Pegs

I have been married for 25 years and we have lived in Perth, Australia for the last 7 years. We both have citizenship and intend to remain here. Unfortunately, we have grown apart and in April 2018, separated amicably. We have agreed terms of a Financial settlement which includes allocating my soon to be ex-wife a significant portion of my Group Personal Pension plan with Standard Life in the UK. On contacting them to determine the necessary wording of an Australian Court's consent order, Standard Life wrote to state that they would not recognise the Australian order and I would need a Court Order issued by a UK Court. Does anyone have any experience of splitting of UK based pension as part of an Australian, obtaining a UK Court Order and, importantly, recommending a UK Solicitor who has relevant experience. The one I contacted online from a Google advert was quoting GBP3,000 - GBP5,000 (!!) Any help would be appreciated

We moved to Perth 3 years ago and were lucky enough to have a mortgage free property in the UK that has been let out. We rent here in Australia. Now our eldest son has gone and got in to Cambridge and we will have to fund the rather large (international) fees. To help with this, I thought it would be easy to put a mortgage on the property (at max 10% of the value) but no. It seems that the banks do not have policy to offer buy to let mortgages to non UK residents and that to offer them to Australian residents the bank has to have registrations in Australia; this plus the currency mis-match of my income being in Australian dollars is scaring them off. HSBC came close but because we do not have a mortgage here; this was apparently a problem for them. I also tried Expat Mortgages....with no success. So we are now thinking that we will have to sell up but before we start this I thought I would check in here to see if others have found a way ?

Thanks for taking the time to post the update TT. This sounds great. Mrs Pegs and I are heading over to Perth for our reccie trip on June 2nd and so if okay, I will PM you. Thanks

Signed.

DAG - It don't believe it will make a difference either way. As long as you have the points, WA process their applications very fast (12 hours in my case or so! but within a week or so) and DIAC will take their (irregular) time with some 176's being very fast of maybe a month and some a taking a bit longer of a few months. Hope this helps Pegs

On the Form 1100, it was only speaking to the Adelaide Center that they advised that it hadn't been received by DIAC and so identified the reason for the lack of progress. Agent then agreed that there might be a problem and contacted WA who stated that they had sent the form. Never did find out who was responsible but after asking, WA sent it "again" and two days later things were moving. If your agent isn't keen to contact the Case Officer, I would call Adelaide and enquire yourself. After waiting so long, I don't think it is unreasonable and it might identify an unnecessary hold up that can be quickly resolved. All the best Pegs

Hi JnC, I was in a similar position as you. We applied on 18th November and based on the timings we saw went ahead and did our Police Checks and Medicals in mid December. I was frustrated somewhat at the lack of progress - as with you all of our documents still showed as "required" and, despite the Agent saying be patient, phoned Adelaide to see if there was a problem. When I spoke to them, they said that our application was in Category 4 rather than Category 3 as they had not received the sponsorship form 1100 from Western Australia. I was glad I made the call as the online status changed to "Processing further" and the documents were later changed to "met" and we got allocated a Case Officer. I was aware that DIAC phoned my Employer work reference early in January to confirm the details and after three weeks of nothing (Agent was saying be patient) I asked the Agent to email the Case Officer to enquire on the progress. This was sent on Wednesday 1st Feb and we got our Visa through this morning. So JnC, my advice would be yes be patient as it's not good to keep hassling them every week, but your timeline is way over that and so it is not unreasonable to contact the Case Officer to see if there is a reason why things are not being progressed. Have a word with your Agent. I would have thought the Agent would have forwarded the email showing the Case Officers name and details to you. In our case, after both of the times we contacted DIAC, things moved along to a happy conclusion. i.e. In our case it was definitely worth contacting them All the very best of luck. My fingers are crossed for you and any other November applicants that are still waiting out there. Pegs

The positive vibes and our making an online status enquiry yesterday seems to have helped. Overnight, our online status has changed; on the document checklist everything is showing as having been met and status is showing "being processed further". Not long now I think.... Pegs

Congratulations Nic. That is fantastic news and does give us slow coaches hope! I bet you are on Cloud 9 today. When and where are you heading over? Pegs PS No news with me...system suggest that I am still waiting for a CO but we have meds and the police checks uploaded okay. Yesterday, I asked our Agent to enquire on status after the Form 1100 was uploaded before Christmas and nothing seems to have changed on the DIAC status webpages.

I called DIAC and they explained that I am sat in Category 4 rather than Category 3 because they have not received the Form 1100 from WA for my state sponsorship. Wished I had not listened to the Agent, but glad I ignored their advice after no too long ! Will get agent to get onto WA to forward the form 1100.

