Bridgeman

My spouse contacted Teachers Pension and they sent him details of his personal contributions. He then filled in a form D11 Deductible amount of undeducted purchase price of a foreign pension or annuity (which you can find on the ATO website). He sent this off to the ATO and they told him how much he could claim as UPP.

I recently had solar installed and it sends me an email every week showing the output. I have also been getting emails of 'incident reports' stating 'bus voltage abnormal'. When I checked the unit it was turned off completely. I contacted the installer and they asked me if any of the neighbours had solar installed recently and I told them yes, my next door neighbour and two more houses on my street. I was then told that what is happening is that we are all generating solar electricity and the unit is trying to feed the grid but that the Australian electricity grid can't cope and so the unit turns itself off! I do remember seeing an item on the news to that effect last year saying that it will be years before it is upgraded enough. I find this really misleading and annoying as this has happened three times in the last two weeks. They don't tell you this when its installed. I realise the way to go is batteries but they are still very expensive.

Thanks for that. Good to know.

I am with another bank in the UK and hope they won't follow suit as I have various UK pensions paid in as I prefer to have control over when I bring the money over to my Australian account. . The UK state pension isn't a problem as you say, it can be paid direct into an Australian account but I have a couple of other private pensions which will not pay into a foreign bank account. I would be interested in any suggestions.

Yes, I don't understand why the Government decided not to bring forward the timing for booster jabs, especially for us older ones and those in care homes for example. I am at the four and a half months stage since my last jab and so am quite worried about Omicron especially now we are opening up and people mingling over Christmas. I did ask my GP if I could get it earlier but she said I had to wait 6 months as that was the health guidelines. I guess I will just have to go into hibernation till the end o January.

What about those of us who had to get Astra Zeneca as we weren't eligible for Pfizer? I haven't heard any mention of this or any research done. Does anyone have any information on this?

I have family in Dunedin and the only thing they don't like is the weather. It's certainly very beautiful and reminds me a little of England. When I first went to visit there were fields of buttercups everywhere and plants in people's gardens which also grew in England. I have thought about moving over there but have heard that the health system is not good unless you live in one of the larger cities and that people have had to travel from Dunedin to Christchurch (5 hours drive) to get cancer treatment. This is important to me having recently had some health problems. Not sure I could cope with the winters though. Also it's not as accessible as one would think as there are now no direct flights from where I live to Dunedin.

The vaccination rollout is being controlled by the GPs and the capacity they can cope with. Getting vaccinated is not as easy as the government are making out. It's alright opening up the progamme to over 40s in Victoria, but just look what happened. You need to get all your ducks in a row before you make announcements. My friend, just under 70, contacted her local medical centre recently, only to he told, oh we can't take your booking as we are still vaccinating 80 year olds. They also don't like you going to another medical centre. Another friend tried this and was given short shrift. Incidentally we don't have large vaccination centres here in Queensland, walk up or otherwise. However, I do think that without a high vaccination rate, we are just sitting ducks here in Australia if there is an outbreak that cannot be contained. Also, getting vaccinated protects not only yourself but helps prevent you spreading it to other people. It doesn't really make sense to be complaining about borders not opening unless you are willing to get vaccinated as until there is a high level of vaccination, it's unlikely to happen.

If you read all the information about this visa on the home affairs website you will see that the application can be submitted from inside Australia. If you look at the actual application form you will see that the application needs to be sent to the Perth office. It might a good idea to read everything through before you start the application.

There's nothing to prevent you submitting/posting the application while you are in Australia, but you won't get a bridging visa when your visitor visa expires. You will need to be offshore when the visa is granted.

You need to find the forms and read all the notes before you start. The information you need is right there in the notes. It says the form covers a family unit. You will find help on here, but you do need to do the groundwork yourself.

The notes are at the bottom of the fees table. You just need to scroll down.

As the 143 is an offshore visa, they would not get a bridging visa to allow them to stay in Australia. They would have to leave when their visitor visa expired

Can I ask when you sent off your application? I need to renew mine but the website is saying not to apply unless you need to travel urgently.

I need to renew my UK passport but have been reluctant to do so due to the long delays in the post and the possibility it might go astray. I got the photos done just before lockdown.