DoDirtsLikeWorm:


Very true.
Though the sluggishness of the V.O in dishing out visas might be a factor, and you know those that has gotten grants have not been able to get in since 2020.

Also many students who got grants do not know about the thread's existence?

The latter we can work on by pasting the threads link in Student's page.

tyosho:
It will be nice if this thread is restricted to info about life in australia.Not questions on how to secure visa or gain admission.

My family and I made use of IOM to secure our travel tickets.We went with emirates and had a stopover in Dubai.Nothing special about the travel experience.We were entitled to 40kg per adult,40kg for a child and 23kg for infant.We also paid for 2 extra bags of 32kg each but i hear prices have gone up so cargoing is cheaper.You can cargo through certain airlines like saa,emirates and etihad.
All in all we had like 12 luggages.
I went with ALL kinds of food stuffs except beans(becos of weavils).With my food items,i put them individually in transparent bags and labelled them.Fish,egusi,dry pepper,garri,amala etc.
Got to melbourne,declared i had food items but was not searched and was allowed to go through.

We opened accts with NAB and commonwealth bank but didnt transfer any money from nigera.We went with some cash and left the remaining in a GT dom acct and transferred from there to our OZzy acct when we arrived.We also opened a dom acct in OZ(commonwealth bank was seamless) for ease of transfer.There might be a cheaper way to transfer funds but this is what we did.

We stayed with family in Northern suburbs initially but got our own place in the Eastern suburbs,somewhere not far from Dandenong.We settled for the East because its quite busy,more factories and industries in these areas.If i dont live in the East,I will go for the North and West in that order.West is cheapest but people say it has a history of crime.I however have friends who have lived in the West over 10years and have never had any incidents.Anyhow,wherever you decide to stay is fine.Just get somewhere close to the train station and mall.

In melbourne,you can use your naija license for 6months.My husband passed his victoria drivers test on first attempt,i havnt tried yet for my drivers license.People say though that it can be quite tough cos i know someone who failed 5times!I was able to start driving within 2months of getting here.Just remember,you drive on the left always.

No ideas on how mortgages work but when choosing a neighborhood,also consider ones with good schools if you have kids.If your kids are still of daycare age(below 5),use careforkids.com.au to compare prices,reviews etc.

Settling in was not bad for me cos i had friends and family here already.My kids settled fine as well.

Upon arrival;
Get a mobile sim(i use lebara)
Apply for TFN(tax file no)
Open a bank account or go and activate the one you opened from Nigeria
Go to centerlink and medicare for registration
Get a travel card(MYki card if in melbourne).

Update your linkedin profile and make it very appealing to recruiters.You can also search for recruiters on Linkedin.

With regards to work,there is always something to do.It might not be want you want initially but there is work.Some people start off working at factories,aged care homes,disability and support centres etc until they eventually get what they want.Some people also end up going into nursing,community welfare,policing etc.But like i said,if you dont mind chopping humble pie to start somewhere earning money with these blue collar jobs,you will be okay.I know people who have houses with money earned from these blue collar professions.
There is dignity of labour here so people dont care what job you do to earn money.

For transportation,if you can afford it,pls plan to buy a car asap(carsales.com.au,gumtreee.com.au).please buy cars with roadworthiness and valid registration(at least 6months).If no car,you can use the metro system until you can afford to get a car here.

For housing,a friend referred us to her agent who leased us an apartment even though we didnt have jobs at the time.She accepted our bank statements as proof of income.We pay just a little below 2k monthly as rent.

Then i also just found out about NRAS housing scheme from a colleague days back.Its for families who fall within a certain income threshold.IF your rent was like 350,you would pay like 260 and the govt will pay the balance.I dont have much info as i dont qualify anymore since hubby and I both work now.But im certain most freshbies would qualify.

With furnishing the house,we went across gumtree.com(for people who were selling their furniture due relocation or other reasons),kmart stores( for kitchen items),bestbuy.com(this is a company that sells new electronics at reduced prices because they have scratches or marks on them;there are plenty stores like that but this is the one i patronised) and ikea stores(for kitchen and beddings)

For people that dont mind as well,in order to save costs,you can patronise Salvos stores(its a charity shop that all kinds of household items in great condition).

