rammygirl

The assessment for immigration purposes doesn’t qualify you as a licensed sparkie here you need to look at licensing in the state you will be in. Follow the links above.  
Just in case you hadn’t realised this as many people think that passing the migration assessment means you can work unsupervised 

We used Britannia and all was fine. Be aware that most are franchises and service does vary! Many use other agents in Australia  

Ask about shipping routes, especially at the moment with security issues. We paid more to have the container loaded on a different ship that was much quicker. We also paid more for final delivery as the big truck couldn’t get up the long drive so be advised that anything other than standard will cost extra. 
 And we insured with Letton Percival.

Plus repayment rules can and do change even for people already paying the loan. My son decided it was worth paying off his HECS debt and we were able to help him do that, and did the same for other sons English student loans. 

2 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

The cap next year is 30k.

Because super contributions are taxed on entry (not exit like they are in UK pensions) it generally isn't smart to go over the 30k if it's out of your own income as there are better investments to put fully taxed personal income into.

Yes and I have a variety but the gains are taxed so super is a good alternative investment for me as I didn’t have one at all. After tax contributions are not taxed on entry or exit if you don’t overdo it or take it too early. 

You can definitely set up a super fund here without ever having paid employment. I did this and bump started it with contributions from taxed funds as a form of investment that I can take tax free later. You can also put earned income in over and above your employer contributions up to a cap. 
 

We did this plus added the sales brochure of the house we just sold and (with permission) details of the rental we were in on arrival whilst looking as a reference.  
No harm in showing details of the house in UK you will be renting out either 

Agree with making face to face contact with agents at inspections but don’t take up too much of their time as they usually hustle off to other viewings. Even if the property isn’t what you want you can give them your details and explain what you are looking for.  Don’t however expect them to contact you personally if something comes up subscribe to their list and also to the main sites to get alerts.

Don’t assume that fee free is better either. Check the actual amount that will land in your account. That’s the bottom line. Often paying a fee  is better value overall. 

I managed by using an old Uk address. I could then change it. You can try and call them too

3 hours ago, Lavers said:

Just like being back at home living in the hills

But less grey and damp!

17 hours ago, hop said:

Immediately. Australia is soulless and isolated. I miss good manners (no one says "please" in Australia), I dislike being called "mate" constantly. I miss the mountains, lakes, forests and all the amazing scenery in the UK. There's no scenery in Australia, just sand and bushes. I miss British accents, British TV (Australian TV is unwatchable), British supermarkets which are light years ahead in quality and choice. I miss the UK's temperate maritime climate. It's too hot to do anything outdoors in Australia.

I miss Christmas in the UK. Christmas has no atmosphere in Australia. Although I'm not terribly religious I miss churches and village greens and British pubs and houses with character. In Australia I've been harrassed by people in the streets, many of them I suspect were on drugs and I was attacked once. The police didn't care. They laughed when I reported an item was stolen from the rental. Never had a problem in the UK in over 50 years with regards to crime.

I miss how friendly and reliable people are in the UK. When selling items on Facebook everyone bar one person turned up on time. Wonderful experience. In Australia I had a terrible experience selling items. 

I miss etiquette. People walk around barefoot in shops which is incredibly rude. Do that in a supermarket in the UK and you would be asked to put on shoes and rightly so. I was horrified to find the bathroom had no ventilation, no extractor fan or even a window and to make matters worse there were sockets. So unless you have the door open (so no privacy) the room will fill with condensation so very dangerous.

I miss professionalism we have in the UK. Train drivers blasting out loud music from their cabs is something I never heard on UK trains. Estate agents showing me around a flat that was a complete mess. He blamed the tenant but it should be the responsibility of the estate agent to ensure rentals are tidy before allowing anyone to look around. 

I don’t really recognise that view of Aus. Not like that where I am in the Adelaide Hills. The only thing I do agree with is that I do find Christmas a bit strange still. 

It is possible and easy to get British passport from Australia.  You might find though that because your passport expired so long ago it might not be possible to simply renew it without having to go through extra steps like an interview. I would start the application and see. 
 

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

Can’t add anything to the above except that you may need to send proof of where the funds came from as a new customer. 

Have you checked if you are eligible for PR without an employer sponsor?  189, 190 for example. 

Choose the one that best fits your qualifications and experience. Once you have that visa you can apply for jobs in any field even outside nursing. As long as that code works for the 189. 

