Marisawright

3 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

 If you returned to Australia and claimed the Age Pension, could you still leave the country for overseas holidays during that time without it affecting your payments?

I have no idea, I didn't get that far. 

30 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

The OP has stated that they've been here for 12 years, so one assumes that they would meet the residency requirement which is at least 10 years here in total. 

10 years is enough to be eligible for the pension, but, if you move overseas, you don't get the full pension unless you spent 35 years in Australia.

Anyway, that's not the residency requirement I'm talking about.   There's another one.  In order to claim the Australian pension, you must be legally resident in Australia for 2 years around the time you claim. 

For example, if you have been resident in Australia fora full 2 years before you claim, you can leave Australia the next day and keep your pension.   

OR you can arrive in Australia, establish a residential address, then claim.  You'll get the pension immediately, but you must then stay in Australia for a full 2 years, they'll take it away again.

However in both cases, when they leave again, the amount of pension would be reduced to the overseas rate regardless.

So if the OP moves now, the only way they can get the Australian pension is to move back to Australia for a couple of years in their 60's or 70's, which most people wouldn't find practical.

13 hours ago, Badam said:

Hi,

Been living in Australia and paying into super for 12 years. Previously paid into UK pension/NI contributions for 10. We’re debating where we want to retire and if it’s the UK we’d move back in the next few years.

Just wondering if there’s a cut off point after which it becomes too late to return to the UK to retire comfortably?

Yes, there definitely is, unless you have plenty of money.   The problem is pensions.

When you retire in Australia, you can take a lump sum from your superannuation or convert it to a pension (income stream).  In both cases, the money is completely tax-free.  However the British taxman takes a different view.  If you move to the UK before you can withdraw your super, HMRC will grab over one-third of your lump sum (if you take one) or tax your pension like ordinary income.  So you can see that if you're planning to retire in the UK, you want to pay as little money in superannuation as possible, because otherwise you'll get taxed to billy-o when you claim the money.   Obviously you don't get a choice about paying into super, so the longer you stay in Australia, the worse it gets.

It gets worse.  If you retire in the UK, you won't get your Australian government pension at all, ever, because you won't meet the residency requirement. And if you haven't been paying NI contributions, you won't get the full British government pension either. 

Bottom line, if you're sure you want to spend your old age in the UK, then the sooner you can move the better, so you can start building up your British pensions. 

If you are coming to Australia on a 482, that is an employer-sponsored visa.  The employer will hire a migration agent to deal with their side of the process, and the agent will be able to advise if your condition is an obstacle.  So I'd be honest with the employer and see what they say. 

The only time disability is an obstacle is when it's likely to cost the Australian taxpayer a lot of money .  If you're on a temporary visa then that isn't likely to be a concern.

5 hours ago, Movingdownunder1 said:

Hi all 

any hve any recommendations for a uk to Australia visa solicitor/agent? My partner and I are going for the skilled visa and are wanting to use a specialist to streamline the process 

Never use a 'visa solicitor'.   You don't need a lawyer or solicitor unless you've got a legal case to fight, e.g. appealing a visa refusal.   When you are applying for a visa, you need a MARA registered migration agent.  

There are some agents who are active and generous with their advice on these forums.  They are Suncoast Migration, Go Matilda, and Andre Burger & Associates.

If you are going to go with Down Under Centre, make sure you actually get to deal with one of their MARA registered agents and not one of their phone consultants.

3 hours ago, Bluesmum said:

 There is obviously so much to consider and legal advice is obviously very necessary!  We will be very cautious !

Just to be clear, there is absolutely no need for legal advice about your move to Australia.   Never use an immigration lawyer.  If you want professional help, use a MARA registered migration agent.   Go Matilda has already been recommnded on this thread. 

I mentioned getting legal advice if you are going to invest in your son's property, because one of my husband's relatives gave money to her daughter without proper paperwork, and it led to all kinds of difficulties.

1 hour ago, Bluesmum said:

 this will enable me to either invest in my sons house, to extend and improve it which they would love to do, or pool our resources and buy bigger something to share!  I hope this all sounds viable!

Be aware that you will be classed as a foreign investor, which means you need special permission to buy property, and you will have to pay a hefty surcharge when you buy a property.  I can imagine things could get complicated (and expensive) if you buy something jointly with your son, for that reason.

