ramot

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Yes, but the ONLY way the child can accept full financial responsibility is if they change the visa conditions, which would be best served by creating a completely new visa, similar to the old 410 visa. That means the parent has no eligibility for Medicare, pensions and aged care, and the child meets all of those costs (or takes out insurance to cover them). 

Frankly I don't understand why they got rid of the old 410 visa, but the fact that they did, suggests they would be reluctant to reinstate something like that for parents. 

I agree they should shut down the parent visa to new applications immediately, as they did in New Zealand and Canada when the lists got ridiculously over-subscribed. We may even become like the UK, where there are no parent visas.

It's true that in some countries, the culture is to look after one's parents in old age. However the fact remains that for every migrant who wants to bring their parent to Australia, there are several others who don't want to or need to.  If Australia can find enough of the latter to satisfy demand, why should they bother to cater for the former? The children always have the choice to go home. 

As the 410  visa was stopped in 2005, and the new very expensive  405 visa started, there must have been a good reason, there were rumours of rorts, for the government to end the 410. and then also ending the new 405 in 1918? The 405 seemed such a lucrative one for the government, I thought they were on a winner. 

The reality of starting a new type of 410, is that there would possibly be thousands and thousands and thousands who would go on it, all getting older, and getting too expensive for them and their families to cover and then trying desperately to get government help. Perhaps that is what happened to people on both visas? we had to re-apply for our visas, initially every 2 years, then extended to 4 years, before then extended to 10, if we couldn’t get the visa renewed we had to leave, this did happen, so there is a level of insecurity on this type of visa.

One reason quite a few people I knew who left, was that the cost of living just getting too high, and the exchange rate to the pound getting worse. It was $3 to the pound when we came in 2003, so the prospect of returning to the UK permanently, with free health care was also a deciding factor.

I sometimes wonder if people compare the exchange rate of the Australian dollar to UK pound? Or just look at the million$ price tag

1 million Australian dollars equates to 564 thousand UK pounds, 

My son’s house in Bristol in good  suburb, 1930’s  semi, with 3 double bed,  one tiny bed, with loft extension, garage too small for one car, and just adequate back garden, on a slightly busy road, 750,000 UK pounds. Equates to $ 1, 330,000

My sons house in good Brisbane suburb,  modern’sh , 4 double bed, 2 car garage, large block, quiet cul de sac $750,000, equates to 425, 776 UK pounds.

Obviously just one example, but interesting 

On 25/06/2022 at 17:26, Nanna said:

Without doubt financially, house and travel wise it is UK - its the emotion I struggle with being away from my family for the most part of the remainder of our lives- but then if I live there my head argues that the money restrictions and the constraints put on us by limited property choice with other  big compromises to do with freedom there stops me!!!  I am still getting nowhere but nearer a looney bin.

Obviously I don’t know your financial situation, or where you live at present or where you intend to move to in Australia, but you imply you are moving from a cheaper area in UK to a more expensive area in Australia? leaving a lovely house and unable to buy a similar property here, and that you will be financially worse off here. 

One of the reasons my husband wasn’t keen on us getting PR here, when the opportunity arose after living in Australia for 16 years on a long term temporary retirement visa, was that because all our income comes from UK he thought we would pay lots more tax when would be taxed here as  PR. There is actually almost no difference at all! In our case, and apart from our state pension frozen, all other pensions are in our case index linked, so only the exchange rate fluctuations, makes the difference to our income.

We certainly don’t have any less quality of life here than our UK friends. I absolutely prefer our life here, love the outdoor lifestyle, plenty free or very cheap activities around, and even though we were 60 with no immediate family here when we moved here we had no problem establishing a good friendship group. I have previously mentioned that if 2 of our children hadn’t followed us to live here, there could have been a thought that now in our late 70’s we might just have considered moving back to UK,  not what we wanted to do but perhaps practical? 

Take care, hope the above might help xM

42 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

If you read the thread, you'll see part of his plan is to use his time in Australia to get some Australian experience in his chosen occupation in hopes of getting PR eventually. 

Not every WHV'er does hospitality work, many of them do their usual job.

No one is suggesting that the OP has to do hospitality work, But it’s a good fallback if all else fails. Part of the reason hospitality is so short of staff, as explained to me on Hamilton Island, Is that the island and industry was heavily dependent on back packers, the island was packed, but many outlets closed. and I know from a family member that it’s the same in Sydney. Tracy Grimshaw highlighted this on her program. 

