Garym85

Hi All, We have about 18 months left on our car finance and have a final payout figure from them. can anyone advise if I were to take out a credit card and pay off the car completely with this using a special introduction rate- would this be treated as a purchase or balance transfer? The plan is to pay the car off quicker by overpaying and if I can save accruing interest on the existing car finance then even better. Checked and there are no early payment penalties with car finance company.

Hi All, Sold my UK property a couple of Months ago. Only had it 4 or 5 years but sold it for around £10k more than I bought it/its value at the time. I’ve done the HMRC CGT calculation and after everything comes out it shows I have NO CGT to pay in the UK. if this is the case, would I potentially still have CGT to pay here? I presumed double taxation rules kick in from UK and as there’s not actually much gain I’m exempt there and hoped that’s the case here too…or is it more complex than that and I would still have tax to pay?

Hi all, my fiancée and I have had our PR for 18 months now. We came in on my 457 with her as my defacto early January 2017. I came by myself as she had a work project to finalise in the UK First. technically I tick both of the boxes for citizenship in January as that’s 4 years with at least 1 as PR. she didn’t permanently move here until the September that year but she did travel over in February(one month after I arrived) for 3 weeks. Would February be the start of her 4 years or September? also, prior to this she was here for a year on WHV and left a year before I arrived. Not sure if this is also a contributing factor in her time in Australia? want to get the application in as soon as possible but making sure we meet all requirements. thank you

Yes, they have all of this.

Hi All, Asking for a friend... Current situation; he is on a 2 year 457 which expires in around 3 months time. He has been in a relationship with a AUS citizen for about 18 months and they want to live here. Question I have- If he submits the 820 visa application (lets say in the next couple of days) does he immediately get a bridging visa, or does the bridging visa take effect when his 457 comes to an end? If so, what is his working rights? this part is a bit confusing and I can't seem to find a clear answer. Am i correct in saying the 820 takes around 2 years to come through then the 801 is after that? thanks

Thanks mate! Yeah, submitted on 28th March and got the 'S56 request for further info' two days later for Medicals and police checks We had already booked this in when they launched the application on the 28th and had all docs finalised a couple of weeks later

PR granted today! Details have gone to my MA who will message me on Monday I am sure but checked my IMMI account and status changed from further assessment to finalised today and the 186 is in the attachments! Just over 5 weeks from start to finish. Good luck everyone...it'll come soon!

Congratulations! I'm very similar timelines to you- I applied a few days after you did- Marketing specialist also from UK and now in NSW. Did you have the S56 request for further info? We got this less than 48 hours after applying which means the case officer is looking at it. submitted the final police checks and medicals two weeks ago and status is 'Further assessment'

4 Weeks. 186 TRT Marketing specialist Sydney

Hey, I know how you feel. I go through phases, as does my partner. We are early 30's, about to have our PR granted and I often have a period of wanting to go back to UK. Missing friends and family, seeing family get older, missing key milestones in the closest people to our lives- its all hard! Missing chinese takeaway seems like the icing on the cake sometimes! We went back to UK last year for a friends wedding, and doing the same again in a few months. Everyone has grand plans but found that you need to make all the effort. we looked forward to 'coming home' to Australia after three weeks in UK. As you have PR you are in a better position than most, I know a few people who've been in our position then gone home- the weather is rubbbish, everyone is moaning, brexit is on the horizon and the uncertainty about many things as a result. Sometimes it's difficult to build a network of friends here to turn to- it is in Sydney, although I do work with some of the best people, its still not the same. What I'd say is- Have no regrets. The UK isnt the worst place but you came here for a reason, some days are hard, some are great....stick it out for a while longer and see if it passes.

I'm very similar position to you here- I applied on 28th March, Request for further info on 30th March and I did the police checks that day. They took three weeks to arrive from uk...Everything else was done. I chose the tracking option which probably made it harder as I checked progress to see it took 9 days in Australian customs! good luck

Late to the party with this but we flew our Cavoodle from Sydney to Perth with us when we went over for 2 weeks- cost was around $250 and she was absolutely fine. arrived safely at each side and we watched her boarding into the hold from our seat. Only virgin and Qantas carry pets and spaces are extremely limited. I believe most aircraft will only carry a max of 2 pets. we flew VA and even got velocity points for her!

Hi Jo, It's a contentious one! I found it really easy to re-mortgage to a better rate and 3 year fixed term by doing a variation of existing mortgage. (It saved me over 120 pounds a month!) If you want to re-mortgage to release equity then that will be far more difficult, It is possible I believe but you would only be able to get to a certain LTV and most likely pay a higher APR. We are a few years down the line and similar position as we own two places- We're most likely going to sell one or both to buy here.

Absolutely would be easier if your husband is citizen so he probably easily has 100 points of ID. That said, Passport is 70 straight away! How easy really depends on your location and budget. If you are trying to rent a mid-price apartment in Bondi just before summer theres likely to be lots of other applicants therefore someone with no rental history is going to slide down the pecking order. When I arrived, I found that getting to chat to the real estate agent proved a good tactic- I went to a couple of viewings with no interest in the property. Again, massively depends on location but if you like somewhere- its worth completing 1form which most real estate agents use, you still must view it but once you do, if you like it you have a head start on the others.

Hi Paul, Sorry to hijack- I was also looking into this so following to get updates. Am I correct in saying that with a rabies shot and all paperwork the dog doesn't need to stay in Quarantine? Also, can you advise on what the rough costs of transporting your dog are? Hope you get all of your questions answered and your dog is good to go!