Gaskit

I've still not progressed. Having done a lot of searching, I can say it's a very complex picture and the combination of your own circumstance and lender's position means it is very hard to generalize options - but it's easy to say that it's very hard for UK expats in OZ to secure a new UK mortgage. I believe the best options are with Family Building Society and IMP at the link I posted above. FBS were no good for me as I don't have a current UK mortgage. Note I have no affiliations to IMP and am not a customer but I did talk to them. They seemed to be able to offer reasonable if not the best rates through their exclusive Ipswich BS products. Al Ryan are also a solution if you are comfortable with Sharia lending. There are more options available through brokers but rates and product fees can make your eyes water. I held off applying as I'm waiting to see if Barclays change their position on Consumer Buy to Let mortgages. They previously indicated their position may change in October after a systems review. Note that Barclays do have a high salary threshold which means they're not an option for many people but at least they don't require you to keep GBP40k on deposit with them like HSBC. I would be great if people could keep this thread current by posting here when they do secure a new UK mortgage as it seems the market and options do change quite quickly.

I think it does. It would be good to see how you go. I'll PM you. This link has a pretty good review of what I've found to be the current situation - who still loans, who doesn't and at what penalty. I think it might come out of Hong Kong. http://www.international-mortgage-plans.com/a-z-expatriate-mortgages.htm

I wondered if you proceeded with your mortgage application? I've also been going through the same process and had an offer from a Shariah bank. I'm guessing it was Al Rayan ? For ethical reasons I wasn't keen so decided to go to another lender - an off-shore branch of one of UK's big banks. It proved to be a long drawn out process that ultimately got me nowhere. After having initial approval my application was declined when they found the property used to be my home. This has left me back at square one and looking back at Al Rayan. Thanks to the Australian Corporate Governance Act there are so few UK lenders willing to lend to AU residents these days. I'd be interested to know if you followed through with your Shariah lender or found another option?

Hi, my husband (main applicant is British) but I am French and despite working in English speaking countries for last 10 years I still had to have a score >4.5 at IELTs to satisfy all visa requirement for secondary applicant.

Hi all, I thought I would add my timeline to give hope for those who submitted at the same time as us as we got our 186 yesterday: Application through MA lodged 27 June (just before the fee increase ;-). Police checks and medical were uploaded in July and the IELTS certificate mid August. 186 granted 12/09/13 good luck to all of you still waiting .

Hi. I had a baby last year and I'm De Facto on my partner 457 Visa. I only paid for the very 1st scan then all the antenatal care was done at the hospital I had been referred to. I had to have lots of extra scans and monitoring for baby and there was no problem. You need to come from the UK though to have reciprocal agreement and benefit from Medicare. You need to consider the non medical cost as well : nurseries (if you are going to work - no rebate if you are on 457), equipment (prams etc can be expensive), clothes. However you can get good deals if you go to 'Baby Markets' where they sell clothes, prams etc second hand , usually in really good condition and only a few dollars! Good Luck.

Hi, We quite like Mount Waverley - lots of new houses are being built (so very modern and practical houses - but small gardens) and prices are not too bad. Good train service into CBD (30min) , close to shopping centre and M1 motorway or Princes Highway (it takes about 35min to drive into CBD at the weekend). We have seen some very nice and large houses in Ivanhoe before but not really in our budget :-(

No problem and good luck with everything!

it should be OK although she will be due for the 20 weeks scan ? Might be better to get it done before you leave as if you miss the 20 weeks deadline I believe it's more difficult to get the measurements required to detect any anomalies with the baby - maybe have a word with your GP to see what the best timing would be ?

we registered a few days after we arrived. We went to a medicare centre with our passport/visa and we were issued a temporary card with the Medicare number until we received the proper card at home. If your wife is 2 months from giving birth I would then go straight away to a GP with your temporary card so that they start the referral etc straight away - it can take a few days to get processed and then for the appointments to come through.

Hi, I can confirm that the pregnancy will be covered by Medicare (I'm going through it now!) - register quickly and then go and see a GP so that he prepares a referral for a public hospital . Once you are being followed by the hospital then you don't have to pay anything (obviously I'm talking public hospital). I'm in Melbourne so maybe procedures are slightly different for Sydney . I must say I can't complain about the ante-natal care so far - it's been really good.

I'm no Melbourne expert - only been living here for 6 months. But we have a 3 yr old and will have a newborn in 2months! we live in Glen Iris so not very far from Glen Waverley and Bentleigh East. OH works in CBD and has a 15min walk to station then 30min train and another 10 min in CBD so just under an hour. Obviously the closer you live to a train station, the shorter your commute will be. Although if your OH will have his own car, it's free parking at the stations in the suburbs so worth thinking about. You will find most of the areas you named have parks - there's certainly no shortage of them! There are quite a lot of shopping complexes on Glen Waverley (the Centro) and East bentleigh is not far of Chadstone shopping centre. But there are always some smaller independant shops on the main roads in these suburbs. I don't know if you have a rental budget because you might find that's your main criteria, rentals are very expensive - have a look on realestate to find out prices. I hope this helps a bit ?

