Fisher1

18 hours ago, Parley said:

Who told you you would have to renew your passport before you travel after Brexit ?

I'm sure they are not saying every holder of a British Passport has to renew it because of Brexit are they ? Even if the rules have changed I don't think they would make everyone get a new passport.

There won't be Blue passports yet either I don't think. Brexit hasn't happened yet. Have they said Blue passports will be issued immediately after Brexit ?

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

What makes you think that?

Hi all,    If you go onto the UK govt website and look up passports you will see that, as other posters have alre@dy said (thanks for that) in the event of a no deal brexit your passport has to have minimum six months left on it before travelling out of the UK to other European countries. 

By the time I go to the UK I will have nine months left, but six of those months were added on when I renewed my passport early ten years ago in order to have six months left after a trip to Australia.

Apparently, if you have added months on your passport they don’t count in this instance. This means I would have to renew as I am planning to visit friends in Spain. The govt website advises that you don’t book travel before getting your passport sorted ...

PS. Parley,  I really don’t care what colour my passport is. I was being ironic. Alright then, I was beiing grumpy.

1 hour ago, Eera said:

Procedure changed on 31st Jan, previously everything was done in NZ, but now it's Liverpool, UK.  They say to allow 4-6 weeks plus postage time.  Cost according to the UK government online calculator is 86 quid plus 20 courier fee (will be converted to AUD by your credit card).

https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/apply/how-to-apply has the details if you haven't already found it.  The passport fee seems to have lowered a fair bit if that's correct.  Didn't it used to be over $300?

Sorry Eera,  I saw this after I replied to LouDyorkie. I’m quite pleasantly surprised if this is correct ... I seem to remember the last one costing more than this when I was in Belgium!  Thanks for the info.

Thanks Yorkie, I’ve got plenty of time, just a bit surprised because we’re holiday in gin Europe at the end of August and my passport doesn’t run out till the following year ... do you mind me asking how much it cost to get it done from here? I can’t seem to find a price list on the UK gov site.

Hi all

I've just realised that although my passport has a good year to run, I will need to renew it before I can travel in Europe after Brexit.  I've just checked the UK govt web site and it seems to be telling me that I have to send all my documents, including my existing passport, back to the UK for renewal. Surely this can't be right? If it is right, can anyone tell me how much it costs and how long it takes before your shiny new UK passport arrives (presumably with a nice blue cover, yay, I'm already enjoying all this freedom.) Thanks for your help.

I moved here sixteen months ago to be near my daughter, and I'm  lucky because I'm retired and can live away from Sydney - I can vouch for that train through Sutherland, very reliable if crowded at peak times.  My point is about renting. We rented for a year, We were happy in our rental but found the landlord greedy and unscrupulous, which caused a lot of stress at the time. If you do come over  - and it is a fantastic adventure - be very careful to get everything agreed re:rental property in writing. Agents are pretty slippery too - be wary.     Personally - if the money works - I'd give it a go. We dithered about a job offer in  Luxembourg years ago and it turned out to be the best move we ever made.  Life's for living. Enjoy.

1 hour ago, Ozzie said:

Twice now my Father in law has received an email from Emirates two weeks before his flight asking if he wanted to pay a set fee to upgrade (the last one was £400 (April 2018), unsure of the time before). He said it wasn't a 'bid' but thought it was a a straight payment - I haven't seen the email however so can't verify. Can I ask, why not pay upfront? Do you think paying for an upgrade would be cheaper closer to the time?

If you look back to the beginning of the thread you will see that this question has already been asked and answered. Thanks for the info though.

58 minutes ago, Ken said:

Some airlines send out an email a week to 10-days before the flight asking you to bid for an upgrade. Who offers to pay the most gets it. Obviously how many seats they have available to upgrade to as well as what the other passengers are willing to offer (it's a sealed bid auction - you don't see what the other passengers have bid) makes a difference.

Thanks for the feedback Ken 

2 hours ago, NickyNook said:

I read somewhere that premium economy seats are often sold out first as they're very popular.

So I wouldn't count on there always being any spare PE seats to upgrade to. Why not book PE seats up front if that's what you want?

Insurance issues - Its Complicated. Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks!

Hi all

We are just booking flights for a visit to the UK planned for late next year.  We are wondering if anyone has any experience of trying to upgrade a flight from tourist to premium economy after booking but several weeks before the day of travel - is this easy to do, or is it pot luck?  

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 09:21, Mike@Bonbeach said:

Thank you both Alan and datstheone.

Unfortunately I didn't keep records of my salary levels beyond about 5 years, ditching anything older than that, and of course once I retired(1990) I kept to the same time frame so virtually all my salary records except the final year were ditched. Had no idea that they would be needed 25 years later!!!.

If the pension fund isn't able to help then maybe Alan's idea of the Inland Revenue may be the way to go, but would they keep anything going back 45 years, it was probably all paper records then.

Thanks for your inputs Guys, much appreciated. Gives me some hope anyway.

Mike

Hi Mike

Inland revenue only keep records for six years - I know because I had a difficulty with my last employer demanding tax records going back fifteen years (long story, not relevant).  However, as a former colleague pointed out to me this week, the social security do keep records for longer than that. It seems a bit convoluted but, if we (I'm trying to get a UPP for my teachers' pension) were to find out from social security the yearly amount contributed, both as a monetary figure and as a percentage of salary, then we would be able to calculate our total salary for each year. Then, given knowledge of the percentage paid into the pension scheme (6% p.a. in my case) it would be possible to calculate the total amount paid for each year. Sounds like a long shot, but worth a try contacting social security?    I have also written to my union to see if they can help.

