cathandtone

Sorry , Yes I think I meant "Assurance of Support"

 

I belive there are more factors other than health though in this form ie financial

On the health insurance front. You have 1 year from when you register with Medicare after you have your permanent visa. We made the mistake of registering with Medicare when we came to validate our visa and then had just 5 months in which to decide whether to get private insurance. We did anyway, I just found the cheapest policy I could.

Cath

Hi everyone,

 

We are sitting in the Business Class Lounge (Emirates) at Gatwick on our way to Australia! The goodbyes have been very hard and we are a bit discombobulated at the moment but it will be well worth it all when we arrive at our Daughter's house on Tuesday morning. Will keep you all informed of how we get on, but for now, those who are waiting for the CPV - keep the faith, it will arrive eventually! (It actually feels a bit unreal at the moment, so I think that calls for another glass of champagne!)

 

Best wishes to everyone

David& Gill

It doesn't seem like 7 months ago that we too were sitting in the self same lounge at Gatwick feeling rather like you. Enjoy the flight, if you're anything like us it is both the first and last time turning left at the aircraft door but worth it for the flight to end all flights!

For those of you who were interested in our experience with John Mason they have just finished packing all of our stuff. Strange to see all your wordly goods disappearing up the road on the back of a lorry.

 

John Mason seem to contract out the packing and so the packers don't work directly for them. However, they were very efficient and thorough and very considerate. They packed everything up very thoroughly and quickly in just over a day, although we didn't have a complete house full. Just have to wait and see what happens at the other end.

 

Meeting my son for dinner this evening to say goodbye so that will be a bit emotional, and flying out to Perth tomorrow night. Still can't believe it's happening. Seems a bit unreal still.

Glad everything went well with your packing. I know how you feel seeing the container disappear, I took loads of photos and then forgot to get the camera out when the container appeared here. It will be a poignant evening for you saying goodbye to your son. Hopefully we will be able to catch up very soon. Bon voyage.

Best wishes

Cath

To sum up what others have posted really:

 

If you want control of the transfer, so that you can choose the best forex provider (see other posts), it makes sense to accumulate the funds in sterling in a UK account until you have a critical mass (£3,000), then make the transfer at a time and rate to suit you.

 

It's been mentioned that pension providers will pay directly into an Australian bank account. However the problem I can see with this is that the receiving bank will then do the conversion and that is likely to be highly uncompetitive (the bank will determine the rate) and expensive (there will be a charge for each transfer).

 

Good luck

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve

We have a very basic ANZ bank account and we do not pay charges at all. I hadn't realised that the Aus bank defined the rate so I just did a calculation on a pension payment received in April and the rate was $1.4938, I should go back to April to see what the top rate was then. It would be great to be able to hold the money in the UK until we reached £3000 but in practice, with no Aussie income, it's not very practical.

Best wishes

Cath

Hi can anyone help me with a query I have. What is the best way to transfer your UK pension to Australia? We have ours paid into our Bank account, but I've been reading some of the threads on here and they say some banks charge around £42 per transfer! that's a big lump out of your state pension, especially as it's frozen from the time you leave England.

 

Cheers Cakey

Hi Cakey

Just contact your pension providers (including state) and they will pay your pension straight to your Aus bank account. Government providers do not make a charge, other providers do make a small charge. Have to say I am having difficulty with one of my occupational pensions (don't read into this statement that I am rolling in it lol) who are still paying my pension into my UK bank account as they say that they can't do it because australian account numbers are 9 digits and they can only pay 8 digit accounts. Anyone had this problem. I'm not quite sure what to do.

Cath

Perth here we come! We exchanged contracts on our house yesterday and sold our car. John Mason are coming in on Tuesday and Wednesday to pack up. We complete and fly off to Perth on the 2nd. I can't believe how incredibly lucky we have been with timing and how it is all coming together now at last.

 

All I can say is it's been an incredibly emotional and stressful roller coaster, but so worth it in the end. Greatly helped by all the information and support on here, so thanks everyone and hang on in there and good luck to all those who are so close and all those still waiting.

