Nemesis

I have to agree with Paul on that one, I've seen several agents over the years say the same as him, if you are offshore at the time of the grant then change of circumstances between grant and validation has to be reported to the Department. I would say that your biggest sticking point. Never seen one give the advice that your agent has given, that it doesn't matter once the vias is granted.

Yeah I'm well aware I'm a fat old cow, but I wasn't when I went to Brisbane over 20 years ago, and I hated the heat just as much then as now. The public transport in Brisbane is pretty good, both buses and trains. Most suburbs have a very regular bus service and they've built a lot of bus lanes and tunnels over the last few years. Suburban shopping strips are ok, lots of little cafes, the one thing they lack is pubs. Come the evenings you generally have to head for the Valley, CBD, Caxton Street if you want a drink. If you do find a pub in the suburbs they are often shut by 8.30 as everything and everyone seems to shut down early. I couldn't believe how many pf my work colleagues were in bed by 8 every night! No socialising after work - there was never time before their early nights. Then all up with the lark at 4.30-5am, horrible way to live I was a northside person, and there are some great suburbs fairly near the CBD - places like WIndsor and Wilston, both of which have great schools. Wooloowin is much improved these days too. Be interesting to see how the continuing fiasco of the Olympics affects the city. Lots of stations are being closed for months so they can be "improved" for 2032 and some suburbs are likely to be impacted by rebuilding and redevelopment of sporting venues. Could be good for the city and its future residents, and make it the city of choice - or it could condemn them to years of chaos, especially on the roads!

Applications in 2021 were affected by COVID staffing issues and mail delays. I've seen people recently reporting UK passports received back in Oz in a couple of weeks. One I saw somewhere today got their UK and Australian ones back on the same day, having applied for both at the same time, under 3 weeks.

The heat & humidity was the thing is disliked the most about Australia. However its only now I've been back in the UK for a few months that I've realised how much better I feel in a cooler climate. My health has improved a lot, and my mood is so much better, much less short tempered. I'm not stressed by being hot and sweaty after a 15 minute walk to thd bus stop, I can sit outside and relax without feeling hot and exhausted. i know people say there are only about 20 days a year when Brisbane is too hot but thats a very individual thing. I used to find 9 months of the year too hot!

I would add a caveat to this though, not every property in Brisbane has air con, and even fewer have heating. The more modern places do, but take care to check as there are older properties, especially rentals, which do not.

Speaking to a registered agent would probably be better than to the Dept phoneline, which is notorious for giving bad or incomplete information.

You don't necessarily have to live in Oz for 2 years, you can be granted a 3 month or 1 year RRV without the residency requirement, but I agree that without living in Oz at all the chances if any RRV are greatly reduced.

Thanks for the updated info Paul

You must enter Australia within 12 months of either the police check or the medical, whichever was done first. Exceptions are very rare. This first activation visit can be as short as a few hours, you do not actually have to make the permanent move in that time. You then have the remainder of the 5 years to make the move to Australia. Current RRV fee looks like $465 https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/fees-and-charges/current-visa-pricing#

Yes. if you are onshore you are given that visa, because itherwise you would instantly be illegally in Australia as soon as you gave up citizenship. if you are offshore you have to apply for a new visa if you want to enter Australia.

No, my move was done by Chess

Did mine in March, took 3 days to get approval, thats all. As above, I listed things as Books x 300, plates x 10, jackets x 5 etc

The visa won't be cancelled until the ceremony. As long as the RRV is still valid she can travel on that. No need for bridging visas.

I think I learnt it around the same age, when I was in the Brownies

Agreed wholeheartedly. Caring for sick family members is probably unlikely to be enough on its own.

No its ok, I got that!! That was just the beginning of his problems - he was renting out units for cash, no bond or contract, and would let himself in randomly to wander round hen he felt like it and pick up the rent in brown envelopes! I only discovered this when I told my hubby (who had lived there for a few years) that we should tell the agents about the fire. He looked puzzled and said "what agents?" A rare temper loss on my part, and insistence on moving to a more secure and safe property, came just before the police started looking at him, and the ATO came along close behind. We got out in time, the other tenants ended up with 3 days notice to leave, and of course no recourse to RTA or anything. Back on topic though, I remember being surprised when told about the whole plug-changing thing. Back in my UK childhood, eons ago, it was almost a rite of passage to be able to change a plug properly!

My desktop actually worked perfectly (no idea what current it used) and the outcome in the end was that the landlord got a huge fine from whatever electric company it was for having 6 units with outdated fuseboxes and had to fix them asap! That guy was so dodgy even the cockroaches avoided him.

This is Queensland - We had a dodgy fuse box which the landlord should have updated years before, but when it caught fire the insurance refused to pay out anything (minor brown-out damage) as the landlord said he knew we had changed the plug on my desktop from UK to Australian ourselves.

Chess did the Australian end of my move when I came home to the UK this year, but Britannia handled the UK end, so you may find this also holds true in reverse. Both companies were excellent. Good and timely communication, both by email and phone, very proactive with solutions for parking of vans outside property in Brighton (street is well populated with double yellows & traffic wardens. The removal men themselves couldn't have been more helpful and nothing was broken or damaged. You would probably just need to email for a quote to regional cities. The trip would probably involve subcontracting, whereas for capitals they have the infrastructure in place. Its almost certainly do-able, just more expensive.

No reason at all why you shouldn't be able to get another visa, either tourist or PR. Even if you had an initial 3 year ban that would have expired Just be honest about the previous situation; they will have it all on file to check against. If you're worried though, speak to a registered agent and get them to advise of the best route to take.

There might be jobs you could do with your qualifications, but that doesn't mean that they are jobs on the skills lists that would actually get you a visa, or that those qualifications would get you through a skills assessment. Have you thought of consulting a registered migration agent at all?

QSuper were a bit sneaky on that one, as when I first spoke to them they told me you "just tick a box to say you have retired". Ended up a bit more complicated than that and meant I only got the money a few days before flying home, as they wouldn't release it till my employers (Qld Govt) confirmed that they weren't sending any more payments. And I think they only confirmed that in the end cos I rang them every day for a fortnight and made a right pain of myself!

AFP you need to be a citizen but the States set their own rules. I have a good friend now a Senior Sgt in QPS after joining when she arrived as a new PR on a Spouse Visa about 10 years ago

Easter will always be cheaper than Christmas. Dredging up my BA training from the Dark Ages, there are established time-frames for airline prices rises/cuts. So roughly speaking, fares rise for Xmas on around the 14th December, and fall again around 14th January. they then stay around the same level until around 2 weeks before Easter (dates change each year of course) when there is a slight peak, but prices then may drop back if there's an early Easter, before a rise for UK/Europe-summer fares in mid June. Drops slightly early September, then again for mid October, staying down till the Xmas fare rises. Sometimes if you play with dates and go back or forward just a day or two you can make a big difference by missing the rise/fall especially at Christmas. Budget airlines tend to base themselves more around school holiday demand, but the main airlines all use roughly the same price guides.

They do usually ask for proof of "retirement" though - or at least proof of finishing work at that time. i had to supply evidence that I had finished work on a specific date, and then QSuper contacted my employer to check there were no further payments coming in.