vava
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Everything posted by vava
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Hi there, Unfortunately no viewings, plus the lady next door passed away and her daughters have put the house on the market at 10k less than mine. Its had no viewings either so that tells me the market is flat. We shall review the situation in the new year if nothing happens before then. It will be nice to have a traditional Christmas here this year rather than a sweaty one in Queensland though! Its certainly a journey one way or another this parent visa lark! Cheers, Val
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Hi Tony, Basically, its five years although you do have to go there to validate within a year. After that you can come and go. We got our CPV143 in 2012 and we are still here in the uk. On our grant letter is says October 2017. Unsold house, good jobs and aged parents are still keeping us here for now. If we win the lottery it might be a different story (haha!) Besf of luck! Val
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Hmmmm.....given me an idea for a new career for my hubby! I can hold the ladders for him and fetch the water too! We'll be able to retire in no time! Best of luck to everyone still waiting...........Val
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Hi, Please don't do what I (very stupidly) did when paying the 2nd VAC. As I have a bank account with ANZ and also have a cheque book for that account, I just wrote a cheque and couriered it over. Ooh they weren't happy and made me request a "bank cheque". I didn't know this is the UK equivalent of a bankers draft. My cheque would have worked perfectly well but I suppose rules are rules............oops!
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We took out a small mortgage to cover the visa costs just so we could be a bit more relaxed about as to when we actually make the move. That said, house is still not sold so perhaps with hindsight, we did the right thing in that respect but we wish we had put house on the market sooner. Luckily we still have jobs to pay the mortgage! Best of luck!
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Hi, We were told that if something is brand new or under 12 months old, customs can charge you import duty on those goods. Its a good idea to keep receipts to prove something is over a year old and anything which was a gift and under 12 months should be labelled accordingly. The shippers will give you all these tips when they come round to evaluate and quote. Hope this helps. Cheers Val
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Oh the joys of de-cluttering! We have got rid of so much stuff over the last two years, I've had to re-buy some of the items as we have had winters (clothes, coats, boots etc) and appliances which we held off buying due to the 12 months old rule for shipping purposes. All my CD's are packed away so I now live in a music free zone in the land of Limbo! I'm sure we'll all get there in the end and in the meantime......keep smiling!
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Hi there, We made the mistake of waiting and then putting the house on the market. We are still waiting for a sale 2 years down the line. Get it on now (unless you live in an area with quick sales) you can always go to oz and get offshore at the time of grant or rent something here. Hope you sell quickly! Regards Val
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Hi Calmac, You do have to validate your visa by entering Australia within a year of your PCC or medicals (it will tell you the date on your grant letter when you get it). Apart from that you can come and go for five years. We are still stuck in the UK trying to sell our house. Our 143 was granted in October 2012 so we're nearly 2 years down the line. We have until 2017 to be full time residents. So regarding the house, do not worry - these things can take a while! Good luck Val
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Hi Fisher, I've had time to calm down and do more research and I think I've got my head around it all now. We come and go (hopefully just the go bit) as much as we like until October 2017. If, after that time we HAVE to leave Australia and we haven't lived there for 2 years, we have to apply on compassionate grounds. I only assume this as the only reason we would have to leave the country once we move there would be if we get a call from the UK with bad news. There is no point worrying about something that either won't happen or hasn't happened yet. We gave enough on our plates right now just trying to sell our house in the forgotten north! On a lighter note; my delightful grandaughters (plus my daughter and son in law)landed in Brittany tonight to see their other grandparents and then they're coming to visit us! Happy Days! I'm sure it'll all turn out alright in the end, regards, Val
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Priya, I have been trawling through all my visa paperwork and on DIAC and I can find nothing about a two year minimum stay before an RRV grant. I even downloaded the application form and that says nothing about two years out of the five residency. I think I will contact my CO and get it in writing. Almost 2 years have passed since we validated our 143 and if we do not sell our UK home in time and we cannot move within the next year (which we hope to do) then we won't have time to qualify for the 2 year minimum by 2017. I hardly slept last night worrying and reading stuff. I must have my mind put at rest. Regards Val
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Hi (again), I am assuming that you have a visa to allow you to live/work in Australia which is NOT a CPV 143 or a 173. Therefore' perhaps the conditions that state you must spend a minimum of two years out of the five probably apply to you not me. You have applied for a CPV for your parent and it has not yet been granted. When it is, it will only state that; "The subclass 143 (Contributory Parent - Migrant) visa that has been granted includes a return travel facility which allows the holder to travel in and out of Australia as a permanent resident for a period of five years from the date it was granted" The above is a quote from my grant letter - nowhere within it says anything about a minimum two year residency. Please, if you are going to give advice on this forum, try to make sure that your information is correct. The link to a Resident Return Visa was not what I asked you to verify, I asked if you could show me where it states that the holder of a CPV 143 must live in Australia for a minimum of 2 years within the 5. Regards, Val
