Decision been made ... now what ?

[Stuart]

Good Morning Everyone ;

I joined the forum a couple of months ago fairly certain that I wanted to move to Australia but always kept the hope in my mind that things would get better and I would be able to stay in the country I was born in, with family and friends, raise my children and be happy ...

During the last couple of months however I have realised that this is impossible and I owe it to myself, my wife to be, and our future children, to make our, and their dreams, a possibility.

I have a lot of mixed emotions of sadness and anger towards what has become of this country and also how it makes me feel and react to certain situations.

Everyday I see the newly created BEE characters with their flashy cars and expensive houses, having done nothing to earn it, and we are all meant to smile and act like their is nothing wrong ?.

When the bubble bursts and the economy actually wakes up to the fact that you actually need skilled people to keep the country going, then the African begging bowls will come out and someone/some country/anything will be blamed for the mess, a.k.a. Zimbabwe, but not the black south africans that took and took and took ... I won't do it anymore and I certainly won't expose my family and future children to it ....

Australia looks like a lovely country where I, and my family, could be very happy. Whilst the first world infrastructure is a definite bonus, all I really want is the chance to work hard, be rewarded for doing so based on my abilities, and for laws and rules to be applied to all members of society. Where respect for life, human dignity, and other people, is something more than just lip service.

I am sorry for rambling and if I upset certain members of the forum then I do apologize.

After all of that what I wanted to ask is where I can get started, to get the visa ball rolling ?. I am a 31 year old male with +- 10 years work experience in the Financial / Insurance / I.T. industry and I am a Business Analyst.

I have a number of short Diploma qualifications as well as industry specific certificates.

I have a better half, who I plan on marrying shortly, but would like to include her in the visa application process now. We also have 2 kids (6 month old kittens) who have to come with us quarantine and all.

I would like to apply for a PR Visa.

We realise that using an agent will be very expensive and would like some advise on how realistic it is going to be for us to attempt the application ourselves, and if so, where we can get started. Gathering documents needed etc ?.

I would appreciate any advise whatsoever.

Thankyou.

[Dedrei]

Hey there!!

WELCOME to our forum and hope you have a whale of a time here.

If you need any info on quarantine for your cats, let me know. I am probably by now the resident expert on quarantine matters. My two babies are home this Friday and you won't believe the excitement in our house at the moment.

Cheers

[hanneskn]

Hi Stuart & Dedrei,

I Would also like to get some info, contact details, prices ect. regarding getting pets over to OZ. We have three dogs: 2 x maltese & a Boerboel.

Stuart: we're going to meet with Hitchcock & Ass. in November (Pretoria) just for a intro meeting (get us in the right direction. If you would be interested I can give you their contact details (R600.00) for interview.

regards,

Hannes.

Hey there!!

WELCOME to our forum and hope you have a whale of a time here.

If you need any info on quarantine for your cats, let me know. I am probably by now the resident expert on quarantine matters. My two babies are home this Friday and you won't believe the excitement in our house at the moment.

Cheers

[conroys]

Hi Stuart,

You can find all the info you need for PR at:

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-ski...n/136/index.htm

We have applied for PR using this route and have send in our application about 2 weeks ago - so we'll have to wait and see if we will be successfull.

What I can say is that it takes a lot of time and patience to gather all the required documentation, but keep hacking at it and one day you'll find everything is done.

The process basically consist of 2 phases:

Skills assessment: You need to get your skills assessed before applying for the visa. For this you need to gather documentation on your qualifications and work experience and send it to an assessment authority in Australia.

Main application: After receiving your skills assessment you can submit your main application.

Best of luck with your application!!

[Stuart]

Hey there!!

WELCOME to our forum and hope you have a whale of a time here.

If you need any info on quarantine for your cats, let me know. I am probably by now the resident expert on quarantine matters. My two babies are home this Friday and you won't believe the excitement in our house at the moment.

Cheers

Hi Dedrei ;

As much information as possible on the quarantine matter would be greatly appreciated.

Did you make use of an agent for your application ?

Thanks ;

Stuart

[Dedrei]

Hey Stuart

We are currently on 457 visa. Have not used agent and will not be needing one for our PR app.

Ok, please read my very NB post ing Immigration/General section that I just posted as well.

First 3 months of quarantine is at either Keringa or Kookaburra. Keringa is first class compared to the other and definately worth it. They cost round about the same, but the service is not even comparable. They are really great! Keringa's Website

Then 4 months of quarantine in Australia is either at Perth, Melbourne, or Sydney. AQIS websiteThey are also really good, but they are really busy. If you would be living in the same city as where they will be in quarantine, I suggest you visit them as often as possible and excercise and play with them in the yards. If you are like me and would be living more than 2700km+ away, then try and organise a dog walker. In your case not sure how it will work with the cats.

Please PM me if you have any other queries or if you need more info.

Cheers

Dedrei