If you decide to invest money in your son's existing home to extend it, I'd advise you to give him the money as a loan and have proper loan papers drawn up by a solicitor. I know you trust your son but it's wise to do everything officially, to avoid any future tax issues for either of you.

8 hours ago, Bluesmum said:

I would really appreciate some unbiased advice please.  I am 82 years old...

Your application for a parent visa won't be rejected, even though it's unlikely to be granted in your lifetime.   I have a friend, Ulla, who moved to Australia a year ago on a tourist visa and applied onshore.  The application was accepted and she got her bridging visa.  She is 85. 

A word of caution though. Ulla is overjoyed to be with her daughter but she misses her house and garden dreadfully.  She still has tears in her eyes every time she talks about it, though she thinks I don't notice. And she is lonely.   In the past, when she visited on holiday, her daughter made time for her and they had lovely weekends and spent a lot of time together (as everyone does when a loved one visits).   Now Ulla is here permanently, her daughter and family have gone back to their normal routines and don't have much time to entertain an old lady.  She's finding it difficult to make new friends and misses her old ones.  So do make sure you understand what you are leaving behind and what life will be like when you're here permanently. 

4 hours ago, Auspicious said:

I work for a natural gas distribution network.

Your answer is simple, then.  Research which companies run the natural gas distribution networks in Australia, and approach them directly.  There aren't many, because although we are a huge country, we have a small population and large parts of the country don't have natural gas.

If your skills are in demand, then chances are that one of those companies will offer you a sponsored visa.

https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/news/macfarlane-supports-vital-gas-pipeline-link-0

Yes, you can enter Australia with her on a tourist visa, then apply for a partner visa once you're living here.  She'll get a bridging visa which will allow her to stay.

Normally I'd say, don't do it, because she won't be allowed to work on the tourist visa -- can she afford to be out of work for six months or more?   But I can see why you want to go that way, because a partner visa is expensive. 

Do I get the feeling that the wife's not at all keen,  you've been nagging her to get back to Perth for years and she's finally buckled?  Because if that's the case, then I'd say forget the whole idea, because it'll cost you a big chunk of your savings to move to Perth and it'll just be money thrown away -- she won't stay.

9 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

Anyone else seething at the fact albanese lied and has rolled over and altered the stage 3 tax cuts despite promising he never would.

I thought he was different but he's as bad as all the others... At least ScoMo was blatantly obvious about being a liar and generally scummy.

He's adjusting the benefits of the tax changes so that lower-income people will get more in their pocket.  Good for him, they need it. Labor should never have agreed to support the Stage 3 tax cuts in the first place, it went against everything Labor is supposed to stand for. 

17 minutes ago, tahm563 said:

My four siblings live in Sydney. One with kids same age as mine... He doesn't have private health insurance and he said healthcare is fine. ...
My parents don't have health insurance, my mum had a sudden heart issue a few months ago for which she had to be hospitalised for 2 weeks and the care was absolutely topnotch (I went over to for 2 weeks to look after her).

I agree.   I've been treated in the public system a few times and if anything, I've felt the quality of care was better than in the private system.  If you take private health insurance, it's not because of concerns about treatment, it's more about avoiding the waiting lists.

As @Ausvisitor says, private health insurance is a no-brainer if you're earning over $90,000 a year (over $180,000 for a couple), because you'll be slugged a Medicare surcharge if you don't have it.  it's all explained in that link I gave. However if you are earning under that figure, it's a different story.  

12 minutes ago, Blue Manna said:

The thing I've never really understood about private health insurance is that when you have private health insurance in the UK it pays for everything. You do have to check first, but I've never been recommended for any treatment that wasn't fully covered.

When you have private health insurance in Australia, you still seem to pay an awful lot of money for treatment. And I am talking quite significant sums for major surgery. It can be quite staggering. So don't think just because you take private cover you are done and dusted.

You're right. If you're on a long-term visit to Australia from overseas, you can get Overseas Visitors cover which, like the British system, covers everything.  However the annual premium is substantially higher, and I'm guessing that's why they don't offer full coverage here -- only the wealthy would be willing to pay the premiums.  How do premiums here compare with the UK?

