Marisawright

I asked the nice people at HMRC about this and they kindly sent me a letter stating I have 29 years of NI contributions, however, as of 6th April 2016 I "only" need 10 years of contributions as I won't reach pensionable age until after 6th April 2016. They don't expand upon what level of pension I will receive or whether it is worth me paying the extra year to hit the 30 years prior to the 6th April deadline? Does anyone know whether paying the Class 2 contributions for a year is worth me doing???

The 10 years is the minimum to get any kind of pension at all. You're currently 1 year's contributions short of getting the full pension. What you need to do is

- Ask for a PENSION FORECAST, and then they'll tell you exactly how much you'll get.

- Calculate the difference between that and the full pension.

- Look at how much it would cost you to back-pay a year's contribution.

- Calculate how long it will take for the extra pension to pay back that extra contribution.

Procrastination is my middle name currently! I have a job offer to start as soon as we can get the paperwork sorted - medical registration takes 6 months or so. All being well it will be June/July. Part of that will be 457 processing time but we are thinking, after everyone else's thoughts here, about just getting PR.

If you are able to go straight for PR now, then it would be much, much, much better for you and your family. And if you can get it happening in time, I'm sure that job offer would still be there for you whichever visa you're on.

There are two different kinds of sponsorship. If you mean a 457 visa then yes, the 90 days will hang over your head forever - because the 457 is meant to fill short-term vacancies in the labour market, and therefore you're not expected to be in the job for more than 4 or 5 years.

Yes people have to remember that London is 51 degrees North while the southernmost tip of Tasmania is only 43 degrees South.

Indeed, never having been good at geography it's something that escaped my notice. I had equated the South of England with Tasmania without looking at the map! I had also foolishly imagined there was a significant difference in the hours of darkness between Scotland (where I grew up) and the South Coast - when in fact it's not much better, since the UK is not actually all that big.

I do realise, as GreySky says, that over the course of the year we all get the same amount of daylight hours - it's just a case of whether the long summer days are worth the short winter ones, and that's a personal thing.

I have heard how expensive it is but our housing would be subsidised also through the company. Im currently weighing up the pros and cons..........I dont know whether to just go and grin and bare it to just get over there and go from there???? X

If it was just the two of you, I'd say go for it. With children, I would be very worried. After all, if you hate it, or find the schools are poor, you'll be stuck - if you leave that employer you'll have 90 days to leave the country.

Also remember, it's a complete myth that a 457 automatically "converts" to PR. Many people go to Australia on that assumption and don't manage to get PR - if the employer goes bust or cuts staff, the opportunity will disappear. In this case, I would be very worried about that possibility: Karratha businesses are completely dependent on the mining industry, which is winding down.

If you are used to not having a car then with careful selection of area you could manage perfectly fine without one here as well. Part of the problem is people with cars can never imagine living without them so think they are completely necessary.

 

I agree with that. i lived very comfortably in Sydney without a car for 6 years, and the only reason I got one was because I needed a car for my job. When I wasn't using it for work, it sat in the garage. I'd say anyone could manage without a car in a big city, even with kids.

The problem for the OP is that they're looking at the Sunshine Coast. Different kettle of fish!

Hey all, thanks for the replies. much appreciated. a slightly different situation has arisen today, need some help if possible..

 

the company I work for in New Zealand operates in Australia also.. they would be willing to support / sponsor me in going to australia and working for the company there BUT the job wouldn't appear on the skilled job list. if possible they would want me to move over there in 3-4 weeks times. what options do i have here guys, help would be much appreciated!

If your employer wants you to go, then I'd have thought their HR department should be doing the legwork to get you in.

Can't you just use a travel plug adaptor?

Yes you can, but if you're moving permanently it's easier to get the plug changed.

You just need to get an electrician to change the plugs, they will work fine.

Hello,

 

I'm interested in purchasing a laptop from the USA into Sydney, Australia. My friend in the USA will order it online and then ship it to me in Sydney. The laptop is available for only $280USD in the US with free shipping. Any ideas how much would it cost for me to get it into Sydney? Shipping cost and taxes? And how much time will it take? Which is the best way to ship it from US to Australia?

Again, you need to learn how to use the internet. Ask the supplier the weight of the package including packaging. Then go to the US Postal Service website and use their postage calculator. You could use a courier but it will be far more expensive and you may have to pay extra charges when it arrives.

Once upon a time I would've said, who needs a migration agent? If you qualify to migrate, just do it. If you don't qualify, a migration agent will make no difference.

I don't think that now. The forms have got so much more complicated and the scarey thing is that Immigration is completely unforgiving - make one little mistake and they'll reject your application, and you've lost your money. Migration is going to cost you several thousand pounds anyway, I don't think it's worth risking that for the sake of avoiding a fee.

A lot of people think that Australia is dark early even in summer. The further south you go the lighter it is in the evenings (in summer). I can be out walking my dog after dinner and get back home at 9:30 pm and it's starting to get dark then.

It does get dark by 5pm in Sydney in the middle of winter - but the difference is that it's light by 7am even on the shortest day. Right now in Southampton, it's not light till after 8am and even then, the light has a subdued quality about it - and the light starts to fade noticeably about 3.30, even though sunset isn't till 4.

