Marisawright

You can't apply for the partner sponsorship like an Australian citizen. You need to apply for a 461 visa for your partner. To get the visa, you need to be in a de facto relationship, which means you need to be in a relationship that is the equivalent of marriage, and you will have to prove that with documentation. It is harder to prove when you're living apart, but certainly not impossible (after all, many married couples have to live apart for work or family reasons, too). Inevitably, Immigration will be more suspicious of a couple who aren't living together so you'll need to dot every i and cross every t. I would suggest getting a good migration agent to help you with the application, because they can advise on the best way to put the application together. Suncoast Migration or Go Matilda are very helpful on these forums so I'd give one of them a try.

but if that's the case, then the issuing bank will probably have caught up with the rest of the world by then, and be able to transfer the proceeds by electronic transfer!

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.

I did mean 2 hours each direction. Good to know that Bendigo is still affordable.

I agree with BendigoBoy, the first thing to do is, decide where you want to settle. Then research house prices in your chosen location. Housing affordability is a massive issue in Australia at the moment. I would forget Melbourne or anything within 2 hours' commute of the city. House prices are so high that people are moving further and further out, to Geelong and Ballarat and Bendigo and all the smaller towns in between, and pushing those prices up too. Ditto Sydney. Your money will go a lot further in Queensland, South Australia or Tasmania (I recall you didn't want to return to WA). Of course, if weather is your main concern, then you need to consider that too. Tassie might not suit you -- it's still warmer and drier than most of the UK, but most Australians see it as too cold.

Could the children open a Sterling HSBC account in their name?

Is there any reason the funds can't be transferred into an ordinary UK bank account, then it can be transferred from there to an Australian bank account in the normal way? Mindyou, I would still use a service like Wise to do the transfer, unless you bank with a low-fee bank like HSBC

You said you'd consulted two agents, so I take it you meant that you got a couple of freebie consults? Honestly, if you are serious about wanting to stay in Australia, you need to find the money for a one-off consultation with a good agent. We see far too many people like you, lurching from one visa to another. If you keep going like you are, you're going to run out of options eventually (and probably a lot sooner than you think). An agent can help you work out a long-term plan that will allow you to stay (or confirm that you've got no chance, in which case you know where you stand). Get a quote from Suncoast Migration or Go Matilda.

Didn't you ask your agent about that option?

What? $%%^&*)O! The cheek of them! I couldn't believe it and just Googled. I had to laugh (in a bad way) at the ANZ page about this. They explain they're making a "change to foreign cheques" (of course they couldn't be so honest as to say, "We're not accepting them" directly. Then they have a whole page telling you what you can do with each type of foreign cheque -- which in every case boils down to "talk to the people who are giving you the cheque, because we're not interested". And then finally they finish off with "We're here to help"!!!! Yeah, sure you are. Apparently some of the smaller banks are still taking foreign cheques.

You can't lodge an application for the bridging visa. You lodge an application for the 804 visa once you are onshore, then you will be granted a bridging visa, which will come into effect once your visitor visa expires. As I understand it, the removal companies could ship your belongings before your bridging visa comes into effect, but that would incur significant extra costs at customs since you are only visitors at that point, and have no right to bring goods into the country.

I'm not sure what you're asking. You will add the income you get from this new role to the income you get from your current role, and declare them under "income" on your tax return. You'll then pay tax on that figure. Use any tax calculator to work out what that figure will be. https://moneysmart.gov.au/work-and-tax/income-tax-calculator

Good point. If the OP had been an Australian, proposing to leave his company and continue working for them full-time, I'd have said the same thing. Or a Brit proposing to do the same thing while staying in the UK. However wouldn't the fact that he's only going to be with the company for a couple of months out of the whole tax year, make a difference?

True, I didn't want to dive into too much detail. The main thing is that the OP is better off acting a a sole trader and it's not too scary a process.

I agree. I certainly wouldn't risk it and I don't think Lavers would be that silly either. I was just speculating on how it could be done, not whether it's a good idea (which I concur, it isn't).

I don't have kids in school but my ex was a teacher and his assessment of Australian schools vs UK schools was the same as @InnerVoice's. He felt that academically, education in the UK is generally superior. Kids who transfer from a UK school in a good area, usually find that they're ahead of their peers in an equivalent Australian school. That's not the whole story, though, as others have pointed out. "Better" isn't just about the curriculum.

That is just weird. He literally said the same thing. I can only assume you wilfully misunderstand me because you always want to believe the worst of me.

Strictly speaking, no. As an Australian citizen, you're not allowed to hold an Australian visa. You can't travel to Australia on a British passport without having a visa. If you're asking whether you could get away with it, I'm not sure. I guess if you book the whole trip using your UK passport, the travel agent will get a tourist visa for you, and it's unlikely anyone will be cross-checking. Of course, you'll have to lie on your Incoming Passenger Card when you arrive in Oz, and pretend that you're just coming for a holiday.

No, I'm afraid it doesn't count as work. In general, you can't count any work experience that you did before you were fully-qualified. I should point out that only one of you needs to qualify for a skilled migrant visa, then the other person is just added to the application, in case that helps.

It's pretty normal in Australia to require that copies of official documents are checked by an independent authority, who then certifies them as a true copy of the original. Also a statutory declaration isn't valid in Australia unless it's been witnessed by an appropriate independent authority It's much easier within Australia, because we have a system of JPs (Justices of the Peace), who certify documents and stat decs for free.

It would make a massive difference, and it's a good idea. We've had people try to stay working for a UK employer before, and it's a bureaucratic nightmare which results in you having much less in your pocket. That's because there are all kinds of complications in setting up a UK employee to work in a foreign country. Setting yourself up as a contractor in Australia is easy. You set yourself up as a "sole trader" and get yourself an ABN (Australian Business Number). That makes you an Australian business. So long as you're doing the work while you're actually in Australia, it doesn't matter whether your clients are here or overseas -- you're doing business in Australia so you'll be taxed only in Australia. When you do the work, you'll invoice your employer at your agreed hourly rate. They don't deduct tax, they just pay your bill. You don't need to declare anything to the UK taxman because you haven't done any work in the UK. At Australian tax time, you don't have to do a separate business return. You just declare your income the same way you do your salary.

So you agree with me, because Steve has just said exactly the same thing in diplomatic language. Thanks.

Looks like we don't have many Newcastle residents here. Are you aware of this site? https://newywithkids.com.au/moving-to-newcastle-a-guide-for-families/ Homely.com.au is a good place to find reviews of suburbs.

No "of course" about it, we often get people moving "for the sake of the kids" when they're not really keen themselves, and it's a recipe for tears. However you've reassured me. Earlier in this thread you were ready to call it off, but when I've pretty much agreed with you, you've come back quick-smart with reasons why you should migrate. That says to me that you're pretty determined to go ahead and that you're just having a wobble. Good luck. One more 'devil's advocate' suggestion -- have you considered moving elsewhere in the UK instead?

Of course they do. You will always pay some kind of currency exchange fee at the point where the currency exchanges from one to the other, regardless of how you do it. If you'd used your bank, you'd have paid the fee when the bank converted the currency. The benefit of Wise is that their fee is usually lower.