Flathead

Wow that sounds interesting,the house build I mean !!! Are the building regulations pretty straight forward or how does it compare ?

What would the cost be compared to buying a new build not the actual price but is it cheaper to build your own house compared to buying one, like for like?

Sorry for all the questions, just I'd had that thought of building a house in my head all day !!!!

 

hope you can help and we'll done will you be putting pics on here?

 

Thanks Tab

Building a house is relatively cheap......it is the land which is expensive over here

Ok just thought of a question. My husband has very recently passed away. Do I have to include my step children (Aged 49 and 40) on the application form? I have been told by someone that they do not have to be included. Thank you

As far as I know they do count....and they will affect the balance of family test

Eveyone is entitled to an opinion - I too think this country is going down the pan. Are you going to say I'm stupid too? I think you owe Phoebe an apology. Most of us parents are embarking on this journey to be closer to our children and grandchildren - if they weren't there, we wouldn't be going. We all know we have to put up with the rules but we don't have to like them.

I do not need to apologise to anyone....if people are going to make stupid political statements then they have to expect a response....I am entitled to My opinion as well.

If you think that the UK is going down the pan then maybe you need to live here a while to realise just how good the UK is.

Can we have a NOT LIKE button please?

Why?......what have I said that is incorrect?

And I will add...no o e, with any sense, would rely on the UK state pension to live on and certainly not in a country as expensive as Australia....whether it is uprated or not

Dear Flathead

 

I've got a feeling you have misunderstood what was written. Nobody was talking about entitlement to Australian pensions. We were talking about the fact that when UK pensioners, having paid ALL the required contributions for a full pension. choose to live outside the UK, they no longer receive cost of living adjustments. This results in the pension being devalued by inflation.

 

This has nothing whatever to do with UK pensioners claiming Australian pensions, and is entirely at the feet of the UK government.

The whole agreement was scrapped because of a spat between the two governments....I responded initially to a stupid post about the country 'going down the pan'.....I know perfectly well what was written. The Australian government is not blameless in this and I get fed up with people wanting to slag off the UK because they think they are going somewhere '.better'

i am affected just as much as anyone but I knew the rules before I left and no one forced me to move here

The way this is being viewed is very one sided. Until 2001 any person from the UK could count years spent working in the UK towards their Australian pension entitlements

When the agreement between the two counties ended this stopped....It also stopped for Australians living in he UK.

It is not only the UK government not updating pensions that needs to be considered. The Australian government also stopped recognising years in the UK as counting towards the Australian pension

It takes two to Tango so not all the blame can be laid at the Feet of the UK government.

No one forces anyone to live here...if you choose to then you know the rules before you go.

I assume you are talking about Australia here. Australia has very sensibly long since introduced a superannuation system, whereby it is compulsory for everyone who works to have a private pension fund in the form of superannuation. And you don't even have to contribute to it yourself. Your employer has to contribute at least 9% of your salary (soon to be 12% I believe). This is what most Australians live off in their retirement So it is only those who are less fortunate who need to apply for the means tested aged pension which is actually a form of social security. It is not a 'state pension' as such.

A couple of points.

Firstly no sensible person in the UK would rely on the state pension but ,at least, they will get it.

secondly, the amount of superannuation that a big percentage of Australians have accumulated will not be enough to live on especially if you consider how they have under performed recently....so they will also have to rely on social security to make up the difference.

if someone from the UK wants to live abroad they will still receive the pension....not so for Australians

And that's exactly why this country is going down the proverbial pan!!!

 

Phoebe

So what do you think about a country where the pension is means tested and where you can not even claim it unless you continue living there?.....is that country going down the pan as well?

Hi Cathy

 

Not sure where you are in the process. If you are just starting and your mom is dependant on you in any way then you could put her on your application right from the beginning, but for this you would have to prove dependency but this can be done. Keep in mind though that with this way if she fails the medical you all fail, so no one would then get a visa. You would then have to try remove her from your application which I am not sure they will allow..suppose it depends on your CO. If she is not dependant on you, then you would have to go over and do the time and then bring her later. She could probably be with you a lot of the time if you get her tourist visa's before you apply but it would also necessitate travel. as far as healthcare goes you did not say where you are from. I am going to assume the UK. If this is so then Australia has a reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK. This means that she would get Medicare benefits immediately in Australia. Basically all this means is Doctors, Hospitals and Medicine on PBS. She could take out medical cover this side but would likely have a waiting period on her policy for the Rheumatoid Arthritis.