I did used to complain about the short summer days (compared to the long summer evenings I grew up with in Scotland). Everything's a trade-off!

Indianinoz, sometimes I wonder who you think sees this forum. We are all just migrants or potential migrants like you, if you're lucky some people will have expertise in something - but why do you expect any of us to know the answer to such a question??

You really really need to learn to use Google:

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=cost%20to%20lay%20fibre%20optic%20cable%20per%20mile

Apparently in the US the cost is about $30,000 per mile of cable. I don't see why it would be much different in Australia.

I'd think a bigger issue with establishing a new community would be water.

Another thought - I agree it would be worth learning to drive and getting your licence in the UK as it will probably be cheaper. Also, you've got enough to do in your first year in Australia, without worrying about driving lessons. Then it's a fairly simple matter to convert your UK licence when you get here.

Found any clotted cream.in Tas?

I think clotted cream is a real acquired taste. We often have Devonshire teas on our outings in Dorset and the New Forest, but I'm getting to the stage where I ask for a pat of butter instead of the cream! I usually nick some of my oh's cream just to see what it's like, but it's nearly always far too dense, almost like soft butter, and has no taste to speak of.

I am considering a move to Perth and would like to take my 1 year old cat, Leo. There seems to be a lot of negative comments regarding cats and it seems that they can be subject to harsh treatment if they are allowed to roam free as they would in England.

 

It's unlikely your cat will get "harsh treatment" if allowed to roam free, but I hope you will be a responsible cat owner and keep your cat indoors during the hours of darkness.

Even in suburban Australia, there's a lot of native wildlife around and most of it is nocturnal. Even cats who don't hunt love to chase things, and if your cat is out at night, it may hurt or kill native animals by mistake. Surveys have been done of cats out at night in Australia, and their owners have been shocked at how many animals they hurt/killed, because the cats were not bringing them all into the house.

So if you're an animal lover you will think of the other animals as well as your cat, and keep Leo in!

Thanks Ken - that's great to know.

 

What at about the fact that PR was granted on her marital name, which is the name on her passport, and she will now probably revert to her maiden name?

No problem. She will need to notify everyone (banks etc) of her change of name - just the way she did when she got married.

She should apply for a new passport in her maiden name as soon as the divorce comes through - if she does that within the first twelve months it's free.

A lot seems to be made of this getting dark at 4pm, it is actually only a few short time when that happens and already the days are getting longer.

That's your opinion, others are entitled to see it differently. It's true that it gets dark at exactly 4pm for only a short time, BUT it starts getting dark early in November. I feel as though I've been living in gloom for weeks already, and the daylight won't get back to a reasonable length for another couple of months.

I was well aware of the dark winters and I didn't expect them to affect me at all - I've been surprised at how much it affects me.

Someone recently said to me 'it's better to look back and say I can't believe we did that! Than to look back and wish you had'

That's fine, provided that statement isn't used to downplay or dismiss someone's legitimate worries about the move (as it often is!). Migration can be a great experience but it can also be difficult, expensive and stressful. There are some who regret not doing it, but equally there are many who look back and say, "if only I'd been more sensible, and not uprooted my family just because I wanted an adventure"!

Marisa, She has repeatedly said she is moving to Brisbane not country Victoria.

The situation in country Victoria is totally irrelevant.

 

Why do you keep going on about regional Australia ?

Because she is NOT moving to Brisbane, she is moving to the Sunshine Coast.

thanks for the advice. we've managed the last 12 years doing school runs, working, shopping, buying furniture and even moving towns without the need of a car. i completely understand how vast oz is and how being able to drive would be so much easier but if, like previous responder said, we chose an area with good transport links and close to schools (which i think i have found) can it really be so difficult?

Yes it is that difficult! Like I said, where I lived in country Victoria there was no public transport at all - not even a Greyhound style bus.

I don't like driving and do without a car whenever I can. I'd have no qualms about living in Brisbane without a car, but public transport is far, far more limited in regional Australia than it is in regional Britain.

It really depends where you go. You could live easily in Melbourne or Sydney without a car (I did for 6 years) because both have good tram/rail/bus services. I think Brisbane is fairly good too.

The problem arises in Australia when you go outside the capital cities. Bus timetables can be infrequent and limited. I remember when we arrived in country Victoria, there was literally NO public transport within about 200km!

Buses on the Sunshine Coast are run by Translink

http://jp.translink.com.au/travel-information/network-information/buses/all-timetables

There's a long thread here for hairdressers, started a long time ago but still going:

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/228152-any-other-hairdressers-out-there-applying-vetassess.html

I know they are linked but there are numerous people who have got back in with just changing their name into Irish, their biometric info must be the same.

You would certainly have got away with it five or ten years ago, not so sure about now. If you know people who've managed it in the last year or two, then maybe it's worth trying. Personally I don't think it's worth the risk, because if you are found out, it would prevent you getting other visas in the future.

I'd not do it. You are trying to gain a visa by deception and would probably be lying to gain it. And they do find this sort of thing out. I recall a few cases of this sort of thing being sussed out and the visa either not granted or revoked and the person banned from Aus for a few years.

This would be my concern too. You might get away with it by lying on the applicationa and pretending you're a completely new person - but IF you get caught, you could not only lose the visa but get banned from entering Australia for years and years.