Hi, Have you registered on SEEK ? They had plenty of offers for draughtsman in Melbourne when I was looking a few months ago.

I can confirm what has already been said as I found out I was pregnant shortly after we arrived in Melbourne on OH 457 visa. Obviously it meant that job hunting for me would not be easy so decided to live of OH salary for a year or so. I'm going public hospital route , private health insurance is not an option because of the 12 month waiting period. So far I had to pay for a scan and the blood screening test and it was about $300 - I got about $100 back through medicare. I have seen midwife and doctor in hospital and did not pay. It's my second child so I guess it's a bit easier 'knowing' what to expect and what care I should get - might be a bit more stressful for a first timer?

It took 5 days from the time our container arrived at the port to the AQIS inspection then another 5 days for the paperwork to be issued to release the container (and pay any taxes due). The shipper can only organise a delivery date once the paperwork is complete.

Agreed with the others about the ambulance cover - specially if your children are going to nurseries. It only cost $75 /year for a family cover. For the car purchase, you should check with your employer if you can get a novated lease - that's an easy way to finance a car (and it has tax advantages).

I was going to go too but then thought it would be better to keep it for a quieter day next week. I bet this weekend is going to be crazy there! I also thought it would be better to wait for OH payday before going !! :wink:

I did not know you could apply so quickly ! Sounds like you have made up your mind of where you want to live. Hope it carries on going well for you. Yes today is pretty rough here - but hey it's still early spring and we had beautiful days last weekend. It would be boring if it was always the same weather ! :smile:

We will probably look for PR - but because OH gets LAFHA we have to look at all the details because there are some good tax benefit with the 457. How quickly did you apply for PR?

Thanks Olly. Funny you mentioneed Birralee as it's where I have an appointment with a midwife and Doc next week! But I was high risk before so not sure I'll be able to go to a birthing centre - I might have to stay with hospital. We live in Glen Iris so I think they might send me to Monash hospital if I'm high risk again.

Hello, I thought I'll do one of those arrival reports as I found reading them so useful when still in the UK. Hopefully others will find it useful too. Anyway we flew Singapore Airline back in June with a 4 days stopover in Singapore as we thought it would be our last holidays for a little while (we are here on OH 457 visa so will take him a little while to build up annual leave). Singapore was nice , we visited the zoo, markets etc. 4 days is plenty to see the main tourist attractions. We then flew to Melbourne (each flight was an overnight flight as easier for the 3yrs old daughter). Going through customs at 7am took ages (1hr), then got the shuttle bus to our hotel in the CBD. OH started work within a week of arriving and the hunt for a rental then started. The whole rental process is really not a pleasant experience and is very very time consuming. We also probably made the mistake of trying to do everything by public transport which is possible but it would be much more efficient with a car to drive around places first. Anyway as others said on here have all your paperwork for the application scanned and printed (passport, birth certificate, bank statement etc and an introduction letter). At the end we got really tight for time with our container about to arrive so took the next property that we did not dislike too much !! But we have really seen some horrors! We just thought we will stay here for 12 months and then we will have a much better feel for the areas we want to live in. Container was delivered within 2 weeks of arriving in Melbourne - custom inspection was done within a week but we then had to wait a week for them to issue the paperwork to release the container. Anyway we are quite happy where we are. We found a nice nursery for the little one - they seem to be having so many activities planned there : music , sport and various visits (fire station last week !). Now with regards to cost of life here, I think it's pretty much as we expected reading other posts on here. Some stuff are more expensive and others cheaper! Transport is particularly cheap : petrol is cheap, you can park free in most places (except obviously in melbourne CBD) and the train/tram/bus is only $3 for the day at weekend ! a bit of a shock compared to london ! In any case you have to shop around for things to get the best prices. I'm now going to be testing the whole Medicare system as I found out I was pregnant just as we arrived and all private health insurance have a 12 months waiting period before you can get cover for antenatal care. The money you get back from the rebate seems to be quite variable so far. I can't say we have seen much of Melbourne yet as we have been too busy trying to settle in. But now that spring has arrived, it feels the right time to start exploring what Melbourne has to offer! :yes: Anyway no regret so far ... even the little one keeps saying 'it's beautiful here!!' when she sees colourful parrots flying off in the garden ! and the 100's of playgrounds available here are helping too !! Good luck to all of you who are about to do the trip - it's 6 months of hard work but hopefully worth it ! Happy to help with any questions :cute:

Hi Fergal007 We arrived in melbourne in June and had to go through TFN,Medicare and bank account joys! TFN: you can apply online as soon as you arrive and we receive the letter with the number approx a week later. Medicare: you can go to a Medicare centre (there are plenty around in Melbourne) and got our cards in the post approximately 10 days later. Bank: we opened the account with NAB from the UK but they did mess up our cards so we did not get them till 2 weeks after arriving - but I think we were just unlucky. I'd suggest make sure you email them a week before you arrive to request your card to be ready - you need then to turn up in the branch specified in the email with your passport. Hope this helps,