juliew1499

Hi Sue

it depends on the council. Mornington Shire Council offer some waste vouchers with your rates demand. One voucher equals half a cubic metre of waste. You book a collection and leave it on the nature strip (as you say if anyone wants it they help themselves). You can also pay for a fortnightly collection of green waste from a wheelie bin.

Julie

Hi Julie, great that you are making such progress, quick question re Xmas decorations, what didn't they like? I have been removing fir cones or anything wood from artificial garlands etc., is there anything else that is not allowed other than obvious berries,

natural products etc ?

We have been trying to clear our loft, bookshelves etc. in readiness for selling our house and putting things in store.

Good luck with the self build we too like the idea if we could find land but goodness knows what the price will be by the time we get there.

Sue

Hi Sue

i went through all my Xmas decorations and removed everything natural, but it would appear that they supposedly found 4 decs with natural stems! I really don,t know what they were. You are not allowed to be there or see what is going on. The options were gamma treatment at 545 dollars or destruction at 71 dollars, we opted for destruction. I have to say that I was more worried about some of our gardening stuff like chain saws and wheelbarrow etc I thought we might have some trouble there but it appears they were more interested in Xmas decs.

good luck with the sorting, it takes forever. Going to the tip in Australia is expensive, not like at home so make sure you get rid of everything you don"t want before you get here. Op shops are a good place to find bargains and also donate stuff. Hope that helps.

Julie

HI

Thought I would let you know that some processes move very quickly. Our container left the Uk on 5th December 2016 and arrived Melbourne 21 January. It has now cleared customs and Dept of Agriculture checks (got stung for 71AUD for destruction of 4 Xmas decorations that they didn't like). Got the call yesterday asking to deliver goods on 9th February........oops don't get our house until 1st March! I've got so used to waiting for everything relating to our move to Australia that this has taken us by surprise. Oh well more storage to pay for.

Things are slowly coming together for us, we have a building plot and a design company (another waiting list!). A unit to move into in March, bought a car, two kayaks plus trailer, Medicare cards, Aussie driving lics , just got to sort out HMRC and the ATO....oh that bit might take a while.....

the climate on the Mornington Peninsular is lovely except when we get the odd day of 38C, it's great to be able to walk to the beach, we have seen loads of dolphins, pelicans, sting rays, loads of wonderful birds. I'm still having trouble adjusting to seeing Camelias out in October! We are now immersed in a world of self build, finding out that the Aussies do a lot of things very differently, some better, some not so. There seems to be legislation for just about everything you want to do, a permit for this and a permit for that.......

Just to add to the wildlife, we had a koala in one of the trees on our building plot, how great is that?

Good luck to all of you still waiting, I hope you get some movement on the dates soon.

Julie

Hi Brenda,

 

I've only been there a couple of times but love it too. We will be more in the burbs of Melbourne, Oakleigh area, but I think a coffee on the Peninsula might be in order once we're both moved over.

 

Maybe @juliew1499 would care to join us?

 

Anyone else heading that way?

 

Jan

Hi Jan

Count me in, just let me know when and where.

Julie

Quick update on the Centrelink saga. My daughter finally spoke to someone who actually gave a dam and the upshot was she received the confirmation letter on Monday. The other good news is we finally received the 2nd vac request yesterday afternoon, so it's time to give them some money and book a little holiday to Bali.

 

Joe

Hi Joe

YAY and whoopee at long last, enjoy Bali, so very pleased for you.

Julie

We are off to Melbourne. We actually made the decision to put the house on the market after Brexit and sold really quickly. We are now renting so ready to up sticks and move as soon as we get the go-ahead. Let's all hope that the date moves on swiftly. We will probably rent over there for a while too and just hope the exchange rate picks up a bit.

