A few questions

[MrGW]

Hi,

I'm planning on moving to Melbourne around April time. I'm going to apply for a working holiday visa. Does anyone have any idea how long it takes to get the visa sorted?

Secondly, I'm quitting my job (unless they allow me a sabatical) and have nothing lined up in Melbourne, I'm planning on staying in Melbourne for the full year so want to rent an apartment/house. I have savings of around AUS $35000 and have emailed a couple of estate agents and they say I can rent without a job providing I can prove I have savings etc. How long does it usually take to arrange the rental of somewhere, in other words how long will I have to stay in a hotel when i first arrive?

Thirdly, is there anything else I have to watch out for think about? For example can I pay utility bills etc from my British bank account? Do I have full access to the healthcare system on a working holiday visa etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers.

[kaz101]

Hi MrGW,

Take a look at the "Please read" post at the top of the forum since that has a link to the Aussie visa site. That will give you an idea about healthcare. As I understand it, it's usually only permanent visas that get Medicare, but there is a reciprocal with the UK so you may be covered by that.

timeline.au may be able to give you an estimate of current processing times.

I don't have any experience of renting here, so it might be worth while asking the letting agents how long the checks with take. There are a lot of hotels in Melbourne ranging from backpackers accommodation to 5* so you should be able to find something to suit your bank balance.

Since we were permanent we opened a bank account here. With my UK bank any time I wanted to transfer funds abroad it cost me 25 pounds so you may want to check what your charges are before you decide anything.

Regards,
Karen

[mumbokins]

hi dont really know anything about this one but can tell you we are not permanent residents and my family and i have full medicare .

[kaz101]

Hi Mumbokins,

What sort of visa are you on? I'm going by what it says on the government website since we are permanent residents.

People still get Medicare under the reciprocal agreements with certain countries (like the UK). When I visit a GP I get a refund on what I had to pay whereas I don't think that temporary residents get that. I'm prepared to be corrected on this by someone going through it though

Regards,
Karen

[mumbokins]

.hi we are on a temporary 457 visa we get the same as you as i found out after being here a short time when my daughter fractured her elbow and yes for anyone wondering we had to wait hours at accident and emergency after being refered there from the doctors as an emergencyjust like england.


regards julie

[kaz101]

Thanks for that Mumbokins.

I think that's because of the reciprocal agreement with the UK. Expat from other countries will not get that if there isn't a reciprocal agreement in place.

Regards,
Karen

[mumbokins]

your welcome kaz
hoprfully i wont have to use it for a long time

regards julie

[MrGW]

Hi, thanks for the answers.

I applied for the visa yesterday and was told the processing time was "a few days". Much to my surprise it took about 10 minutes. It took me longer to fill all the forms in than it did for them to approve the visa!

So that's that sorted. I understand we do have a reciprocal healthcare agreement. To be honest, I hardly ever go to the docs, I was just making sure I'd be OK if I got hit by a bus or bitten by a nasty spider! Haha.

Not sure about the renting thing, all being well I'll have somwhere to stay (friends of a friend) while I look for a place to rent. Would still like to know if anyone has a rough idea of timescale though.