RockDr

Shell still need to go through the visa stuff. The only loophole of being with an Australian partner, is that once she has the PR visa, any time spent living outside Australia with you still counts towards the four year residency requirement for citizenship. So basically she'll be able to apply for citizenship four years after getting PR regardless of where you've been living in the meantime.

Most thread on here about this particular matter are filled with incorrect information. I would recommend you actually ring up a registered migration agent and ask them.

Birth certs can be done on the day if you go to the office in person. Friend of ours just got one in Sydney a couple of weeks ago.

Basically do the following:

 

If travelling from Australia to UK.

1. Book your flight to UK quoting your UK passport number

2. Present your UK passport to the airline desk and staff when checking in for your flight.

3. As you pass through border controls to board your flight show your Australian passport

4. Present your UK passport on arrival in UK

 

​Do the reverse when returning to Australia.

I would actually recommend doing something slightly different. Some airline websites get confused if you try to change your passport details for the return leg, which means you end up not being able to check in online on the way back and having to rock up at the airport earlier than you might otherwise need to. Since you don't need an advance visa to enter UK on Australian passport, you can just give the airline the Australian passport numbers in both directions. Then at immigration, use the passport of that country (UK to enter and leave UK, Australian to enter and leave Australia)

I don't get airsick as such but I have motion sickness (maybe due to low blood pressure) and am very sensitive to changes in height and movement. That also happens to me on trains and coaches.

On a plane you want to make sure you sit towards the back of a section, so you can see a fair distance away, as this helps your brain understand the motion of the plane (like looking at the horizon in a car/train). When you're near the front of a section, you've got the bulkheads/curtains pretty close to you, which can make travel sickness worse. the aisle seat can also help with this, as you have more viewing angle (unless you're tall and can generally see over the seats).

Baby bonus has an income limit on it. Think it was household income around 75k in the 6months following the birth of the child. If you earn more than that you don't get it.

Maternity leave and pay you are entitled to if you've been working in your job for a year.

Err you don't need a passport for domestic travel .... maybe I am missing something?

You don't need a passport, but adults do need photoID for domestic flights, for a five year old, the only valid photo ID would be a passport as they dont have driving/gun licenses. Hence the OP's question.

​However I'm pretty sure birth cert/medicare cards etc can be used instead of photoID for kids. The qantas website has the details.

You should have been resident for tax purposes since you entered the country. You don't need to inform the ATO, just tick the right boxes when you do your tax return. And tell your employer that you're resident so they tax your appropriately.

Assuming you've been on legal work visas since the WHV expired (I'm guessing 457s), you may want to have a chat to a tax accountant to see if you can clear up the last few years you've used the wrong residency status.

I still have my Natwest credit card, changed to an Australian address.

​Do bear in mind that you'll need to have a direct debit set up to pay off the card each month, as it can take ages for the paper bills to reach you. If you do get electronic bills, then you need to be rigorous about checking your account monthly to make sure you've not had any dodgy transactions. If you do fall victim to someone using your card and get a replacement one, be aware that the direct debits to pay the card off need setting up again (they neglected to tell me this, and it took 4 months for the "you've not paid your bill" letter to arrive, by which time my credit limit had been cut). Just a few pitfalls that can occur, but if you're aware, it's easy to avoid them...

andrew, might I suggest you speak to a registered migration agent. There is a lot of misinformation and confusion about bridging off a 457 visa on this site. A registered migration agent would be able to advise you on the best visa strategy, and clarify the bridging visa situation. A one hour consult won't cost the earth, nor would it oblige you to enlist the services of the agent for the full application process if you would prefer to apply by yourself.

My sons into his gaming is the Mac good for that ?

No, most games don't run on mac OS, and if you run a dual boot windows through bootcamp, there can still be issues. Hardware-wise, imacs have overheating issues when pushed to their limits, which gaming does. If you son wants to game, then I would go with a PC.

I've had an imac for 5 years, it was fine for everything except gaming, I mostly used it for photo processing. I did need a new harddrive in it's first year as the original gave up the ghost - luckily still under warranty, the DVD drive isn't happy as of a couple of years ago and makes ominous whirring sounds sometimes, and it's in the last few months started to complain/freeze/run slow. We've relegated it to internet/Skype duty and recently purchased an asus and an hp all in one, as they off much better hardware for the same money - unlike when I bought my imac 5yrs ago where it was the cheapest option if I wanted a 24" screen, as with a PC I'd have needed to buy a screen separately.

