stevemalbec

To Karen-J. Before you do (borrow on the anticipated sale of your house), I'd recommend thinking very carefully about it if its your main asset. If the price falls, or if you can't sell it at all without a 'fire sale' you could be leaving yourself seriously exposed. Not a step to take lightly unless you have additional funds.

I do not need to apologise to anyone....if people are going to make stupid political statements then they have to expect a response....I am entitled to My opinion as well.

If you think that the UK is going down the pan then maybe you need to live here a while to realise just how good the UK is.

Some people on this thread are so 'precious' I don't know how they'll cope in Australia. The aussies I know are a pretty straightforward bunch and don't expect to have to give an apology if they disagree with someone.

This is not a political forum.

 

Phoebe

Then don't make political comments!

That's just my opinion of course and don't feel I should be judged on it.

 

Phoebe

So whatever our opinions are we can never be judged on them? And I'd dispute your comment "'the powers that be' never listen to us mere mortals". Not always, but I think the latest Tory onslaught on welfare recipients shows that they do listen to their supporters, maybe only when it suits them, but to say they never listen is just hyperbole.

You would need to live here for 2 years (in total)to get a RRV and 4 years (you are allowed 1 year out of the country) to get citizenship.

 

After the 5 years you can still live here but would not be able to leave without one of the above if you want to retain the right to residency

 

You may be able to get a RRV if you can show substantial ties to the country but that may be for just 1 year

 

A RRV usually lasts 5 years

Thanks, I'll easily make that, just wondering if it was OK to spend a couple of month out of the country every year.

Is there any kind of minimum time spent in Australia required for those first 5 years?

I agree cent percent with you when you say " we feel this country is going downhill fast."

Any particular reasons why?

If I recall correctly my police check in the UK was £40, and medical in Manchester around £260.

Briefly,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8568970.stm

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights were the latest to declare that National Insurance contributions did not have an "exclusive link" to retirement pensions.

"As non-residents, the applicants did not contribute to the UK economy, in particular, they paid no UK tax to offset the cost of any increase in the pension," a statement from the court said.

The court said that it was hard to draw any genuine comparison with the position of pensioners living elsewhere.

G'day mate! (just practising!)

 

You need to send your passport with a copy of the letter informing you of the visa grant to the visas and immi dept of Australia House. Note they won't accept over-the-counter delivery, so we had to send it by Reg Post from the post office just over on the other side of The Strand! Durr!

 

Enclose a prepaid return envelope – we used one of the silver express ones bought from the same PO. Hell, what's an extra few quid after paying the VACs?! And best keep a copy of the return envelope ref no so you can track it online.

 

Best, mike

Thanks!

I've just tried a few searches and didn't come up with anything, but can anyone tell me how to get the CPV 143 inserted into your passport before going over? Can't get through to the High Commission on the phone either.

Thanks!

does anyone know about the timescale involved from lodging the Assurance of Support money with Centre Link in Sydney to actually receiving our contributory parents visa (sub class 143)

There's no definite timescale, but check http://www.chireckles.com/cpv/tracker.php and click on 'Applications in progress'.

Is the exchange rate set by DIAC likely to change very much in June? I expect that would be guess work on our part.

 

I'm a little confused.. I'd been thinking that the amount in AU$ would stay the same for the year, but the amount payable in local currency would be set twice a year to reflect changes in the exchange rate. For example, if the exchange rate improves (i.e. more AU$ for each pound - I've seen $1.60 today as opposed to $1.48 a few weeks ago) it would be better to pay after the next adjustment. Or maybe I've totally misunderstood this....

Another question, once the visa has been granted, is there a time limit within which the payment must be made?

We paid our 2nd Vac payment to London, I paid with a bank cheque, It’s quite a simple process, You download a payment mandate from the London high Commission, you also submit a copy of the letter from your CO asking you to make the payment and I also included a stamped addressed envelope for them to send me the white copy of the receipt.

Let you CO know that you are planning to make the payment to London if you go this route.

 

You need to download the payment mandate from the Australian High Commission website:

http://www.uk.embassy.gov.au/lhlh/fees.html - have a look at the instructions on how to pay.

 

You can find out the exact amount by using the currency converter on the DIAC website.

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/990i/converter.htm

 

From this you will also be able to work out the exchange rate they are using.

 

We sent off the bank cheque, the payment mandate, a copy of the letter from our CO asking for payment, and a covering letter. We got two special delivery ‘silver pouches’ from the post office and self addressed one, and paid the return postage (we made a note of the number). We then included the self addressed one in the envelope for them to return the receipt to us. We then sent the receipt to our CO. We were able to check when the envelope had been posted back to us. The whole process only took about 4 days.

 

However, I note you are in Bueonos Aires, so not sure how the post would work there. I think you can also pay in Buenos Aires. Here's the link to the information:

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/990i/methods-of-payment.htm

Thanks for this. I'm in the UK at the moment so I could pay here.

Hi, if you go to the progress tracker on this forum, you will find a section there to find out about the exchange rate for the 2nd VAC, I think it changes in January and July. Not too sure about all this, its something I would like to know more about too. I'll be paying my 2nd VAC from ireland. Fran.