You are also right that the 'gap' payments can be very high, depending on what level of cover/excess you choose.   I gave one example already.  Another example is my own spinal fusion op.  The operation cost $35,000 of which private insurance paid only $25,000, leaving me with a $10,000 bill.  And that didn't include the fees for specialist appointments before and after, scans etc.  

31 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

I haven't paid a cent for any kind of private health insurance or cover since I arrived here... As for optical, dental etc, we just pay for them when we need them, and (to date) it has worked out far cheaper.

Fair point.  I wear glasses (and I'm fussy about my frames), I'm conscientious about having six-monthly dental checkups, and as a serious dancer, I need physiotherapy etc more than the average person. So Extras cover pays off for me.  Whereas my oh is neglectful of his teeth and sees all physical therapies as quackery, so he only has to pay for his glasses, and that means Extras cover wouldn't make sense for him (though I do wish he'd look after his teeth!). 

17 minutes ago, Cheery Thistle said:

So, we agree, you need some kind of health insurance! Extras cover, is insurance cover that you pay for.

That's true, but when you get here, you'll discover that most Aussies say "health insurance" when they mean the main policy.  Also if you ring up a company and ask for a quote for "health insurance", they'll quote you for the main policy OR a combined policy. It won't occur to them to offer Extras on its own because only about 10% of Aussies have Extras insurance on its own. So it's important to make that distinction, otherwise you'll be in for a lot of confusion.

6 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

You need some sort of health insurance/ambulance cover and you will likely have to pay for dental treatment. ....

Just to clarify that:  if you are British and you are happy with the standard of treatment you get from the NHS, you don't need health insurance.  You can choose to have it, but more than half the Australian population doesn't have any.  Of those that do have insurance, many have it just to avoid the Medicare surcharge, or because they want to avoid the Lifetime Health Cover Loading in later life (see link below) -- not because they think it's worth having.

The links below are from Choice, which is the Australian equivalent of Which? magazine:

https://www.doineedhealthinsurance.com.au/

https://www.choice.com.au/money/insurance/health/articles/do-you-need-private-health-insurance

If you're a new migrant arriving in Australia, you're not subject to the Lifetime Loading penalty if you take out health insurance (more correctly called "Hospital Cover') within a year of your arrival.  I'd advise taking that time to decide whether you want it or not.  Just take out "Extras" cover in the meantime, so you're covered for all the things Medicare doesn't cover at all, i.e. optical, dental, physiotherapy, chiropody. Emergency ambulance cover is often included in Extras cover but if not, there are separate policies available. The company will try to talk you into taking a Combined policy instead, but there is absolutely no reason why you can't have an Extras policy on its own.

Health insurance covers you for treatment in hospital only.  Nothing else.  In Australia, visits to a GP aren't always free, there's a 'gap' payment, but health insurance does NOT cover that. Ditto prescriptions. 

If you don't have health insurance, you'll get treated in hospital free of charge, just like the NHS (and just like the NHS, there are crowded wards and long waiting lists for elective surgery).  Health insurance lets you skip the waiting lists by seeing a private specialist -- however, it only covers the treatment they give you within the hospital, and even then, there will be a substantial "gap" to pay.  It doesn't cover visits to the specialist in their consulting room before and after your treatment, or ongoing checkups with them, or any scans or pathology ordered by them outside the hospital.  That's why you get strange situations like my two friends, who had their babies around the same time:  both went to the same hospital in Ballarat, but one went public and the other went private.   For the one who went public, having her baby cost nothing.  The one who went private ended up with about $10,000 in 'gap' fees to pay. Of course, she had the benefit of a private room and her choice of doctor, so I'd say it was less stressful and she may have been happy to pay for that.   It's all about choice and what you can afford, really.

I can't help but are you aware of this forum:

https://www.migrantweb.com/hostelsforum/index.php

 You might find this thread interesting

13 minutes ago, wooddar said:

We are dual citizens living in Sydney planning to move back to Uk and maybe sell Australian property for family reasons/ interest rates  to reduce complexity. We would like option to return later to Australia maybe.  Would really appreciate  suggestions how we could maintain bank accounts etc with no fixed address having sold property in Australia. 