The hp came with windows 8 which my OH is hating. Would definitely recommend trying to get windows 7 if you go the PC route.

Gaming wise, both the Asus and the hp seem to be coping fine.

The problem is, most of the units are close to the city and hence the same price as houses further out. Both of which are outside the budget of most first home-buyers. There is a shortage of flats/units in affordable neighbourhoods.

It mainly makes a difference in making more people think they can afford a mortgage. These are generally the same people who if they do buy, will get caught out when the interest rates inevitably rise again a few years later and they can no longer pay the increased minimum repayments.

It might also make a difference for people who are living below their income level and are looking to put a large proportion of their "spare" income towards paying the mortgage off quickly. In this case, the low interest rate means they'll be paying off the capital on their loan much faster, and they'll probably have paid a large proportion of the loan off before the interest rates get too high again.

very much depends on the airline. some airlines will charge about 50 quid per bag, other will charge ridiculous amounts per kilo overweight. you'd want to check the policies of any code-sharers on your route as the policy of the operating airline takes precedence over who you book with. Cheaper option is generally to use a company such as "excessbaggage" who specialise in unaccompanied luggage.

did you not keep your UK accounts open? Money transfer companies might be another option.

To be honest all the rentals I've been in the paint/plaster on the walls has been so cheap that the removable strips did cause damage. In general we were able to use them on the doors with no problem, but no chance on the walls.

Yeah, I would recommend talking to a MARA registered agent who could advise on whether you've had enough ties, and how best to phrase your application.

Thanks RockDr.

 

I just had a look on the citizenship site and it clearly states that you need to have lived in Australia for the 4 years prior to lodging an application. It only allows for 12 months out of the country. :-(

That's the standard rules. Like I said, PR spouse visa is an exception to the rules. Dig a little deeper on that site.

You only need one for the countries you've lived in for longer than 12 months since the last police checks DIAC have seen. So most second stage applicants this means just the Australian one.

 

I thought you had to be living in Oz to get citizenship? If I can apply for it in UK then that would be amazing - I will look into it.

 

 

I know that the partner visa is an exception whereby any time spent outside Australia with your sponsor spouse while holding PR still counts towards the citizenship 4year residency requirement. So you would qualify. Whether you can actually apply for citizenship whilst outside the country is another matter, I have no idea on this one. It could be you just need to get a one month RRV to get you into Australia so you can do the paperwork. As I said, probably best to have a chat with a registered migration agent.

If your partner is Australian and you've been living with him in the UK after you got a PR spouse visa, then I'm pretty sure you're eligible for citizenship. Have a word with a registered migration agent, they should be able to confirm and let you know how to go about sorting things out.

Do you actually live together? For a DeFacto relationship you need evidence that places you living together at the same address. Doesn't have to be both names on the same letter, but official letters (bills, bank statements, insurance documents, doctor's letters, etc etc) addressed to each of you at the same address over the last 12 months.

If you don't live together, then you don't qualify for a DeFacto relationship, and she will need to apply for either her own skilled visa, or wait until you've got yours and apply for a prospective spouse visa. (or you could get married now and add her to your application)

Yes, it obviously only affects council houses.

Actually it doesn't. It affects people who are recipients of housing allowance, i.e. who are renting in the private sector.

We went to the registry office in Adelaide, luckily both sets of parents were able to attend. The ceremony was video'd and then shown at our two receptions, one in Australia, one in UK (both of which had also cake, speeches, dancing etc). This way none of our close friends or family missed out, I got to wear the dress twice, and was actually able to spend time talkingchatting with people at the receptions (approx 50 guests at each one). It also meant that the day of the wedding I wasn't stressed about everything coming together at the reception.

We had a bar tab at each location rather than a drinks package (actually worked out cheaper since our friends aren't heavy drinkers, and meant we got to choose the nicer wines etc). Food in OZ was platters of finger food, and we had a buffet at the UK reception. Meant people could move around and mingle, chat etc, and worked out far cheaper than a full sit down meal.

Hi.

You do get the old one back,with a corner missing,a week before the new one.

The Visa is electronic,they dont use the stickers any more.

Cheers

Just to reassure betsyhorse, because the new passport is being courrier'd from the UK, and the old one is coming from NZ, sometimes you'll get the new one before the old one.