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Thanks so much for the reply moderator..... current scenario is..... They are currently having some counselling and anti depressant treatments following a recent pills overdose. They are continuing to work full time while having this treatment. The earliest they would apply for the visa would be say 2017 in 2 years time. Given this if by then in 2017( at time of the visa application) they could show that 1) the counselling and pills treatment was all behind them and finished. 2)and that they were leading a normal life and had not had time off of work due to any mental illness 3) Their Dr was prepared to give them a good reference letter in terms of saying they had taken treatment and this was behind them now etc Question 1----would all the above scenario this be enough to satisfy the visa application? I have 3 additional questions below....sorry for these but I want to advise him properly... a second question.....Just so I understand you properly----you say you have known people with current mental issues still be granted a visa even when these issues are ongoing at the time of their visa application? Question 2-----If your answer is yes to the above if my friend can show at the time of his application his treatment is behind him and in the past then it would seem v likely his visa application would be passed and not thrown out on his historical mental health issues? Question 3-----My friend worries that the words "depression" and "attempted overdose" on any visa application would immediately get his application thrown out? It seems as long as he can show he has taken positive steps to get better in terms of eg counselling and pills and that he can show a good work employment history and that the treatment path he has taken is finished and behind him he should be fine in terms of his visa application? Am I right in the above assumption? I really deeply want to advise him properly----- as if his current mental health "track record" means he has no chance he may as well know now rather than build his false hopes up.... Question 4---In terms of how the medical side of the visa application works in practice----As part of the visa application he would I assume attend a medical centre for a physical medical examination? eg blood pressure and other tests? The mental health aspects of his history are handled just by him filling on forms and sending these in? He would not be asked to attend an interview with a mental health professional as part of the visa application to "mentally assess" him? Thanks so much in advance for your replies to the above 4 questions....

I would value areply to the below. I know one has togo through a medical as one condition of being accepted to emigrate. A friend of mine had some depression treatment 5 years ago in terms ofcounselling and medication and after a 5 year clear period he is currentlyhaving some more counselling etc. Both episodes are around work related stress. If he wanted to emigrate and at the time of applying he was still undergoingtreatment in terms of say counselling or anti depressants or say he hadcompleted treatment some year or so in the past prior to his application thenwould this bar him from moving to Australia in terms of his application beingturned down on medical grounds due to mental health? He is not violent at all and it is just treatment for lowmood/depression.....although he did make 2 "cry for help" attempts onhis life 5 years ago and one recently with pills ...but not serious attempts...more a cry for help.... He has not yet submitted an application to emigrate and would not be doing sofor at least another 1 to 2 years so impossible to say at that stage if he willstill be having his current treatment. Or are the authorities in doing the medical more concerned with physical conditions like cancer etc (as this potentially costs the Aus medical system in money terms a lot more thana mental health issue) If he declares everything on his forms honestly is he likely to pass themedical and not be barred on mental health grounds? He is physicallyin good health Thanks for replies on this difficult and sensitive matter...

I would value areply to the below. I know one has togo through a medical as one condition of being accepted to emigrate. A friend of mine had some depression treatment 5 years ago in terms ofcounselling and medication and after a 5 year clear period he is currentlyhaving some more counselling etc. Both episodes are around work related stress. If he wanted to emigrate and at the time of applying he was still undergoingtreatment in terms of say counselling or anti depressants or say he hadcompleted treatment some year or so in the past prior to his application thenwould this bar him from moving to Australia in terms of his application beingturned down on medical grounds due to mental health? He is not violent at all and it is just treatment for lowmood/depression.....although he did make 2 "cry for help" attempts onhis life 5 years ago and one recently with pills ...but not serious attempts...more a cry for help.... He has not yet submitted an application to emigrate and would not be doing sofor at least another 1 to 2 years so impossible to say at that stage if he willstill be having his current treatment. Or are the authorities in doing the medical more concerned with physical conditions like cancer etc (as this potentially costs the Aus medical system in money terms a lot more thana mental health issue) If he declares everything on his forms honestly is he likely to pass themedical and not be barred on mental health grounds? He is physicallyin good health Thanks for replies on this difficult and sensitive matter...