If you are resident in Australia that is where you are taxed. Sometimes HMRC withhold tax or tax you but the agreement between Uk and Australia means you can offset any tax or opt to be taxed only in Australia. 
worth paying for advice for your particular situation. Unfortunately few people can give dual Aus and Uk advice plus financial advice. I would start with a dual Uk Aus tax accountant. 

I think what ken is saying is that only the increase in the value from when you inherited it is taxed. Not the whole amount. You should look at the valuation on transfer to you to establish growth. This will be taxed at your marginal rate. 
The longer you leave it the more growth therefore more tax to pay. 

Will he still be liable for UK inheritance tax as he is on a temporary visa?

3 hours ago, Nemesis said:

So does a Movecube get a container to itself? Or get loaded simply as it is with no outer protection? (serious question, would be interested to know!)

Personally I had lousy service from Sevenseas and wouldn't touch them but that wasn't Movecube related.

I think they load them into a metal container, so yes shared, but more predictable. 

7 hours ago, hispurpose said:

That is crazy expensive! I would just go for the longer flight, and maybe even explore the possibilities of other cities to fly from, or maybe even there's a connecting flight somewhere?

That isn’t direct. There isn’t one. Three flights as we need to go to Melbourne or Brisbane first. 

I think the main issue is timing. Sometimes it can take longer for a container to fill with part loads thus delaying shipping. 

Look at the 189 and 190 visas. Find a job on the list you feel matches your skills and qualifications ( there may be more than one ). Look at the assessment to see if you can provide the evidence and recent experience. Work out your points. 
both these visas are PR and once you have them do not actually require you to work in the field you applied under so you can look at anything. Some jobs will require additional licensing depending on the state like teaching. 

On 10/04/2024 at 08:06, Marisawright said:

That's because different solutions suit different situations.

The easiest option is "bring hardly anything" but it will cost you by far the most, in the long run.  As you're discovering, you'll get peanuts for your existing stuff, and you'll have to replace all of it in Australia.  In the short term, you can keep the cost of replacement down by buying second-hand, but in the long run, you'll give the second-hand stuff away and buy 'proper' furniture, so overall, you'll end up shelling out more

As Lavers says, sit down and do a pretend shop at Harveynorman.com.au. Don't just browse, actually choose what you would need to buy and "Add to Cart", then when you're done, go and look at the total.  That will put the cost of shipping into proportion and help you decide if it's worth it. If you're going to be in a major city, and you're happy with IKEA, then you could do the same on their Australian website -- but do check that there's a branch in the city you're going to, as they're not everywhere by any means.

Have you had a quote for a shared container and compared it to Movecube?  Movecube used to be a great option but the prices have gone up a lot recently.  

Of course, the big downside of shipping everything is the waiting time.  There's not much point in shipping, if you end up having to buy new furniture anyway because the container hasn't arrived.   If you can borrow furniture from friends and family in the UK, then you're sorted -- get an estimate of how long the container will take, and ship early, so you won't have so long to wait at the other end.   

Having said that, it's worth noting that furniture stores here (except IKEA) don't keep stock.  Buy a sofa from Harvey Norman and you'll have to wait 6 to 8 weeks for it to arrive.  So leaving everything behind because you'll be able to furnish your new home quicker here, isn't necessarily true. 

Harvey Norman is expensive for furniture though. Good but overpriced imho.  Ok for electrical bits though. Depends what you have now. It can be worth collapsing flat pack stuff to save space. We did end up buying floorstock sofa as we couldn’t wait 8 weeks for delivery, you can get a bargain that way but takes a lot of traipsing round stores. 
 

On 28/01/2024 at 06:17, Bulya said:

Lifelong friends?  What a strange concept..

I have 9 friends most I have known from childhood some from high school. We are all in our 60s and keep in touch. They are having another reunion next month a weekend in a holiday home in UK. I can’t go this year so will be joining them remotely!  
These are deep connections. 

12 hours ago, Lisa Kent said:

Since your son has a citizenship certificate, he should be good to go for travelling because he can't be denied entry in his own country. Just make sure to bring along his expired Australian child passport and certificate of citizenship. It's always a good idea to reach out to the Australian embassy or consulate in the UK to double-check everything. 

It is the airline he has to convince. They have no obligation to fly undocumented passengers. They also seem to be tightening up on this. 

Just looked at flights to Tampa from Adelaide for September $6000 each economy!