sandch
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Everything posted by sandch
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One good reason for the application only being accepted once the sponsor is settled is that you (the sponsor) might not settle in Australia. So amongst other things, a very significant amount of money could be wasted. The "settled" test is the same for both visa types, the 143 or 173, and the processing time is the same. At the moment it seems to be around a year. Good luck with the planning!
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I think Pemajasa was saying that the minimim wage in Australia is around $15 which is correct. It's $14.79 from 1 July according to my calcs. This compares to a minimum wage in the UK of £6.08 from 1 Oct. Therefore the rate in Australia is 57% higher than here, so on the surface considerably more. But of course this is simply another peculiarity of the current exchange rate. Cheers Steve
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And as expected, a few hours later, back up it goes. DOWN by 1.5c then UP by 1.5c. Someone's making money out there. Soldier on fellow CPVers. Best wishes Steve
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There's a queue calculator for 103s somewhere on the immi site. Best to use that as this thread tends to attract 173/143 applicants.
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Some moves in the right direction for the dollar recently, lower than expected jobs growth has pushed it down today. Later it may react to news from the ECB. We've been here before but one day we'll be able to point to a point in the graph and say "that's where it turned around". :daydreaming:
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Tough one indeed Phoebe. It's all about missing out on grandchildren growing up together with our awareness of time passing which never seemed so much of an issue when we were young and feeling somewhat immortal. It's getting harder to justify both the outlay and the outflow of cash, unless one happens to be wealthy enough for it not to matter much. Going onto the 103 is not a bad idea; it seems to keep your foot in both camps whilst waiting for some normality to return to the exchange rate. No guarantee that will happen either unfortunately. All the best for getting those hard decisions right. Cheers Steve
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Hello I have sent you a private message. Best wishes Steve
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Thoughts are with you! Those flights give us a long time to think don't they? Hope the rest of the flight goes smoothly (which involves sleeping through it ideally). Best wishes Steve
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Winter in Melbourne is the first time in our lives we've owned an electric blanket. B..y marvellous for those draughty, single-glazed Melbourne igloos!!
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Hah. After the shock of the banana crisis in Oz, I sent my daughter a photo of the price tag at Tesco here when we got back. Wonder if I can attach it.....:unsure: CheapBananas.pdf CheapBananas.pdf
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Bon voyage guys. It's a strange feeling, but hope it feels good at the other end. At least the jetlag isn't of the Melbourne variety! Best wishes Steve
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One of good old Sod's more friendly laws, that, Les You can say that again. That. Beat you to it. I'm pleased to hear about the house. Trouble is that now you now have no excuse to avoid thinking about living in Oz at the very interesting rate of 1.50 to the pound. At least you've validated and got a few kg of possessions out there, a sort of flag in the earth. Best wishes Steve
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A manic week but I've just got these online prices from HiFX (within 60 seconds of each other at 18:06 on 1 June) £300 - 1.4755 £3000 - 1.4895 £10000 - 1.5131 If the £300 was in fact purchased at 1.5131 you would get another 11.28 dollars, so that represents the substitute for the "transaction charge" - about £7.50, similar to other organisations. All the best Steve
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Not heard of that one. I'll give it a try when I'm next on the ground over there (perhaps with half an aspirin!) My doc recently prescribed beta-blockers (a single one to cover 24 hours). Tried one under controlled conditions, and went to Tesco, the ultimate test for anxiety. It slowed me up a bit, but equally I was not bothered by anything that Tesco could throw at me. Only useful for a short period otherwise you come to rely on them apparently! I'm not sure what's best really. Sleeping through the long hours has got to be the goal, somehow. Having said that, my most recent experience with airline catering has been surprisingly good - would not have wanted to miss out.
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Scary stuff Gill, life is a real lottery sometimes isn't it? One of our friends was until recently a nurse at RCH involved with surgery, a high stress environment if ever there was one, but a well-regarded hospital. Best wishes Steve
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Hi Fiz Stuck in the UK for probably a couple of months while I sort out some key projects at work. Not happy, as my better half has had to return to Oz, but thank goodness for Skype at least. I can stay in touch with our other daughter for the time being, so that will help! All the best Steve
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Folks, remember that the "charges" are actually built into the rate you get with HiFX. The best way to see the effect of this is to start an online transaction with HiFX for £250, write down the rate, then abort the transaction. Then do the same for £3,000. There will be a distinct difference. This is because they do need to charge for the service, but the fixed amount is absorbed into the rate. For smaller amounts it has a disproportionate effect. It is a little disingenuous of HiFX to claim there are no charges, but I understand why the rates work this way and I still use them because I can obtain and commit to an immediate rate - I do avoid transferring small amounts through any provider though if I can avoid it. I'd quote you an example, but the service is offline until tomorrow. Cheers Steve
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Quite right Charlie - pension administrators are not exactly at the cutting edge of technology are they?
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To sum up what others have posted really: If you want control of the transfer, so that you can choose the best forex provider (see other posts), it makes sense to accumulate the funds in sterling in a UK account until you have a critical mass (£3,000), then make the transfer at a time and rate to suit you. It's been mentioned that pension providers will pay directly into an Australian bank account. However the problem I can see with this is that the receiving bank will then do the conversion and that is likely to be highly uncompetitive (the bank will determine the rate) and expensive (there will be a charge for each transfer). Good luck Cheers Steve
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Have a look at http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/guides_acts/ssg/ssguide-9/ssguide-9.4/ssguide-9.4.3/ssguide-9.4.3.30.html You may have already done so! They don't make it easy to work out, but part of the interview process is to confirm the financial ability of the assurer to support the applicant. Don't know what an AFP or NPC are, sorry. Cheers Steve
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I like the references to pulling teeth but it's more apt to describe it as having teeth pulled:frown:. The pullee rather than the puller (the latter has all the fun). On second thoughts, a trip to the dentist is over with quite quickly - the CPV process seems endless. :biggrin:
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Great news! Stay in touch and let us know how it goes. All the best Steve
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Hello It shouldn't have any impact on a future application - but have you considered switching to the standard parent visa instead? It may mean another application fee, but time spent in waiting for that would (as things stand today) be taken into account in a future 173/143 application. Good luck Cheers Steve
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Well done KandM! And the best of luck. Thank you for all your contributions during the process. :smile: Best wishes Steve
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I would view a rate of 1.527 to buy dollars with sterling today from a high street bank with deep suspicion. I suspect you were given wrong information. At the moment (9:33 BST on 20 May) you're looking at 1.50 or thereabouts for £10k from a good currency trader; from a high street bank I would expect 1.48. (ps recently saw 1.43 at a Forex booth!)