35 minutes ago, Blue Flu said:

Reason being low wages a fewer willing to work in such positions outside of back packers. 

As mrcactus would be coming as a backpacker I thought my post was relevant. I’m not entering. a discussion about low wages.

On 25/06/2022 at 00:01, mrcactus said:

That's my next step. Like I said, still can't do anything until the deal goes through anyway so I have a bit of time. 

Hospitality industry is desperately short of staff everywhere. 

1 hour ago, Nanna said:

Been to the doctors.  All they said was make the decision to end my nightmare!!

And no my gut doesn't say remain UK or go  to Aus.

 

I have now well and truly cracked up under the pressure and woke crying my eyes out.  

 

So I think I will stop this forum for now but thank you everyone for trying to help.

 

 

First of all look after yourself, take a step back, if the decision isn’t urgent, perhaps make the decision to not make a decision, enjoy summer in UK, go for long walks, have a short break, anything to break your worry circle. If the move isn’t urgent, look at it afresh in 3, or 6 months.

Sending you a hug and wish you all the best xM

45 minutes ago, proud preston said:

Thanks all. Heartening to read the responses. I know that  sometimes responses from people I don’t know on Poms is really helpful as I feel a pain still whingeing to friends and family. 

You’re right @Quoll “entertaining regret....” serves no good purpose and is draining. It is a hard job though trying to keep yourself from not looking back.  Hoping you do get back soon for a visit. 

I think we all wonder ‘what if’ if we are honest. All of the African side of my family has moved to Australia, had children and grandchildren so made Australia the new family home, The older ones Still miss Africa, because Africa is always in your heart if you have lived there, but the younger generation are happily Australians.

Should I have gone to Zambia in my 20’s?  met my future husband there, left a long term boyfriend behind, would I have been happier?  No complaints by the way, 

Should we have left our 3 children in UK when the only real work option was as an expat?

Should we have moved to Australia when we retired?

The list could go on and on. The reality is that we make decisions with  no knowledge of how it will work out or what life might have been had we stayed, we only know the present and only you can decide the future from now. Who or what is the most important in your life, what you have, or what you might have.

34 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

What does HE want to do?  It can be difficult to find out, because he may be saying what he thinks you want to hear, instead of being honest about how he really feels.  Have you tried asking him, "If I wasn't here and you were on your own, would you move to Australia?"  If you're torn, maybe go with what would make HIM happy?

'I may have mentioned one of my friends, who's an emotional sensitive mum like you.  She had similar trials moving to Australia -- they were worried they couldn't really afford it, but she was so desperate to be with her kids and grandkids, they did it anyway. 

I wouldn't say they are struggling financially in Australia, but they have to be frugal.  They have struggled to make new friends, whereas they had relatives and other friends in the UK.  It's a difficult life, but she says it's worth it to be near the grandkids.   He hates it. He's lonely, he misses his old life, he can't afford a decent social life and they can't afford a decent holiday.  Life is boring.  He rarely tells anyone that, he bottles it all up. He knows how she feels so he just pretends.  Anyway, they can't afford to move back now.

This is going to sound harsh, but your sons don't need you.  If they needed you, they wouldn't be thousands of miles away. They love to see you when you're there, and they'll happily accept your help in the business, but do NOT use their imagined 'needs' as an excuse.  They've managed fine without you so far, and if you decide not to move, they'll carry on with the happy lives they've already established, it won't cause them a moment's trouble or inconvenience. Of course, they'll say a lot of things because they think it makes you feel good, that's all.

This is not about them, it's about what you and your husband want for yourselves.  I know that being with your kids is a huge part of what you want for yourself, and that's fine. Just don't overlook the other things that make life worth living.

We did exactly what we wanted to do when we retired. Slightly different circumstances as we were expats. We could have gone back to UK, with our 3 children and our  established friends there, but we decided to go live in Australia, perhaps for a few years as we wanted a bit more adventure. We settled easily, made good friends and 19 years later have a very good happy life.

However I’m not absolutely sure that we would stay here, had not two of our children followed us here. As we get older, and have a few health problems there is a sense of reassurance that we have children in the same country as us. It’s fine to say that you have good friends where you live and are there for you, but the reality now is that friends here of a similar age are also perhaps not  in the best health, or sadly have died. I don’t want to depress anyone, but the reality is that  our Social life has certainly changed in the last year, not just because of covid, even me who enjoys having people here find I get more tired these days, and might not have the annual New Years lunch here again. Still go all out and enjoy ourselves, just not as busy, as more friends are doing less.

