LAND DOWNUNDER

[Kath 0]

hi heather

your most welcome with the help mate..i think ya might be right about the form..i will just have to take a look at my files in mountain of stuff i have collected over the years for this stuff ..lol

heather if you feel you need to get as much stuff together as you think you need do it just for your own peace of mind...but as many can tell you they just might not even look at it...with this process ya never know who ya might get on the day of interview..so better to be safe than sorry i reckon..

well i have a full blown cold now thanks to my sis in law..rotten thing lol..the drugs have just kicked in so thought i would pop in while the bumping of my head is quite..

talk to ya soon

kath

[myperfectflaw 11]

Which park, lol, we have a zillion of them I love it here too, and when I went to Queensland people kept asking me how I liked it compared to home, and I kept thinking, it really didn't feel much different to me like I expected it would. I think my fiance will be comforted by that Except, I think he might have some issues with winter time here

Char

The park in the downtown area with the river, merry-go-round and the big red radio flyer in it, (and all those metal statues of people running). That's the only park I've been to in Spokane.

Being the dork I am I couldn't resist going down the children's silde on the radio flyer... Here is me standing in it, my brother in law is the clown hanging upside down underneath it.

Ah, that would be Riverfront Park...the carousel is one of the oldest still operating ones in the US and has 4 very old and expensive rides on (random factoid ). It's a great park, the kids love the radio flyer slide! Next time you're in town, you should check out Manito Park (assuming it's during the warm time of the year!!), it's absolutely amazingly beautiful!! Cute pic

[kat loves matt 0]

Hi Aussies (and lurking Kiwis)!

Whew! *wipes brow*

I FINALLY finished collecting/collating/photocopying/highlighting (you name it, I've done it) all the documents Matt needs from me for our first K1 packet.

I've just mailed it to him 30 minutes ago. It's taken me five days. I've used at least 1,000 sheets of paper! (Not all of them got sent, mind you.)

This visa shenanigans is tiring and expensive, eh?

Worth it, though.

[SydneytoWaco 0]

My fiance and I just got the NOA2 so we are both pretty excited! Was wondering what you Aussies (or Kiwis for that matter) do to try and stay in touch with fellow Australians. I love the US and am looking forward to eventually living there but having spent months at a time there before I have to admit that the accents kind of drive me a little nuts and I long to hear some 'normal' sounding people. I am going to be in Waco TX if that helps. How do you Aussies cope with the similar but different feeling that the US evokes? (in me at least)

I mean I love basketball and MMA (sports wise) and I am going to a similar climate in east Texas so it isn't exactly a shock to the system... but I wouldn't mind keeping in touch with some Aussies if just for the laid back attitude, the lack of religiousness and the general irreverence.

[J_Girl 0]

Hi Aussies (and lurking Kiwis)!

Whew! *wipes brow*

I FINALLY finished collecting/collating/photocopying/highlighting (you name it, I've done it) all the documents Matt needs from me for our first K1 packet.

I've just mailed it to him 30 minutes ago. It's taken me five days. I've used at least 1,000 sheets of paper! (Not all of them got sent, mind you.)

This visa shenanigans is tiring and expensive, eh?

Worth it, though.

"This visa shenanigans is tiring and expensive, eh?" - You are not wrong! It's a wonder they don't ask what colour underwear you have on with all the questions!

Good Luck!

[J_Girl 0]

My fiance and I just got the NOA2 so we are both pretty excited! Was wondering what you Aussies (or Kiwis for that matter) do to try and stay in touch with fellow Australians. I love the US and am looking forward to eventually living there but having spent months at a time there before I have to admit that the accents kind of drive me a little nuts and I long to hear some 'normal' sounding people. I am going to be in Waco TX if that helps. How do you Aussies cope with the similar but different feeling that the US evokes? (in me at least)

I mean I love basketball and MMA (sports wise) and I am going to a similar climate in east Texas so it isn't exactly a shock to the system... but I wouldn't mind keeping in touch with some Aussies if just for the laid back attitude, the lack of religiousness and the general irreverence.

I've been living here for about a year & a half and had a fairly easy time settling in, you really don't notice the accent after a while.

I just keep in touch with friends from home via email etc. There are a few sites around like Mates Up Over where you might be able to find some Aussies that live nearby if you want people to catch up with.

Brooke

[Merp 0]

My husband thought he would be a lone Aussie in Ohio, but he as been surprised by meeting a number of them through his work in the area. Mates up Over is a great site to find some fellow Aussies in the area as well. And well, sometimes he still finds thick american accents annoying, I don’t think he will ever get over that. And then there is having to explain where you are from every time you go out…

The biggest thing my hubby has had to adjust to is the food - he misses (and I confess I do too) a good meat pie, Bundy, and even little things like his favorite bbq sauce. I have found some sites on line that carry Aussie groceries http://www.simplyoz.com/ is a good one and we find that more and more grocery stores are starting to carry a few English/Aussie brands, though they can be expensive – we think it’s worth the cost the be happy.

We joke that we speak “Aussie” at home, and he is always happy to switch into “Aussie” when he meets one around. I know when I was over there it was sometimes just nice to hear your native tongue. To bad you are in Texas, you sound like just the kind of Aussie we wish we could find around here.