To get the best energy providers,internet providers,insurance etc,you can make use of iselect.com.au

During cold weather,you wear jacket and use heater(we paid almost 200 a month for heating during this past winter)

I do most of my shopping at Dandenong Market as food stuffs there is cheaper than everyother place I know.There is also Marmara market at Dandenong(all kinds of food items including shaki,cowleg,cow tongue etc) and an African store not far from the market(cant rememeber the name).At noble park is SUR african shop where i get dry fish,palm oil,egusi and stuff like that.

With departmental stores,woolworths is most expensive and aldi is cheapest.Coles is in between.
I know of only one nigerian restaurant that recently opened in the city and i have never been there before.
There is also another popular naija shop in the West called Fatimoh"s shop

With centerlink link claims,we were paid family tax benefit part A and B,family rebate and child care assistance.This all sumed up to $621 forthnightly for the first 4months,it came down to 550 and then now sits at $89 fortnightly.It reduces with every income increase.
Childcare rates was $113 for two kids initially (5days a week) and now is $370 a week.

We also got a concession card which has now been cancelled since we both have jobs.With the concession card,we paid discounted electricity and waterbills,half price for transportation,free ambulance cover,susbsizied fees if we had done any studies at the time and my first kid who is in kinder got 15hours free of daycare weekly .

With jobs,for me,it was just God.I got a job in the Tier 1 team of an IT company with no technical knowledge whatsover.It was my 3rd video interview and i got the job two months after arrival.I commute 54mins by train to the CBD which is quite a distance by OZ standard.But i dont mind really.I got the job through indeed.com which i prefer to seek.com
There a couple of recruitment agencies i know and i will list as i remember.

Strategy one(blue collar)
Adecco
Hoban
Ozstaff(blue collar)
Randstad
Sharp &carter
Hays
Smaart



cc Bellong,vinsmuft,funkjo,oknee,hordunayo,incemay,abeg you guys should come and add o

alao1981:
Hi everyone. With the hope that borders will be opened for international students soon, I was wondering if anyone can update this very helpful post by Tyosho. Some of the information may now be dated, especially due to Covid but it covers a lot of information that people coming into australia will need. I am moving to Melbourne from Nigeria when borders opened and will appreciate any update. Thanks.

ozonechrome:


Nothing has changed.

The information is still 100% valid. States are considering scrapping hotel quarantine if you double vaccinated.

DrCollins218:
Good day everyone, this forum is very informative, thanks to the admins here.

I recently received my PR grant and I plan to move to Aussie sometime next year. I have been applying for jobs but I'm afraid that recruiters may not be able to reach or respond due to my number not being a local Australian number.

Please I need advice on how to get a local Australian number from outside Australia.

Thanks and God bless you all.

DrCollins218:
Good day everyone, this forum is very informative, thanks to the admins here.

I recently received my PR grant and I plan to move to Aussie sometime next year. I have been applying for jobs but I'm afraid that recruiters may not be able to reach or respond due to my number not being a local Australian number.

Please I need advice on how to get a local Australian number from outside Australia.

Thanks and God bless you all.

Ladykeigh:
Hello all, I am a newbie on here. I began reading this thread last night and have resumed this morning again....lol
@bellong thank you for all you do on this forum.


My husband and I have decided to relocate with our 3 kids to enable us give them the opportunity for a better life.


I have a B.Sc in Computer science and worked for a bit in customer care and banking before I resigned in 2013. I have been a food entrepreneur eversince so I bake, cater e.t.c and more recently started an online breakfast company, and my husband has a B.Sc in Statistics and has more years of professional work experience than I do. He is currently at a Solar energy company where he's their Country Program Manager. Who in your experience/opinion is more suited to be the principal applicant for a PR VISA?

Thank you.

gcey2k:


Sir, it will be better to direct your question here.

https://www.nairaland.com/3053069/general-guide-australian-permanent-resident

And as regards the 476, Sorry to say you are not eligible.

And for others who might want to ask, the 476 Visa is an 18 months temporary work visa in all of Australia. To be eligible you MUST:

1. Be an ENGINEERING graduate NOT MORE than 2 years ago from a reputable FOREIGN university. No Nigerian University is eligible. In fact only one Tanzanian University is eligible in all of Africa.