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Hi there, I am quite concerned about the second paragraph of your post; can you point me in the direction as to where you got that particular piece of information please? My CPV143 was granted and validated in November 2012 and we are still here in the UK trying to sell our house. We have spent only 12 weeks in Australia since getting the 143. I understood that you could come and go as you pleased until 5 years after validation. In our case that would mean that we have to be in full time residence by November 2017. If the rules have changed, I'm wondering why we have not been notified. Can you send me a link or a quote from where you got your info please? Thanks, Val
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Hi, sorry you too have had a bad experience with a migration agent. I reported ours to MARA after she took a huge fee from us then disappeared. She can no longer charge a fee for migration advice which is great as nobody will use her and I continued my visa application myself yet didn't get my money back. Its not that difficult to do on your own so long as your situation is not complicated. There is a really good migration agent who posts on this thread from Go Matilda called Alan Collett. He has a superb reputation and gives good advice. Good luck with the visa! Regards, Val
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Hi Fran, if he is going to Wynnum you might have to ask IMMI for a bit longer. They took ages when my daughter did our AoS. He needs to tell them that there is a time limit. Glad you're nearly there though. Take care, Val x
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Hi, If payment was taken for the 1st VAC before 1st of July when the prices go up, your charges will be whatever they were at the time of lodgement. You made it with 2 days to spare! Well done! Now for the loooong wait! Val
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Hi there, My quote was from my actual visa grant letter. I don't have a label in my passport. They say labels are not necessary as all the information is on the system when they put your passport in the reader at the border. Please bear in mind that my visa was granted in 2012 and things have altered slightly in the contributary visa department. CO's are allocated after all the bits and pieces are done now whereas you got a CO before the requests for medicals, police checks and AOS back then. It seemed easier for me as we had a name and email address for our CO and any questions were answered quickly but now there seems to be a lot of automatic replies which often don't help at all. Good luck, you'll get there in the end! Val
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Hi Moira, The initial application fee is about that amount but the cost of the visa, I'm afraid, is currently AU$43,600 per applicant. You are correct in thinking it takes around 2 years, give or take. The big bucks will need to be paid just before the visa is granted. There are other fees to consider too, the cost of a medical, police checks and the assurance bond which has to be lodged with Centrelink. Hope this helps, Val
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Hi, Your visa won't be granted until you have paid for it. You usually have 28 days to get the money to them once its requested. They won't request the final visa payment unless you satisfy all the other requirements, ie police and medical checks. You can assume from lodgement to visa grant takes around 18 months. In our case we borrowed the visa fee against our house and we will repay that when we sell. Our visa was granted in 2012 and we are still trying to sell our house. Hope this helps Val
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We paid just under £1000 for our 173 application in 2011. Val
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Blueray, might it be possible that you ask the medical centre to carry out your medical examinations and hold on to the results pending you finding out your HAP ID? Once you give the clinic the number they can zoom the info off, thus saving time. Its worth a try.......
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Hi Phoebe, Hope your recovery is still on track. I think we might have sold our house at long last so might be on our way very soon! I followed your link and also wrote to my MP. Thanks for posting it. I agree, its very unfair! Take care, Val x
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H Tab, yes you're right. I sometimes don't have a clue how to try to answer some of the questions applicants post now. You can only tell them what it was like from your own personal experience, which isn't all that helpful given that the application process has changed. Even the emailing process has changed, you have to put a code to let them know what type of query you have or you risk being ignored! We all get there in the end though..........just wish someone would buy my house then we can begin the next part of the adventure! Regards, Val
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Hi, maybe they have changed things....... my 173 was granted in November 2011 and I quoted exactly what it said on my grant letter. I think the authorities like to mix things up a bit. Procedure has changed loads since we first applied. Regards, Val
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Hi, this is a bit trickier; it says on our grant letter, "THE INITIAL ENTRY TO AUSTRALIA BY ALL PERSONS GRANTED A VISA ON THIS APPLICATION MUST BE MADE BY..........".(in my case it was 03 October 2017) visa was granted on 03.10.12. It goes on to say that the holder may travel in and out of Australia as a permanent resident for a period of five years from the date it was granted. It does not mention how long you get to validate the visa but the wording my letter may be because we had already had a 173 and were merely upgrading to 143. There is a number you can ring in London which is only open 1pm to 4pm Monday to Friday for visa help. Takes a while to get through but they are helpful. Hope this helps a little. Give us a shout if you need the number. Regards, Val