I know one has to go through a medical as one condition of being accepted to emigrate. A friend of mine had some depression treatment 5 years ago in terms of counselling and medication and after a 5 year clear period he is currently having some more counselling etc. Both episodes are around work related stress. If he wanted to emigrate and at the time of applying he was still undergoing treatment or say he had completed treatment some year or so in the past prior to his application then would this bar him from moving to Australia in terms of his application being turned down on medical grounds due to mental health? He is not violent at all and it is just treatment for low mood/depression.....although he did make 2 "cry for help" attempts on his life 5 years ago with pills ...but not serious attempts ...more a cry for help.... He has not yet submitted an application to emigrate and would not be doing so for at least another 1 to 2 years so impossiblt to say at that stage if he will still be having his current treatment. Or are the authorities more concerned with physical conditions like cancer etc? If he declares everything on his forms honestly is he likely to not be barred on mental health grounds? Thanks for replies on this difficult and sensitive matter...

Hi all, If a friend of mine wanted to retire to Perth at 55 what visa would they apply for and what are the conditions associated with it in terms of how much money they need to show they have in the bank and in terms of annual pension income? I assume they would have to self fund all healthcare unless they married an Australian and was granted permanent residency? Any other pitfalls they need to think of tax wise? I know my UK pension on qualifying f it would be frozen at the rate it was when they left Uk? Thanks in advance for all replies.

Thanks v much indeed for all these replies and most helpful

PS I am really appreciative to all replies so far and please keep them coming as I really would like to make this move to Perth a reality in the easiest way possible both financially and time scale wise and emotionally Thanks again all...... PS yes would need to check out pension but I have own private pension which I am told I could draw on living in Aus and UK state pension is small so I would not miss that a huge amount. My private pension would be my main income once I reach retirement age.

So if I came over on visitor visa and lived with girlfriend for all this 12 month period but by end of 12 months I was not yet divorced what would happen? (as I cannot even start the application procedure for a prospective marriage visa unless I am already divorced I assume?) So this would mean if my de facto application was turned down after 12 months I would have to leave Aus for how long a period before being able to return on another visitor visa? Are my chances of getting the de facto granted quite high? Surely as you cannot apply for de facto until yoyu have been living together for 12 months how could I start this de facto application when based in Aus on a 12 month visitor visa? PS.....I would qualify for Aus healthcare once married to my girlfriend I assume?

Thanks once again to the replies today and any additional advice most welcome as I will do anything to get to live in Perth....it is my dream....

I have my own pension provision so this would not be an issue.Yes it does seem hard for over 50s I agree.Hence my post looking for advice and guidance. Thanks for all the feedback and any mre is most welcome

I do careers advice with students..... I intend to officially start a relationship but I think for defacto you have to live together for at least 12 months for a visa and there is also the marriage visa which is a 9 month time window to get married? I was thinking of possibly going over there and staying with her parents although for how long would I be allowed to do this( I have savings to support me as assume I would not be allowed to work?) and then applying for the marriage visa once over there? Would this add on 9 months to my stay with her parents if I did the marriage application towards just when my time I was allowed to stay with her parents was about to expire? Any other thoughts/ ideas welcome? I am prepared to do any type of work.....retrain...etc...

I am age 50and would like to emigrate to Perth but I know my age is against me! I hold aUK passport. How longcould I move to the country if I showed I had funds to support myself and wasstaying with an Australian friend in Perth? What are myoptions in terms of getting access to Australia to work and remain? I have anAustralian girlfriend but we do not live together as I am getting myself out ofmy marriage which takes time! Any ideas/advice really be appreciated! If you needany additional information from me please do ask.... Thanks inadvance....

Assuming I take them in hold luggage and( as I would do) I declare them on the card I fill in does it delay me hugely time wise at Perth airport for them to look at the jars and decide if they will let me in with them ? These jars would be purchased in the Uk but manufactured in Italy just for information

I am visiting Perth in 10 days time for 2 weeks from the UK and can I bring in 2 or 3 small ish jars of Italian produced tomato sauce.Not home made but produced by an Italian company so the jars are fully labelled with the company name and ingredients and has an expiry date on the jar etc Do I need to declare these jars to custome? Will they be allowed in fine? If it will hugely delay me at Perth airport I will not bother taking these 2 or 3 jars so any advice would be most welcome.