 

This all being said the issue would be the medical. If she does not pass the medical for PR at whatever stage they request it, she will not get a visa. The medical though is basically dependant on how much it costs the Australian government over a certain period of time and I suspect they are a bit more lax with the contributory parental visa as they have an assurance of support lodged for this so in essence it isn't really costing them a fortune. They have an amount and if they think her care will cost more than that amount during a 3 or 5 year period (not sure which it is), then they will fail her. This being said we chose to not list my mom as a dependant when we did our PR application due to her having emphysema and we did not know if she would pass the medical. I could kick myself now because I have heard of so many parents that have passed with diabetes and this and that. We are now sitting working towards that magic 2 year period because we listened to an immigration attorney in Sydney who gave us wrong advice. My mom has no one left except me,and is currently in country with us on a visitor visa, and we have applied to extend this to a tourist visa but who knows for how long they will grant that. Somewhere along the line she will have to leave and come back in.

 

Good luck

She will not be dependent if she has any sort of income ie. pension

Thanks Flathead, is this documented anywhere?

 

Rowley

Look on the DIAC website....

http://www.immi.gov.au

Thanks, I'll easily make that, just wondering if it was OK to spend a couple of month out of the country every year.

Of course it is

You would need to live here for 2 years (in total)to get a RRV and 4 years (you are allowed 1 year out of the country) to get citizenship.

After the 5 years you can still live here but would not be able to leave without one of the above if you want to retain the right to residency

You may be able to get a RRV if you can show substantial ties to the country but that may be for just 1 year

A RRV usually lasts 5 years

Hi,

 

My wife and I have applied for 143 visas. If we are successful in our application, hopefully towards the end of this year, then I understand that we have 12 months to 'validate' the visa, ie enter Australia.

 

What restrictions, if any, are there on our future movements in and out of Australia? Obviously it would allow us to spend all 12 months of any year in Australia. Are there any minimum requirements for living in Australia? Is travel in and out of Australia managed/controlled in any way? For example, do we have to spend at least 6 or 9 or (whatever) months in Australia in any one year, or number of years?

 

Regards

 

Rowley

You can come and go as much as you like for 5 years but, after that, if you do not have citizenship or a resident return visa then your visa will run out.....both of those options have residency requirements

Well I have been in Brisbane 5 years having come here on a CPV.

The novelty has well and truly worn off and I can not see that it is any better than the Uk....at least where I lived in the UK.

I am also in Bayside and don't have such a rose tinted view.

If it were not for my work I would return to England......and fully intend to once I finally retire.

The Difference here is you received Tax relief when you put your Money in the UK Super.

 

I didn't, I paid tax some at 30% and some at 15%.

 

Surely this is Double Taxation?

But I would get a much higher tax free allowance in the UK.....swings and roundabouts.

it is up to you to decide which system suits you best

Rupert,

 

The point is that it has already been taxed in Australia when it was put into super some at 15% and some at 30%.

 

There is no tax relief for such as in the UK.

 

Also if it is drawn in Australia after the age of 60 it is Tax Free.

 

For example 15% tax going in in Australia 20% tax when taken out in the UK therefore 35% tax on a modest income.

The money that was paid in at 30% would then attract 20% on the way out in the UK therefore 50% tax on a modest income.

Hardly fair I am looking to see if there are any concessions.

 

I can understand tax on the earnings but not on the Capital.

I am taxed in Australia on Pension, savings and investments in the UK......what is the difference? I choose to live in Australia therefore I play by that country's rules

 

With regard to the Commonwealth Seniors Health card, I can't see on the website where it says you need to be registered with Medilink to be eligible?

 

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/centrelink/commonwealth-seniors-health-card/eligibility

Yes you are right on that one.....we don't qualify because we are too young and our income is too high

Whats the position in Queensland?

 

Phoebe

I am not sure you can get free travel anywhere.

My wife was refused a seniors card as she is under 65. You also have to be registered with medilink to get a commonwealth discount card....and that means qualifying for benefits of some kind.....I don't think this is unique to Queensland.

If she is over 60 and working less than 20 hours a week she will more than likely be entitled to a Seniors card which in most states gives free travel .

Not in Queensland

Can anyone answer some questions please?

 

If my parents have 3 children, one in the UK, one a citizen in Australia and myself only been in Australia for 6 months on a 457 but expecting to get my pr in the next month or so. Will we meet the balance of family test as I am not a settled resident or is it only the sponsor that has to be settled? Aslo my brother who is a citizen will sponsor and lives in Melbourne but my parents want to come to Perth and live with me. Are they allowed to live in a different state to the sponsor?

I think you would need to be a permanent resident before your parents would meet the BOF test...After you get PR then it would be OK? Your parents could live where they want once they have the visa.

Why does a pom wake up one day and think Perth is the place to move to? It's not somewhere most Aussies could be bribed into moving to, but poms think otherwise without seeing it. Somebody in WA has done a great marketing job in Blighty that's for sure!

That's true....must be the worst place to move to....apart from Canberra that is.

Question about UK property and Tax.

 

Hi advise on this would be appreciated

 

If you rent your property in the UK do you have to pay the Tax on income in the UK or Australia?

 

Phoebe

Australia taxes you on all your worldwide income.......you need to get professional advice on this