2. Be under 31 years of age.

Other requirements are English Language proficiency tests, character (police) and medical certifications.

DrCollins218:


Hello, if you haven't received your Aussie PR yet, I advise that your husband should apply for the global Talent independent program. From what you stated herein, it seems your husband is more than qualified for a PR via GTI. You can contact me if you need further assistance.

joeybillz:
Goodday @DrCollins can you please explain to me what Global Talent independent program is all about, someone told me about it but I'm yet to understand it please(i have bsc in fisheries), he stated I can apply to Australia.please can you explain to me further.

yungmin:
Please, can anyone share a link to this southern Australia website where one can apply for regional nomination? When I put it on Google, mostly agents websites pop up.

I'd really appreciate this. Thanks

Solitin40:

https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/skilled-migrants/supporting-information/state-nomination-requirements

Solitin40:
Good News

ocpaschal:
Pls which of the foreign airlines can I buy flight ticket from in order to fly to Melbourne, Australia?
Which foreign airlines that depart from Nigerian airports (Abuja airport or Lagos airport) have connecting flight to Australia?

ocpaschal:
Pls which of the foreign airlines can I buy flight ticket from in order to fly to Melbourne, Australia?
Which foreign airlines that depart from Nigerian airports (Abuja airport or Lagos airport) have connecting flight to Australia?

Froshloaded:
They might ban flights because of this new covid variant.

DoDirtsLikeWorm:


Done already

alao1981:
Hi everyone. With the hope that borders will be opened for international students soon, I was wondering if anyone can update this very helpful post by Tyosho. Some of the information may now be dated, especially due to Covid but it covers a lot of information that people coming into australia will need. I am moving to Melbourne from Nigeria when borders opened and will appreciate any update. Thanks.

alao1981:

Dear All, I arrived Australia yesterday and wanted to quickly provide an update for people travelling after us. Historically, it is allowed to bring some Nigerian food stuffs (e.g garri, crayfish etc) as long as you declare them on the border form. However, the foodstuff requirement has been changed and resulted in most of our foodstuffs being confiscated. There were two other Nigerians on the same flight and they also had similar experience. Apparently, whilst the food stuffs are still acceptable, it must be those purchased from branded companies with proper branded sealed packs. For example, yam flour will be accepted if you bought "Ola-Ola" from a supermarket. However, if you made it yourself and pour into a sack and label it yam flour, it will be seized. So, all of you bringing food stuffs, it is better you buy branded ones from shop rite or spar...not that you buy grounded crayfish from the market and pour into ziplock (this will be seized). The custom officer confirmed that they used to accept the home packaged items before but the rules were changed during CoVid.

Other than the above, the landing experience was seamless and no question was asked or document checked, except to collect our passport and scan. Upon scanning, we were told to pass through to pick our bags. Make sure you fill the Australia Traveler Declaration Form and submit before you head to the airport in Nigeria as you will not be allowed to board from Nigeria unless you provide automatically generated response from Australia Home Office. Best

alao1981:

Dear All, I arrived Australia yesterday and wanted to quickly provide an update for people travelling after us. Historically, it is allowed to bring some Nigerian food stuffs (e.g garri, crayfish etc) as long as you declare them on the border form. However, the foodstuff requirement has been changed and resulted in most of our foodstuffs being confiscated. There were two other Nigerians on the same flight and they also had similar experience. Apparently, whilst the food stuffs are still acceptable, it must be those purchased from branded companies with proper branded sealed packs. For example, yam flour will be accepted if you bought "Ola-Ola" from a supermarket. However, if you made it yourself and pour into a sack and label it yam flour, it will be seized. So, all of you bringing food stuffs, it is better you buy branded ones from shop rite or spar...not that you buy grounded crayfish from the market and pour into ziplock (this will be seized). The custom officer confirmed that they used to accept the home packaged items before but the rules were changed during CoVid.

Other than the above, the landing experience was seamless and no question was asked or document checked, except to collect our passport and scan. Upon scanning, we were told to pass through to pick our bags. Make sure you fill the Australia Traveler Declaration Form and submit before you head to the airport in Nigeria as you will not be allowed to board from Nigeria unless you provide automatically generated response from Australia Home Office. Best