Bridgeman

Yes, this means that you can submit your application for the 143 while you are physically in Australia (unless you have a No Further Stay condition on your visitor visa). However, you would not be granted a bridging visa which would allow you to stay in Australia once your visitor visa comes to an end. You do need to be offshore when the visa is granted.

There is a parent visa thread which is a sticky at the top of the immigration forum and lots of parents are posting their timelines on here so you should be able to get a good idea of how long the visa is taking to process and find parents on there who have applied around the same time as you. For example I do know that they are currently processing applications around the end of July 2013. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/77756-brand-new-pio-parents-visa-thread-804.html Your best plan might be to wait around 12 months first and then go over on a 12 month visitor visa. If you inform DIBP that you are in Australia they will let you know when they are about to grant your visa so that you can arrange to go offshore, some usually go to Bali, Singapore or New Zealand. DIBP seem to know when you have passed through immigration wherever you have gone and will quite often grant the visa within a few hours. Not sure about the 12 month, 3 month rule, but maybe you could post the query on the parent visa thread and there may be someone who can help with advice.

It is perfectly in order for you to visit on a tourist visa while waiting for your 143 and many parents do this. You will not normally be allowed to stay for more than 12 months though and you will need to keep DIBP informed that you are in Australia, so they don't grant your visa. You will need to go offshore for a few days while they grant your visa.

We are thinking of going over to the Sunshine Coast from WA on a reccie and have hired a car for a month. If we like the area we may want to stay longer, but have heard that it may be cheaper to lease a car. I have researched a few companies but most seem geared up for companies or for the financial side of things. Just wondering if anyone has done this and/or has any recommendations/suggestions.

What type of pension do you have? You may not be aware that the UK government has changed the rules lately on the type of pension which can be transferred abroad. Have a look here: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/financial-advice-ask-vista/224380-changes-uk-pension-laws.html We brought our pension over and invested in an Australian super scheme and this is what I understand from our experience. The whole process took about a year to sort out. No doubt an expert will be along soon to elaborate more. If you don't have a government pension then it may be possible to transfer, but it would be better to take some professional advice as to whether you are better off leaving your pension in the UK and drawing it in pounds when you retire. If you do want to bring it over then there is usually a 6 month window from arrival in Australia when you can bring your pension over without tax penalties. After that any increase in the value of the fund from when you arrived in Australia to when you transfer it will be taxed. As you have been here for 7 years then I assume you will have to pay some tax on it. We were also outside the window, but fortunately (from a tax point of view) there had been no increase in the value in the interim so there was no tax to pay. You will need to transfer your pension to an approved QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) and this will still be subject to UK pension rules for 5 years and reporting for 10 years, which normally meant that you could only still take 25% in cash. I understand the UK rules about this have also changed recently in that I believe you can access all your pension, but I think only 25% is tax free. I am not sure how this now affects any superannuation schemes which are still under the UK rules, maybe the experts can elaborate. If you take your pension as a regular income then normally it is tax free here in Australia. I don't think it is as simple as just bringing the money over and accessing it all immediately. Not sure if there is some way round this, but we were told we could only access 25% as a lump sum.

No unfortunately we are in WA, and the law is different. We can object to the home opens and ask for viewings by appointment but I think this might be more disruptive. The painting was actually something we had been badgering the agents for ourselves for ages, as large cracks appeared in the walls which were repaired but had never been repainted. Of course, they finally decided to get it done now when they want to put it on the market so we could hardly say we didn't want it doing now. I am beginning to find there are lots of little anomalies between states and the tenancy laws in WA don't seem to be as good as elsewhere. Something for you newcomers to be aware of.

Just be aware that your parents will not be asked to pay the second large VAC or the AOS unless they pass the medical. These are the last two steps before visa grant after all other conditions such as medical and police checks have been done, although they will not get a refund on the initial visa application charge if rejected.

Thanks Maisie, yes we are renting in Oz but tied in to a rental contract till July. Now having to deal with the place being painted and other repairs, plus home opens and the landlord won't even give us a reduction in the rent for the inconvenience.

Oh I used to hate that. We had two buyers who loved our house but had only just put theirs on the market. Eventually we told our agents we only wanted people who had actually sold theirs and were in a position to make an offer. I's all extremely stressful. We had decided to rent it out as we had our visa and grandchild was imminent and we wanted to go. Luckily we managed to sell at the last minute and actually completed on the same day we flew out to Australia. So stressful!

