i'm actually back in Brisbane looking for jobs. applied for PR in Jan. just attended my first job interview earlier today

if you're under student visa yes you can drive in Aus. all you need to do is to get a translation for the license. NAATI's a good place to start off with.

the downside i see for an international driving license obtained from AAM is that it lasts a year and it costs RM 150 (last i checked). however with your student visa your Malaysia driving license is valid until the date of expiry, just that you'll need a translation

the PR application fees cost $2150. the medical check up fees around $280. then you have your Australian Federal Police check, around $43. then you have your skills assessment, that one varies depending on the assessing body. mine was done by Engineers Australia, costs $110. you'll also need a Sijil Kelakuan Baik from the M'sian government, that one costs RM 20. last but not least you'll need to sit for IELTS. $280 but UQ pays for the test fee if you're taking it in your final semester so you can claim back the test fee AFTER you've gotten your results.

i like it here. nice and easy going lifestyle suits me

i have no idea how long the process is. could be months. and yea its not 100% that i can get PR.

like what i said earlier, nope not for sure

nope. this isn't like in the supermarket where you can just simply go back and ask for a refund

yea i know. i know of a guy who waited for a year. but doesn't matter now cause the main problem now is getting a job.

the 18 month bridging visa you talk about, you referring to the graduate visa?

yes. for private hospitals however you there's only a certain amount that they cover. for medicine, the amount that OSHC covers per type of medicine is between $30 and $50. that is for OSHC worldcare. not sure on those with medibank's OSHC coverage

does your uni have a clinic on campus? if it does than i'm probably sure that it'll be easier since they can check your OSHC cover straight away

yes she can. Seen lots of it

what is this visa you're talking about? the Graduate visa?

do you meet the requirements for PR? if yes, why don't you straight away apply for PR since at the end of the Graduate visa you would still have to apply for PR

ah. try and get into honours. you'll get extra points. the graduate visa isnt exactly considered an extension, it's main role is to help you secure the points needed for PR, like working one year in a field related to your degree so you can get the extra points needed for your PR

ah the points really depends on where your assessing body decides to throw you in. those on the demand list is 60.

pray tell what do you pay for with the 2.5k for future process?

and the temporary visa that is given to you when you apply for PR is called a Bridging Visa. usually A is given which doesn't allow you to leave the country until a decision has been made on your onshore PR application. if you need to leave you need to pay AUD 75 or 70 (can't remember the exact value) for a Bridging Visa B. Bridging Visa gives you full working rights to support yourself as well as access to Medicare whilst waiting for a decision to be made on your PR application

you don't necessarily need to apply for PR immediately after you graduate. you can always go back and a few years down the line apply for PR via the offshore option.

if they wipe clean all your points, explain how does the offshore application work then lol

there's tonnes of PR agents out there. just google them. as to whether or not they are reputable, you'll have to take a chance with them i guess

paid around RM 750 for a one way ticket from KUL to BNE. got proper food and service which i'm grateful for after suffering on D7 on the way back from OOL to KUL. i'll travel on full service airlines from now on thank you very much, no more budget airlines for these long haul trips.

nowadays when people ask for cheap, there's two ways of looking at it. you want really dirt cheap airfares with budget airlines or cheap fares with full service airlines. my suggestion is if you're looking to travel with full service airlines, look up TG. they're priced pretty competitively plus the service is top notch from what i gather

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Added on April 30, 2009, 6:11 pmhmm this one slipped my mind when i replied earlier. this is a tricky one. where are you flying from? anyway like haya said, google up the airlines servicing SYD. wiki would be a good start

This post has been edited by QuackSilver: Apr 30 2009, 06:11 PM

look, VB and Jetstar each have weekly sale prices on Friday afternoon. Register to receive updates with them and check out the deals when they send out the updates around Friday arvo.

but i must say, i'll take VB anyday

it is one of the better deals i've seen yes. thing with D7, their tickets aren't THAT cheap. consider this, i bought a ticket with D7 to fly from OOL to KUL for around AUD 580. thing is, flight time was at 0900 which meant i had to take the first train out of central at 0456, arrive at Robina at 0610 and then take a cab to OOL. total cost for that pre-flight trip was AUD 28 as i was on concession price plus off peak plus i shared a cab with a friend.

a couple of days after i bought the D7 ticket, i went over to MH's site to have a peek. i could have gotten a MH flight on the same day for AUD 650. never in my life have i felt more pissed. the departure time for MH was 2355 which was good as it meant i could take the airtrain out from central at normal hours instead of rushing at the wee hours in the morning.

well D7 was looking at Avalon but then the state government didn't want to fork out money for the expansion of Avalon, thus forcing the change to Tullamarine. the MEL sector is too good to give up to be honest.

but again, i shall say tak nak to D7

OSHC Worldcare is the one UQ registers you with. they'll do the registration for you when you pay your initial deposit. all you need to do when you've paid your deposit is to update your details with OSHC Worldcare on their website once you've gotten a residential address in Australia for them to send the OSHC card to you.

yes you'll have to go through the entire visa application process, including the health check. i think you'll have to notify your uni that you need to extend your visa in order to complete your program, just double check with the admins in uni

you would take the extra precaution when it comes to matters like this wouldn't you? just nudge them a bit to get the ball rolling

as far as i'm know i've never heard of anyone getting claims for their x-rays for the medical check up.

@kurtkantoi, even if you got the x-ray with the panel of doctors that has been approved by immigration, as long as you're applying for a different type of visa (say you renewed your student visa and so you did a medical check up then. now you want to apply for PR and you want to use your old x-rays from say 5 months earlier), no you cannot reuse the x-ray. HOWEVER, if you renewed your visa and somehow or rather you need to renew it AGAIN (same subclass visa) then yes you can reuse it, you might not even need to go for the medical check up

@hihihehe. all your friend needs to do when she renews her passport back in Malaysia is to just go to the Australian High Commission at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng with the new and old passport. she then tells the person at the guard house that she would like to label your passport with a student visa and they'll let her right in after the usual security check. head up to the first floor and head towards the reception cum enquiry desk. the person in charge will then take her old and new passport to verify details and labels her new passport. won't take more than 10 mins

i did that earlier this year so i know this part is true plus i went back when my passport expiry date was just 2 months away and my student visa expiring 1 month before my passport expiry date

yea the hours are shitty. the High Commission in KL operates with the same hours as well.

like i said, i went back with a passport which was about to expire in 2 months but all was good. if your passport has expired and you want to go back, you'll be at most be detained for an hour or so (or more, my grandaunt was interviewed for an hour) at the terminal in M'sia for you to explain about your situation.

ah. they have special guidelines for pregnant women don't you worry