TheGrahams

23 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Can't your child endorse the cheque to you or someone else with a UK bank account?   

Not sure. Probably easier to open a Great Southern account for this child and hope things are easier by the time the youngest turns 18! 

29 minutes ago, calNgary said:

We just applied for my daughters last month. She had to send copies of ID via email, they had to speak with her personally on the phone and a few days later they bank transferred the money into her Aus bank account. It was a much easier process than i had expected.

       Cal x

What bank was she with? Just been speaking to nationwide on the live chat and they are adamant they will send a cheque in GBP and there is no other way!

27 minutes ago, Ken said:

I said a very large Child Trust Fund. £10K each (assuming they don't have any other income) will leave them with no tax to pay so I'm not calling that "very large". A very large amount would create a tax bill so would probably not have been the best way to save for them.

Oh haha! 10k is a very large amount to me!!

However, taking into consideration £-$ plus his earnings from work, around 5k per year he will be well over his tax free threshold. 

33 minutes ago, Ken said:

If they've got a very large Child Trust Fund in the UK then the people who contributed to it were very badly advised.

How so? The boys will get around £10K each as Granny thought this the best way to save for them

25 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I meant a HSBC Australia bank account which is multi-currency.  However I am assuming they would accept a sterling cheque into their sterling account and maybe they wouldn't.  

It does sound like the solution is to find a bank in Australia which still accepts foreign cheques, and get the kids to open accounts with that bank.  

The other option is for Granny to go back to the bank and ask them why they are so antiquated that they can't send the money electronically instead of giving her a cheque.

Yes, the cheque converting bank sounds best but my concern is my youngest still has 2 years to wait and the likelihood of cheques even being a thing then is slim and also I don't know if he has to go in person to collect the cheque. 

The more I dig, the more it seems it may be the specific bank that is antiquated so I could, whilst still the registered account holder, switch to a more modern bank that has a process already set up!

Who'd have tthought moving money between countries would be so difficult in 2024! 

28 minutes ago, rammygirl said:

Be aware of the tax rates for minors in Aus. They may have to file a tax return. The tax free allowance is only 450 bucks a year for minors!

You might want to run it past an accountant as Aus will not recognise tax free Uk accounts like isas not sure how they will treat the trust fund. 

He will be over 18 when the money matures but yes we are aware he may have to pay tax on it. 

I'm not sure if this is possible as they are not UK residents. 

The children don't have a UK bank account and can't get one as they are not UK residents. 

I still have an active HSBC account but when the fund matures it is in their name

OK, so the cheque thing may be solved. 

Has anyone successfully transferred a CTF into an Aus bank account? 

My kids have children trust funds back in the UK which the grandparents have been paying into. 

My eldest turns 18 this year and the youngest in 2 years. 

Has anyone had any luck in getting theirs transferred to an Aus bank? 

Granny has been in touch with nationwide and they said a cheque will be issued but Aus banks don't accept foreign cheques anymore!

We now have our case officer!!!! YAYHOOOOOOOOOOO:ssign19:

Nice One Chantel! Feels great to have finally finished the application, eh?

Just the wait now, Good Luck

It was AB that confirmed it, and I didn't need to phone.

I got the 100, so thats a big relief too. We have 2 kids and have been married for 9 years though, so kinda hoped that it would be the 100.

We will be flying out beginning of October. Got to start handing in notices now.

Thanks for all your congraulations, not long now for some of you.

i would suggest though, if you do get to the 5 month mark, definatly give your CO a call, as someone said before its harder for them to stall by phone than email,

Good Luck guys

Whoop Whoop, I got my visa, yippee yippee yeah yeah!:biggrin::biggrin:

Good luck to all those still waiting and thanks to all of you that have helped me with encouraging words.

Ooh, I'm so excited I think I may burst!

Good luck today, lets hope AB is in the office and ready to hit the GRANT button!!

Nothing as of yet (have been checking every 10 mins since 8.30!), can someone let me have ABs number, just in case I haven't heard anything by late morning!

I phoned her, AB is dealing with LG's case load whilst she is away, but he is at the olympics today! She will email him to give him a nudge tomorrow. I will be checking my emails like a demented woodpecker from 9am tomorrow!

Did you manage to get anywhere as yet? Would be interesting to know what MT said... Good luck!

Tried this morning, went to answerphone. Just got in from dropping kiddos off at grannies, so will try after lunch. I feel a bit sick with nerves though!

I'd call another CO and see if they will issue it on her behalf.... Good luck

I think I will try that tomorrow, I have MT's number somewhere

Congrats to all visa getters! I have not been on here for a while, it seems that they have moved into March now, which is great, but blooming annoying for me as my CO is on holiday until 20th. I submitted on 28th Feb, so should have it by now, but correspondance with her before she went on annual leave said I will get it by the end of Aug. Going to book flights soon though, can't wait any longer!

I just replied to her to see if she could give any reason why and explained that we were anxious to get the visa before booking flights etc and that we wanted to leave end Sep. She replied to say we can go ahead and book flights, if I give her the dates, she will make sure my visa is granted on time.

So kind of a good response, at least we know it will be approved, but still going to take a lot longer than expected, especially as everyone seems to be on track for 5 months at the mo, however, someone on here did mention that LG was off on annual leave soon, so maybe that pushes her case load back by a couple of weeks?

Still it makes me feel sketchy as we wanted to have the visa before ending contracts and booking flights, but I guess we will just have to bite the bullet and take the risk!

Gutted, just email CO (LG) to see if she could give me any indication of when my visa will be finalised, as she had previously said July. She has now said end of Aug! That will be 6 months, gutted, gutted, gutted!

Thanks alot and thankyou for adding my details. Good luck with yours! See you in Oz!

No worries, but I didn't do it, just noticed it was already done when I went to get the link

I'll put my details on the spreadsheet, but I can't find the link. Can anyone help please?

It's already done!

Great news Holsten, congratulations. They seem to really have pulled their fingers out recently! Enjoy that beer

Only 2 and half weeks to go for me now (hopefully)

Just re-add your details... or post them on here again and I can add them for you if you have trouble...

Thanks, I seem to have reappeared!

I seem to have disappeared from the spreadsheet! How do I get back on?