Wooba

I flew air Canada and they are prohibited in checked baggage. They were required to be hand luggage. I had several batteries including two pretty large hilti batteries. Your airline may differ however. Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

Perhaps you should considering moving somewhere a bit closer to the ocean. I know you're not a beach person, but it might surprise you. We moved here in November and settled in Labrador a short walk from the lagoon. We actually did NOT want to live near the ocean and we'd rather consider it a treat. We ended up in a place near just by chance because it happened to be the place that ticked the boxes. Now that we've been here for a few months we absolutely do not want to live anywhere else. We walk along the ocean regularly, swim in the lagoon, cycle and I've gotten into fishing which is something I never expected. Our lives are so much better because of where we live and we spend more time outside. Being next to the ocean makes it much cooler than inland and I almost never have an issue with mosquitoes (except after heavy rain). We absolutely do not miss Canada at all. I know Oxenford/Helenvale reasonably well because we spent much of a our first few weeks there but I am totally confident that we would not be enjoying our life anywhere near as much as we do now if we were stuck in that suburban environment.

When I read the TRA guidelines it said 40 or whatever your country of residence considers full time. I submitted documentation showing that in Canada 36(or whatever it was) was considered full-time as I usually worked 37.5.

Yes. I bought one in January on eBay that snaps over the rear mirror and replaces it. A bit of time to setup but worth having in case of an accident where you're not at fault. Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

You can do it electronically in your immi account. Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

Haha Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

Convince me..

The number is for life. You're not supposed to get a new one Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

I would look at this from the long term perspective. Australia is somewhere to settle down for the rest of your life and build a foundation. Dubai would strictly be temporary. If I had to choose and I really wanted to ultimately be in Australia, I'd go that route personally.

While I agree the website description and the letters/emails from HSBC made it look fairly innocent, the reality was slightly different. My call ended prematurely because of my employment situation, but at the end of the call I was told that they'd be wanting to know my gross and net pay. I thought to myself that's crossing the line and not really any of their business. Since I was only a few minutes into a 20 minute questionaire I started to wonder just how invasive it would be. That's what made me search the web and dig a litter deeper. I found links such as these: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5389734 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/savings/10788369/Savers-must-answer-intrusive-questions-to-get-money.html http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?459389-Intrusive-Questions-by-HSBC-Bank-I-am-not-happy-to-answer Pay particular attention to the first posting of the last link I posted. Questions like "what do you buy" "what investments do you have" "what property do you own and how much is it worth". I know the US has forced other countries to supply personal data to weed out US citizens with FINTRAC but this goes well beyond that. I can't imagine there are regulatory requirements for this Stasi like level of detail. If this genuinely is required then I'm completely disgusted by it.

It's 3 years. https://migrationalliance.com.au/immigration-daily-news/entry/2014-07-tra-expired-skills-assessment-outcome.html Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

They will phone you. I have free calling to the UK so I did it at my convenience, but everything I've read and been told means you still have to undergo this 15-20 minute phone call. Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

If you Google it you will see that you have no choice. They are basically going tell you to bank elsewhere. As I don't live in the UK I can't switch. Guess no UK bank account for me. As for updating online it's not an option. This is a 15 to 20 minute phone "interview" every single customer will have to undergo. Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

I know for certain that they do. I believe my letter stated the expiry date on it, but I might be wrong on that. Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

I have a bank account and credit card with HSBC in the UK. I barely use them, but they are handy for when I visit the UK and I sort of use this account as my holiday fund/spending money account. Recently they've been pestering me to "update my details" with a program they have implemented called Safeguard. Long story short, I phoned them today to and they want seriously detailed personal information. They are collecting this from all new and existing customers apparently. As I just moved to Australia and said I was unemployed but hoping to have a job next week, she basically stopped the process and will continue it next week, but they wanted to know things like what citizenship do I have? Where am I tax resident? Where does all my income come from (who's your employer, what are your hours, what is your gross pay, what is your net pay, etc)? After I got off the phone I was quite shocked with the level of detail they wanted. Most of it is none of their damn business. I did a quick google search and found others complaining and they are getting questioned in far more detail than I was. I'm seriously considering draining my account in the next couple of days then when she calls back telling her to cancel my credit card and close my account. Anyone else gone through this interrogation yet?