Yes of course, Val is right. Sorry I seem to have got my 173s and 143s completely mixed up and confused everyone! Had a very tiring stressful day today due to landlord putting our rental property on the market. Just to confirm, the 143 is an offshore visa and if you are in Australia visiting then you need to go offshore for visa grant. If you are in Australia on a 173 then of course you do not need to leave for the visa grant. Think I need a restorative glass of something!

Sorry I misread what you wrote. We didn't use an agent and I think if you do you still have to complete the forms yourself.

Did you use an agent for the 173? We completed the forms ourselves and much of the information was taken from the forms already completed for the 143. We found it fairly straightforward. If you are in Australia you do need to keep immigration informed as they will need to advise you just before visa grant so you can go offshore. If you have anything which is not straightforward however, then using an agent would give you peace of mind.

It's form 47PT and the methods of payment are as follows: Method of payment In Australia To make a payment, please pay by credit card, debit card, bank cheque or money order made payable to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Debit card and credit card are the preferred methods of payment.

I suspect you mean is it better to have the pension paid direct to your Australian bank account or to have it paid into a UK account. If you have it paid into an Australian bank account you are at the mercy of whatever exchange rate the bank they use to make the transfer gives you ( this used to be RBS but I think it has changed now). It depends on how much control you want to have over your money. We have ours paid into a UK bank and transfer it when we need to, about every 2 months as we prefer to have control over this ourselves.

When you say your parents are in their 60s how old are they exactly? If one of them is over 65 they may be eligible to apply onshore for the Aged Parent visa 804. They will then be given a bridging visa to stay here until their visa is granted several years down the line - not sure how long the onshore version is taking, I have heard 8 years mentioned. Again this is likely to be scrapped soon along with the 103 so they would need to do it very quickly. it does have it's disadvantages in that they will only be entitled to limited Medicare under the reciprocal agreement and they will need to pass a medical before their visa is granted, which could be problematic if they fail it. It might be advisable to take some advice from an agent such as Alan Collett on the best way to proceed with this visa as they would need to ensure that they don't incur a 'No further Stay' condition on their visitor visa. Can I add I am with Fisher1 on this. Us parents do actually contribute to the Australian economy by buying property, using our private pension money to invest in an Australian Super, and by spending our hard earned state pensions and other income in Australia. Not to mention the support we give our families, the least of which is free childcare so they can go out and contribute to the economy by doing their jobs.

As Barry mentioned the hold up is likely to be with Centrelink and sorting the AOS. Immigration won't chase this and you probably need to keep them informed if your sponsor hasn't heard anything within the 28 days. I don't know where your daughter lives, but it can take some time for Centrelink to sort out the AOS. Some people have been lucky in that it was done in 3 weeks. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but in our case, our sponsor was in Brisbane and it took 10 weeks for them to sort it out. Your daughter probably needs to contact the Centrelink office where she submitted the paperwork for an update.

Presumably you will be sponsored by your daughter who is already settled in Melbourne?

Having been on both sides of the fence so to speak I can sympathise with both parties. We moved abroad and I never really gave a thought about my parents and the fact that they wouldn't see that much of their grandchildren. They never said anything, but were overjoyed when we returned. However, when our own daughter emigrated to Australia I realised how hard it must have been for them. What most people don't realise is that the grandparents are actually going through a grieving process. Grieving for the fact that their future as they saw it is now not going to happen. Everyone grieves in different ways and some people find it extremely difficult to cope. I think you need to have a bit more generosity of spirit when dealing with such situations and be able to forgive their reactions. Yes, of course children must lead their own lives, but they must also accept the consequences of their decisions. I think sometimes those who emigrate are a little put out that not everyone shares their dream and aggrieved that they have to deal with the fallout. I don't know what they expect? As for the grandchildren, as you get older they become more important as you see them as part of yourselves which is going to continue long after you have gone. I also think that grandparents are able to play a very important role in children's lives I love my grandchildren very much, they are the light of our lives and I certainly don't consider them as being there for my amusement. For us at the moment the shoe is on the other foot and it is us who are going to have to leave them and it is extremely hard.