Everyone has to make their own lifestyle decisions, as I mentioned, we do like the feeling of reassurance that we have a son and wife an hour away in Brisbane, and a daughter and husband in Sydney,  and not just relying on friends in the future who are also ageing.

11 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

I think if the OP does make the move they should do so with the expectation that they will have to return home at the end.  It’s very true some get to stay but only if they meet the usual criteria to do so.  It’s reasonable that over a 2 year period some will find partners and get to stay that way and some might manage the final work experience needed to get a skilled visa/sponsorship.  For the rest of them, it’s home-time.  This shouldn’t deter the OP.  They have no home commitments and it’s a big world out there.  I’d say go for it and enjoy it. I have grown up sons that have both lived in Australia for over 10 years now.  They both had PR when they went so never had these issues.  They have met many friends over those years that went on a WHV and have said about the great lengths some have gone to in order to stay.  Many bounce around on student visas (meaning they are skint because they can only work part time) and others hope to meet a partner.  Some have managed to stay but many have to give up and go home.  Some of those have been in bits as they honestly thought they’d find a way to stay once there.  I am not in any way being negative to the OP, quite the opposite as I think they should save hard and make it happen.  It’s important not to give false hope, especially when they are still asking how they’d get their residency at the end.  OP, go for it, enjoy it for what it is and anything else is a bonus. Good luck.  
 

The  2 of our children who followed us to Australia, came without PR. Our son came the student route, as a mature student, had a very tough time gaining PR, through no fault of his own, due to the labour government immigration minister Chris Evans,  changed the rules retrospectively overnight twice!! It took 3 years of study through to an MBA, and a further 31/2 years working while on a bridging visa, to be one of the few ex students to gain  PR.

Our daughter came on a WHV at almost the last age she was eligible. She met her partner the first night she was in Sydney!!! through a mutual friend, she also managed to be employed on a 457, as she was well qualified. They are still together!

So it can happen. Many of their friends also came the WHV route, but I don’t know if it’s harder these days

34 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Actually, it is strictly legal.  In Australian law, being de facto is almost identical to marriage in most respects.  However just moving in with someone does not mean you are de facto.  You could just be flatmates.  So there are stringent requirements to prove you've been leading a genuinely shared life for some time.  They used to be a lot less stringent but the Australian government got tired of the number of people claiming a fake de facto relationship just to stay in the country.  Now the burden of proof is verging on ludicrous.

My daughter and partner registered as a de facto couple with the NSW government, which made the relationship official. They obviously still had to supply all the required proof when they applied for the partner visa, but it probably helped.

When my daughter returned from UK recently, immigration wanted the certificate on her myGov account on her phone, rather than the printed copy. No idea why

The conditions for applying for citizenship when we became eligible 3 years ago to apply after living in Australia for 17 years on a long term retirement visa, were

lawfully residing in Australia for 4 years immediately before applying for Australian citizenship. This includes 12 months as a permanent resident.

You need to check for any other conditions apart from the above,

eg: time spent out of the country that may count against eligibility 

1 hour ago, sharon h said:

How hard is it now to get a mortgage in Australia if you are over 50, and is there any way of getting the mortgage from the UK for a property you intend to live in if you are a permanent resident

We were 60 when we retired and moved to live in Australia, we had no problem getting a mortgage, but this was 19 years ago, so things might have changed? 

12 minutes ago, Parley said:

I don't disagree but usually grandparents will want to spend as much time as they possibly can with their grandkids.

whether they get to in practice is another matter.

Sometimes your life or your DIL gets in the way of regular contact.

On 30/05/2022 at 02:40, Nanna said:

I think it's more to do with not having them in my life rather than the other way round.  The prospect of the survivor of us without ANY family is stressful enough.  Its so sad but my husband says as we are so much better off here financially it coild be too great a risk - one he isn't certain we should take - and we certainly couldn't waste money on rent.  It's not a nice feeling to be so unhappy you are not sure which way to go at the crossroads.   Hence I am 'stuck'. 

I thank you all for trying to help.  X

Nanna you and another poster mentioned you received a tax free pension? I thought all income, after the tax free allowance was taxed?      