Hi Kalinka, No news from a CO either I am afraid. I spoke to my Agent after my last post and they said just be patient. We had our Medicals done last weekend and I see that they had been received this morning on the first online webpage but on the second page (with the checklist) they still show as being "required" ? Otherwise it just shows as "Processing Commenced" with everything showing as being required. All very frustrating when I see others with their CO's having made contact. We sent off for the Police Checks last week and hope to have those back soon for uploading. When you called did you call the Adelaide #'s shown here? http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/australia/processing-centres/adelaide-skilled.htm I may try and give them a call tonight. It would be nice to have some contact before Christmas. Merry Christmas to you all. Pegs

Thanks Kalinka. I haven't called yet (not sure what tel number to call amongst other things)...See what others may add and if no further guidance will give it a couple more days before calling to see what's happening. Thanks

I see you were a 176 applicant too. Why did they offer only 6 months to validate? Was this related to being "off list" or is this something that could be applied to any 176 applicants? You have me worried now ! Also one query for other applicants out there; my 176 was lodged by our Agent on 18th November and more than three weeks later all documents still show as being "required" but at the top it states "Processing Commenced". The Agent says that a CO hasn't been allocated yet, but on the DIAC site it says CO's have been allocated for 176's through applications received by them as at 27th November 2011. How do you know when a CO has been allocated - does it show on the web site? Also, I would have thought the "required" tagline would have disappeared by now also. Can anyone advise?

Hi TT, yes we will be heading to Perth too, but not until Sept 2012. When will you be going? Pegs

Congratulations TT that is such good news. Now the journey really does begin. Good luck. Pegs

Hi Jacb. Congrats on getting the WA SS so quickly - I think we "met" on the WA State Sponsorship thread earlier this week. I understand that you can upload the medicals without being requested and this can obviously speed up the process. I have seen others in the past have done this. There are however two possible downsides that I can see; 1. there is a risk that the CO may find problems with your application and quash it before the medical expense having been incurred and therefore saving you money, and 2; probably more relevant, the clock starts ticking on the 12 month deadline to validate from the date of the earlier of your PCC or Medicals. Therefore, its not necessarily a good idea to get it too early before getting your CO as it will reduce your validation time available. For us, a family of 5 the medical cost is approx £770, so no small amount. Therefore I timed our appointment so that we should get the CO a week or two before then but it should save some time when compared to waiting for the CO before trying to book our medicals. As we plan to emigrate around 1st Sept 2012 and certainly by the end of October 2012, starting the 12 month deadline from 17th December 2011 isn't an issue for us but may be for others/you (?). Hope this helps Jacb. All the best. Pegs

I submitted for WA SS in November on a Sunday evening and got the approval in less than 12 hours on Monday morning. I was amazed. Good luck

Morning all. I see that the Case Officer allocation grid has been updated to show Cat 3 176's lodged through 20th November 2011 have been allocated - although my application status page doesn't seem to reflect an allocation (lodged on 18th November). Any news from anyone out there who lodged pre Nov 20th? http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/estimated-allocation-times.htm

We have booked our Medicals for Saturday 17th December 2011 and hope to have the CO appointed and ask us to proceed before then. We've booked it now as we wanted a Saturday appointment to avoid having to take the kids out of school for it and have it scheduled so hopefully the results will be processed before the Christmas shut down. If worst comes to the worst we can postpone the appointment with 48 hours notice. Will send off the PCC forms this weekend. We haven't done the Form 80 yet either as it is not always needed. All the best Pegs

Hi Kalinka, I lodged a week after you on 18th November and haven't had a status change / CO yet. However, looking through the processing dates on the October thread it was typically 18-24 days before a CO was appointed so it could be any day now for you. Are you getting your medical apointment booked prior to being asked to do so by the CO? Best of luck

Thanks NowPerth. I appreciate your guidance. I will get some quotes organised

Hi, we are at the early stages (awaiting Skills Assesment results) but plan on taking our large cat (Tinker) with us from London to Perth in 2012. Can you advise how far in advance on travel the Rabies shot should be undertaken and how long quarantine when they arrive in Oz. I have seen that taking a pet is expensive, but Tinker is a real part of the family and our eldest would be devastated if he could not come too. Can anyone advise how much it will all cost (approximately) ? Also, I did read a post about how cats are frowned upon in Oz given the risk to local wildlife and you have to give assurances that they will not roam outside your back garden. Is this true? Thanks for any assistance or guidance.