 

Does anyone know if Immi reveal numbers of applications received in any given month? It would make it so much easier to gauge timescales if they did. I guess not as I'm sure someone would have posted it on here if they did:laugh:

Hi NanaJan

we have been on the Mornington Peninsular now for just over 6 months and watched property prices explode whilst waiting for our visa to be granted which it finally was on 30th November 2016. We agonised about moving our money because of the exchange rate being so low. All I can say is that house prices are still rising and there seems to be a fight over everything that comes on the market. Money in the bank cannot keep pace with the housing market plus when you factor in the cost of renting as opposed to buying (we didn't need a mortgage) it made more sense to buy something. We attempted to buy four houses in the space of a week but just got outbid on each one. Property is going for much more than advertised. Anyway with the help of a really nice Real estate agent we managed to buy a plot of land and unit to live in whilst we build. I would point out that there are some shifty Agents about. The unit will then give us an income when we rent it out. You will find that that you will be in the exchange rate waiting room and I have to tell you that it is just as depressing and frustrating as the CPV waiting room! We still have UK pounds to change in order for us to build our house later this year so it is never ending.......Good luck and I hope you hear from IMMI soon.

Julie

Sorry, not sure but I understand your reluctance, my daughter went into Centrelink to submit her bank paperwork in December. She followed it up today as she still hasn't heard anything, after waiting on hold for 2 hrs she finally spoke to someone who kindly pointed out due to the high number of parent applications it's taking around 6 weeks to lodge and complete the AOS. She was a little surprised when my daughter pointed out it's been 18 weeks today when she lodged the application, but the good news is we have been made a priority case (the fifth time we have heard this). Sorry if I sound rather negative about this whole experience but I'm sick of dealing with a total lack of ownership from this department.

 

Joe

Hi Joe

Hang on in there Joe it will happen....I thought we had it bad having to wait 12 weeks for ours!Centrelink are useless we applied for our Medicare cards at beginning of December, still haven,t got them. I know how you feel, i turned into a complete wreck during the AOS process, we too were prioritised several times, it seems to be something they say to keep us all quiet. After waiting all these years for the visa to be processed the AOS experience is awful and for me spoilt what should have been an exciting last few weeks. You do get over it eventually. Good luck and hope you hear very soon.

Julie

If I tell people now that my visa has been granted, it'll be "When are you going?", so I'm not celebrating too loudly, just sharing the news as and when people actually ask. It feels odd really, after all this time checking for emails, it's not the first thing I do each morning.

Hi Sadge

i know what you mean about checking emails. The Pomsinoz site has been my lifeline for the last 2/3 years and I just need to see a few more visas granted before I can definitely leave........happy Xmas.

Julie

Hi

centrelink are a rule unto themselves, the letter can take some time to come through, however if they tell you that it has been issued you can go down to your local office and obtain a copy, they won't email it so don't bother asking! We saved 5 days doing it this way.

hope that helps.

Julie

Hey all,

Many congratulstions on the visa grants, amazing news just in time for the festive season.

I have a question. I have just renewed my passport and my son, who is our sponsor has just moved, what is the best way to inform PVC? Your help is much appreciated.

Also, is it normal not to hear from immi for six months? We applied just over six months ago and apart from the first acknowledgement, we have heard nothing since. However, sadly I think I know the answer to this one (

Cheers,

Nita

Hi Nita

we had this problem with our daughter changing addresses twice. All you have to do is get your son to email IMMI under the OTHELP route quoting your file reference and advise IMMI of the new address. Our daughter not only moved twice but got married as well, so you can imagine the number of notifications required. Ask your son to ask for confirmation of receipt from IMMI.

you might also like to email IMMI to tell them that your son will be contacting them.

Julie

Shufffle up everyone - there's room for one more in the waiting room! Received Notification of Grant of Visa this morning:jiggy:

Hi Sadge

Hooray, at last, what a relief for you. It's a strange feeling isn't it after all this time. Anyway you can now get of with your life, good luck and many congratulations.