I tend not to give advice on PIO, as everyone’s position is different, but we live in Australia are retired, and all our income comes from UK. We have lived here for 19 years, and only got PR recently, so are now paying tax here, rather than our income previously all taxed in UK. My husband was convinced we would be worse off paying more tax here, but there is almost no difference in the amount we now pay.

We have 2 of our children living in Australia, ( they followed us, we came first with no family here) but our only grandchildren are in UK with our oldest son, pre covid we visited for about 3 months every year, so had a reasonable amount of regular close contact. For the last few years we have relied on face time for contact, and even though both the boys are teenagers, they chat away with us, we can have a good laugh with them, perhaps we  are lucky we have a good relationship with them, it’s not ideal, but it works. We wouldn’t move back as our lives are here, but might think differently if we didn’t have other children here. Family is a strong pull as you get older, but I do know that even if we had been living near them, we would not have given up our lives to become grandparent child minders. Sounds hard, some might say selfish, but we bought up our three, managed with no parental help, and retirement is our time. I’ve seen many friends become resentful, after the initial good intentions to mind their grandchildren on a regular basis, the men perhaps more than the women, 

As in other scenarios, only you can decide what ultimately suits you best, I don’t know where you live in UK, or where you will live in Australia? We love living here, had to make the effort to meet people and join things when we arrived, and it worked as we have a good social life here, so as someone who has done it, it can work out well, there’s so much here on the Sunshine Coast that’s free or very cheap to do and join into for retirees.

Perhaps take a step back,  think everything through slowly, make a long list of pros and cons, where do YOU  really want to be? Is life really going to be so expensive here in comparison to UK?

Take care of yourself and I wish you well with whatever you decide. x M 

1 hour ago, Barnyrubble said:

Can you please advise  if we come to oz as permanent residents and have a UK pension paid into a UK bank and then transfer it whenever needed do we get a levy/penalty charged on it? 

No, I have been transferring mine for 17 years, no cost at all, sorry didn’t mean to post straight after the no.

7 hours ago, Flyaway said:

Can anyone clarify whether UK citizens in Australia awaiting permanent 804 visa can access Medicare whilst on a bridging visa? Finding conflicting results on websites.  Thank you. 

 

People I have known, from UK, on the bridging visa for the 804 actually had no problem getting anything that was needed including a hip replacement on Medicare, I don’t know if they were just lucky? bot no one ever said there was a problem, but please don’t take this as definite advice.  however the last person I know  received their PR a year ago, so I don’t know if conditions will stay the same or tighten up. There is always private health insurance, not cheap, but perhaps worth it for peace of mind?

I wonder if being on a bridging visa for PR has different conditions to just being a visitor with reciprocal rights? I know while my daughter was on a bridging visa for the partner visa, she had absolutely no problem accessing everything on Medicare, and had fantastic treatment when needed.

I would advise  getting ambulances cover, depending on which state you move to.

3 minutes ago, palaceboy1 said:

How do you get prescriptions for $6 on the 143 visa , I thought you only got that if you hold a Commonwealth Seniors Card and the issue for that it is income related plus four years at least on PR

We don’t get prescriptions for $6 on the 143 visa until we reach the PBS safety net.

The decision of where to live can become harder when you are in your late 70’s - and early 80’s, than in your 60’s.and whether you have children or not, which influences  your advice.

We have always been a very independent couple and still are, we decided to retire to Australia aged 60, with none of our children here. Two of our children decided years ago to follow us here, completely their own decision to move to Australia, and I have to admit even though we and they live our own lives, it is lovely to have them relatively near, now that we are older, realistic not just selfish. We have been lucky  so far with only a couple of times that their help has really been appreciated.

One sad thing to point out, is that as we age, so do our friends, so the support friendship group seems to diminish all of a sudden. It comes as quite a shock when with a group of long term friends, you realise you are one of the youngest in your late 70’s!! where have all those years flown. and although l we all claim to be fairly healthy, the truth is that most do have increasing health problems. The familiarity of your lifestyle and support of your friendship group is very important, and it’s a very hard decision to make, whether to continue with that or move nearer to family.

My only observation to make seeing friends in their late 80’s facing that dilemma, is perhaps consider moving closer to your children when younger? as it’s probably easier to establish yourself in a new area in your 60’s than feeling lonely without your friends if you move much later in life nearer your family, who I’m sure love you but lead busy lives.