Thanks! I hope to be paying mine shortly, the way things are going I hope I can pay it after the july change.

I tried a search, but can't find the reference so can anyone help me? I'm sure its possible to pay the 2nd part of the CPV 143 in London, but do I pay in pounds sterling at any particular rate of exchange? I think I recall it being set twice a year. Thanks.

Anyone can book their meds whenever they like. The only restriction is that they guess they'll get their visa within twelve months of that date.

We chose July 2011 for our meds cos we guessed that we'd have our visa before July 2012.

Seems that this can be different for different centres. I phoned two London centres and one in Manchester, and couldn't get an appointment without the HAP number. These centres only do it online. So don't count on getting a medical without it, unless I was told a bunch of baloney.

 

The costs are

a one application charge of $1995 and then a second visa application charge of $40,015 payable just before visa grant and an Assurance of Support of $1000 which is refundable after 10 years. Then there is the cost for a medical (can vary £350 onwards), police check around £35 I think. You also need to factor in removal costs etc.

 

Hope this helps.

I think the AoS is $10,000, but they do give you the interest on that. I've just had my medical in Manchester and the cost was £260.

Congratulations on getting your CO. What a nice Christmas present. I have not heard anything before about 47 days, maybe they are taking the Christmas break into consideration. I would book your medicals as soon as you can. We were not able to do ours in 28 days due to pressure on the medical centre in Manchester, but as long as you keep your case officer informed it is usually OK. We were on a 173 and applied for the 143 in June. We received the request for the AOS on 19th October within 28 days. Centrelink have only just sent out the letter to our Assurer to set up the bank account and our case officer was fine as we kept him informed of what was happening, including each time our Assurer telephoned them to see what was going on.

I phoned the centre in Manchester about a month ago and they told me I could have an appointment within days. Maybe its a seasonal thing... after your post I think I'll get mine arranged sooner rather than later.

Congratulations! I'm not far behind you so I love it when I see some movement.

After a frantic fortnight of packing up, parties, goodbyes, house and car selling, staying with friends and living out of a suitcase........:chatterbox: WE HAVE SET FOOT IN THE PROMISED LAND. We arrived yesterday on the 5th anniversary of my daughter's arrival and are happily settling into our new life in Adelaide.

 

Off to sort out Bank, Tax, Medicare, Seniors Card etc in the next few days and have already planned a few 'opens' for the weekend! The adventure has begun (shame we left 30 degrees and blue skies in Surrey and arrived to 16 and rain in Australia):biglaugh:

 

Can't believe we're finally here (probably never to return to the UK) and living the dream. Good luck to all on the journey, your time will soon come and 'g'day mate' to all those already here who have helped us along the way.:wink:

Great news, hope everything goes well.

I was only moaning to a fellow PIO member last week about not yet having a case officer.............well guess what popped into my inbox whilst I was sleeping??? Eeek! Now the fun begins - bring it on!!

Good luck, one more off the list before I get mine!

Hi Ann and Roy,

Can I too ask how your daughter knows that your application is being looked at?? We put our application in for a CPV 173 in July 2010 and have heard nothing as yet. Did your daughter phone DIAC or did they contact her?

Regards, Val

I've just checked the tracker and noticed that duonghm's application was acknowledged on 11 august last year and already have a CO (16 september). Maybe they aren't processed in order of receipt?

Well i didn't know that if you come back you are not eligible for NHS care, i think thats an absolute disgrace after paying into it most of my life, not fair as others seem to get it who come into the country and haven't paid a penny into the system, have to say you learn something new every day on here, not always for the good though eh! Ann

Here's a quote from the Department of Health website:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Entitlementsandcharges/OverseasVisitors/Browsable/DH_074374

Who is entitled to free NHS treatment;

Anyone who is deemed to be ordinarily resident in the UK is entitled to free NHS hospital treatment in England. “Ordinarily resident” is a common law concept interpreted by the House of Lords in 1982 as someone who is living lawfully in the United Kingdom voluntarily and for settled purposes as part of the regular order of their life for the time being, with an identifiable purpose for their residence here which has a sufficient degree of continuity to be properly described as settled.

Anyone who is not ordinarily resident is subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2011. These regulations place a responsibility on NHS hospitals to establish whether a person is ordinarily resident; or exempt from charges under one of a number of exemption categories; or liable for charges.

What about British Nationals? I have paid taxes in the past.

Nationality or past or present payments of UK taxes and National Insurance contributions are not taken into consideration when establishing residence. The only thing relevant is whether you ordinarily live in the UK.

Well done! You should get a lot of very interested people using that one, new forum user.

 

And thanks for reminding me, I can't remember if I mentioned, I did manage to get My Mate at Coles eventually? Perhaps I did.

 

Any unrecorded progress on the CPV tracker out there folks? Seems to have been a quiet August, understandably.

Good, let's get back on track; last CO notified after 380 days, the previous one 346, so its around 12-13 months at the moment.