You won't have a fixed address in Australia, but surely you'll have an address in the UK?   There's no obstacle to keeping your Australian accounts while living overseas. All you need to do is notify your Australian bank(s) and superannuation funds of your overseas address, and then keep them updated as you move around.   The easiest way to do that is online, so make sure you understand how to use their online systems, and you may find you'll also need to keep an Australian mobile phone so you can receive SMS messages for two-factor identification.  

You might want to consider moving your bank accounts to HSBC because they seem the most flexible when it comes to overseas customers.

If you were moving back for a few years, I'd say hold onto your Australian property, rent it out, and rent in the UK. However 20 years is a long time to be renting.

1 hour ago, Ferrets said:

I have an option to sell some shares that I got via an employee share sheme, with minimal CGT due to holding for more that 12 months and minimal market price movement.

After my sister lost most of her savings when Enron collapsed, I don't trust employee share schemes!    It's never wise to have all your eggs in one basket, when it comes to shares.

Basically, if you invest in superannuation, most of your money is being invested in shares anyway.  The difference is that (a) you pay less tax on the profits and (b) it's 'set and forget', whereas if you have a share portfolio, you should be managing it actively and that means you need to know what you're doing.

For me, the bigger question is:  are BOTH of you 120% convinced that you are going to live in Australia for the rest of your lives, until you die?   Because if there's any uncertainty at all, you shouldn't put any more into superannuation than you have to.  I say that because one of the main advantages of super is its favourable tax treatment in Australia when you retire.  But if you decide to retire back in the UK or elsewhere, HMRC will tax it.  If you take a lump sum once you're retired in the UK, for instance, you would lose over a third of it in UK tax.

1 hour ago, Simontucks said:

We are leaving one of the daughters bedroom furniture behind as it's not great so that's one thing we are thinking of buying here and shipping,

I would never buy furniture to ship, because you have no idea what kind of house you'll end up with.   The furniture might not fit the rooms.  

I also wouldn't buy a fridge to ship, because kitchens usually have an alcove where the fridge has to sit, and they're not all the same size.  If your fridge won't fit in the alcove, you'll have to either refit the kitchen or sell your fridge and buy another one!

1 hour ago, JMcKie said:

I was once in the same predicament you now find yourself in. I am a Software Developer by trade and wanted to get my own skilled visa whether that was a 189/190. However,..... I also met an Aussie (who is now my fiancée). I...

I wouldn't rule out going down the partner visa route if I was you, but everyone's circumstances are different.

However, two things to note.  Pre-Covid, you needed a very high score (like, over 90) to stand any chance of getting invited for the 189.  In the last year, even people with only 65 points have been invited in some occupations. So the OP might have much better luck than you.

Also, @Ben8899 has only known his partner for 6 months, much too early to be eligible for a partner visa, so that's not even an option.  As you know, they'll need to prove they've been in a de facto relationship (not just dating) for 12 months before they can even apply.

26 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

On the Go Matilda website it states that they offer a free initial consultation without obligation.....

I can't remember who it was, but I often used to mention that you could get a free initial consultation and a couple of the agents on here corrected me, and said most of them don't do it any more.

3 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

 Most RMAs will provide a free initial consultation without obligation....

That used to be the case, but much rarer now.  Too many tyre-kickers trying to get free advice, apparently.  

That said, there is a difference between an agent charging for a one-off consultation, (which they should be able to give you a quote for) and unscrupulous agents who demand you hire them for the whole visa process sight unseen.

2 hours ago, Ben8899 said:

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

It seems that speaking with a migration agent seems to be the best bet as I think my situation is quite specific. And apologies for any offense caused by my tarnishing of the colleagues of your ilk. My experience and that of my fellow students has been that of dealing with migration agents who have been associated with the international colleges

These agents are paid a commission by the colleges to recruit students, so they're not working for the student, they're working for the college.  When you engage a migration agent, they're working for you.  And of course, you're going to choose one that is MARA registered.   Try Suncoast Migration, Go Matilda, Andre Burger.

4 hours ago, Lloyd&Jennie said:

Hi All,

My partner is Swedish and I'm from the UK. We are applying through a 190 visa via myself. Dose anyone see an issue's with her being Swedish, that she cant be an "additional applicant"? she doesn't hold a UK passport either. We also have two children

Makes no difference.