Amaozzie Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Hi all. Just joined yesterday. I am 38, have been married forever and I have a 16 year old daughter. Currently I live in Sundowner, Johannesburg. My agent, Hitchcocks, gave me the SAAUSTRALIA details last week.I have been busy with the migration process for 18 months now. My oldest sister has been living in Melbourne for 6 years now and my older sister, who is now in Sydney, has been in Oz 7 years. There was a little pressure from them get over to Oz long time ago but I always thought about my wife's family, who are almost all in SA, and how she would feel about leaving them behind. Me too as I am very close to my mother-in-law.The process all started when my wife came home from work one day and told me we were moving to Oz. I did the LSD trip in October 2006. I spent 2 weeks in Sydney and 1 week in Melbourne. What a great place!I am in the IT game so I needed to get accredited with the Australian Computer Society (ACS). I wrote the accreditation and submitted it while I was in Sydney for assessment as a systems manager (60 points). Got that and then went about selecting a visa. I have gone with a Skilled – Australian Sponsored (Class BQ, subclass 138). My agent submitted my application on 22 February 2007 after I had done everything like IELTS, getting new passports, birth certificates etc etc. (You would all know about that). I have found the agents fee to be high but worthwhile. I have met the agents here and in Sydney and seen their operation first hand and I can say I have full confidence in them. It also helps that I know of 5 other families who have used them with success. In total I have 125 points and I also have a job offer from a company in Sydney with interest from 2 other companies providing that I have a permenant residency visa. Last bit: I have done this with a 80/20 rule in mind. 80% for my daughter and 20% for my wife and I.Want to know more? Check out my blog on www.mweb.co.za. Search for Australia or BUST! Cheers for now,Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aramat Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Welcome CraigThis forum is excellent as a sounding board, good advice, moral support or basically anything.Good luck!Aramat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert & Telanie Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Hi CraigWelcome to the forum, here you meet a lot of people and make new friends. Enjoy everything and good luck with everything.Robert & Telanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Welcome Craig,Good luck with the rest of your application.Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springbok Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 My agent, Hitchcocks, gave me the SAAUSTRALIA details last week. I have found the agents fee to be high but worthwhile. I have met the agents here and in Sydney and seen their operation first hand and I can say I have full confidence in them. It also helps that I know of 5 other families who have used them with success.Hi Craig,I have also used Hitchcock & Associates - they are top notch and that's what you pay for. If I had to do it all over again and didn't know about SAAustralia, I would gladly pay the agent's fee again and let them handle my visa application. It's just much less frustration over the longer run.CheersCharl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaozzie Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Hi,Thanks for the welcome. I have read through some of the sections with various topics that have immediately caught my eye and there is so much to learn. I believe that this forum will help make my move a smoother one.Cheers,Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoMar Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Hi CraigAnd a very warm welcome to the forum. Hope you find all your answers here - actually I've no doubt about that!RoMar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie en Urs Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Welcome to the forum Craig Hope you find all your answers !Greetings Albert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Hi Craig,Seems you are practically on your way already! The sponsorship route looks like the best option to me.This waiting for a PR visa is a killer.Look forward to seeing you on the forum.André Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaozzie Posted October 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 Hi Craig,Seems you are practically on your way already! The sponsorship route looks like the best option to me.This waiting for a PR visa is a killer.Look forward to seeing you on the forum.AndréHi Andre,I must agree, the wait is the biggest killer! I send off my e-mail to ASPC every Tuesday morning and can't wait for the response to see what progress has been made.Currently the update shows 28 December 2006. We went in 22 February 2007. Things are getting close. My agent has advised me to get the medicals and police clearances so long. Will do this end November. Any idea how the progress goes towards year-end? I understand that things slow down quite dramatically. over the festive season.Cheers,CraigHi Craig,Seems you are practically on your way already! The sponsorship route looks like the best option to me.This waiting for a PR visa is a killer.Look forward to seeing you on the forum.AndréWhere are you in the process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 CraigWhere are you in the process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazo Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 Hi Craig,Let's hope things do not get to slow over the festive season,I applied sept 13th 2006 and was allocated a case officer in may 2007 and he requested pol clearances ,med and ielts.Well we had a problem with an fbi caracter ref as my daughter had spent a year in America ,anyway we got all our ducks in a row and sent all outstanding doc's to the c.o on the 20th oct 2007 ,it is now 40 odd days since they rec them ,and we have not heard a thing as yet.My agent say's we should just sit tight and wait ,the only problem is that we have to be in Aus by the 24th may 2008 ,otherwise the medicals will have expired and I have already done them twice,and we still have to sell the house,which I believe are not selling to quickly these day's.So yes the p.r route is quite stressful.Before applying for the p.r visa I had a job offer from a co in Brisbane who had their own agent and wanted me to go over there on a 4yr temp visa,which we declined and the offer was withdrawn,I think in hindsight I should have went over then and done the p.r from there.Sorry to sound like the prophet of doom,but good luck with the rest of your application and I guess we will just have to sit tight and wait.Cheers Gazo.Durban S.A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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