Hi Bridgeman, thanks for taking the trouble. TPs have told me its not possible but a friend tells me there might be a way in through national insurance records... Ive also asked the union for help. Watch this space!

3 hours ago, Bridgeman said:

Hi, yes I think that might have been me.   As I understand it you need to find out what your own contributions to the pension fund were.  Its early here so OH is still sleeping but I will be able to check paperwork later and get back to you.

Yes Bridgeman it was you - I remember now I see your username in front of me!  I have already tried to get the tp web site to give me the documentation I need but they are spectacularly unhelpful. Sorry to rake this up again, I know you've answered me before on this!  If you could ask your OH how she got the documented info, I'd be eternally grateful - I've just realised what a difference it could make if I get the extra tax allowance. 

Thank you!

Sorry to revisit old  ground but I can't find the post I'm looking for. There is a poster on here whose wife is a retired UK teacher, claiming tax relief on the UPP of her teachers' pension.  I've exchanged posts with him before but cannot find them, and am looking for help trying to get a written confirmation of the UPP on my own teachers' pension. The Teachers' pension admins say it isn't possible.

Thanks for reading 

1 hour ago, rammygirl said:

Let’s hope they pay up promptly. I still think the agent should bear some responsibility, maybe the landlord will seek to recover some cost from them. 

They dont have to pay - they withdrew their action and settled for the deal we all agreed in the first place. We saved the $995 extra that they were trying to make us pay.

If anyone is still interested, tribunal hearing was yesterday. The landlords were informed that if the tribunal member found there had been no break of the lease they would have to repay the costs they had already received. The agent went off and phoned them, they decided to withdraw. So we won.  So glad we didn't just roll over and pay.  A big thanks to everyone on here who offered advice and encouragement.

P.S. That's Christmas paid for!   

On 16/10/2018 at 15:53, Marisawright said:

Yes, I think the tribunal was cheaper when I did it. $50 was what I paid the agent.

Sometimes I wish I'd just paid up, but then I think about other tenants who maybe couldnt afford - having been led nicely 

12 hours ago, TeacherOzBound said:

Hi Andy, 

 

I wondered if you could help me. My mum is 63 and retired in the Uk, she is coming to Australia for 12 months in December and I wondered if this will affect her UK state pension and NI? Also if she moved more permanently in future would she be able to claim her State Pension here? 

Many thanks,

Hayley

She'll be able to claim her UK state pension here but it will  be frozen at the payment she was receiving when she left the UK

I really did have a straightforward situation so I did it myself ... didn't occur to me to use an agent. However I found it more stressful than I expected in terms of the amount of information to be collated and the time limit placed on providing it once our turn came round. Not sure I would have managed to keep sane without poms in oz!  If unsure, use an agent!

12 hours ago, LindaH27 said:

Given the current long wait for AOS acceptance and subsequent grant of visa there must be iots of people asked for documents and medical etc who now run the risk of having very little time to validate as it has to be within 12 months of those medicals.  

We were coincidentally in Australia when they were ready to issue our Visa so we took a short break to New Zealand and validated on our return. I found that the best option because it was settled all in one go. If I had to do it all again I'd go to oz and validate asap after the visa grant - less chance for slip ups ...

7 hours ago, vicky bajwa said:

I just rang the immi and they said for 143 which is permanent , there is no mention of entry date and from your entry you have to spent 2 years from 5 yrs with in Australia for renew your Visa.

As I am the applicant of 143, I don't know what's written on Visa paper.But according to them Visa will commence from your entry date and there is no condition on entry.

Are you confusing entry date with validation date? Unless the rules have changed since 2016, you must validate your visa by entering Australia a maximum of twelve months from the date of issue. You dont have to move permanently at this time - you have five years from the date of issue to do that.

5 hours ago, Mike@Bonbeach said:

Hi Keith.

In the end I didn't bother, put it in the "too hard too keep at it" basket.

I was becoming very frustrated and my pension provider in the end didn't seem to be bothered after many delays. I think it was too hard for them to do too.

We felt comfortable and secure with our income and the hassle just wasn't worth the trouble of constant emails and excuses. It also coincided with us becoming Aussie pensioners so that made things a lot easier.

Mike 

Interesting. I contacted teachers pensions ages ago and they said they werent able to calcate my contribution ...

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

I used to have a unit and had to get the agent to represent me at a hearing (the tenants had spilled something nameless on the carpet and I didn't know till they moved out, because they'd put a big piece of furniture over it).  It only cost me $50.

Thats the cost of applying to the tribunal - I was hoping they'd have to pay for the agent's time as well

1 hour ago, welljock said:

I know your not but at the moment they are sitting in the position of 'nothing to lose'; putting them in the position that they MAY have to pay back the advertising costs may cause a rethink.

We'll see. I think we may win, it all depends on the view taken by the tribunal. That would be great because the landlord will have incurred costs - paying the  agency to represent them for a start. We are realists however ... 

1 hour ago, welljock said:

I'm no lawyer but I would be making clear you only intimated that you were not renewing the lease and as a gesture of goodwill offered to pay the advertising costs which you now wish to withdraw. Also make clear you offered to leave early if that suited them better and in fact it was them that ended the lease early as they had found a new tenant.

Good luck, hope you get it all back.

Thanks Welljock. We arent actually trying to get any money back ... it was all settled until, two weeks or so after settlement the agency approached us saying that the landlord had "opted to impose the 4 week lease break fee" and that we therefore owed them $,900! We refused to pay and they are taking us yo a tribunal!!! Greedy b******s