Julie

Sorry all, that should have said it DIDNT look too terrifying

Hi Fisher

so glad about the above post, I uttered a huge groan we you first said it looked terrifying! Glad we don't have French pensions! :arghh:

Julie

Hi Sadge

UPP,s that's a really good question. The ATO say that some foreign pensions or annuities qualify for an allowance somewhere from 8 to 25 percent depending on which country it is coming from and your personal circumstances. So it's a bit like getting a small tax concession. There is a five page application form that you have to complete (I think you have to do one for each pension ugh). It then goes off to the ATO who will make a decision. You need to provide info from your pension provider, not exactly sure what..... Fisher if you are reading this, do you know have any further info...?

Julie

Hi Fisher

interesting you mentioned UPP,s that's next on my list. I know it's OK on a state pension, do you have any info on pensions other than UK state?

tax file numbers came through this week, still waiting for Medicare. We went straight off to the bank, no problems changing the account from a migrant account, no problem with getting a debit card. A credit card is a different matter, they want Oz regular income, foreign income doesn't count. All our pensions going into UK bank account. The bank then said that if they could see regular income coming in every month from UK they would consider it! Unfortunately that's just what we are trying to avoid as we want to change our money as and when the rate is OK. Living off a lump sum at the moment. Anyway another interesting thing we learnt is that by going into our local branch we could obtain a better interest on our Oz savings than those advertised on their website.

just heard that our container sailed on Tuesday, is off Northern Spain at the moment, arriving Melbourne 23 January. Only problem is we don't have a property to put the furniturei in! Oops don't panic Mr Mannering!

Happy Xmas to everyone in and out of the waiting room.

Julie

Hi all

 

Oh well, here it is

woooohoooooo!!!

 

Visa granted today 15 December!

 

Good luck to all those still waiting and hang on in there!

Hi Steve

woooohooooo! Great news just in time for Xmas. Just waiting for Geordie Joe now!

good luck for your future in Oz.

Julie

Hey all,

I just wanted to say a massive congrats to all 2014's we have had their visa grants. After much ummimg and r img I decided to join up because you guys all seem to be one massive family. This is my first post post but it I have been following some of the journey that you have been on.

My husband and I applied just before the referendum because it seemed the right time for us even though I am a couple of years below 50, he is slightly above. For us it was the best option.

I have a question; how do you know/ or when do you decide that it is right time to start selling up, planning the move etc without having the visa granted? We love our house and would be too scared to sell it without the assurance that our visa will be granted. I realise that this is different for everyone but your thoughts/ experiences will be grateful.

Cheers.

Hi Nita

Welcome to the forum. You have asked a really tough question and there will be lots of different opinions. Your sentence that says you would be too scared to sell your home without the assurance that the visa would be granted really sums it up for you. Have you applied direct to IMMI or are you going thro an agent? Have you had an assessment of your application by an Agent? Is your case complicated, do you have health or issues that might crop up on police report? If you have any of these issues then I would wait until visa granted before you sell. If your case is straight forward then go for selling. There is of course the unknown factor.... you could develop a serious illness whilst in the waiting room that could affect the outcome of your visa. our application was straight forward and we planned our sale to complete to the maximum time scale advised by IMM i.e. 24mths. It took 29mths and we have had had to find money for 5/6 months of furniture storage, two offshore trips to NZ and other stuff too tedious to mention. We did all of this because our property combined a business and was an unusual sale. If you think your house will sell quickly then I would leave selling until you are nearing the final stages of the process, i.e. Being asked for police reports and medicals. It's a personal thing and there will be many different view points. At the end of the day you are the only one who really knows your own circumstances. Good luck with it all.

Julie

Hi Julie

 

As I'm still stuck in the UK for family reasons (yet another waiting room - have visa can't move!!!) we are trying to sort out lots of the paperwork ahead of time, also get our heads round what we have to do when we arrive.

 

I'm particularly interested in the application of Aussie income tax. We've already had a breakdown of our tax situation from an advisor (thank you Alan Collett for your great service) so I'm gatherin the info we need for Tax reduction on our pensions, but I'm really unclear about the timeline for actually paying anything.

 

Do do you go to a tax office and 'sign on' in some way, or do they contact you or what? Similarly Medicare ... any pointers gratefully received - the better prepared we are the more time (and possibly money) it may save us later!