Isn't it wonderful when a good plan comes together! We can't wait to welcome you to our weekly Pips lunch, I bet you can't either. You have so much joy and excitement to come, plus a goodly helping of stress if you are anything like me.

Best wishes

Cath

I'm puzzled, Alan.

Why are they struggling to fill the places when there is a waiting list?

John & Eirian

I think it's no longer a waiting list as such, it's the processing time.

Cath

I have just looked on the website Cath suggested and looking at the products that we have between us we would be at $1200 in 4 months and then the basic price after the limit would make about $1800 a year which i must say is a lot less than i had just worked out before your post. Thanks for that.

Still something to consider in with rest of the cost factors.

 

Sue

I'm pleased it was a useful link for you. I had forgotten about the annual ceiling, however I don't think we would ever make it (I hope not anyway). There is also the Commonwealth Seniors Card which you can apply for after 2 years which will also give reduced priced prescriptions but it is means tested.

Cath

Hi

I wonder if you could tell me roughly how many items of perscriptions you get a month i am very concerned about the amount it is going to cost us as my husband has 7 items each month but on a couple of them they are asthma gases and has two of each item i know you pay different amounts for each product in Australia but am just looking at how much it will roughly be and then there is me i have three each month.

Help it looks like we will be skint before we start but will definately have to look in to the costs, we have probably been avoiding this little problem until you fronted me with it.:arghh:

 

Sue

Hi Sue, we certainly got a fright the first time we filled prescriptions here. The 5 items we have prescribed between us cost around $180 when we rather naively went to the chemist next door to the doctor. Since then we have used Chemist Warehouse and the cost came down to just over $100. Still a lot compared to free in the UK but there it is, we chose to come here with our eyes wide open. I've put the link to Chemist Warehouse below, I think you should be able to check the cost of your items to give you some idea. Also, do try to find a GP who will bulk bill, it saves enormously particularly as it seems to be our second home recently.

Regards

Cath

http://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/prescriptions.asp

Hi,

I havn't been on for a while. My son and his family have just left for Melbourne on a PR visa. All our family there now. So we are feeling lost. Want to get out of this country asap.

I have been told by a migration agent that we can lodge our PS visa in 6 mts. That is not what I am reading on this thread.

Can anyone enlighten me. Also once you lodge can you work limited hours on a long term tourist visa.

Good luck to all who are on the way to OZ.

MKF

Hi MKF

I think most people here can empathise with you, it made us feel quite lost when all our grandchildren were whisked away down under. The annual visit is just not enough!

You said that all your family are here now, does that mean you have other children besides your son who just left? If so, how long have they been here? You will have read other threads that say you have to wait until the sponsoring child is 'settled' which is usually deemed to be 2 years. Others have done it in less time than that but you have to give evidence of the family being well settled. If you have other children here it would make sense for them to be your sponsor. Our situation was that our eldest daughter had been here for about 4 years, our middle daughter was here on a student visa so she didn't count in the balance of family test. We had to wait for our youngest daughter to emigrate (that then tipped the balance of family test in our favour) before we could apply using our eldest as our sponsor.

Incidentally, it is very straightforward to apply for the visa yourself without the aid of an agent. You just have to be very methodical and double check everything and if you get stuck just ask away on here. Even if you use an agent you will find that you have to do most of the hard work yourself anyway. I'm not against migration agents, far from it, but when it's straightforward save yourself a bit of dosh.

Good luck

Cath

Hi, just looking for some info.

Reading these posts, does it mean that once i am out living in Oz, I would be able to sponsor my parent's visa? Or not?

Thanks

 

Tyrone

Hi Tyrone & Catherine

First of all it will depend how many (if any) brothers and sisters Catherine has. To get past first base she can only have none or one sibling in the UK. If your in laws pass the balance of family test you will then have to be deemed as 'settled' before they can begin the visa process. Usually that would be 2 years from your arrival but if you can prove that you are settled - you've bought a house etc it can be started sooner. Others have done that. You will need sufficient income to be able to sponsor your in-laws too, I'm not sure how much that is now but you can find all this detail on the immi website.

