rammygirl

That’s what I did. No stamps to show.  Seemed to work ok. 

Simply answer the questions on the medical form you are given honestly. At the medical the doctor may ask you to elaborate IF they think it is an ongoing issue. They do not request your records from GP IF you need to have further clarification they refer you to a specialist for a report which will state the current medical issue of concern, any current or future treatments and longer term prognosis.  Given your issues were over 10 years ago I can’t see them being relevant if no further complications.

The medical itself covers basic physical condition, eyesight, blood tests, x rays, urine test. Nothing invasive.  And it is confidential. 

6 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

I'd take a big, deep breath - you sound stressed!

If you follow the advice given by your shipping agent then you should be fine. I used PSS International at the time and they were very specific about what I should and shouldn't bring, and because they packed everything they picked up on a few things here and there. For example, the wicker laundry basket and the Christmas garland for the front door. I sold the basket and got rid of the garland, but shipped the rest of the Christmas decos without issue.

I'd definitely sell those old rusty bikes. Bikes are no more or less expensive here than they are in the UK, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Work tools and garden tools are expensive to replace here, so I'd bring those if they don't take too much cleaning but I wouldn't bother with the lawn mower - that will definitely set of alarm bells!

If like me you have a first aid kit full of old/half-used medicines then you'll need to get shut of that. I'd suggest bringing any medication you actually need in your luggage, and don't put anything that sounds like 'drugs' in the container.

When everything is packed there'll be a manifest that customs will receive at this end. If there's something suspicious on that manifest they'll open your container and you'll be charged an inspection fee. It's worth noting that they don't open the majority of containers, so you'll probably be fine. If, having opened your container, they find something they don't like then you'll be charged a cleaning or destruction fee (as Nemesis mentioned), so it's good if you don't give them a reason to open your container in the first place. As I said at the start, follow the advice of your shipping agent and you should be fine.

Then again one shipping agent told me I couldn’t ship my goose down duvet!!  Needless to say we didn’t use them. 

The tax on forex gains is a bit of a grey area. I have been told different things by different accountants and tax advisors. My eventual take is that the ATO aren’t really bothered about people’s personal taxed income and incidental gains because of timings of transfer. They are more interested in people who are actually trading currency to make profit. 
We have transferred various amounts from the UK over the years as our decision to stay became firm. Some were at a better rate than when we moved and some were worse. We have not declared any unless they triggered a tax event, like withdrawing shares or dividends. 

It can depend on your occupation exactly what is required. You can check on the immigration and assessment body website.  The visa you state is a brand new application and doesn’t get any exemptions like the transfer one.  Your original skills assessment etc may still be valid, you need to check the expiry dates. 

Yes it will be taxed by the ATO. It doesn’t have to arrive in Australia for this to happen just when you actually receive it. If it is also taxed in the UK this will be taken into account with the double taxation agreement.  Either that or you can get a refund from HMRC. 
You can arrange to just be taxed in Australia going forward there is a form to send to the ATO who approve it and send to HMRC who then inform the pension company to stop withholding tax. This as you can imagine takes a while……

The deadline for reruns is the end of this month unless you appoint a tax agent, which is probably a good idea for your first one. 

Sometimes the gates are not that far apart. The walk is good for you between long flights anyway. If there is a delay they will help you anyway. I would rather use that cash to upgrade seats tbh

1 hour ago, Nemesis said:

At present, if you are only going for a holiday, yes you can enter the UK as tourists, on Aus passports. 

Whether this will still be possible when the UK introduces its ETA remains to be seen. 

And people who let their UK passport lapse should take not that its a lot harder to get a new one a few years after expiry. 

Indeed this. I have told my son to renew his UK passport as it expired last year. 

22 hours ago, Parley said:

That is how it always works. Eg if you are travelling to the UK from Australia.

But last time we went to UK we just used our Australian passports, same for a side trip to Spain.  No need to take UK ones at all.

We are dual UK/Aus citizens with both passports living in SA. We are off to Vietnam next year. I note that although Australian citizens require a visa US$50 each  (multi entry as we are nipping to Bangkok whilst there) that UK citizens do not.

So as a tight arse married to a Yorkshireman……can we wrangle the passports in such a way to avoid visa and obey Aus requirements.

Im thinking that check ins and passport control are separate so we check in with airline on UK passport but exit on Aus one this end and arrive in Vietnam on UK one. I’m assuming we will have to leave on UK one to get exit recorded but we will need to show Aus passport to return to Aus.

Is this possible or should we just suck it up and avoid the hassle!

Much will also depend on what is studied.  Law for example is country specific. An Australian Law degree won’t let you practice in the UK without additional study for example. To try it out you could consider a UK degree that allows a year spent overseas and do that in Australia.  Extra funding is usually given to help with this.