No, strictly speaking, she will normaly not be required to undergo a further health check. We went from a 173 to a 143 and did not need to have another medical or police check. If she has spent the time in Australia, however, she will need to provide an Australian police check. According to DIBP site http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/143.aspx she also does not need to provide evidence of meeting the BOF test: Your documents If you or your family members already have a Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173), you do not need to provide documents to show: you meet the balance-of-family test evidence of your family members' dependency. You must tell us if any of your family members are no longer dependent on you. You need to provide documents only if your circumstances have changed. However, since her circumstances have now changed, she is really obliged to tell them and also if she has serious health issues. As already mentioned, maybe take some advice from an agent first.

You will be entitled to full Medicare rights - which is the public health system - on a permanent visa. However, this is not like the NHS as it doesn't cover everything. A visit to the doctors can cost anything from $55 to $70 plus. Medicare will give you a rebate on this of around $37 (can't remember the exact figure off hand) so you would need to pay the difference. Having said that, you can find doctors who 'bulk bill', ie they only charge the Medicare rebate so you don't pay anything - although there is currently talk of introducing a token $7 per visit. Lots of doctors will bulk bill for Seniors and anyone who has the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (you can get this after 2 years if over 65 but it is means tested). The CSHC also gives access to discounted prescriptions - you will pay around $6 dollars, otherwise you will need to pay for your medication which can be expensive, it is not free for over 60s like the UK. Here's a link to the Medicare site for further info: http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/subjects/medicare-services If you need to be referred for anything, such as a blood test, or X-ray make sure you ask to be sent somewhere they will bulk bill, so you don't end up paying anything. If you are referred to a specialist for example you can ask to go through the public system, but there will usually still be a gap to pay, eg I have to see an eye specialist and the initial consultation is costing around $175 and I will get around half that back from Medicare. So healthcare is a cost to be considered. If you need to go into hospital you can go through the public (Medicare) system and your operation or stay in hospital will not cost anything but there will be a waiting list of course. You can take out private health insurance if you wish to offset some of the costs. We are with HBF and they let you choose which things you might want to be covered for. However, it usually does not cover all the cost and there will still be a gap to pay between what you are charged and what the fund will pay. We do not have private hospital cover as we think the cost is prohibitive. Some people do take this out if they are high earners as you get penalised for tax, but I don't think any of us pensioners need to worry about that! There is also an age loading for private health insurance, ie you get penalised for every year you are over 31 when you take out the insurance, but new migrants get one year to take this out before being penalised. One thing to be aware of is that dentists are not covered by Medicare and all dentist are private over here and can be extremely expensive, so it would be advisable to get any necessary dental work done in the UK before you come over. We have private health cover for dental, but it only covers a fraction of the cost unless you take out a higher level of cover which can be more expensive. Also if you call an ambulance you need to pay for this unless you have health cover. It does vary from state to state though. Whether you think private health care is worth it is really a personal decision. However, I have just worked out what we have paid into the fund over the last three years and what we got back and we worked out that we got back about $500 more than we paid in (around $2000 over 3 years for a very basic plan). This was mainly as a result of dental work we had done. However overall we paid a gap/difference of around $1500 in total. This is just for treatment using the private health cover. I haven't yet worked out what the gap has been for Medicare treatment yet. Hope this helps

As Quoll says, in order to be eligible to apply for this visa one of the applicants must be over 65. With regard to shipping it is normally the shipping companies who ask for evidence of a visa before they will ship your stuff. I have sent you a PM.

We are PR. Yes I thought I had understood correctly. Seems a bit weird when we don't know whether we will be staying permanently.

I have looked on the Queensland government site and it seems a bit confusing. From what I can see I can only drive for 3 months on my WA licence. Is this correct? We are looking at going over there and spending some time (up to a year) to see whether we want to settle there. Does this mean I have to apply for a Queensland licence after 3 months and do I need to give up my WA licence? If so what happens if we want to visit family in WA for extended periods? Are we not allowed to drive after 3 months on a Queensland licence? It's all very confusing and I find it a bit silly as it's still the same country.

Would it be useful for everyone to state their location, or a rough idea of which state and roughly whereabouts as prices do vary especially for housing. It might help people decide on a location.

Can anyone recommend a removal company from Perth to Queensland and a rough cost? I have heard it is as expensive as shipping from the UK to Oz. In addition, just wondering if there is a company who will ship just a few boxes interstate.