Good luck, it's a bit of a journey but no worse than yours I don't suppose.

Best wishes

Cath

G'Day Gill

 

 

My pet hate about Oz TV is the way programmes just run into each other (to "hook" viewers, I guess) after the late Ad break you mention and – with some channels in particular – don't pay much regard to advertised start times.

 

Best, Mike

/

sadly it's not just start times. How many times have we missed the end of a recorded programme cos it's run over and not just by a few minutes either. We always allow a good 10 minutes but have been caught out numerous times. Come back BBC, all is forgiven.

Hi

I understand that simply watching a programme is streaming rather than downloading and so does not affect the download limits. Any advice would be appreciated. Aussie TV adverts drive us mental - especially those ones that are put on for 5 minutes before the last 2 minutes of the show!

Thanks Gill

I'm not so worried about download limits, we have loads to spare and don't get anywhere near using our monthly allowance. You might find you are the same. We had to go with Telstra and the way the plans seem to work it's all or nothing. We ended up with a far bigger monthly limit than we actually need at the moment.

Cath

When in Oz I use My Expat Network

I have used it to watch the BBC web coverage of the Formula 1 races rather than the dreadful coverage from Australian broadcasters.

 

Peewit

Funny you should mention this. Tony just blasted off a complaint form to 1HD after the lamentable coverage of the Turkish grand prix interrupted with ads at the most unfortunate moments. It won't do any good of course but he felt more cheesed off than usual.

Cath

I would have thought that bottles of alcohol were a fire risk in a storage container.

Watched the 'Poms in Paradise' tv programme earlier and felt that the poms chosen were not very typical.

We gave our leftover alcohol to our removal men! I don't think it would be a fire risk exactly, it's not that easy to ignite if you have ever tried to set light to a Christmas pudding you will know what I mean. My carton of nail varnish would probably have been a more potent fire starter.

Would love to have seen Poms in Paradise, it would be good to compare with the actuality of living the dream' I'm still trying to figure out a way of downloading UK tv programmes so if anyone can help with that we would be very grateful. Very off the subjet I know lol.

There seem to be so many visas being granted at the moment and I hope that those of you heading for Perth with join Pips Aus and meet up for coffee/lunch with us. It's good to build up a group of like minded people away from one's family.

Best wishes

Cath

:biggrin: Visa grant letter received yesterday what a nice feeling to finally receive it. Getting removal quotes at the moment anyones advic3e on companies would be appreciated. House sale due to be finalised early june so keeping fingers crossed there. Then book flights and start our new life in Perth. Will be ready for a rest then I think.:wubclub: sylvia

Congratulations! We used PSS and couldn't fault either them or Australian Vanlines who deliver your stuff on this side. We also used Insure your move to cover our goods and chattels, much cheaper than using the removal companies insurance. If you would like to meet up with some of the other brave parents already in Perth find us on Facebook - Pips Aus. Just back from a very leisurely lunch in Hillary's with two of the other couples.

Cath

Hi Marian, We are in a similar situation to yourselfs, we have our visa and have been living in Sydney for 7 weeks now. We love it, and like yourselfs we have to work. We are lucky in that our two daughters pay us for childcare, not much but it all helps. we also do babysitting, which we really enjoy. we are renting a one bedroom furnished appartment, and we could not be happier. Long term we are hoping to buy along with one of our daughter a house with a granny flat. This would suit both of us, as her and her husband cannot afford a deposit. If we can pay a fairly big deposit they will pay the morgage. With all the problems getting the visa and paying the 2nd Vac I can honestly say it has all been worth it. We are kept busy, and also it is keeping us fit, we are loving every minute of our new life. Best wishes to all, it will be worth it. Phyllis

Lovely post Phyllis and should be a great inspiration to everyone following on. We too love it here and just can't regret the move. The only downside is that we can't afford our own home here and though that's a big disappointment it's more than compensated for by our new lifestyle and being near our children and grandchildren. We had hoped to work but are finding more than enough to do so I'm not sure. So far we are managing on our pensions.