I just wondered if I move to Australia with my Australian girlfriend what the law is there on 1) If we live together but are not married how long before our assets are considered “joint” 2) If we marry are “pre nup” contracts recognised in Australia I ask as I am going into the relationship with a lot more financial assets and I realise not very romantic but my girlfriend is very happy with some form of contract if things don’t work out after a short space of time so that I am protected from losing most of what I have asset wise.I would like in an ideal world to not think of this but feel one has to be sensible about such matters. Any advice much appreciated? Thanks

I apologise I came over as rude in your eyes Rupert as this was never my intention and I did not insist on answers within an hour.I was just trying to gather a range of experiences from people on the forum and I was not also not meaning that by asking for experiences I was in any way not believing of any posters at all.Sorry again you mistook my e mails as rude.Regards

Do you have the contact details of a reputable migration agent who offers a free 5 to 10 minute initial service?

Thanks for this reply Has anyone else out there any similar experiences of my situation and/or feedback?

Thanks so much for your reply.So to clarify the person you know was granted a de facto visa while they were still married? And they then sorted out the divorce after this once they were in Aus? Anyone else have any such positive stories to tell me or experiences in this area? THANKS in advance for your help ....to all of you out there...as I really want to get to the bottom of this question.....on if a de facto visa is allowed to be granted to someone who is still married ?

I would still really really appreciate someone clarifying if being seperated but not divorced is acceptable in terms of being considered and granted a de facto visa? There must be a clear ruling on this by the Aus authorities who consider visa applications? I am sure someone out there knows the answer to the above? ANY ADVICE REALLY APPRECIATED ON THIS.... Thanks so much

I would still really really appreciate someone clarifying if being seperated but not divorced is acceptable in terms of being considered and granted a de facto visa? There must be a clear ruling on this by the Aus authorities who consider visa applications? I am sure someone out there knows the answer to the above? Thanks so much

I would really appreciate someone clarifying if being seperated but not divorced is acceptable in terms of being considered and granted a de facto visa? There must be a clear ruling on this by the Aus authorities who consider visa applications?

Can someone clarify this point please? Namely that it is a contition to be granted a de facto visa that I would have to prove I was divorced by sending in a decree absolute? Surely if my wife is blocking my application for the 5 years do the visa folk not show sympathy? Or is this a fixed rule they have that I must not be married to get the de facto, even if by the time of my visa application I can show for some 3 years I have been in a relationship with my Aus girlfriend and am not living with my former wife?

No it is not an internet relationship as we have just started seeing each other i recent months but have become very keen on each other quickly and our plan is to go to Aus at the end of 2016 or early 2017 so we have another 2 to 3 years at least in the UK and would not be making a visa application for some time..At present we live in two different flats and did not want to rush into living together so as not to put pressure on the relationship too swiftly but clearly if it was very important to do so to stand a chance to be granted the de facto visa we would do this and probably in say a year's time we may well do it anyway. I have only recently taken my own place so the 5 year window to get a non contested divorce has only just commenced and it could be if my wife does not grant me this I could not get it until around 2018. So if we wanted to move to Aus in late 2016 and there was still some 2 years to run until the 5 years was up for me to get my divorce do you feel I would stand a good chance of being granted the de facto visa in 2016 and could go to Aus then and then from Aus apply in 2018 to get my divorce?

I am thinking of moving to Aus with my Australian girlfriend.I am 50 and so my only way therefore is under a de facto or a marriage visa. My former wife has yet to grant me a divorce and my question is this. Clearly I cannot be granted a marriage visa while I am still married ( as one of the criteria is I have to be leagally free to marry my girlfriend in the 9 month window) So if my former wife will not grant me a divorce and by UK law I have to wait 5 years to get my divorce( as after 5 years she could not block my application as I would not need her consent) then during this 5 year period would I be allowed to live in Aus under the de facto visa if this was approved? And then apply from Aus after the 5 years is up to get my divorce. So my questions are 1)would a de facto visa likely be be granted to me if I am legally still married at the time of my application(due to my former wife blocking my divorce request)but at the time of the visa application I was not living with my former wife but had my own place and could show clear evidence my Aus girlfriend and I were in a relationship ? 2)I realise ideally to show this evidence I would need to be living full time with her as I understand it is hard ( not impossible?) to be granted a de facto visa if you do not live together? 3) Is there any prejudice by the visa authorities on granting a de facto visa to a person who is still leagally married if this person explains that this is purely because their wife is blocking th divorce application just to be "difficult" 4) Or my de facto application would not at all be disadvantaged if I was still married due to my wife being difficult?