (or if you don't ship, buying everything new when you arrive) Buying a car (more expensive in Australia) Holiday accommodation for four weeks while you look for a home to rent Rental bond (four weeks rent) Money to live on for at least six months, because your husband will be on low wages for some time. He needs to get his licence to work as a full electrician, so he'll need to take a course when he first arrives, then work as a trades assistant (similar to an apprentice) for several months. The figure most often quoted is £30,000. You may have that money when you sell your house, but remember, if you spend that money on migrating, then you'll have less money to buy a house in Australia - and in many parts of Australia, houses are more expensive than in the UK. If you have very small children then you may not be able to rely on your wage to keep the family going, because childcare is very expensive in Australia. I know women who can't afford to work because the childcarew would cost more than they can earn. https://www.careforkids.com.au/child-care-articles/article/77/how-much-does-child-care-cost

Welcome to the forums @Rebeccamctaggart. Your best bet is to see a migration agent. The reputable ones will give you an initial consultation free of charge and that will let you know whether you are eligible to apply, and what your chances of success are. Your partner's mother will not be able to move with you. There are visas for parents but they cost thousands and thousands of pounds and the waiting list is very long - she might get a visa in 7 or 8 years time if she's lucky. There is a lower-cost visa but the waiting list is even longer for that - 30 years. She won't even be able to apply until you've been living in Australia for 2 years, and the government would like to stop parent visas - so who knows whether they will even be available by then. As Skani says, you don't need success stories now. What you really need to know are the risks and potential downsides of moving. If, after you've researched those, you are still keen to move - then you know you're doing the right thing, and your enthusiasm will carry you through the tough times at the start. The biggest deciding factor, really, is how close you and your partner are to your friends and family. If you're fairly independent and don't see them all that often, then moving thousands of miles away won't be too much of a wrench. If you're in each other's pockets and rely on them for support, it'll be a huge shock to suddenly find yourself all alone, with no friends, no babysitters, no support - and it's not like you can hop on a plane to see them, because you'll have spent upwards of 30K on moving and getting settled, then you'll need a deposit to buy a home, so there's unlikely to be any money for expensive air fares for a few years, especially for a big family like yours. I've lived in Australia for over 30 years and I'm very happy here, but I wouldn't say Australia offers a "better life' than the UK. Both places have their good points and bad points. Which one you prefer is a matter of personal preference.

The reason I said they had no chance in this particular case is that they're tradesmen. The skills assessment is just to get the visa, it's got nothing to do with getting their licence to work. Electricians have to do a TAFE course in Australia first, and then work as a trades assistant (similar to an apprentice) for several months before they're allowed to work in their own right. It's not like Australia is desperate for electricians, so why would any company go to the bother of offering them jobs sight unseen, when they're not even job-ready when they arrive? I don't know what the licensing requirements are for a fitter so he might be OK. If they're in their twenties, why don't they just get a Working Holiday Visa, go out to Australia for a year and try their luck? I'd love to know who the company is that's offering that service. It sounds like a good idea, but I've heard of companies offering it in the past but they have all turned out to be scammers.

No chance of a job until they arrive, frankly

It may be only 24 hours, but the cost of relocating from one country to the other is very high. Fares, shipping, temporary accommodation, buying and selling cars, it all adds up. So an unsuccessful move can easily chew up a family's savings and leave them substantially worse off.

Just make sure you use an agency like Moneycorp or Transferwise. If you transfer bank to bank they’ll hit you for fees

That may change in the future. One of the big scandals in the Royal Commission was that banks were supposed to be monitoring and reporting large transfers and they weren't, allowing money launderers to get away with it. As they're now facing big fines, I'd say the banks will get their act together and start being more vigilant. If it's just savings that you're transferring, you shouldn't have any problems though.

I'm in Victoria and I don't think the media is exaggerating one bit.

If you are young enough to get a WHV, I would always recommend that you take that as a first step. It gives you a full year in Australia and contrary to perceptions, it is very possible to work in your normal occupation during a WHV. The only limitation is that you can't work for the same employer for more than six months. If your occupation is on the lists, then you could well get sponsored by an employer. Just be aware that one of the lists is a "Short Term" list. If your occupation is only on that list, then an employer can sponsor you for 2 to 4 years, but you are barred from applying for a permanent visa, and you must go home at the end of it. I've often seen people who come on one of those short term contracts hoping the rules will change by the time they've completed their contract, but it never works out. The rules do change but never in their favour! Each year, more and more occupations are cut from the lists, and the points get higher and higher.

To migrate to Australia, your occupation must be on one of the Skilled Lists. If your occupation is not on one of the lists, you cannot migrate to Australia, full stop. Finding an employer to sponsor you makes absolutely no difference to that rule - employers can only sponsor someone if the occupation is on one of the lists. If the occupation is on one of the lists, you must have the qualifications and experience specified on the list, otherwise no go. Finally, you must be able to score enough points to be worth applying. You must have 65 points to be allowed to apply - but it's a competition, and each year they only invite the people with the highest points. In recent years, there have been so many people applying with 80+ points, no one else stands a chance of getting accepted. Yes it is confusing, and the easiest way to sort it out is to have a consultation with a migration agent. All reputable agents will offer an initial consultation free of charge. There are several good ones on these forums.