One point for people looking at removal companies and insurance. If you find (as we did) that the estimate of the amount of space you will need varies dramatically it's important to find out how much extra space will cost per cubic foot, the cheapest quote might not work out the cheapest overall is what I am trying to say. Also, insurance through the removal companies is a costly affair and you can get much cheaper insurance by searching on line. Every penny counts that's for sure.

Cath

Hi Every one and anyone

First attempt at trying to reach some-one not quite sure what to do or how to reach anyone. We have been on the waiting list 12 mths for parent visa 143 and got up this morning to get email requesting we go and get medicals and police checks, still cant believe it ,scared to death and excited, only given us 28 days to get everything returned. We still have to sell our house and not having much luck so far, dropped the price yet again this morning. We would love to hear from any one and be able to ask for advise if possible .Trying to get to our children and 4 granchildren in Brisbane

so if any one willing to talk to us we would be so pleased

the keggas

First of all please don't panic. The police checks won't be problem to get done in the time scale but the medicals will probably hold things up. There is a link to enable you to get your police checks a couple of pages back. Since the Australian government saw fit to cut the number of authorised doctors I understand it can take a while to get an appointment for a medical. I suggest you contact the nearest or most convenient authorised doctor to you and make your appointments. If you are unable to get an appointment within the timescale contact your case officer to explain. They are generally very helpful, ours certainly was. We asked for extra time to make the second payment and our case officer was brilliant. When you are granted your visa you then have 12 months from the date of either your police check or medical to validate your visa (which ever date is the earliest). We hadn't sold our house within the 12 months and so booked a return trip to Australia to validate, that was a year ago last April. House sale went through in September and we finally made the move over in November. Whatever happens, you have 5 years in which to make your final move. We are so glad we made the move even though financially we are nowhere near as comfortable as we had hoped when we started this exercise. We also will not be able to afford a house but we have no regrets.

Cath

Crumbs, after paying an arm and a leg for your CPV you certainly don't need a visitor visa as well. Fly with confidence and good luck. We did the same thing last year only because of the volcano we actually missed our deadline. Thankfully the manager at the Perth Centre managed to sort us out as we were able to enter the country. We did have a reception committee from the Immigration which normally would not happen.

We need a new vacumn when we get to Aus, looking on web sites here and in Aus they are much dearer in Aus, so if we take a new cleaner, will we have to pay tax on it, but if we take one that has been used, will we have to pay for it to be fumigated on inport as we have been told they do not like cleaners being taken in, like Christmas decorations!!! any experiences of this

We bought a new Dyson to bring with us and also a swing seat from Greenfingers. We unpacked both but it was obvious they were both brand new items so when it came to the manifest and the question about ownership we decided to be completely up front and declare both items. They both came through with no additional charges. We also brought an older vacuum cleaner with us which we cleaned thoroughly and also changed the filters. That was okay too. On a lighter note, we learnt the hard way that not thoroughly checking a new item was a mistake. When we came to erect the swing seat we found that we had a duplicate of two vital pieces rather than one and a second mirror image. Luckily our son in law knew someone who could help and they removed a fastening point and rewelded it to the right place.

Incidentally, we had plenty of Christmas decorations and all those boxes were inspected along with a box of shoes and boots and our gardening gear. I just think if you clean everything thoroughly including the bottoms of your shoes etc it should be okay.

Cath

It's nice to see some familiar names posting here.

Form 80 is subtitled "Personal Particulars for Character Assessment" You need to give them lots of information about yourselves. ie; countries you have travelled to and when, previous passport numbers, all the names and dates of birth of your family (whether they are emigrating with you or not) Visit www.immi.gov.au and just put form 80 in the search box.

Some applicants fill out the form when they are assigned a case officer and others (like me) send it with their application. It has to be done sooner or later in any event.

Good luck with it! Val:arghh:

We were never asked to complete form 80 and certainly didn't offer to do so. We received our visa no problem. So the message is if you aren't asked don't worry.