Its such a personal decision, especially if moving countries, if all your children live overseas, some will say don’t, other’s will say do it, others say your children should give up their lives and move back to be near you. Ultimately only you can make the decision, and hope it’s the right one.

39 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Well, if you want to buy a house while on the 804 bridging visa, it'll cost you an extra $50k in surcharges and fees.  I'd say the other $40K will be eaten up eventually because you'll never be eligible for cheap medications, aged care, or the Australian aged pension.  And on the 804 bridging visa, there's always a risk you could be deported if your medical bills start costing the government too much. Remember with the 804 you'll never get the visa, you'll be on a temporary bridging visa for the rest of your life. 

We were on a temporary long term self funded retirement visa ( no longer available) for 17 years before getting pathway 143 PR visa  2 years ago. Our visa had different conditions to the 804 visa, but even though we could technically live here long term, I never quite felt safe. The government is notorious for changing visa conditions retrospectively, leaving many potential immigrants lives shattered. This happened to our son, and thousands of other students when on a student visa.

To me it’s a no brainer, a PR visa every time over a temporary insecure visa, yes it’s not cheap, but so well worth it to feel finally really settled, without the slight continuous concern in the background that perhaps one day visa conditions might change and we would be made to leave.

56 minutes ago, DIG85 said:

Without further information, I'm not sure this proves anything.

The second person never submitted a valid application in the first place, so him or her being out of the country post application had nothing to do with the application being rejected.

The first person's application may also have been invalid if those 3 months outside Australia were prior to the application and they had also spent time outside Australia in previous years, such that their combined period outside Australia exceeded 12 months in the previous 4 years. If the 3 months outside Australia occurred post-application, did he or she inform DHA of their intended absence, as you are required to do? 3 months' absence post-application does not seem like a particularly long period.

I wasn’t actually trying to prove anything and I admitted my memory was hazy, but I think you are right about the first example, because she had been out of the country for unfortunately just over the three months in the year prior to applying so her application was rejected. she re applied as soon as she was eligible and got her citizenship. She was just annoyed with herself that she she could have come back a week earlier if she had realised.

I seem to remember, that the other friend to be honest was in and out of Australia so much that he either exceeded the number of days allowed over a certain number of years to be eligible to apply, or just the previous year as well. All I know is that  application was rejected?

Better  word application rejected rather than canceled. 

21 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

It's not different info, it's just how people refer to the cards.  They all give you a concessionary price but the name of the card is different. The proper name for the card we have is the Commonwealth Senior Health Card.  That qualifies us for the $6.80 price. 

I am genuinely interested in your post, as all retired Australian friends have the Seniors Health card, I must ask others in the same position as us.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       We are citizens, moved here when  retired but only have the regular Medicare card, and a seniors card. Is the Senior Health card income related? For instance we don’t have superannuation, I don’t know if that makes a difference as all our income comes from UK and is fully taxed. No dispensation for the house and our assets? Is that the same for an Australian with retirement money in their superannuation?

So are you saying a seniors card is the same as a Senior Health card? I’m confused.

If this doesn’t really fit the thread we can ask for it to be moved, it might be of interest to many posters 

54 minutes ago, Ken said:

I'm aware that's what happens when someone goes overseas for a short period. However is that what happens when someone goes overseas long term as the OP did? Perhaps, perhaps not. Hopefully he'll let us know.

Two of my friends had their applications canceled.            Details correct to the best of my memory                                                     

One was out of Australia for just over 3 months in the year of application?

The other as far as I know had accumulated too many days out of Australia over a certain number of years pre application?

4 hours ago, Loopylu said:

Australia is not a cheap place to live. At least in the UK all medications are free to those on an aged pension… no need if you are on a low income to choose between your health and food/rent.

A brief synopsis

The PBS Safety Net Threshold 1st January 2022,                                                           $326,40 for concession card holders.    $1542,10 for general patients

Cost of scripts before the threshold met           $6,80 for concession card holders                     $42,50 for general patients  

Once you reach the Threshold.                          

medicine free for concession card holders            Cost up to $6,80 for general patients                   If you combine all your family scripts as my husband and I do you should reach the threshold sooner. 

There are several different concession cards for Australian pensioners

We usually reach our threshold by July. we don't have a concession card as we aren’t eligible for an Australian pension, so pay $6,80 for our scripts till the end of December.                                                          
Almost all of our retired friends have  concession cards and meet the threshold quite early in the year for free scripts.