No one in the UK offers this as a service. Most people would go to their own doctor or dentist or optician and ask them to do the witnessing for them.

The trouble is that the processing time for a 190 is very uncertain. Very few employers will hire you if you say, "I've applied for a visa, but I can't tell you when I will be able to start work. It might be next month or it might be in six months' time" - and that's the situation you'll be in.

Since the waiting time for a parent visa is currently at least 7 or 8 years, and the current goverment would like to close them down even further, I doubt that would be an option even if they wanted to

I am not sure what you mean. The state cannot give you a job.

You need to have your visa granted before you can start looking for a job. You also need your APHRA registration. It is almost impossible to find an employer who will offer you a nursing job before you arrive in Australia.

The driver's licence wouldn't work because it doesn't prove you're resident right now. So it needs to be a current dated document that has been posted to your address. You only need one document. I think I told you the trick of changing your address now to your relative's address, then asking them to send a printed statement there.

You must do the assessment in the UK. It's something that potential migrants have to do to satisfy Immigration, so it's always going to be in your country of origin. You do normally need Level 3, but if you have many years of experience, sometimes they'll take that instead. However you won't know if they'll accept it or not until you apply. The more important thing is to check whether you can get enough points. You need at least 65 points before you're even allowed to apply - however it's not a queue, it's a competition. The people with the highest points get picked first, even if they applied after you. Right now, there are so many people applying with 80+ points, anyone with less than that is just languishing in the queue and never getting picked.

It's such a big move, you'd think there would be heaps of things you need to start doing now - but actually there's not much you can set in motion far in advance. The one thing you can do is start decluttering now, because you probably have a lot more non-essential stuff in the house than you think, and if you put it off, you'll have a scramble at the end. Sell the good stuff on Gumtree or eBay or put postcards up on the supermarket notice board. There are two very good reasons to declutter. One, you don't want to pay to ship stuff you don't really need. Two, the house will sell much better if you present it without clutter lying around (or even packed into cupboards). The best way to kick-start is to get a few removal boxes and start packing odds and ends that you can manage without for now - mementoes, ornaments, etc. It really makes you think - "If I can pack this now and not miss it for x months, what am I keeping it for?" Start a box of small stuff to sell at a garage sale nearer your leave date. Get a quote for shipping now, even though you're not ready to go. It will help you decide how much to ship and what you need to get rid of. You may be thinking it's not worth shipping stuff that's second-hand, but remember that if you don't take it with you, you'll have to buy it new at the other end. Get on shopping sites in Australia like harveynorman.com.au, jbhifi.com.au, target.com.au, petersofkensington.com.au and do a pretend shop to kit out your new home in Australia. That will give you a better idea whether shipping is worth it. Unfortunately with the UK's property laws, there's no guarantee of being able to coordinate your house sale with your leave date, I'm afraid.

They both offer the same services so if you've already got a Transferwise account I'd use that. For your mortgage, you could set up an automatic payment from your UK bank to Transferwise on the same day each month. I have no idea whether Transferwise has an automatic payment facility, probably not but it's worth checking.

I checked and the OP is right about the restriction

I may be barking up totally the wrong tree, but I think a bigger question might be, what are your partner's long-term intentions? Based on some of your earlier posts, it does sound as though she's been trying to find a way to actually migrate to Australia. If that's the case, then I think it's really important that you suck it up and decide to move with her. Those two years on the 407 visa will give both of you an accurate idea of whether you would actually want to settle in Australia. She may be surprised and find it's not quite what she wanted after all (a lot of Brits get starry-eyed about Australia and it doesn't meet their expectations when they actually move). Or maybe she'll love it and you'll be terribly homesick, or vice versa. Either way, it's a chance to establish your feelings so you can have a meaningful conversation about your future.

Brisbane is OK at the moment but yes, smoke definitely travels. We're in Melbourne and we've had smoke haze, sometimes from the fires in NSW - which are hundreds of kilometres away - and now from the East Gippsland fires. The haze has been bad enough that people with asthma have been told to stay indoors. However it's nothing compared to what my relatives and friends in Sydney are going through, thick smoke blanketing the city for days.

When I was in my thirties, my partner got a job in Africa. There was no question of me finding work there, so I simply took a career break for three years. I did worry that it would affect my career, but what's more important - money or your partner? As it turned out, it wasn't a disaster, I did get back to the workforce on my return and it wasn't a problem. If you've got a good reason for your absence, employers aren't too worried. Perhaps you could take the opportunity to do some further study so you can show you've kept up to date with your profession in the meantime? Once she's got the visa and you know you're definitely going, don't just hand in your notice. Talk to your employer and see what the options are. Maybe you can keep doing some work for the UK office remotely. Maybe you can work for the Australian office remotely with a weekly visit. What's the worst that can happen if you ask?