Email and Skpe help tons also!

Best of luck and Congrats!

MERP

My fiance and I just got the NOA2 so we are both pretty excited! Was wondering what you Aussies (or Kiwis for that matter) do to try and stay in touch with fellow Australians. I love the US and am looking forward to eventually living there but having spent months at a time there before I have to admit that the accents kind of drive me a little nuts and I long to hear some 'normal' sounding people. I am going to be in Waco TX if that helps. How do you Aussies cope with the similar but different feeling that the US evokes? (in me at least)

I mean I love basketball and MMA (sports wise) and I am going to a similar climate in east Texas so it isn't exactly a shock to the system... but I wouldn't mind keeping in touch with some Aussies if just for the laid back attitude, the lack of religiousness and the general irreverence.

[Jon Anderson 0]

I have found some sites on line that carry Aussie groceries http://www.simplyoz.com/ is a good one and we find that more and more grocery stores are starting to carry a few English/Aussie brands, though they can be expensive – we think it’s worth the cost the be happy.

What, no VB or Vegemite??? I've looked for the former, not available under that label here, but my fiance says Foster's Special Bitters is essentially the same thing, and that I have found. She sent a small jar of vegemite over in a package before visiting earlier this year, and I love it! Wish it could be imported. Thank you for the link. When Danni was visiting, she was frustrated with a couple recipes she wanted to prepare, couldn't find an exact equivalent here for some ingredients. We'll give that site a look over when she comes back.

And on Skype, I second this one if it works for you.

Though there are cheap rate calling plans available, I conservatively estimated that the conversations we've had through Yahoo's voice chat would have run over $100,000 at the $3/min standard rate! Yes, we talk a lot, sometimes 3-4 times a day! We tried Skype, and it bogged both our computers to the point of having to reboot. We've been putting up with the occasional glitches in Yahoo's service, but did just try Google's Talk service. It's as basic as it gets, but it's free and seems to work quite well..

Jon

[Jon Anderson 0]

What, no VB or Vegemite???

Oops, my bad, Simply Australian DOES have Vegemite. I'd been told it couldn't be imported into the US, so didn't really look for it since I didn't expect to find it there. Well, now I don't have to worry about getting busted for smuggling it into the US!

Jon

[Merp 0]

Thats right - when my husband was moving here he brough two of the extra big jars over for fear that he wouldn't be able to get it again! He was worried about being caught smuggling it in. Thats one Aussie food I still just can't get a taste for!

You are welcome for the link, we have ordered a few times from SimplyOz and have always had good luck. Only once did we have a couple of chip packets that we out of date - but that isn't a big deal at all - they were on sale.

[MzMo1102 0]

Hi everyone!

I decided to join the thread too My fiance and I have been together for 5 years now..orginially, I was going to petition him to move down here with me in Sydney but due to his job opportunity, we decided for me to finally move there....Still not officially on the USCIS system yet but hanging on there...

[J_Girl 0]

Hi everyone!

I decided to join the thread too My fiance and I have been together for 5 years now..orginially, I was going to petition him to move down here with me in Sydney but due to his job opportunity, we decided for me to finally move there....Still not officially on the USCIS system yet but hanging on there...

Welcome to the wonderful world of US immigration MzMo!

My hubby lived in OZ for a while but we also ended up here (US) because of his job.

Good luck with your petition!

[Kath 0]

hiya all

welcome to the new aussies in the thread..

merp where abouts are you two in ohio..im in toledo been here for 2years now..not many aussies up here..i always hear i got a boss thats aussie and met the husband of crickey pies and thats about it...ohh and an old lady that came over here as a war bride..

mates up over has a map with all its members on it...even as a guest you can look at your state and find other aussies near you ...

no news here ... completed my biometrics at detroit now just waiting for approval which will probably be around november i reckon..

take care

kath

[vylex 0]

Glad things are going well Kath with your process! We'll be removing conditions in about 10 months. Wow time is flying!

Thanks for the tips again Kaffy with the ATO filing! That e-tax filing app we downloaded is pretty good. We reviewed the resulting tax file and had to play around with answering the interview questions to get it to answer correctly with the Medicare MLS section but other than that it was pretty easy! Wifey was frustrated at first when we used it LOL. I told her this is a sample of what I had to go through when filing my own taxes and our visa. She has a whole new appreciation for me now haha. She also feels ripped off now for paying to get her taxes done in years past.

The ATO was a little contradictory though because there is a tool on the website that determined she was to file as a non-resident but when clicking through the tips section on the same website it specifically mentioned to file as a resident LOL. We did that instead and it made sense in the end because there was a section that covered a "threshold". That date coincided when she left to migrate so everything was pro-rated properly. We hope it all checks out because we triple checked before lodging. She was super happy because we are supposed to be getting back more than she usually does since she stopped working earlier and her yearly income was below the current taxable bracket. I hope it all checks out but I guess we find out in a few weeks when they are supposed to deposit the refund into her bank account.

Hope everyone is doing well!

[MzMo1102 0]

Thanks J_Girl and Kath! Yes, a long journey sure awaits!