I agree that knowing what you want in an area is good. That’s why we live in the Adelaide Hills.  Small but busy (touristy) town with 3000 residents.  I can walk to a supermarket, shops,cafes, primary schools, restaurants and pubs (hotels here) and into the countryside with vineyards and lovely scenery.  We built our own home (much more common here) to suit us. We have a large town 10 minutes drive of about 40,000 people and growing fast.  With a hospital several secondary schools, an outdoor pool library bigger shops etc plus more infrastructure being built like a big indoor pool.  Even tiny towns have a sports oval here. We have lots going on with festivals etc.

We are 30 minutes drive to Adelaide for theatre, gigs and everything else.  About 45 to a beach (plenty to choose from).

Yes it does get cold in winter here but not the grey damp freezing weather we had in the UK.

We do go on holiday to a warmer place in the depths of winter, but that is also for wedding anniversary and birthday too!

I do like the Sunshine Coast and we are considering retiring there because of the lovely weather (I don’t mind a bit of hot and steamy!) But to be as close to Brisbane as we are to Adelaide doesn’t give amazing options and it ain’t cheap!  

That won’t work as Paul said. Also if the sponsorship process hasn’t started yet then you have no idea how long it will be before you get the visa. 
You could travel alone on the WHV maybe nearer the time but tbh most people wait until they have secured the visa.

If you wait a few days maybe November dates will become available……

It is a bit complicated. Basically if the Uk company is active then the ATO are interested. We looked at this as we have a dormant UK company holding assets. We do a company return in the UK every year and company registration in UK. Not VAT registered now only income is interest.

Any withdrawals as company dividends are reported to UK HMRC but are taxed in Australia as income. No wages are paid. 
You do need to seek professional advice about your particular situation going forward though. 

On 23/08/2023 at 12:20, rammygirl said:

We have a zoom meeting with our UK adviser soon. I will ask specifically about this, we are not planning to drawdown yet but having decided not to transfer the pension to Oz because of tax and costs I don’t want to be forced to take it out and lose most to tax either!  The pot has grown substantially since we moved here in 2014. 
 

Do we know why there is suddenly a problem with non residents?  My local gov pension doesn’t seem to be an issue.

 

Reporting back on this. There is no problem with us being non residents as long as we retain a UK advisor and UK bank account. They strongly recommend Australian tax advice when looking at drawdown (which we will do).

 Maybe people have not retained Uk bank accounts and that is the problem. 
Of course things may change going forward………..

The SIPP is with AJ Bell.

We have flown from Adelaide to Tampa (visiting relatives) a long convoluted route!

From Sydney or Melbourne to Orlando is much easier and quicker.  It is 23 hours minimum to UK all up so that is easily doable. 
It’s the time travel that got us, much worse on our return to Oz.

Depends on how fast you want it. Air freight is fast and often cheaper than excess luggage. Otherwise Seven Seas can ship boxes, this takes a couple of months or so but can be cheaper. 
No way round it You will have to get some quotes, once you know the size and weight of the box.

It may even be cheaper to use fedex or similar.

Are you both Australian citizens?  If not I would seriously consider doing this before leaving. If at all possible your whole family should have the same, both Uk and Aus passports. 
Down the line your child can move back to Australia but without citizenship you may find this difficult.

I can’t give you an exact figure but it won’t be cheap. A few thousand pounds all up.

But who knows how much that will be in 4 years time.  Also rules change all the time and you might find there will be a ban on importing cats by then. We could not bring our budgies or reptiles for example and had to rename them.
Already many councils require cats to be confined to your own premises at all times and neutered and registered. More are adopting harsher rules every year. 
Cats pose a huge problem to native wildlife here (not adapted to such predators) and although feral cats are a much bigger problem pet cats are still complicit.

If your cats are free to roam at home they might not adapt well to being confined.  Not all councils require this at present, our local cats are very clever as they know to return home for curfew! 

Yes either apply for a new visa or for reinstatement of citizenship (often easier) .

Assuming citizenship will be given up because dual citizenship is not possible, but in that case you would be leaving Australia anyway?

It is a condition of the vis grant so 2 years from PR.  The grant letter explains that. The employer has to also commit Zander prove the position is for a minimum of two years as well. Sometimes this doesn’t happen, if the employer goes bust for example. 
There are circumstances where people leave and it has no consequence, but these are often where no other choice is possible.

Usually these things are not discretionary. You meet the criteria and you get it. 

It is different here as the car is insured. Some have age restrictions and extra excess for unnamed drivers. When I checked ours about this very thing they said it was fine even with a UK license. Better always to check with insurance first though……..

You need to list and value things for insurance anyway, again not every single item but larger and more valuable items should be listed individually.