Hi Fisher

you can apply for a tax file number online from the ATO once you are in Oz, it will then take about two weeks for it to come through. you need a tax file number to change your bank account from a migrant account to an ordinary residents account, you can then get a debit card and a credit card. I think they contact you to ask you to do a return at the end of the year 30 June. Medicare is easy, complete the form, you can put both of you on one card, you will need your passports and copy of visa grant. Take all this into your local Medicare office which is usually combined with Centrelink and they will give you a temp card and post another one on to you in about a week. I'll let you know what happens next as I'm waiting for everything to come in the post. Just got to sort out HMRC now! Got to do driving licence and get senior card, got to find the right time to phone UK state pension service, the time difference is a real pain. I'll keep you posted with other stuff as I come across it.

Julie

Hi been so busy but have kept an eye on the mail. We have sold up and come to Canberra until we hopefully get our pr. So pleased for all the people that have escaped the waiting room. Especially Julie who has been an inspiration to us all. Disappointed that the date has stayed the same as last week. Hoping it was going to really move on. We shall see.

Hi

Thank you for your lovely comments I hope the date moves on quickly for you and that the traffic jam of applications doesn't happen again.

Now that we have our PR there is still loads to do. Medicare applied for, awaiting tax file numbers so we can change our migrant bank account and get better interest and credit cards, awaiting this that and the other! Blimey I'm in another waiting room! :biglaugh:

Julie

Hi all

 

The woohoo is getting bigger - 2nd VAC requested and instructed to make arrangements to go offshore!

Blimey Steve 2' that came out of no where! Great news, congratulations.

Julie

Just heard from my agent that it's time to pay the 2nd VAC!

Hi Sadge

Wow wow wow and whoopee! At last, they are letting you out of the waiting room. what a relief for you, that news just put a big smile on my face. Many congratulations.

Julie

Hi Steve

Don't hit the door too hard, I'm just outside waiting to see Sadge come through - come on IMMI Sadge has waited long enough!

Julie

Hi Tien

whoopee, fantastic feeling and what a relief for you. Good luck to you and your family for the future in Oz.

Julie

Hi Amanda

are you in Oz? It's a great feeling, such a relief. We have just purchased a block of lan d to build. House prices are going thro the roof here so we have taken the plunge, hopefully it is the right decision. Just got to find somewhere to live now for the next 12 months or so. Good luck with everything and thanks for your company in the waiting room.

Julie

Thank you everyone for your good wishes. It is an amazing feeling and such a relief to be able to plan our future now that we know we are back in control and not in the hands of immigration.

we are sleeping like babies and enjoying our short break in NZ, I even got into a kayak for the first time yesterday! It will be all systems go next week, .centrelink for Medicare, tax file numbers, go to bank and upgrade account from migrant account, whoopee should get an Oz credit card, sign contract with builder. Exciting times.

good luck to everyone left in the waiting room, I shall be hanging around the door for a while just to make sure a few more of you are let out soon.

Julie

Having a similar problem. My daughter lodged our AOS application on September 1st, when she hadn't heard anything she rang at the end of September and after being on hold for over an hour finally spoke to someone. She was informed that Centrelink hadn't uploaded the documents correctly, but the good news they still had copies on their system and did it that day. The lady apologised and said it would be treated as priority. She never heard anything so rang again 20th October again on hold for over an hour only to be told it would be a priority. Again silence followed, so she rang yet again on 11th November on hold for the obligatory hour and was given the same apology and it would be escalated and no it wasn't possible to speak to a senior manager. Finally this week she spoke to someone who took ownership and identified the priority requests had been sent to the wrong department 3 times. Promised the interview would happen within 3 days, 30 minutes later she had a call. She's now waiting for the letter to open the account, all very very frustrating.

 

The staff must be really under pressure with the increased applicants they are having to deal with. I'm sure one day we will all laugh about this.. hopefully in a happy way.

 

Joe

Hi Joe

just about identical to what we went through!

it's a complete shambles, it,s the last thing we all need after the wait we have all endured. It does happen eventually though!

Julie